Pace of Play
We have had some severe course conditions recently with Carts having to remain on cart paths and a heavy course. We are aware that this has an impact on the pace of play, however even in these trying conditions, we are reminding our members to continue to maintain a good pace of play and maintain contact with the group in front. This is particularly critical on Saturdays and the morning field need to be through promptly. Last Saturday we had a delay of 25 minutes with the crossover and this meant that the last three groups in the afternoon field had to finish in the dark. We want to give everyone the opportunity to complete their round in reasonable conditions so the pace of play is important at all times of the day.
We have full fields on major days and we do not want to have to reduce the available spots because of slow play. Please be aware of the impact on the whole field of any hold ups.
We schedule our tee times to give all groups an opportunity to finish, but it depends on all groups maintaining the appropriate pace of play.
We set out our general guidelines for the pace of play below.
Please arrive at the first tee ahead of time so you are ready to play immediately the group in front are out of range, preferably going to the tee when the “Followed by” call is first made. Be ready to play when the starter calls your group to the tee. It is important that each group maintain pace with the group in front.
As a reminder, our club has adopted “Ready Golf” to improve the speed of play. Please consider following some of these examples during your round:
- Hitting a shot when safe to do so if a player farther away faces a challenging shot and is taking time to assess their options
- Shorter hitters playing first from the tee or fairway if longer hitters have to wait
- Mark scorecards upon arrival at the next tee. Play Ready golf on the tees and have two players tee off prior to marking scorecards
- Hitting a shot before helping someone to look for a lost ball (remember we only have 3 minutes of searching time now)
- Putting out even if it means standing close to someone else’s line
- Hitting a shot if a person who has just played from a greenside bunker is still farthest from the hole but is delayed.
- When a player’s ball has gone over the back of a green, any player closer to the hole but chipping from the front of the green should play while the other player is having to walk to their ball and assess their shot
Also, please remember to play a provisional ball if your first ball could be lost.
Match Committee will monitor the times for all competition rounds and check the finish time is close to the group in front. In order to be accurate, it is important for everyone to scan their cards immediately after completing the round and before putting carts or clubs away.
We thank you for your assistance.
John Nichols
Club Captain