Lost Ball. It's the golfer's dilemma.

[deestafford]

It's the golfer's dilemma.

You're playing in the club championship, tied after 17 holes. You tee up on 18 and hit your drive 250  yards down the center of the fairway.  Your opponent goes next, but slices his ball into the woods.  You join him in the thick underbrush looking for his ball, and after about five minutes, he says, ''Go ahead hit your second shot.  If I can't find mine, I'll tee up again."

You agree, and you hit your second shot onto the green, 10 feet from the flag.

Just then, you hear your opponent shout, "I found it!" from the wood, and a few seconds later, his ball comes sailing out of the trees, lands on the green and rolls within inches from the flag.

Now here's the dilemma:  Do you pull the cheater's ball from your pocket and confront him over his  deception?  Or do you keep  your mouth shut and hope you can sink the 10-footer?

Dee

[ACW3]

Whatever you decide, you never play golf with him again.  You give him his ball back at the end of the match  (discretely, of course), however the match ends, and remind him he owes you a BIG one.  Let him decide how he reports his score, and how he will pay it.

Art

[Pappymn]

Grew up playing with a cheater or he was crazy bad at math. Needless to say we did not play for money.

[teesquare]

It's the golfer's dilemma.

You're playing in the club championship, tied after 17 holes. You tee up on 18 and hit your drive 250  yards down the center of the fairway.  Your opponent goes next, but slices his ball into the woods.  You join him in the thick underbrush looking for his ball, and after about five minutes, he says, ''Go ahead hit your second shot.  If I can't find mine, I'll tee up again."

You agree, and you hit your second shot onto the green, 10 feet from the flag.

Just then, you hear your opponent shout, "I found it!" from the wood, and a few seconds later, his ball comes sailing out of the trees, lands on the green and rolls within inches from the flag.

Now here's the dilemma:  Do you pull the cheater's ball from your pocket and confront him over his  deception?  Or do you keep  your mouth shut and hope you can sink the 10-footer?

Dee

Depends....

If you got a lot of money riding on the game - you whack him with a nine-iron, and push him into the pond with the big gator in it....

[CDN Smoker]

I'm not going to golf with "T"

[teesquare]

Well...I *DO*  like honor, dignity and integrity when involved in  a sporting event...especially if money is in play. And....if not - a 9 nine iron will even the score....

[CDN Smoker]

Well...I *DO*  like honor, dignity and integrity when involved in  a sporting event...especially if money is in play. And....if not - a 9 nine iron will even the score....

I'm ok with all that, I thought you just like to whack people

[teesquare]

Well...I *DO*  like honor, dignity and integrity when involved in  a sporting event...especially if money is in play. And....if not - a 9 nine iron will even the score....

I'm ok with all that, I thought you just like to whack people

That was a previous "career"...Now I am a moderator on a cooking forum

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Well...I *DO*  like honor, dignity and integrity when involved in  a sporting event...especially if money is in play. And....if not - a 9 nine iron will even the score....

Didn't Elin use a 9 iron on Tiger? 

[teesquare]

Well...I *DO*  like honor, dignity and integrity when involved in  a sporting event...especially if money is in play. And....if not - a 9 nine iron will even the score....

Didn't Elin use a 9 iron on Tiger? 

Exactly! And...problem solved!

[IR2dum]

It's the golfer's dilemma.

You're playing in the club championship, tied after 17 holes. You tee up on 18 and hit your drive 250  yards down the center of the fairway.  Your opponent goes next, but slices his ball into the woods.  You join him in the thick underbrush looking for his ball, and after about five minutes, he says, ''Go ahead hit your second shot.  If I can't find mine, I'll tee up again."

You agree, and you hit your second shot onto the green, 10 feet from the flag.

Just then, you hear your opponent shout, "I found it!" from the wood, and a few seconds later, his ball comes sailing out of the trees, lands on the green and rolls within inches from the flag.

Now here's the dilemma:  Do you pull the cheater's ball from your pocket and confront him over his  deception?  Or do you keep  your mouth shut and hope you can sink the 10-footer?

Dee

Depends....

If you got a lot of money riding on the game - you whack him with a nine-iron, and push him into the pond with the big gator in it....

Tee, I use a one iron because God and a jury knows that no one can hit a one iron.

[sliding_billy]

Move on.  You got "caught" first.

[Sailor1]

I believe that using my rules of Golf he would still win.  My rule of golf is .....if you find more balls than you lose.....You win 

[deestafford]

It seemed the older I got, the more balls I lost.  Dee

[tnjimbob]

I used to manage a golf store, and I had a couple of retirees working with me for discounts and to make a little extra $$. All three of us ended up playing one day, and I thought the two of them were going to come to blows over whether or not  you should always play the ball down, where it lies.

One guy used to say that as a beginner (which I definitely was), you aren't learning anything by hacking out of the woods, and he suggested tossing the ball back into the fairway, because you need to work on your swing and accuracy to build confidence. The other guy said he was full of $#!t and that was teaching poor golf, and moving the ball was cheating at best.

I guess my main concern was not having a ride back to town, since we were an hour away.

Long story short, I placated them by saying that it was ultimately up to the individual as to how they choose to play the game, and I chose to play the ball down because I could not have lived with myself had I cheated, even if just to help improve my game. Honesty is always the best policy, imho.

as far as the story goes, I agree with the idea of a quiet confrontation later and let the offender decide how they wanted to handle it.