Doublemochaman:
Choppography: However, if there is no penalty for hitting the stick while NOT on the green, can I have my attendee lay the stick at said angle while I am playing my approach from OFF the green?
Chopp-ster... I like the way you think. Wanna be my caddy?
I'm thinking if it feels like cheating, looks like cheating, smells like cheating there's probably a rule against it in that rather thick little rule book.
Though I might try this one against my real-life golf buddies, using your rationalization. I can probably get away with it if they're not packing rule books. I can hear the grousing now...
We can deviate a little off the beaten path with some 'suggestions' for your buddies just to see how closely they are paying attention. Here are some of my favorite.......let's call them......workarounds....
- Dragging your ball marker (aka the Sean Sullivan). If you have a wide flange on the back of your putter, you can often shorten the distance of your putt SIGNIFICANTLY. As you are reading your putt from behind, you wait for your buddies to start talking amongst themselves while they wait. You get up, and as you walk to grab your reverse view, you gently scrape the ground at your mark and scoop the coin up on the back of the flange. As you walk your line, you just dump your mark where you want it and read it from behind the hole. By the time you get back behind your ball, your buddies won't be any the wiser that your 30 footer is now 20 feet. Just don't turn that 30 footer into a 4 footer......this is how I discovered the "cheat." My playing partner in high school was cruising along undetected by ALL of us until he finally got caught by the other team. (I call it the Sean Sullivan because of the guy's name. But, he also went on to become a US Navy Seal and just this year died in the line of duty. I figure this is a fun way to immortalize him within our circle of friends.)
- Hole in your pocket? We all have that guy in our group that never seems to find his ball when you are helping him look, but ALWAYS finds it when he goes into the woods alone. Well, he may have a hole in his pocket. A friend of mine used to wear a special pair of pants when playing golf. They had a hole in the pocket where he carried his "spare ball." When he dipped into the woods and was attempting to search for his ball, he would just wiggle that pocket and let the spare ball fall down his pantleg, hit his shoe, and bounce out undetected. He would later circle back and miraculously find his ball. Yup....marked the exact same as the original....so, it passed every test. The secret to catching this guy? a) Follow him into the woods. or b) throw a handful of water on his crotch in the men's room while yelling that David wet himself again.....thereby forcing him to change those pants.
- Enter Sandman. This one was actually caught by our high school COACH! Another playing partner (I swear I don't know why I got stuck with all the cheats...lol) was in a sand trap with a lip so steep we couldn't see him while we were up on the green. He took his ball in one hand, and a handful of sand in the other. With well-timed coordination, he tossed the hand full of sand in the air and then tossed the ball out onto the green a millisecond later. Sadly, the ball didn't end up all that close to the hole...lol. But, it was a genius move. We didn't know it until AFTER the round when he tried to turn in his scorecard and our coach was right there telling him he was DQ'd. When he asked why, our coach said, "Well, imagine my surprise when I walk up the 4th fairway with the opposing coach and we glance over to check hole 7 just in time to see you and your incredibly soft touch in the sandtrap? We both looked at each other and simultaneously said, 'Well, he's done.'"
Moral of the stories, guys......cheats are out there. Be mindful, and don't take even your Saturday morning buddies for granted. I can almost assure you they have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Now, in a Saturday morning round...big deal. But, some people feel the trick is so foolproof they will take it to the next level. If you are playing competitively with someone you don't know, be on the lookout for a few simple tricks. Occasionally, you do spot one.
I think I should mention that I never would have thought of any of these on my own. I'm just not that devious, I suppose. However, after discovering them, I have tried them all in social rounds for fun.......and they work like charms. In a social round, it's easy enough to just drop another ball and play it out while everyone chuckles. And, yes, in each case (except the hole in the pocket) I told them what I actually did. In our social games, we don't really lose balls. We just drop another and keep going. If it's way deep in the woods, we take the penalty.....but that's not a possible opportunity for the hole in the pocket trick anyway.