Statements surfaced recently alleging that Republican presidential primary front-runner Donald Trump cheats on the golf course. Trump has denied the charges, and they are difficult to prove.

The New York native is a fan of the game. According to his July U.S. Office of Government Ethics filings, he owns or has his name on at least seventeen courses around the world (one additional Trump-named course is in bankruptcy in Puerto Rico.)

WNYC reported in 2012 that the billionaire has a plan to be buried on his course in Bedminster, New Jersey. 

"You learn about people's honesty on the course," said Trump, in an interview with Sports Illustrated journalist Michael Bamberger in 2014.

But recently, Samuel L. Jackson implied in a Rhapsody Magazine interview, and then commented on Late Night with Seth Meyers, that he saw Trump cheat while playing golf at his course in Bedminster.

"We clearly saw him hit a ball, hook a ball into a lake at Trump National in Jersey and his caddy told him, he found it," said Jackson on the show.

Trump responded with a flurry of Tweets, saying he doesn’t know Jackson. 

He’s not the first political figure to be accused of bending the rules on the course. There were also allegations about John F. Kennedy and more recently, Bill Clinton’s game.

But what constitutes cheating is up for debate in the game of golf. Sometimes players in non-professional play will allow an extra shot to be taken if the first shot off the tee did not go well. It's called a "Mulligan" after the player decades ago who became famous for taking do-over golf shots.

"Bill Clinton did not cheat, he took 'Mulligans' - he said he was taking an extra shot," said Dr. Joe Parent, author of Zen Golf.

Oftentimes, people will bend the rules during a friendly round among friends. But others won't. For instance, how close should the ball be from the hole to assume it's an unnecessary formality to putt the ball in. 

 “He has a tendency to give himself a lot of six to eight foot putts that are essentially the difference between being a winner or loser in this game, but Donald had a tendency to sweep them away and move on to the next hole,” said Eamon  Lynch, a former executive editor at Golf Magazine who has played with Donald Trump at his course in New Jersey.

"He’s not into the dotting of I’s and crossing of T’s in the golf game. For many people that does constitute cheating," added Lynch.

WNYC reached out to several other people who worked at Trump courses or reportedly played with the Republican presidential hopeful, including Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren, golf pro Craig Smith and golf instructor David Armitage; they ultimately did not respond to interview requests.

In an email, Trump campaign spokewoman Heather Hicks answered the new cheating allegations with a question, asking whether WNYC interviewed anyone Trump has actually played golf with, implying that Lynch had not actually played golf with the billionaire.

Last fall, Trump denied cheating in a Washington Post story that quoted other celebrities who said they'd seen Trump cheat at golf.