Club Championship Round Cancelled Mid Round

[bubbs33]

Hi,

Today was 4th and final round of club championship at my local club.

Weather was horrendous(heavy rain and heavy wind) but course was deemed playable. Everyone playing in compeititon had started and had completed minimum of 4 holes before play was cancelled/abandoned due to water logged greens. Absolutely the correct decision by the way.

The committee has decided that the 4th round will now be played next Saturday. My question is:

Should everyone start again from the 1st tee, cancelling out the holes they completed today? Or should everyone start again from where they finished up today when the round was cancelled/suspended/abandoned?

Curious to hear of any others that have been a similar situation. And even better if anyone knows where there is a definitive black and white ruling from the R&A.

Thanks!

 

[Arthur Wedge]

If the round is cancelled then start from scratch next week

 

[doublebogey7]

This would be for the organising committee to decide assuming there is l nothing laid out in the Terms of Competition.

 

[jim8flog]

I would suggest that the fairest thing to do was everybody to start from the 1st in the hope that all get the same conditions for all holes.

This is what the R&A say in their guidance for running a comp

b. Stroke PlayIn stroke play there is no set guidance for when a Committee should cancel a round. The proper action depends on the circumstances in each case and is left to the judgment of the Committee. A round should be cancelled only in a case where it would be very unfair not to cancel it. For example, it would be reasonable to cancel a round if a small number of players begin a round under extremely bad weather conditions, conditions subsequently worsen and play for the remainder of that day is impossible, but when play will resume the next day the weather is likely to be significantly better. When a round is cancelled, all scores and penalties during that round are cancelled. That would normally include any disqualification penalty, but, if a player is disqualified for a serious misconduct (see Rule 1.2) or for a breach of the Code of Conduct, that disqualification should not be cancelled.

 

[bubbs33]

This would be for the organising committee to decide assuming there is l nothing laid out in the Terms of Competition.

Thanks for reply

Nothing formal in terms of competition so would be for committee to decide

 

[bubbs33]

I would suggest that the fairest thing to do was everybody to start from the 1st in the hope that all get the same conditions for all holes.

This is what the R&A say in their guidance for running a comp

b. Stroke PlayIn stroke play there is no set guidance for when a Committee should cancel a round. The proper action depends on the circumstances in each case and is left to the judgment of the Committee. A round should be cancelled only in a case where it would be very unfair not to cancel it. For example, it would be reasonable to cancel a round if a small number of players begin a round under extremely bad weather conditions, conditions subsequently worsen and play for the remainder of that day is impossible, but when play will resume the next day the weather is likely to be significantly better. When a round is cancelled, all scores and penalties during that round are cancelled. That would normally include any disqualification penalty, but, if a player is disqualified for a serious misconduct (see Rule 1.2) or for a breach of the Code of Conduct, that disqualification should not be cancelled.

Yeah I'd read that online.

But with the rules of golf, there isn't always the clarity that there probably should be.

The first bit you highlighted includes in the example "small number of players begin a round".

As the whole field had started, and were on the course with every player having completed a minimum of 4 holes, that is a different scenario to the way I read the example

 

[wjemather]

The committee should have just cancelled the fourth round and declared the results after the third round as final.

What I said in a similar thread a few months ago:

(Most) people have busy lives away from the golf club and it's competitions, so many who participated in any completed rounds would not be available for a rescheduled date for any suspended/postpone/abandoned rounds, so it usually makes sense not to reschedule and simply finalise results on the round(s) completed.

Anyway, to avoid any arguments, policies for delays, suspensions, postponements and cancellations should be covered in the Terms of Competition.

 

[bubbs33]

The committee should have just cancelled the fourth round and declared the results after the third round as final.

What I said in a similar thread a few months ago:

There were some players today who thought the same.

But I don't agree with this for a couple of reasons.

1. Whoever is leading during 3rd round of 4 doesn't have anything like the same pressure to deal with as if it was round 3 of 3 or what the competition intended to be round 4 of 4. They're not standing on the tee of a tough 230 yard par 3 16th hole with out of bounds left and right knowing they're one bad swing away from throwing it away.

2. The chasing pack in round 3 of 4 will likely play differently down the finishing holes than if it was round 2 of 3 or the intended 4 of 4. They can still play consertavily to stay on the leaders tail safe in the knowledge they have another 18 holes to make up whatever the shortfall is.

3. The competition is planned for 72 holes. Luckily we have an accommodating membership and available alternative days to play the intended 4th round.

All about opinions though.

 

[IanM]

Hence as said above, all this needs covering in regs before the off.

If it isn't, the committee have some thrashing out to do! Good luck chaps

 

[wjemather]

There were some players today who thought the same.

But I don't agree with this for a couple of reasons.

1. Whoever is leading during 3rd round of 4 doesn't have anything like the same pressure to deal with as if it was round 3 of 3 or what the competition intended to be round 4 of 4. They're not standing on the tee of a tough 230 yard par 3 16th hole with out of bounds left and right knowing they're one bad swing away from throwing it away.

2. The chasing pack in round 3 of 4 will likely play differently down the finishing holes than if it was round 2 of 3 or the intended 4 of 4. They can still play consertavily to stay on the leaders tail safe in the knowledge they have another 18 holes to make up whatever the shortfall is.

3. The competition is planned for 72 holes. Luckily we have an accommodating membership and available alternative days to play the intended 4th round.

All about opinions though.

Yep, there's nothing quite like someone ten off the pace having the club championship fall into their lap because none of the leaders (and beat players in the club) are available for a rescheduled final round - something that actually happened at a local club last year.

 

[4LEX]

What club has a four round Club Championship? Never heard of that format before..

 

[salfordlad]

The committee should have just cancelled the fourth round and declared the results after the third round as final.

What I said in a similar thread a few months ago:

IMO, if the club plans to retain the right to extend the completion dates in certain circumstances, this should be identified in the entry form/terms of the competition.

 

[salfordlad]

What club has a four round Club Championship? Never heard of that format before..

72 holes stroke over 2 weekends is not uncommon. Earlier 'classic' approaches of 36 stroke then 8 or 16 to qualify for 36 hole match play contests is becoming too time-intensive for many - requiring up to 6 weekends to get done. (I won a club ch'ship in that format multiple decades ago and shudder to think about that amount of golfing effort today - over 200 holes - for a name on a board that no-one looks at anyway.)

 

[wjemather]

IMO, if the club plans to retain the right to extend the completion dates in certain circumstances, this should be identified in the entry form/terms of the competition.

And the reserve date(s) specified rather than (giving the appearance of) fixing it to suit certain players after the event.

 

[salfordlad]

And the reserve date(s) specified rather than (giving the appearance of) fixing it to suit certain players after the event.

Absolutely. No surprises. Competitors entering should know precisely what they may be up for.

 

[4LEX]

72 holes stroke over 2 weekends is not uncommon. Earlier 'classic' approaches of 36 stroke then 8 or 16 to qualify for 36 hole match play contests is becoming too time-intensive for many - requiring up to 6 weekends to get done. (I won a club ch'ship in that format multiple decades ago and shudder to think about that amount of golfing effort today - over 200 holes - for a name on a board that no-one looks at anyway.)

Thanks for the reply mate. I guess these are mostly in Scotland?

I've only ever heard of Club Championships being 36 holes, either same day or over two days. Some old fashioned clubs down here have it over one round and call it the Gold Medal or something similar!

 

[salfordlad]

Thanks for the reply mate. I guess these are mostly in Scotland?

I've only ever heard of Club Championships being 36 holes, either same day or over two days. Some old fashioned clubs down here have it over one round and call it the Gold Medal or something similar!

I haven't come across club champs being down to one round and do not know about Scotland.

 

[DickInShorts]

Up here in Scotland I believe it’s quite common to have 4 round club championships played over two weekends as happened at my previous club. Another club has a 4 round championship over a longer period with best 3 rounds counting.
Yet another has a qualifying round (or two) followed by matchplay.
A previous English club had 2 rounds over a weekend

I seems there are a lot of variations

 

[Orikoru]

At my old club I played in a competition that was abandoned for waterlogged greens after we'd played 15 holes. I think I had about 34 points already so was gutted. But they just rearranged that and everyone started again from the 1st.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Our club champs is across a Saturday and Sunday in the same weekend

Last year after about 2 hours we have to abandon the first round due to heavy rain


We looked at multiple different scenarios and in the end decided to start again on the Sunday for the first round and then the second round was to be on the following Sunday

Some players couldn’t make the following Sunday but still played in the first round