Pace-of-Play Rules

This rule is probably one of our most misunderstood rules.  The rule works as follows:
A ball which is lost or out-of-bounds (OB) may be played within two club lengths of the last point it was seen or the point at which it went OB, respectively, instead of re-hitting from the spot the lost or OB ball was originally struck, at the cost of an additional penalty stroke, at the player's option.

For example, if a player tees off and hits his ball OB, he may take a penalty stroke and re-hit from the tee under the USGA rules of golf, sitting 2, hitting 3.  Or, he may drop a ball at the point where his original ball went OB and take the penalty stroke for going OB and another stroke (for the distance he is dropping from the spot the ball was originally hit,) sitting 3, hitting 4.

This rule is usually followed when a player has hit his ball and doesn't realize it has gone OB or is lost until he reaches the spot where he thinks his ball must have landed.  At that point, it is often unfeasible to go back to the spot where he hit the shot because of the amount of time it would take to do so.  Instead, by invoking the PGGC Stroke and Distance rule, he is substituting for the proper action of taking a penalty, going back, and re-hitting, the action of taking a penalty (1 penalty stroke) and then assuming that he would have re-hit his shot to the spot where he is dropping (1 distance stroke).

The best way to avoid this situation is to declare and hit a provisional ball whenever a shot is in danger of being OB or lost.  Note that this rule of course applies to all shots, not just tee shots.

If a) your group must wait for more than 5 minutes to hit on any two tees during a round,

AND

b) the group ahead of you has at least 1 hole open in front of them in both instances,

then your group must force all the members of the group in front of you to pick up their balls and move to their proper place on the course.  When this occurs, each member of the group forced to pick up their balls and move will have to record as a score on the hole (or holes) they skip in the following manner:

Their ESC (Equitable Stroke Control) maximum for the hole plus two strokes (see Member's Handbook for more on ESC),

or

their current score on the hole plus two strokes,

whichever is GREATER.

And, if a group is forced to pick-up more than once in a round, all members of the group will be disqualified from the day's competition.

The tournament coordinator at every PGGC tournament will designate one member of each foursome to be the "Dirty Harry" for the group, or DH for short.  The function of the DH is to make the call for the group in front to pick up, as well as to keep his own group moving along up to pace.

This rule may seem a little harsh, but pace of play is a real issue with keeping our reputation spotless among local courses, and we need to take initiatives to make sure a few slow golfers don't back things up for everyone.  As of the beginning of the 2002 season, this rule has never had to be invoked - instead, what has happened in the past is that if one group has started to drag and get close to the 5 minute limit, the DH of the group behind them has just given them a warning.  So far, the slow group has always responded and picked up the pace of play with no further problems.  But, if a case arises where a slow group does not respond, the DH will invoke and enforce this rule.  Remember, everybody's game benefits from a steady pace of play.

Any ball that is less than one putter-length from the hole may not be marked and must be putted out, unless doing so would cause another player's line to be stepped upon and that player specifically asks that the ball be marked.  Note that this is a whole putter-length, not just "inside the leather".

Again, this rule was designed to speed up the pace of play.  If you take a putt and it stops within one putter-length of the hole and you then go and mark your ball, you'll be taking extra time to then re-spot your ball and get ready to putt out when everyone else is done putting.  This rule states that you may not mark your ball, you must instead putt out.  That does not mean that you have to "hurry up" and get your ball out of the way - take the same amount of time you would for any other putt from that distance.  It simply means that it is still "your turn" so you must go ahead and putt out.

This rule may seem like it doesn't really save that much time, but we have found that it in fact really does.  It may only save about a minute per foursome on each green, but that means each foursome's round will be completed 18 minutes sooner than it would have been without this rule!  That right there is the difference between a round of golf taking 4 1/2 hours or taking 5 hours, give or take a few minutes.

The wave-on rule is in effect on all par-3's at all PGGC tournaments.

Players are allowed only one provisional per hole.  If both the original shot and the provisional are lost or OB, the PGGC "Stroke and Distance" rule MUST be used (at the point where your second shot (provisional) disappeared).  Note that both shots count and the "Stroke and Distance" rule must be applied after your provisional shot.

For example, you hit your tee shot and you aren't sure if it went OB, so you then declare and hit a provisional shot.  Your provisional shot looks like it went in the same questionable area.  Under this rule, you cannot hit another provisional, but must instead proceed to the area where you believe your shots went.  If they are both indeed OB, then you are sitting 5, hitting 6.  That's 1 stroke for the original shot, 1 stroke penalty for it going OB, 1 stroke for your provisional shot, 1 stroke for that going OB, and 1 stroke for the distance to where you are taking your drop (where the second provisional ball went OB).

During all PGGC tournaments, players have only three minutes to search for a lost ball, not the full five minutes that the USGA allows.  After three minutes you must take a drop and the good old PGGC "Stroke and Distance" rule must be used - or play the provisional if one was hit.

Finishing up in time

At the 18th green, the Secondary Tournament Coordinator will time each group as they come in.  From the time one group places the flag back in the hole after putting out, the following group will have 15 minutes to putt out and replace the flag for the next group.  If a group takes more than 15 minutes to finish the 18th hole AND their round took more than 4 1/2 hours to complete, penalties will be assessed to each member of the group as follows:

2 strokes per player for finishing 16-20 minutes behind the group before them,

1 additional stroke for every 5 minutes beyond 20.

The offending players will also be acknowledged on the website and newsletter (talk about public humiliation!)

Note again that if you complete your round in less than 4 1/2 hours, you are always safe.

As you can probably tell by now, we are sticklers about pace of play.  If every player keeps his own pace of play up, then there will be no problems.  By the way, this by no means implies that our high handicap players will be the most common offenders - you can have a 30+ handicap and still finish your round of golf in 4 hours.  Just incorporate pace of play as part of your game.  This does not mean rush yourself, it simply means get into a good rhythm of golf.

Have an extra ball with you at all times.

Stay focused on your game and not only will you keep up with the pace of play, but your game will benefit from your concentration.

Be mentally and physically ready to hit your shot when it is your turn.  This does not mean to be standing over your ball when the player's ball whose shot it is is 20 yards behind you about to take your head off, but it does mean to be ready to hit when it's your turn!   While you are waiting for your turn, decide which club you will use for your shot and what type of shot you will be playing.  

Limit your practice swings.  You do not need 5-8 practice swings for each shot.  What practice swings you do take should be taken while the other players are taking their shots.  And too many practice swings will exhaust you and slow you down in general.  If you shoot a score of 100 in a round of golf with, say 40 putts and chips, that's 60 full shots you've taken. If you take an average of 4 practice swings per shot, that's 300 swings you have taken (4 practice swings plus the actual shot per hole.)  If this is you and you are always worn down by the last few holes of a round, cut out those excess practice swings!