A short message from your Competitions Secretary...
I have been advised of several recent incidents where members have played the wrong ball, or worse, have found an errant ball on their fairway and knocked it to kingdom come. The most recent incident occurred in the seniors medal yesterday where a member suffered the penalty of going back to play three off the tee from a drive that was clearly in play! Can I please ask that you adopt the following protocol:
Clearly mark ALL the golf balls in your bag with your personal cipher with a permanent marker pen
On the tee share your cipher with your playing partners so all know who is playing which ball
Where you choose to play a provisional ball on the course make sure the second ball has your cipher and a different number to the first ball played (I actually use a different make of ball with the provisional!)
Only play a ball marked with your cipher when on the course
Please leave errant balls well alone - hitting one means loss of hole in match play and a two shot penalty in stroke play. Remember, in these Covid times you are advised to leave them well alone anyway.
We have some wonderful new members and we have been delighted with the feedback received from them regarding being welcomed to the club - thank you to everyone for making this club the friendly and welcoming place that it is!
We have been asked to clarify the rules relating to slow play and 'playing through'... so here you go... click here for the link to the R&A Rules Guide and the specific section on playing through.
In short...
Keep up with the Group in Front
It is a group’s responsibility to keep up with the group in front. If they lose a clear hole and delay the group behind, they should invite the group behind to play through, irrespective of the number of players in that group. Where a group has not lost a clear hole, but it is apparent that the group behind can play faster, they should also invite the faster moving group to overtake them.
Do not worry about the group behind – keep up with the group in front.
If you feel that your group is falling behind take responsibility and bring this to the attention of the other players in your group.
React positively to the situation.
If your group is behind there is no need to run but try to catch up quickly.
Invite the group behind you to play through if you are delaying them.
What can we all do to help?
The club house team are encouraging slower golfers to play at times when the course is less congested - usually from noon to 5pm
Slower golfers must please keep an eye on and follow the pace of the group in front or politely allow a faster group through
Faster golfers must politely play through a slower group when asked to do so.
Report any slow players to Golf Reception
What must we not do? Be impolite or hit balls dangerously close to slow golfers ahead. If the slow golfers are reported to golf reception, we are able to politely help them to understand some of the techniques to help speed up play without losing any of the joy of playing.
Thank you once again for being so polite and understanding
