![\"cheaters](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/cheaters-cup.jpeg\")
<\/a>The ‘Cheater’s Cup’ named in honor of Lance Armstrong<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A<\/strong>ctually, it\u2019s the first known <\/em>Cheater\u2019s Cup<\/strong> event, because of a little detail during the first one \u2013 like no one even knew there was a contest going on! For those who have followed us here for the last few years, you may remember a story written by Suzanne last July entitled, JOCKO\u2019S AND THE GREAT CHEAT-OFF<\/strong> <\/em>(link: https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=2002<\/a>). <\/em>During last year\u2019s Nipomo<\/strong> family gathering, our brother Jack<\/strong> and his wife Sharon<\/strong>, Suzanne<\/strong> and Al<\/strong> and Linda<\/strong> and I decided to play golf at the funky, 12-hole executive course called Monarch Dunes.<\/strong> It was just for fun and no one really kept score, or so we thought, but after the round, while having an adult beverage at the 19th<\/sup> hole<\/strong>, or I guess on this course it was the 13th<\/sup><\/strong> hole, Suzanne, the self-appointed score keeper, pulls out a score card and announces that the women had won the match. \u201cWhat match?\u201d the men shouted incredulously and demanded to see the card. As suspected it was filled with cross outs, eraser marks and one hole that had been eliminated all together. Thus the \u2018Cheater\u2019s Cup\u2019<\/strong> was born. To add status to this year\u2019s event, we\u2019ve adopted Barry Bonds<\/strong>, who hit a lot of \u2018fake home runs\u2019<\/strong>, as our Cheater Cup spokesperson<\/strong>, and have named the trophy going to the annual winners, the Lance Armstrong Cheater\u2019s Cup<\/strong>, so that we never forget the contributions to cheating made by this cycling dope . . . er. \u00a0I think both famous cheaters would be proud to be part of our short, albeit nefarious history.<\/p>\n Fake homerun hitter, Barry Bonds<\/p><\/div>\n This year\u2019s event was held on a \u2018real\u2019 golf course, Santa Maria Country Club<\/strong>, Jack and Sharon\u2019s home course, although Sharon, who had spent the last three weeks in France<\/strong>, was \u2018trapped\u2019 in Paris due to a pilot\u2019s strike; we think she’ll be home for Christmas. \u00a0In true cheater style, the ladies tried to have Natalie Gulbis<\/strong> fill in for her \u2013 the men were conflicted, but finally didn\u2019t allow it.<\/p>\n It was no surprise that everyone kept score this year and it was also no surprise that none of the scorecards matched at the end of the round. The round was played as a \u2018best ball\u2019<\/strong> between the ladies and the guys, but because the ladies had one less player, the guys agreed that they would eliminate their best ball on each hole and take the best ball from the other two. It seem fair to the ladies . . . at first, but as the match started to slip away from them, they lodged a complaint and played the rest of the round ‘under protest’.<\/p>\n Blowing a putt has a whole different definition with us<\/p><\/div>\n I could elaborate on some of the creative golf cheating techniques that were used during the match, like Suzanne\u2019s<\/strong> clandestine foot mashie to improve her lie, or Linda\u2019s<\/strong> way of improving her lie by always carrying a pack of green Life Savers with her and casually placing one under her ball when no one was looking. Brother-in-law, Al<\/strong> would always turn heads when we finished each hole as he uttered his standard phrase, \u201cGive me a par\u201d. Brother Jack wore the pants with a hole in the pocket, just big enough for a golf ball to fit through, so that when we\u2019re looking for his lost ball in the rough, he would surreptitiously slide his hand, with a new ball in it, into his pocket and push it through the hole; it would slide down his pant leg and land in a place that miraculously had an open shot to the green, and shout, \u201cI found it!\u201d With my long putter, I would regularly take \u2018gimme\u2019 putts that were \u2018inside the leather\u2019, of course the leather on a long putter assured me that I never had to putt anything that was within 6 feet.<\/p>\n Jack, Suzanne & Al<\/p><\/div>\n As I said, I could <\/em>elaborate on these cheating techniques, but the match, the day, the weekend was really all about getting together and having some fun with a great family \u2013 and that we did. We all feel very lucky to not only call each other family, but also call each other friends, even though on the golf course we might call each other things that would suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You’re such a cheater; the best wood in your bag is a pencil”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Cheater Cup slogan: \u00a0\u2018A family that competes together, cheats together\u201d … read more<\/a><\/a><\/a>