I really like this expression, which literally means ‘to rise up in indignation against someone or something, holding them up to public censure’.

Although the French struggle somewhat to reach the very top of the world rankings in golf—at least the very top spots—French athletes excel in many other individual and team sports.

As for the fans, the French rank among the very best in the world when it comes to bad faith when their idols lose, particularly in team sports where the referee is often the target of public condemnation.

Golf has a rare distinction, as to my knowledge there is only one other sport that is self-refereed even at the very highest level: Ultimate Frisbee.

In Ultimate, this goes much further than in golf, as it is always the players who have the final say on the application of the rules, even though there are experts on the field who offer an advisory opinion.

In top-level golf, it is the officials who have the final say, but among amateurs, there are sometimes competitions held without officials, so it is really up to the players to referee themselves.

This therefore poses a real problem for golfers: how can a player absolve themselves of their mistakes by crying ‘blame the referee’ when the player and the referee are one and the same?

You might reply that this isn’t a concern because golfers are all honest and none of them would stoop to ‘circumventing’ a rule.

We’ll see about that!

On a Facebook group dedicated to golf, members were asked to complete the following sentence: ‘I would never play again with someone who…’

Among the various responses, the one that came up most often was “who cheats”.

What? Are there cheats amongst golfers?

But what does cheating mean?

If we stick to the definitions given in the dictionary, cheating can mean:

1. Breaking the rules of a game in order to win.

2. To break a rule or convention whilst pretending to follow it. Cheating in an exam.

3. To behave in bad faith or with hypocrisy.

So any way of contravening one of the rules of the game amounts to cheating and should be immediately penalised by the player or referee.

But here’s the thing!

In this very same group, some golfers felt it necessary to qualify this.

I quote:

“Many mention cheating. But in a friendly game, everyone plays as they see fit. There’s nothing at stake. We’re here to enjoy ourselves, not to please others.”

“Personally, I move the ball, without hiding it, in full view of the people I’m playing with if I consider the ball too difficult for me to play. And a huge number of players do the same. I’m here to enjoy myself.”

These “nuances” leave me perplexed. I have always considered Rule 9 to be the most important rule of our game.

As a reminder, Rule 9 deals with a fundamental principle of the game: “Play the ball as it lies” and specifies: If a player’s ball is at rest and is then moved by natural forces such as wind or water, the player must normally play the ball from its new position.

The player is not allowed to touch or move their ball. If they do, they incur a one-stroke penalty and must replace the ball where it was.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what would be the point of our game if we didn’t respect this basic rule?

If I were playing football and thought it would be easier to pick the ball up and carry it into the goal, would the game still be worth playing?

This freedom that so many players take in friendly matches – and, sadly, some also (discreetly) in competitive matches – to move the ball slightly to avoid a divot, a root or a patch of bare ground… makes me wonder.

Of course, we’re here to have fun, but does playing any game—be it a card game, a board game or a sport—make any sense if we don’t scrupulously follow the rules?

One of the most famous anecdotes in golf is that of Bobby Jones at the 1925 US Open. It was this gesture that definitively cemented his legend and the ethics of modern golf.

As he was about to take a shot from the rough, his ball moved by barely a few millimetres just as he addressed the ball. No one saw it: neither his opponents, nor the marshals, nor the spectators.

Yet Jones immediately called over the marshal to take a penalty stroke. The marshal hesitated and tried to dissuade him, as no one could confirm the infringement, but Jones insisted.

Because of this self-imposed penalty stroke, Jones finished the tournament level on the leaderboard and had to play a play-off the following day... which he ended up losing by a single stroke. He literally lost the US Open title through sheer honesty.

When the press tried to make him a hero for his fair play, he replied with this now-iconic line:

“You might as well praise a man for not robbing banks. There’s only one way to play golf.”

For him, respecting the rules meant respecting the game of golf. Respecting the rules STRICTLY.

That’s my view too.