Pace of Play Policy
Contents
All players are responsible for their groups' pace of play. The Golf Operations committee has set a maximum time of 4 hours and 10 minutes for the completion of 18 holes of Stableford/Par and 4 hours and 30 minutes for the completion of 18 holes of strokeplay. In the event of severe weather conditions, the Golf Operations Committee may adjust the times indicated.
We use the MiClub scorecard timestamp to record players’ round times. Each time you swipe your card after the round your time is recorded. Certain calculations are then made based on your tee time and your swipe time to assess your pace of play.
Round Time:
Your round time is calculated by subtracting your tee time from your swipe time and deducting a further 5 minute allowance for the time taken to reach the Golf Shop, finalise your scores, sign your cards and submit them.
Group Time:
Your round time is deemed to be the shortest time calculated from the cards submitted for the group. So, for example, in the group below:
| • | the players took 6 minutes from the time of the first swipe to the time of the last swipe and thus finalise everyone’s cards. (11:24-11:18 = 6 minutes) |
| • | the earliest card to be swiped is deemed the swipe time for the group (11:18) |
| • | the round time after a 5 minute allowance for marking etc is 4hours 27minutes (11:18 – 6:46 = 4h 32m less 5 minutes = 4h 27m) |
Tee Time |
Player |
Finish Time |
Round Time |
6:46 |
Player 1 |
11:18 |
4:27 |
6:46 |
Player 2 |
11:18 |
|
6:46 |
Player 3 |
11:20 |
|
6:46 |
Player 4 |
11:24 |
In this example, if the competition of the day were a strokeplay event, the round time would have been deemed acceptable. If the event of the day were a Stableford, it would have been deemed a slower than acceptable round under the pace of play policy.
But there are several other issues which come into play and in coming posts here I shall use some short case studies to show how your pace of play is fully assessed, how important it is to swipe your card as soon as you can after play and how other behaviours on the course can assist you in keeping pace with the group in front.