Hi Linda,
I love waking up to the emails that come through from you,
and know that reading them ensures my rules knowledge is getting better and
better!
We have unfortunately had a lot of rain in the UK lately.
Our course has suffered, and has 2 waterlogged holes which have been closed for
6 days, and likely to be for another week.
Our Summer Knockouts competitions have started, and the
Winter competition finals are yet to be played. The club has said whilst the
course is in the state it is in, the matches are to be played over 16 holes
only. The holes which are closed are to be deemed halved holes. This does not
seem correct; surely the matches should be over 18 holes? The closed holes are
next to each other, one of the holes is Index 11, the other is Index 5.
Should the committee state that players should play the open
16 holes plus the 1st & 2nd again and also realign
the Stroke Indices? I suspect the answer is somewhere in the rulebook, as
always, but I have not been able to locate it. Yet.
Best regards,
Lulu from the U.K.
Dear Lou,
The Definition of “Stipulated Round” tells us that the
Committee may reduce the number of holes played in a round. Since your course
has two unplayable holes, the Committee is well within its rights to inform
players that the stipulated round for the competition will be 16 holes.
The two unplayable holes do not need to be considered
halved; they are simply not played. The Committee might want to consider making
adjustments to the players’ handicaps, since they are playing 16 holes instead
of the customary 18, but that is not a requirement. The easiest way for the
Committee to handle this is to let the players compete without making any
adjustments, letting the strokes fall where they may. Your Committee has
handled this situation correctly.
Linda
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
Response from an English official:
Response from an English official:
My understanding is that under CONGU handicapping regulations, the Committee has no power to adjust handicaps in such circumstances.
