Is cheating and handicap manipulation widespread at golf clubs?

Last year a good friend and I entered a national pairs competition. It was sponsored by a major golf brand and our regional qualifier was played on one of the best courses in Norfolk on a glorious summer’s day.

If you got through then you progressed to the next round and at the end of it all there were some fabulous prizes up for grabs - and therein may lie the nub of the problem.

We hadn’t entered with any great expectations but in the company of two young golfers from Suffolk, we both played out of our skins that day. The ball was rolling miles and you were rewarded for finding the fairways on a what was a tight layout. We both drove the ball superbly and holed more than our fair share of putts. If one of us had a poor hole the other would step up to the mark.

We had a wonderful day and actually dared to imagine that we might have finished in the top five. 

But when we checked the results the following day we were gobsmacked to discover that we had ended up in 24th place. The pair we had played with, who had also performed really well, were 31st. How was that possible?

It was one of those moments where we both looked at one another and didn’t need to say a word because we were both thinking exactly the same thing.

Are Handicap Bandits Really Cheats?

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

There continues to be much debate about our sport’s handicap system. By and large, I have robustly defended it. But there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that many of those who sign up for these competitions are golfers who have gone out of their way to protect their handicaps.

Now don’t get me wrong. I accept that everybody will have "one of those days" when they find every fairway, when they hole putts for fun. But when you have played as well as you possibly can and discover that you have been beaten by 23 pairs, is it any wonder that you start to question the fairness of it all?

Cheating is a strong word but if you knowingly enter one of these competitions with, say, a handicap of 20 and you know that you are actually several shots better than that then I am sorry - you are cheating. You are cheating everybody else in the field, you are cheating the organisers and you are cheating yourself.

The problem is that many of these events offer superb prizes. The organisers will tell you that they can do little more than stipulate that all entrants must have WHS handicaps, and they are quite correct.

I love open competitions because they usually represent terrific value for money and offer the chance to play courses you would not normally tackle - at a fraction of the cost if you were turning up to play as a visitor. If you are playing in a pairs event, it also gives you the opportunity to meet new people.

But there is no doubt in my mind that if you expect to have any chance of winning one of these events then, despite the best efforts of the organisers to ensure it is a level playing field, you had better lower your expectations. 

My friend and I are going to take part in the same event on the same course once again this year but this time we will not even be checking the leaderboard. We are just going to go out there and enjoy 18 holes of golf and each other’s company.

At my own golf club we have a series of opens held over the winter period. They take the form of a fourball Texas Scramble and are a way of generating much-needed income for the club at a time of uncertain weather.

Myself and a group of three mates have routinely taken part. Again, they are fun days and they tend to bring out the best in all of us. We figure that if we can return a score of around 60 then we have played pretty damn well and would expect to contend. 

Not a snowball’s chance in hell. We have had teams recording 18 gross birdies! We have seen scores in the high 40s and low 50s. It should be said that the prizes on offer are nothing particularly special. It should also be said that these improbable scores are never recorded by teams from the club - always by visiting teams. Draw your own conclusions!

So we have taken the difficult decision to start giving these events a miss. 

How Widespread is Cheating in Golf Scrambles Events?

Lest you think it is just me, I suggest that you do a Google search for "golf open competitions cheating". The results are illuminating, to say the very least. It seems to have reached epidemic proportions when it comes to fourball scrambles.

I found this on MiGolfJournal:

"We’ve all seen it happen firsthand. 

"An impossibly low score posted on the big board at the end of a 6-hour charity scramble. You played directly behind the team that posted the "winning" score and - after watching them hack, flail, chunk, and skull shots all day - know with 100% certainty there is zero chance that score is legit.

"Welcome to the new world of rampant cheating in golf scrambles.

"The problem is widespread. Stories abound of teams reporting impossible scores that overshadow the efforts of honest players, tainting the spirit of friendly competition and, in many cases, driving participants away from the format entirely.

"The allure of winning, whether it’s a trophy, pro shop credit, or a free hot dog, seems enough for some players to bend or outright break the rules. But it’s really not the value of the prize that irritates honest golfers - it’s the mangled spirit of the game and absence of a commitment to integrity.

"The problem isn’t just limited to high-stakes events with lucrative prizes. Cheating has been observed even when the rewards are minor, suggesting that the motivation often lies in a bizarre need to claim victory at any cost. This culture of dishonesty undermines the very essence of golf, a sport rooted in integrity and self-regulation.

"Cheating in scrambles isn’t just a moral failing - it actively ruins the experience for everyone else. Honest golfers who put effort into their strategy and teamwork leave feeling disillusioned, knowing their best efforts could never compete with fabricated scores.

"It also detracts from the event’s purpose. Many scrambles are organized to support charitable causes, but excessive cheating shifts the focus from fundraising and fun to skepticism and frustration. When the competition’s integrity is in question, even participants who join for charity feel let down."

And this from MyGolfSpy:

"Last week, I got a text from a friend: 'Just finished a scramble I play in every year. The lowest score ever shot in 20 years of the tournament is a 55. A foursome of guys wearing cargo shorts just came in with a 46.' That’s 26-under! And according to my friend, there were no "gimmick holes" throughout the round to artificially lower their score. 

"A week prior, I played in a four-man scramble. Our group played fairly well and shot 11-under 61 on a difficult course. We left a couple shots out there but also made a couple of birdies on difficult holes. That put us in a logjam near the top - except for one group, which strolled in with a 52. When the foursome was presented with the trophy, the tournament organiser made a point to say that the team had never finished in the top 10 of this event but had substituted one of their guys for a 'real golfer' who supposedly helped them shoot 20-under. 

"There were no mulligans, no other gimmicks. Two of the par-3s were beyond 190 yards. Shooting that score requires almost perfect golf."

And we have all seen it. We have all followed groups who hack their way around and then come in with jaw-dropping scores. Short of having marshals following every match, which is clearly not a practical solution, there probably isn’t a solution.

Fourball Texas scrambles will continue but they will do so without myself and my mates.