What would you do if one of the opposition kept picking up dead leaves from around the ball and then throwing them out infront of the ball to help them to line up, from the fairway ?
I had this happen three times today in a doubles matchplay contest.

The is a clear breach of rule 8-2a (see decision 8-2a/2 similar but not identical facts) and frankly is outright cheating.

Depending on who the player was I might let him get away with it once or I might make a claim for the hole immediately. If I did this after the play of that hole I would let him know I knew what he did was out of order and he had just got his one and only freebie.

If I wanted to pursue this conduct I would claim the hole for breach of rule 8-2a as soon as he does it. If they wanted to argue the toss then the committee would sort it out after the match.

As an aside this sort of thing is right out of order and I would complain about his conduct to the committe anyway. If they are worth their salt they will deal the player in some way. Depending on all the circumstances including the players past record anything from a quiet word to a suspension would be in order.

I let him go after the first misdemeanour, only to have to point out his obvious infringement on two other occassions. Both times he lied about the alignment of the leaves and even moved the same leaves that he had placed previously, before playing his shot. My problem was that I felt embarrassed to have to pull him up for cheating and then have to argue the point of whether he had done anything wrong or not.
Jon…

If he agrees with your ruling, says sorry or whatever and you let him off, then you both have agreed to waive a penalty and are both disqualified under 1-3.

Jon,
I wouldn’t be feeling “embarrassed” about applying a RoG when you believe you have a valid claim. I would have been inclined to make a comment after teeing off from the next hole after the first breach, and then ensure that the opponent was aware that both you and your partner were obviously watching his every move after that point .
If the opponent was to continue with the errant behaviour, then make a claim right there and then, get the Committee involved, if there a two witnesses (you and your partner), he can lie as much as he wants. If the Committee is out on the course (happens at my place but I know not everywhere) then they would be sure to watch for a few holes.
And just how pathetic is this guy anyway, if he can’t find a leaf, or blade of grass, or blemish to line up his club anyway?

Jon, report the prick, he is a cheat….cheats have no place on a golf course. You did the right thing. I cannot stand cheats.

It is so easy to cheat in golf and the whole game is based on honesty – if he continued chucking leaves down for alignment after being told (which is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard), what else is he doing?

If he agrees with your ruling, says sorry or whatever and you let him off, then you both have agreed to waive a penalty and are both disqualified under 1-3.

The order of events seems to be

On 3 occasions player/cheat breaches 8-2a

On 2 of these Jon picks him up on it

On both of these occasions the cheat denies the breach

Jon doesn’t go on with it

I can’t see any agreement to waive a rule.

Correct – I was talking in the case if he said sorry, hence admitting a breach. Sorry for the confusion—I’ll edit the other post to fix.

In Jon’s case, I feel it was Jon’s duty to the field or rest of the championships to report him to the committee.

Interesting the amount of venom towards the player that takes advantage of bending the rules and cheating.
I am considering a chat with the manager before going any further and writting a letter.

But wait, there’s more -

I didn’t put in the incident when the same guy during the match also got caught with his putter on the line of his putt, just checking with his team mate if that was the line of the break. He denied that his putter had been grounded and said that I was seeing things.
I informed him that if he had made a mistake, then by lying about it made it cheating.
One of the worst matches I have ever had to be apart of. Considering the whole idea of the doubles format is to get members to mix and play something different.
Jon…