Ok, thankfully, I have been bumped to the second last group so I won't have to deal with this first hand. I am curious how some of the "experienced" guys would handle this.

Yesterday, in the first round of the KB Classic, I was paired with a 20 year old, who seemed to be a decent bloke.

On the 9th, he hit one off the path that bounced towards the range big time. His provisional was stuck to two feet. He was looking for the first, which wasn't a smart play. I pointed out a ball in the deep bush and he went to check it out, claimed it was a range ball and pocketed it. It looked pretty white and shiny to me.

At the time, I should have done something, but I was too focused on my round.

It bugged me from that point on as I should have asked to see it.

Later on the back 9, he hit one way right on a par three. He ended up finding it about 10-20m left of where I was sure it was. As he called that he found it, I turned and saw him with it in his hand, under a bush.

I confronted him and said that he couldn't lift his ball without marking it and that it also appeared that he was moving it out of the bush. He denied moving it, took the penalty and didn't talk to me for the rest of the round.

In hindsight, he was probably dropping a ball under that bush.

Speaking to a few people after the round, it appears that he has a reputation for this, but has never officially been caught. I was also told by a committee member that he was happy that I was golfing with him as I could "police" it. A little advance warning would have had me better prepared.

If you were golfing with him in the final group, what would you do?

Do you just watch him like a hawk? I had planned on having a little chat with him, but it might have thrown me off my own game. I have reported it all to the club and suggested that they speak with his playing partners and possibly him as it will be a lot better than having me do it.

I hate cheats and the little bastard is leading.