San Francisco Bay Area

Handicap

Golf Rules & Tips

By: SF Handicap Chair, Stacey Baba

NEW!! PACE OF PLAY – Tips to play more efficiently (April 2024)

In the rules of golf, there is a section on the player’s responsibility for pace of play – “Unreasonable Delay; Prompt Pace of Play” (Rule 5.6). We all have heard the term “Pace of Play”, but what isn’t obvious are ways to play more efficiently on the course.

The following tips have nothing to do with your skill set. It has more to do with being efficient and using your own common sense.

• Park your cart behind the green so as you are exiting, the folks playing behind you may start their pre-shot routine.

• Go to the next hole to record scores for the hole just played. Again, this will allow the folks behind you begin their pre-shot routine.

• Place your clubs on or near the green where you are most likely to exit after putting out. This will achieve two things: a. you won’t have to go back across the green to retrieve your clubs and, b. you won’t forget clubs requiring you to return to the green to retrieve them.

• If you are sharing a cart, after you hit your shot, drive to your partner’s ball, and return your clubs to your bag when your partner pulls her club out to take her shot.

• Be kind and thoughtful; if you are on the green waiting for a player to come out of a bunker, offer to rake especially if she will need to take additional strokes. We’ve all been there!

• Help with searches. If necessary, play your ball first before assisting with the search.

• If you are “out of position" after 2 players have putted out, those 2 should get in a cart and drive to the next hole and tee off. There is nothing in the rules which state that everyone must watch the others putt out.

• If you are the first one to complete the hole, manage the flag stick for the group.

• Take your distance measurements while you are waiting; carry several clubs to your ball if you are unsure of which you will use. This will save time returning to your cart for another club especially if the “cart path only” policy is in place.

• For our rounds which are NOT TOURNAMENT/COMPETITION, please pick up when you have reached Net Double Bogey (Par for hole + 2 strokes + handicap strokes for the hole). Picking up will save your energy and dignity for the next hole. Record with an asterisk (*) a score you most likely would have gotten.

• FINALLY, (and this is what my rules official friend often jokes about), minimize the chit chat; there’s nothing wrong with conversation except when it delays or interferes with play. If someone is talking that means someone is listening which also means that most likely neither one is focusing on playing ready golf.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RULES AND POSTING UPDATE (Feb 2024)

In January 2024, several changes were made to the Rules of Handicapping. These changes were made to encourage as many golfers as possible to obtain and maintain a handicap, to enable golfers of all abilities to take their game to different course, to be able to fairly compete, and to indicate the score a golfer is likely to achieve on any course in the world under normal conditions.

Some of the highlights of these changes are as follows:

You can post a score after playing a 9-hole course. In the past, you would need to play 2 9-hole rounds which would be combined to create an 18-hole score. Now you can post your score after playing a 9-hole course and it will be used to establish and maintain your handicap.
You can post your 18-hole course score, even if you only play 10 holes. The caveat is when you post this score, you will need to post hole by hole scores not the final tally. The system will fill in the score that you would have achieved.
To post your 9-hole score, you must play the entire 9-hole round. (An acceptable 9-hole score for handicap purposes needs to be played on a course that has a current Course Rating and Slope Rating.)
To post a score for a hole started but not played, (round was interrupted, fell ill, needed to make a phone call, etc.) you will record either the score you most likely would have achieved, or net double bogey, whatever is lower.

Please note there are other changes, but these are the ones which will most likely impact you during your play.

PACE OF PLAY

With golf being so popular and tee sheets full, it is rare to get out without groups in front of you when you are playing. No one enjoys a marathon round no matter how beautiful the weather or how pleasant the company. Pace of play is an individual responsibility. You need to keep up with the group in front of you. Note that this has NOTHING to do with the group BEHIND you. I am not sure how the concept of being in a position has anything to do with the group behind you. Your position on the course is measured by the group in front.

Many tournaments offer guidelines of “being in position”. You could be considered out of position if:

For a par-3 hole the preceding group has cleared the next tee,

For a par-4 hole the putting green is clear

For a par-5 hole the preceding group is on the putting green.

Rule 5.6b covers Prompt Pace of Play. This rule offers suggestions on how to play at a prompt pace. It is also noted that when it is your turn to play, that you do so within 40 seconds. The player should usually be able to play more quickly and is encouraged to do so. If you are reading this article you may want to look at your watch and let 40 seconds go by. It may surprise you.

A player must not unreasonably delay play, either when playing a hole or between two holes. The player should play at a prompt pace throughout the round, including the time taken to:

Prepare for and make each stroke,

Move from one place to another between strokes,

Move to the next teeing area after completing a hole.

A player should prepare in advance for the next stroke and be ready to play when it is his or her turn. In match play, the players may agree that one of them will play out of turn to save time (see Rule 6.4a). In stroke play, players may play “ready golf” in a safe and responsible way (see Rule 6.4b Exception).

Also note that being a high handicap golfer doesn’t necessarily make you a slow golfer. I recently officiated in a tournament where the single digit golfer took 60 seconds for each shot (painful). She played better golf after I put her group on the clock. It may be because she didn’t agonize over every shot and just played with a better rhythm.

Have fun and enjoy your round!