my partner cheats

My brother-in-law and I took up golf about a year ago. We both suck but we have fun. We play almost every weekend together. We rarely play for money. But it bothers me that he doesn't keep track of his score. I'm very meticulous ... I take my penalty strokes, I call out what I'm "hitting" before each shot, etc.
If he plays a hole well, he'll keep track. But if he duffs one or loses a ball or hits it in the drink, he stops counting and just makes up a number after he holes out. He takes several Mulligans during a round (as long as there's no group behind us.)
I don't like having to keep track of his score (and what does it really matter if we're not playing for money?) but it just bugs me that he doesn't keep an accurate score. He knows he doesn't keep track and he laughs about it. But then he claims he shot a certain score at the end of the round and we both know that he shot way more than that.
On the rare occassion that we DO play for money ($1 a hole), I have to pay extra attention to his game -- which takes away from my game. He's not trying to cheat --- he just doesn't take care to keep track. (We laugh that we'll buy each other a $20 lunch ... but when we play for money, we want that dollar!)
I've spoken to him about it ... we're like best buds ... and he says that he wants to get better at keeping score, but he just doesn't do it.
I'm not sure what I'm asking of everyone ... I guess I just want to get this off my chest!

Just carry a scorecard. Or two.

Seriously, though, worry about your own game, and don't play for money.

Ye, just dont worry about him, cause if he keeps cheating he wont get any better.

It's nice to heear two guys enjoying a game for fun and it sounds like you pal is not very good anyway so don't worry about what he's doing.

However if you want to educate him, offer to play him for $20.00 per hole.........you may find he will keep is own score and yours.


Money is a great motivator.



Ian.

Thanks, everyone, for the comments.

Geez, you wanna have him in your 4-ball in a 4Ball Alliance! You'll clean up ...

No, seriously now by the sounds of it he's not the world's greatest golfer and whether he scores 120 or 150 shouldn't make the game any less fun for either of you.

Don't worry about what he scores. Leave him to score whatever he feels like.

Golf is supposed to be fun so keep it that way.

I had a "friend" who also used play like that! His name was Johan Louw and was an "okay" golfer, about a 12 or 13 handicap at the time. He wouldn't take mulligans (unless we're talking a re-load off the tee box after he put his first OB or in the water that didn't count as a penalty shot becuase fo some or other reason!), but he wouldn't count penalty shots or numerous thrases at the ball out of the deep stuff.

Then there were those 10 footers he'd concede to himself ...
And those lipouts that counted as if the ball was holed out ...
Once he had 16 clubs in his bag ...
Oh yes, ond those OB markers weren't actually OB, they were treated like lateral hazards so you can drop line of entry ... it's too far and a waste of time walking all the way back to the tee box, so I'll drop here ...
... not all together sure his maths was his strong subject at school either, he seemed to stop at 6!

Oh yes, and his marker that was like 20feet away was actually 16 feet away unless we were mistaken the first time. You know, our eyes are not good at judging distances.

Oh well, no harm caused and he enjoyed himself and we used to marvel at his continuous antics and great imagination. He used to piss ourselves laughing without fail.

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

My suggestion is to not play for money more then what you are now. Having to worry about a lot more money will put a strain on your game having to worry about his score more then you already are and then the debates about what his score really was will just make things worse.

What's your main goal here?
For you to have more fun together? I don't think so, sounds like you are ok there...
For you to teach him the importance of the game's rules? You can't control or change the way others are in life...I leaned that right after I got married.
Then it must be for you to learn to accept his ways better and have them not affect you. It seems that its a score issue. The competition of who is really better is what I am guessing is at your core. When he says he shot some number and it is close or better then your true score, that gets to you because you know he was not that good that day. My friend would do the same thing. His name was Jonny. He would say he shot 72 that day and I knew he lost a few that he "found". I would say, "It was a Jonny 72". He knew I knew, and I felt better that he knew, and he was ok with it. He got to say what he thought he shot and I said what I thought. So it's changing the way YOU see it. As long as there is nothing real at stake, like a tournament, or a lot of money, or others that don't understand that he fudges his scores.

Amen brother!

Ricky, this is good trainning for you. Let them make as much noise as possible, sneeze, berp, break wind, talk and move all over the tee box. When this does not bother you anymore, you know you are able to be in the moment. When other little things happen in real pressure situations, say against normal coutrious players in a tournament, you will be prepared all the better.

It's well know that Tiger's Dad used to scream in his backswing to do this very thing. I love it when Tiger get's to the top, hears a camara and starts his swing down and stops it before hitting the ball. (He actually knows he is going to do this, btw...but it is still impressive).

Learn from this. It's good for your game. Trust me.

Ricky, you need to learn to play with distractions. If you can't learn, you will never be able to take your game to the next level.

My boss and a couple of his playing partners have invited me out quite a few times. We play a game which involves large silver coins which you can accumulate for 3 putting, taking an triple, in the sand, etc. If you are the last person to have a coin, you pay a set amount per coin. As the 16th hole comes around, everyone strarts jingling their coins (if they have them) and making smart comments during the backswing. Being that you don't want to pick up any of these coins, it is important to keep focused on task. I am usually able to block those three out and concentrate on the shot I am trying to make. The others are usually distracted by the commotion and ended up having bad shots. I have never had a coin in possession walking into the clubhouse...

This is just another skill you must have to be a successful golfer.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall