Hi Linda!
And as always, thanks for your terrific site and great
information.
We play in club competitions in Ireland, where the weather
can be extremely changeable very quickly. Yesterday, the heavens literally
opened up for about 20 minutes, and everyone stopped play, huddling under
umbrellas, or running into shelters that might be nearby. The rain was cold,
extremely heavy, and most of us got soaked. However, there was no threat of
lightning, etc. Normally, during the course of our competitions, there are no
committee members about who might suspend play for heavy rain, although the
golf club administrator would suspend when there is a threat of lightning.
My question arises regarding individuals temporarily
stopping their play until the storm passes. As everyone seemed to stop
yesterday, there was no one coming up from behind where they could complain of
undue delay, etc. But do the rules allow for you to temporarily stop for some
minutes until the heavy storm passes? If others behind you do continue to play,
are you allowed to let them play through? Or must you continue under the rules,
even if it means playing exposed in a torrential shower?? I can find rulings
for lightning, committees suspending play in heavy rain, etc., but nothing
specific for our situation yesterday. Thanks for any advice you can give!
All the best,
Lulu from Ireland
Dear Lulu,
This is a tough question, Lulu. As a tournament director, I
might stop play during a torrential downpour and resume play when conditions
improved, assuming the rain didn’t render the course unplayable. But you were
playing without a Committee member present to make that decision, which
complicates matters. Only the Committee has the authority to order a temporary
suspension of play [Rule 33-2d].
The Rules require players to play without undue delay (Rule
6-7) and continuously (Rule 6-8a). The player is not permitted to discontinue
play unless the Committee suspends play or there is danger from lightning (for
a complete list, read Rule 6-8a). Bad weather is specifically singled out as not being a good reason to discontinue
play.
The Committee does not have the option to allow players to
discontinue play in bad weather by mutual agreement [Decision 33-8/5]. If no
Committee member is present to halt play, I believe you have no choice but to
continue play or withdraw from the competition.
Let’s take a look at some related Decisions:
• 33-8/5 prohibits a Local Rule permitting players to
discontinue play in bad weather by mutual agreement.
• 6-8a/5 permits players in a match to agree to stop play due to rain. However, if one player
wants to resume play, his opponent must play or be disqualified.
• 6-8a/6 permits a player in a match to file a claim if he does not want to resume play because
the course is unplayable. Nevertheless, if he is unable to get a ruling from a
Committee member in a reasonable amount of time, he must continue play and
resolve the dispute later.
• 6-8a/2 permits players to take refuge from a storm in a
rain shelter close to their next tee, but requires them to resume play as soon
as the players ahead of them are out of range.
Based on all of the above information, I believe players may
not discontinue play without a directive from a Committee member unless there
is danger or the course becomes unplayable. If you are playing these
competitions without a Committee member present, perhaps the Committee might
want to designate someone who will be at the course during the competition to
serve as a temporary Committee member with the authority to make
weather-related decisions.
Linda
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