Is it really cheating if you are not playing in a tournament or betting on holes? Even pros play practice rounds before their official tourneys where they will place the ball in particular locations to practice shots they might be stuck with over the weekend.
If you do count one of these rounds and enter it into the handicap system, it only hurts you as you will get a lower handicap than you ought. This is the opposite of the truly detestable practice of "sandbagging".
I personally like to play the ball as it lies because I like the challenge. However, if you are playing a round just to get out of the house and be with friends, or if you are much worse than your playing partners, then it might make sense to improve your lie so that you can focus on chatting with them rather than muttering to yourself and wanting to throw down your clubs in frustration.
We play for $5. The unfortunate lay rule is available to everyone. We also play putts inside the leather are good. I don’t post scores for these rounds because we’re playing Stepford and pick up on a double. It’s a pretty relaxed competition.
“ Is it really cheating if you are not playing in a tournament or betting on holes?“
Do people really do that? Play without betting? Really?