When I was learning the game, my dad once told me, "Son, if you cheat at golf, you cheat at life. You determine the kind of man you want to be, but when you're

When I was learning the game, my dad once told me, "Son, if you cheat at golf, you cheat at life. You determine the kind of man you want to be, but when you're with me, be honest. It's the only way you'll get better." Many years later, I've found this quote profoundly true. Folks who will cheat in a friendly game of golf do, in my experience, habitually cheat (a friendly mulligan here or there I let go, but pulling a ball out of a sand trap, or calling a 15ft putt a "gimme" is pretty egregious). And I don't think they can help it at the point I see them. They're ingrained with the mindset that the world is out to screw them, so they have to cheat and lie to screw the world back. We see this mindset time and time again, but people who cheat and lie habitually are of the idea that everybody else does, so it's not wrong. Those who don't are always appalled at the habitual cheaters and liars. Cheaters tend to see that reaction and assume that those people are faking it--and that they, too cheat and lie when it benefits them. In short, people cheat on a free course because some people are just assholes who cheat and lie. They don't know how to do anything different.