The premise is simple: people send anonymous postcards to the site's owner confessing their dirty little secrets. Sometimes depressing, sometimes humorous, it's an intriguing and somewhat voyeuristic look into people's lives.
I had been contemplating sending a postcard until I noticed that someone had already sent in a similar confession:
Initially, I thought that it may have been sent by Vijay Singh, but I ruled him out because he couldn't possibly cheat each and every time. Michael Bamberger would never allow that to happen.
In reality, it could have been sent by any of us weekend warriors. I can't think of a round where I didn't either pick up a gimmie putt, improved my lie, tapped down a spike mark, or took an improper relief. It's not that I intentionally cheat, it's that it takes too much effort to follow all the rules. Is it just me? What would you write on your postcard.
6 comments:
Sometimes I wonder if the cheating we all do (gimmies, bad drops, OB drops) are the equivalent of speeding (say 45 in a 40).
We know it's wrong and against the rules/law, but everyone does it and those that don't are looked at like weirdos (or here in Dallas, honked at and shot).
Until I'm a scratch golfer and the little things are improving my score making me look like a pro on paper. I don't think it really matters. You learn nothing by hitting crappy shots from crappy lies.
Now if you do this during a tournament ... FOR SHAME!
I have never played 18 holes without swearing at least once... LOL!
I think we all do to some effect, either intenionally or unitentionally. I for one am never going to hit a ball from a lie that might damage a club. Small scratches ok, but anything that threatens a dent or serious mark is a no no. I will try to drop as close to replicting sitaution as I can, I will try not to make the shot easier and I will take a penalty shot but that's as close to the rules as it gets. Personally at my level I think it is just a case of common sense and playing as close to the spirit of the rule as you can...
Yeah, well maybe.
To me cheating is breaking the rules to gain an advantage over your opponent(s). What if you break the rules, but don't gain any advantage? Happens all the time in casual rounds when your foursome agrees to roll'em in the fairway, or move'em off of the tree roots. At that point, everybody is playing by the same rules - they're just not from the USGA/R&A rulebook - and who says they have to be? Local rules are allowed for "by the committee". So our committee happens to be four guys...
Anyway, if you break the rules, and gain an advantage in score & a handicap decrease, you really only end up cheating yourself because when you HAVE to play all the lies and all the rules at a tournament, you're going to be in a hurt locker.
Most of my "money" games are match play so we give putts. But in a normal round I never vary from the rules. I putt everything out, which is why I missed a 1 foot putt last week. I always play by the rules.
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