Do side bets between club golfers lead to bad blood and ultimately anti-social behaviour?

BUNKER-TO-BUNKER…. Inside Golf writers have their say!

By Michael Court

BAD blood? Anti-social behaviour? You bet it does.

The only worse scar on golf is probably slow play.

And just to show you how bad it can get when you gamble on the course, here’s just one example.

My old sports editor at the Daily Mirror once had a bet with the late, great Australian golf writer Tom Ramsey.

“There’s no way you can play 18 holes at The Lakes and finish with the same golf ball,” remarked Ramsey on one of his rare visits to the office.

Our sports editor at the time, John Moore, promptly stepped up and bet him $100 that he could do it. A solid 12 or 13-marker, Moore was so desperate to win the money that he hit the ball short all day and took it to the extreme when he even putted across one of the bridges at The Lakes to be certain his ball wouldn’t get wet.

They came to the 18th hole and Moore punched it up just short of the green on the par-3 and turned to Ramsey and said, “Looks like I’ve got the money Tom, no more water to cross now.”

Ramsey calmly strolled over to Moore’s ball, swung his eight-iron and knocked his opponent’s ball straight into the lake.

“You lose John, the ball’s gone,” he said.

The bad blood that created was something else and it was some months before the two would even talk to each other.

Ramsey passed away several years ago, but his competitiveness will never be forgotten. But you know something? I still miss him!

By Peter Owen

ONCE, after a round of golf at another club, I watched as one of the members walked around the tables in the bistro, collecting a few dollars here, distributing a little cash there, and sharing big smiles everywhere.

It turned out he’d had small bets on the outcome of the day’s competition with a dozen or more of his mates, and this was settling time – conducted with practiced good humour and good-natured sledging from all parties.

I believe there’s nothing wrong with a side bet on the golf course. Indeed, I struggle to focus on the game if there’s nothing riding on the outcome – even if it’s only a $2 square on the lotto board.

I have an ongoing bet with a mate of mine on who will have the better score each time we play, with a schooner of beer the stake.

And, ever since Covid began, I’ve been playing a ‘Tennis Grand Slam’ with another mate, the better score each day worth a ‘game’ in our own make-believe tennis tournament, where we play the best of three ‘sets’. Right now, we’re five-all in the deciding set of the ‘US Open’.

I’m aware that there is sometimes bad blood between golfers, and I’ve certainly been a witness to countless acts of anti-social behaviour on the golf course.

But I can’t recall any of that being a result of side bets.

As long as all players are comfortable with the size of the side bet, I see nothing wrong with it.

By Michael Davis

THERE was a time when daily newspapers had a dedicated staff to write about the three forms of traditional racing – thoroughbred, harness and greyhounds.

They were a disparate almost Runyonsque group, loosely drawn together by a love of the punt. They would bet on anything including golf.

One time they even sat down for a steak eating contest at a Melbourne hotel which, in its own way, reprised Runyon’s A Piece of Pie where characters engage in an eating contest in New York in the 1930s.

It was the hedonistic 1980s when our racing scribes attacked massive ribeye steaks which had been meticulously weighed by the local butcher in front of a small but appreciative crowd including three local television crews.

The three favourites soon put a gap in the field. Finally, one jumped to his feet, steak finished, declaring himself the winner. But the judges awarded the title on protest to the second placegetter because ‘first past the post’ had not eaten the miniscule piece of parsley garnish on his steak.

The extent of the wager was never revealed and everyone repaired to a nearby golf course for nine holes.

But not before one of the contestants felt a bit peckish and grabbed six steamed dim sims on his way to the first tee, where side bets and wagers immediately began.

They bet far beyond their limited ability during their weekly golf game but to this day they all remain firm friends.

Betting on anything, including golf, only adds to the fun.

By Larry Canning

I CAN’T remember playing a non-tournament round of golf without some kind of side bet and none of them ever lead to bad blood or anti-social behavior.

Unless of course, you consider telling a far more handsome mate than I am, who’d just closed out a well-deserved victory over me, that his backside looked big in those pants?

I also do not recall having a side bet with anyone I didn’t know before.

So, I guess what I’m saying is, I haven’t put myself in a position where a punt on the side could turn ugly.

To be honest, I have been working in this industry for nearly 50 years and whilst I have definitely witnessed a medium-sized “Barnbougle Dunes fairway bunker” full of anti-social behavior on and around a golf course, I haven’t really seen it stem from a side bet gone wrong.

In fact, like the question suggests, is it a problem at golf club level at all? I don’t see it.

I’m not talking about those unfortunate people who have a gambling addiction and will do anything to win a side bet, which could well be for more money than they can afford to lose.

No doubt this occurs at golf clubs around the country, but outside of whacking one of those signs on the back of the dunny door at your golf club saying something like – “Gamble with your head and not above it” – how on God’s green fairways do we police it?

What do you think? Email comments to rob@insidegolf.com.au