Tournament Woes - venting

[Darth Anovin]

Justin, that really sucks man. Sounded horrible. In my experience, cheaters will always cheat. Then they become confrontational when you call them on it. There's a saying in ball golf that the most important wood in your bag is your pencil. Same goes for disc golf. But you'll rarely ever get someone to admit that they are cheating, so it's a lose/lose situation no matter how you look at. Just keep it in your head that YOU played the best you could and did it HONESTLY. However, I'm a little conflicted because there's money and prizes involved. If I get beat in a tourney, it's because I get outplayed, not because I'm cheating. Mention it to the TD. And as far as moving up a division, I highly recommend it. You'd be surpised at how much better YOU get by playing with people better than you. You might learn how to throw a forehand roller instead of learning how to open a beer bottle with a Bic lighter. (Speaking from experience.) Chin up.

 

[discgolfne1]

That sucks, sorry you were held "hostage" for the tourney.

BTW...Foot faults have to be in the top 3 of most abused rules. It is my understanding that when you mark your lie, that the marker goes in straight line to the basket. I have been in A tier PDGA tourneys and watched players (some that know they're cheating) put the mini off to the side of the lie , then proceed to place their foot off to the side of the mini. I watched a guy at Paw Paw do this, and then even proceeded to pick his foot up before he threw. He was behind a big tree to begin with, and managed to give himself an extra 2 1/2 feet by the time he was done. I watched him the rest of the round and he did it numerous times. I lost what little respect already had for him.

 

[U_NICED_ME]

Hope the next event yields you a better card! Be sure to rotate the score card among the entire group. I'm actually a little disappointed I didn't do that myself this weekend.

People try all sorts of things to calm their nerves, but if you can learn to play through the tension, you'll be better off in the end!!!

 

[Justin Woodall]

Thanks for the advice. I play up with most of the locals on our weekend groups, they'e usually -8/-10ish on our course, and I'm usually about +4/+5, so it's helped a bit (over the +15/+20 when I started).

This was our ice bowl tourney, but I want to stress that the organizers and the tourney itself was great.

I did beat the cheater by about 10 throws, even with him cheating, so I felt better a little.

 

[tallpaul]

I did beat the cheater by about 10 throws, even with him cheating, so I felt better a little.

.....Entire rant becomes invalid...

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

I did beat the cheater by about 10 throws, even with him cheating, so I felt better a little.

The dude can't even cheat correctly........:doh:

 

[Justin Woodall]

I think, what happened, is after I asked to look at the scorecard, he got the idea that I was getting wise to him. Or maybe he just didnt' care anymore. I don't know.

 

[Johnson]

Bummer man, I wish more people followed true tournament rules. We had a guy on our card once, every time he was putting he wouldn't lay down a marker and he would cheat closer to the basket 1-4 feet every time. Sadly this guy tied for second. Next summer I feel pretty confident that I can beat him, even if he does cheat.

 

[gcr_russell]

Rule of Thumb. ALWAYS CALL OUT CHEATERS WHEN THEY CHEAT.

Worst case scenario you guys debate over whether he is violating the rules and there is awkwardness for the rest of the round. Then you all get to talk with the TD.

For all of you mad that youve watched other people cheat... This is a self-officiating game. It is your responsibility to correct them. The reason they are cheaters is because people like you have never stopped them.

 

[SomeChump]

I got my first tourney win this weekend-an ice bowl. It was an interesting experience. Nobody around here apparently believes in rec, so the lowest division is intermediate (where per the PDGA criteria, I belong.) So there were two cards in intermediate. I played a decent first round, shot a minus 2, and found myself in the lead by 2 strokes. It was a little closer before a cardmate smoked a bowl ("I always throw a birdie after I take a few hits"). He didn't, by the way. A guy on the other card put down a fifth of vodka before the lunch break. Another guy was dressed for about 60 degrees (it was 30.) He kept complaining how he couldn't feel the disc. I'm sure that didn't help his score. There were the usual things you see in lower divisions, such as footfaults, falling putts etc, but I didn't mind. By the time we were halfway through the second round I was up by 10 shots and easily won. A few of the other guys put together a round near par, but then would have a +9 round. It must be hard for some guys to put in a whole day of decent golf. I guess I'll play advanced next time.

 

[GT Chris]

Once I manage to win one in rec, I intend to go up anyways.

NOT this. I've never won an event in either rec or intermediate, but I still play advanced. You seem like a player who takes this game serious enough to move into intermediate immediately.

 

[U_NICED_ME]

^^^I am becoming a firm believer in this, too. You'll learn more and your own level will rise as well. I was looking at some DG'ers history on PDGA and not a lot of the female pros ever won an event in the lower levels before they moved up divisions.

 

[Thumber]

PLay up and most f those issues disappear. PLus, you get better faster playing with netter players.

Score Card cheating is another matter entirely. I would have gone straight to the TD and either demanded the cheaters be DQ'd or my tourny fees be refunded. I have only ever caught one guy being a score card cheat. I let the TD know after the round and handed in my "shadow" card showing what people had actually thrown. The guy was immediately DQ'd for cheating and, since he was a club member, got a name as a cheating DB. He is never allowed to keep score and now people keep track of his scores. Once you get labelled cheater, no one will want to play with you

 

[scarpfish]

Last fall, I wasn't playing very well, so I decided to drop down from INT to REC for an A-tier event and save about ten bucks. I'll never do it again for the very reasons explained here, not to mention that I caught a blatent pencil whipper in the last round who altered his scores when it was his turn to do the scorecard. (Yes, the TD's tossed him out). I'd much rather donate in a higher division than have to deal with people who don't realize the casual play BS they do with their friends doesn't fly in a tournament.

I do wish TD's would perhaps start including a rules primer at check in for inexperienced tourney players. In most instances, I think the foot faulting and other stance violations are more the result of not knowing than not caring.

 

[thrembo]

I think you'll do fine if you move up. I played a doubles round with an adv and pro level players at the last tourny I played in and got some pointers that really tightend up my putting! Don't be hate'n on the smokers and drinkers, they are a large part of our community. Don't blame the actions of a few losers on a whole demographic. The cheaters on the other hand, unacceptable! This can not be allowed! Luckily I have not seen this type of behavior as most of us are decent folk. Tell the TD and they likely would be warned and then banned if the cheating continued.

 

[REDARMY]

Gotta vent about this - makes me want to pull my hair out.

tl:dr version - people on my card in a tournament pissed me off.

grow a pair and speak up. you've been had.

 

[kimnem]

It can be really helpful, playing with or without cheaters, to have a copy of the PDGA rules book. They're really inexpensive on the pdga site. It's a great investment for your tournament play.

Last year I played women's rec at a pretty large A tier. One of the girls on my card was pencil whipping when she had it and when she didn't she would say 1 and sometimes 2 throws less than what she really threw. It was really frustrating! The other players realized it was happening and we all kept a good eye on what she was doing. It was extra work and it definitely took away my personal concentration on my game.

That being said, it's also important to be polite when calling someone out. Every now and again, an honest mistake could be made. I played a tournament over the summer where I was doing really poorly and my head was jacked. There was a girl on my card that was very snotty to me when I miscounted. I was glad she let me know, I was not being responsible and I would have felt awful! So I apologized for my mistake and thanked her for helping me. She still continued to have attitude with me (and actually, she treated everyone on the card pretty crappy) and I now avoid the tournaments she plays like the plague.

 

[Spatula Cornroll]

I would rather play with people I have no chance of beating, than some dbag who has been playing a short while, but carries around 25 discs that he can't throw. There is nothing to gain from playing with those people. Move up, lose, but pay attention to what the people who are beating you are doing. Not the idiot with the suction cup stick to pick his disc up because he is too lazy to bend over.

 

[billnchristy]

You guys most live in Doucheville or something. Our rec divs here are very professional compared to what jive you spew.

Also, the rules state that everyone announces their score, when someone says 4 when it was clearly 6 speak up immediately. "Are you sure?", "yeah", "You threw in the woods off the tee, pitched out, hit a tree in the fairway, hyzered to the woods on the other side, laid up, putted...that is 6" "Oh yeah..."

Done, nipped in the bud. You don't wait until they have done it for 6 holes.

 

[Thumber]

You guys most live in Doucheville or something. Our rec divs here are very professional compared to what jive you spew.

Also, the rules state that everyone announces their score, when someone says 4 when it was clearly 6 speak up immediately. "Are you sure?", "yeah", "You threw in the woods off the tee, pitched out, hit a tree in the fairway, hyzered to the woods on the other side, laid up, putted...that is 6" "Oh yeah..."

Done, nipped in the bud. You don't wait until they have done it for 6 holes.

This is an excellent way to deal with it. That and play up.