Dealing With Cheaters

If you play in tournaments or anything resembling a disc golf competition, odds are you’ll encounter someone trying to cheat somewhere along the line. Even though there are many ways to cheat in disc golf, this post specifically deals with someone who tries to under-report their score on one or multiple holes: the player who shoots a 4 but calls out “3” when you ask for their score. This article will offer some advice on dealing with this behavior, and what the PDGA rules say about it.

Disclaimer: some people are just bad about tracking their score and are not trying to cheat. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference, but dealing with it is often the same.

Know the Rules

Section 3.03 of the PDGA Competition Manual for Disc Golf Events lays out the expectations and rules for players competing in tournaments. As it relates to cheating, the following statements are noteworthy (summarized):

• A: All players must conduct themselves with ethics, courtesy and integrity.
• B7: Failing to enforce the rules of disc golf is a violation of A.
• C1: Cheating (willfully circumventing the rules of play) does not require a warning and will result in immediate disqualification by the Tournament Director.
• D: Players must report misconduct to the Tournament Director after the round is complete.

Additionally, Section 808 of the Official Rules of Disc Golf describes the rules around scorekeeping and what to do when there is a disagreement about a player’s score.

Cheating Happens

Unfortunately, score cheating happens a lot, and at every skill level in disc golf. It happens in singles play, in doubles play, in sanctioned tournaments, and in charity events. Where people can win, people will cheat.

In my experience, someone who is cheating will rarely try to defend their score if another takes umbrage. When it isn’t an honest mistake, they are often trying to pull one over and will quickly backpedal if someone challenges.

Not everyone is comfortable calling out another player directly when they think they are misrepresenting their score. If you are someone who has no problem calling BS, this article isn’t for you. However, a large percentage of the population would prefer to avoid conflict in these situations. This type of conflict can add a layer of anxiety to an already stressful competition, and in some cases can cost you (or someone else) a victory or a chance at prizes.

This discomfort doesn’t make you any less of a person or player. It doesn’t matter that the PDGA expects you to deal with cheaters; plenty of people have a difficult time dealing with situations like this. It’s OK to find a different way to deal with cheaters besides calling them out directly.

Ignoring the Cheat

Perhaps the easiest approach with dealing with cheaters is to ignore it. Even though, as a player, you’re obligated to uphold the rules of disc golf in a tournament, nobody can prove that you caught someone cheating and did nothing. This is a safe place to be as long as you don’t mind knowing that someone else is breaking the rules and getting away with it.

I am definitely not a proponent of this, as I would hate to think that my negligence cost someone else. However, I understand that for some people the cost of a confrontation far outweighs the guilt of doing nothing.

Tell Others on Your Card

If you’re on a card with other players besides the suspected cheat, maybe one of them is more comfortable dealing with it. Not all players try to track everyone else’s score, so they may be oblivious to the cheating. Pull them aside and mention it to them, or asking if they’ve noticed; this could put the cheater on their radar and in my experience, once cheating is suspected, it’s hard not to pay attention to that player and how they’re keeping their score.

Kindly Ask “Are you sure?”

If someone calls out a score you disagree with, feel free to ask them something like:

“I could be wrong, but I thought I counted 4 throws – are you sure you got a 3?”

This is a great way to call out a potential cheat without making any accusations (which leads to conflict, which is what you’re trying to avoid). If the player wasn’t trying to cheat, this affords them the opportunity to replay the hole in their head and produce the correct score.

In almost all situations a cheater will not defend their false score, and will agree with you.

Tell Them Their Score First

This method works particularly well if you are the scorekeeper for the round.

After a hole is complete, most scorekeepers will ask each player something like:

“John, what did you get on that hole?”

If you suspect a cheater, and you have a good idea what they actually scored, you can ask something like this instead:

“John, you got a 3, correct?”

It’s one thing to throw out a false score and hope nobody notices; you can play dumb if someone calls you out. Psychologically it’s completely different from “correcting” someone else with false information. That moves from white lie territory to gaslighting. The vast majority of players, even the slightly crooked ones, won’t do this.

Tell the Tournament Director

I’ve never actually done this, but another option is to keep track of the suspected cheating and report it to the Tournament Director after the round is over. In theory, you should be reporting cheaters anyway, but it’s impossible to tell if someone intended to cheat, or is just bad at scorekeeping.

I’m sure every Tournament Director (TD) will deal with this differently, and there’s no guarantee that his route will help you avoid conflict. Your intention might be to punt the problem to someone else, but the TD might ask for you to be present while the confront the suspected cheater. Tournament Directors are busy people on tournament days, and might easily be annoyed if you bring them a problem like this. Depending on the person they could become angry at you for making things more difficult on them.

Find Your Way to Cope

No matter how you choose to deal with it, sooner or later you’ll have to develop a coping mechanism for cheaters. Those of us who like playing in tournaments tend to be naturally competitive. The thought of cheaters in our midst will nag at us because we are interested in winning. I encourage you to try some of techniques listed above in your next tournament if you suspect cheating.