Pace of Play Policy

It is a condition of the competition that "the player shall play without undue delay and in accordance with any Pace of Play (PoP) guidelines that the Committee may establish" and with the prescribed penalties for slow play.

It is the player’s responsibility to know their group’s position relative to the published PoP and to ensure they play within the

maximum scheduled limits. Failure to play within the PoP guidelines will result in a penalty unless the penalty is appealed and the Committee upholds the appeal. Appeals will only be considered if the player(s) have been: delayed by the Committee or; delayed by circumstances beyond control of the player or the group or; delayed because of another player in the group.

 Definition of “Out of Position”

The first group to start will be considered Out of Position if the group is behind the schedule prepared by the Committee. Any subsequent group is out of position when it:

1. is taking more than the maximum scheduled time to play, and
2. reaches a par-3 hole that is clear of all play and all players in the preceding group have played their strokes from the teeing ground of the next hole or
3. reaches a par-4 or par-5 hole which is clear of all play or becomes clear of all play before all players in the group have played all of their strokes from the teeing

Warnings - When practicable, the Committee will advise a group that it is Out of Position. The Committee will give a group advance notification that it is to be timed; however, an individual player may be timed without having first received a warning.

 Timing

When a group is Out of Position, each player must:

1. play any stroke within 40 seconds after the timing of such stroke begins and
2. play all of his strokes on a given hole in an aggregate time that does not exceed the average time per stroke (30 seconds) by more than 10

Example:

Average time per stroke: 30 seconds

 Note: For these purposes, tap-in putts of less than two feet will not count as part of a player’s score for the hole, but the player will be given an additional 10 seconds to complete the hole if that condition applies.

The timing of a player’s stroke will begin when he/she has had reasonable opportunity to reach his ball, it is his turn to play and he/she can play without interference or distraction. On the putting green, timing will begin after a player has had a reasonable amount of time to mark, lift, clean and replace his/her ball, repair his/her ball mark and others on his line of putt and remove loose impediments on

his/her line of putt. Time spent determining yardages as well as time spent looking at the line of putt will count as part of the time taken for the next stroke.

 Penalties

If a group is being timed, any player who takes more than 40 seconds to play a stroke or exceeds the average amount of time allotted for total strokes taken is subject to the following penalties:

Stroke Play:

• One bad time exceeding the allotted time: warning 
• Second bad time: one stroke penalty 
• Third bad time: additional two stroke penalty 
• Fourth bad time: disqualification

Match Play:

• - One bad time exceeding the allotted time: warning
• - Second bad time: loss of hole penalty
• - Third bad time: disqualification

If a group being timed regains its proper position, any previous bad timing will be carried over for the remainder of the round in the event that the group requires additional timing. Also, if a ruling or other uncontrollable delay causes a group to lose its position, the group is expected to regain its position within a reasonable time.

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