READY GOLF
Rule 10-2 (a) gives the “honour” - in stroke play, after Hole 1 - to the player who had the lowest score at the previous hole, i.e. he tees off first at the next hole.
The R & A, who are in the process of revising the rules of golf, are intending to change this rule, introducing a term called Ready Golf.
Studies show that on average, under the present "etiquette" system, 3 golfers can lose about 100 seconds per hole, and this extends to 125 seconds with a four-ball group. Why? If the honour is with a golfer who has to wait for the group in front to clear to a safe distance before he can play, the delay can be up to 3 minutes. In an average round, therefore, there is a potential saving of up to 42 minutes per round (obviously this is waiting time just on the par 4s and 5s, waiting on par 3s can be inevitable.) But even a 30 minute saving per round would be a great benefit to us all.
Some members of the Club are already using this method, but it is not the norm.
Your Committee is of the opinion that we should ask members to start using the Ready Golf method in order to speed up play.
So from now on, in stroke play competitions (Stableford and Medal Events), if you are safely able to play when the group in front of you are out of range, please do so regardless of the scoring at the previous hole. Please help to pass on this decision to all who play with us.
This will not apply to Matchplay events, where the honour can be important in how players choose to play the hole.
Thank you all in advance.
Gordon
