An Article by AsiaOne- Beware of the Buayas and the Cheats

By Godfrey Robert
The New Paper
Sunday, Nov 04, 2012

SINGAPORE - Four golfers in the same flight finish 1-2-3-4 in a corporate event.

Amateurs in the same flight sweep all the novelty events - four nearest-the-pin prizes and the nearest-the-line booty.

An 18-handicapper plays a nine-over 81 in a corporate event where the big prize is a trip to South Africa.

A golfer wins a corporate event with 45 stableford points.

All these can only happen in Singapore where cheating and "sand-bagging" have been turned into art.

Golf is supposed to be a gentleman's game where honesty and integrity are paramount.

But trends and behaviour on the golf courses in Singapore make a mockery of that belief.

Ridiculous situations

These ridiculous situations are becoming so commonplace in local corporate events and competitions that
embarrassed players these days are ignoring these cheating habits and considering them as par for the course.

I have often seen amateurs move their golf ball - one even kicked the ball a good five metres nearer the green while being behind a big slope.

I have also watched golfers marking their golf ball on the green a couple of inches closer to the hole.

Worse, playing among friends in the same flight, some golfers cheat on their scores and offer "gimmes" when the ball is beyond putter length.

So how do you stop these bad habits that bring disgrace to the supposedly "squeaky clean" image of the game?

Education is one solution, with the teaching pros and instructors drumming into their students going for the proficiency
certificate (PC) or handicaps the importance of honesty.

Another solution is enforcing strict rules that not all four buddies play in the same flight and that cards should be exchanged in competitions.

I understand that this could be a problem when a sponsor buys a flight and is given the luxury of choosing his players to make up the flight.

But how else can you stop the cheating? Dishonest moves must be checked with drastic steps.

Also, to ensure that golfers do not doctor their handicaps, maybe clubs staging corporate events should submit the scores
of the top 10 or so players to the Singapore Golf Association, who in turn can relay them to the players' respective clubs.

It is said that Samson Gimson, once Singapore's No. 1 golfer, ruined his lucrative golf career after losing a heavy bet
(running into thousands) during a "saddam" - one against three - bet against three amateurs who played better than their handicaps.

M. Murugiah, the Singapore Professional Golfers' Association president, said: "I have played against many amateurs who had
over-declared on their handicaps.

"It is difficult to keep a check on their handicaps because in golf a lot of things are done with honesty, sincerity and trust.

"But I agree that this form of cheating is rampant in Singapore because there are good prizes offered."

Organisers are becoming wiser to this trend and are beginning to ensure that golf prizes are no more than mere trophies.

And the emphasis these days is on better and better lucky draw prizes.

It is a shame though. For while in Japan and in some parts of Europe amateurs take pride in lowering their handicaps, there are bad hats in Singapore who do the reverse.

And they don't mind being called "buayas".

I have first hand experience in this

once i joined flight in NSRCC and played with this fellow

i saw from his receipt that he is a HCP 5. Before the game i commended him saying he must be a solid golfer. And i asked him to be patient with me as im only a mid handicapper

He smiled at me and say he didnt submit score card. thats why he is a "single". i thought he was joking.

During the game, i had the shock of my life... his game is nowhere near even 18. Balls fly all over the place and not sharp at all. I expected a single to be able to be sharp in the short game at least. But sorry to say this. He is worse than me...

A few short months later, while playing a tournament in NSRCC, this chap turned out to be the overall champion with the highest points...

He need to play at least 78 GROSS SCORE to be champion.

Sorry to say this.. WIth his skills, he cant do it within a few months of lessons or practice..

Yup!

This is Singapore Golf...

Many of these buayas I labelled them as "Mathematicians". Few encounters at medal games - caught 1 bugger at Par 5 twice OB 7 On, 3 putts but STableford point still got 1 point. No horse run. And this bugger every Medal game sure come in top 10, challenge him to a 5/5/10 level, he gave excuses. Plenty of these Cheapo around. They will run of kakis playing with them

You fail to understand why he is hcp 5 in the first place...

neutralgolfer wrote:

You fail to understand why he is hcp 5 in the first place...

maybe i just have respect for him

We should just name them and shame them.

I hate guys who r good but say they are otherwise

I hate guys who r no good but tell others they r good

But I like gals

Happy Feet wrote:

We should just name them and shame them.

I hate guys who r good but say they are otherwise

I hate guys who r no good but tell others they r good

But I like gals

LOL

Well there are many cases of such things in Singapore. U heard of some people saying," what's my hcp is depending on how big the bet i?"

Anyway, I seen a number of times people cheat even in charity games.

I'm sure we'll have lotsa comments on this topic.. Thanks bro Wolverine for posting it..

I too experienced many such incidents.. What makes me most disheartened is such incidents happening during charity events... It's not about the value of the prizes, but the unfairness to those who put in their efforts to train and tried their best during the game..

The article mentioned Singapore, but what about in Malaysia ? Is it true some tournaments in Malaysia simply take whatever hcp golfers declare ? Even if the golfers are from Singapore, the organizers don't usually check ? If it's true then whats the purpose of having a tournament ?

Universal la

I admit I am one of them. I always tell others I am a sub 120 golfer when I am in fact a sub 110 golfer

Happy Feet wrote:

Universal la

I admit I am one of them. I always tell others I am a sub 120 golfer when I am in fact a sub 110 golfer

bro... doesn't matter if u play +48 or +38... Think hcp stops at 24 ??

Speaking of charity, not only the players cheat. I know the organizers also cheat in such events. They already rigged who are the lucky draw winner and those novelty prize, like nearest to pin.

they should have more daily competition where you only pay 5-10$ and winner got voucher of 50$ to spend on food or pro-shop . as well as the handicap need to be change that 70% of the scorecard submit need to be competition wise . this could reduce the number of people cheating with their handicap. In addition the australian system is a good system to follow that take your 8 best score of 20 last card to calculate the average .


For Malaysia , yes a lot of people they will be actually around 4 , but declare 10-14 so they know even they don't play well they will actually be winning something most likely. i saw it a lot in legends golf course

The take is to take the best of your golfing score to be your hcp regardless of your recent score over the last 3 months or so.

Play 78 means hcp is 6. Only can go down cannot go till you reach 50.
Where you will qualify for senior hcp rating again.

Cos I believe if u can play 78 in a touranment. According to USGA, the hcp should be 4.8.
One should be able to better their hcp only if they try hard and not thru pencil and eraser.

Given up hope on Sg Amatuer golf... On ethics, etiquette & honesty...

I thought one way is first use system 36 to first determine the hcp for the competition then THAT hcp will be used to count the Stableford points
http://golf.about.com/od/golfterms/g/system_36_a.htm

That way we can overcome the buaya under declaring hcp

Happy Feet wrote:

Universal la

I admit I am one of them. I always tell others I am a sub 120 golfer when I am in fact a sub 110 golfer

Have we met ?

pocketace wrote:

I thought one way is first use system 36 to first determine the hcp for the competition then THAT hcp will be used to count the Stableford points
http://golf.about.com/od/golfterms/g/system_36_a.htm

That way we can overcome the buaya under declaring hcp

Well I din encounter before some tournaments with 2 scoring system incorporated...
System 36 with stableford... 1st they use system 36 to calculate the hcp for individuals over 18 holes. After which they will random choose 6-8 holes for stableford points calculation...
I think it's quite fair but still it will favor those strong players, u still need more birdies to score well...


But I do find 1 organizer with a simple n great format... All novelty prizes are like shxt lol so they dun care who won...lmao
And the lucky draw prizes are much better n attractive. (being drawn in a very fair n open manner) so everyone gotta stay till end of event.. Hahahah

do they get shamed? do they announce where they maintain their hcp?

here in gr not bad.....anybody found to be of such, i hope they get shamed.....worst.....sham mite find out and ......

I guess these type of buaya/cheat exist everywhere and in a kiasu society like sg... The chances of seeing or golfing with one is much higher...

For mi i would jus avoid golfig with them again and jus golf with my gentleman friends..

I believe by avoiding them.. These grp or unique golfers will extinct slowly...

As for competitions... Well.. The results will tell..

Anyway jus enjoy our golfs bros...

I guess where competition is prevalent and pronounced, especially in a highly competitive society like Singapore (and other Asian countries) where results and paper stars and glory are trumpeted and glorified, cheating will definitely be a problem.

Another option to limit cheating and variation of your handicapt is that you highest handicapt can only be within 4 stroke from the lowest index for the year .

Let say on 2/06.2012 you achieve your handicap on 7 then the highest you handicap can go will be 11 until 02/06/2013 . In the case i go lower it will push back the date as well as lower the highest handicap .. it's what happening in Australia to prevent cheating ....

TDO,

49 is small matter Liao last year winner was 52 points, runner up was 49 points. Got improvement already.
I will normally go up to the winner and congratulate him/her.
What a beauty game u have played. 13 under for a game and ask him how did he do it when even the pros having difficulty in doing so

Quote :

ChrisD wrote:

TDO,

49 is small matter Liao last year winner was 52 points, runner up was 49 points. Got improvement already.
I will normally go up to the winner and congratulate him/her.
What a beauty game u have played. 13 under for a game and ask him how did he do it when even the pros having difficulty in doing so

and their reply was?

let me guess....."lucky'?