Coping with morning fog

SwingsitlikeHogan

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Given the constraints around how many can gather etc. and that most if not all clubs have tee booking system for all play - is your place making plans about how to cope with delayed start to the day’s play in the event of fog.

Just interested in what thoughts and plans there are as we are occasionally delayed - sometimes up to a couple of hours - as we wait for early morning fog to lift.
 

patricks148

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Given the constraints around how many can gather etc. and that most if not all clubs have tee booking system for all play - is your place making plans about how to cope with delayed start to the day’s play in the event of fog.

Just interested in what thoughts and plans there are as we are occasionally delayed - sometimes up to a couple of hours - as we wait for early morning fog to lift.
judging by the Scottish university Students at Alyth on Tuesday.... nothing though that was a frost delay:rolleyes:
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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Simple at ours miss your tee time due to closure by fog you have to book a later tee time.

An option we are considering But one that would not go down well with the weekend early-morning regulars...potentially they lose their weekend golf as we are thinking most weekend tee times for full rounds will be taken once clocks go back.

As we do not use tee booking in normal times the club and members have little or no experience of coping with the delays.
 

jim8flog

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An option we are considering But one that would not go down well with the weekend early-morning regulars...potentially they lose their weekend golf as we are thinking most weekend tee times for full rounds will be taken once clocks go back.

As we do not use tee booking in normal times the club and members have little or no experience of coping with the delays.

and the other way round -wait your turn, does not go down well with the regular late starters.

You are not going to please everybody.
 
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Lord Tyrion

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We have a booking system but I've never thought of this before. I always assumed that everyone got knocked back, ie the people off 1st at 7.30am would still be off 1st if fog was there until 9am. The sequence of tee offs just moves back. Clearly I'm wrong.

How far after your tee time has gone do you lose your slot and you have to re-book?
 

jim8flog

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We have a booking system but I've never thought of this before. I always assumed that everyone got knocked back, ie the people off 1st at 7.30am would still be off 1st if fog was there until 9am. The sequence of tee offs just moves back. Clearly I'm wrong.

How far after your tee time has gone do you lose your slot and you have to re-book?

The club rule is simple if the tee time has passed you have missed you tee spot.

Imagine if you are a later starter and need to be finished by a certain time for some reason (work, hospital appointment). Are you going to be happy if you get pushed off your starting time?
 

Lord Tyrion

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The club rule is simple if the tee time has passed you have missed you tee spot.

Imagine if you are a later starter and need to be finished by a certain time for some reason (work, hospital appointment). Are you going to be happy if you get pushed off your starting time?
You can apply the unhappiness comment to all parties in this scenario, someone is missing out somewhere. I'll have to ask at my place as to what the procedure is, it's an interesting one.
 

Doon frae Troon

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I introduced one of the first electronic booking systems in the UK early 1990's.
To stop abuse there was a £20 default fee and a three week block on booking again.
System worked very well with any cancellations being quickly re booked.
I did not accept any excuses as a phone call was all that was needed to cancel.
However, ran over the neighbour's dog on my driveway, had to take pregnant wife in labour to hospital and motorway blocked for two hours were memorable let offs.
Fog was bit of a sod as it could not be proved if the golfers lived outside of the district.

Regarding fog/snow/gales/floods etc they generally balanced out the tee times if the course was open.
Many players who had booked did not turn up and the default system was scrapped for those days.
 

HomerJSimpson

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As far as I am aware once it lifts groups are going out in there booked order and the office will be emailing everyone to say there has been a delay of xxxx and so all times for the day have been delayed by that amount in an attempt to stop too many people arriving and hanging about. I would think once any socially distanced seating has been taken by the early starters in the clubhouse, anyone else would simply have to maintain social distancing in their cars to wait for it to lift
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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As far as I am aware once it lifts groups are going out in there booked order and the office will be emailing everyone to say there has been a delay of xxxx and so all times for the day have been delayed by that amount in an attempt to stop too many people arriving and hanging about. I would think once any socially distanced seating has been taken by the early starters in the clubhouse, anyone else would simply have to maintain social distancing in their cars to wait for it to lift
Well...slipping everyone is not an option that would go down well with such as our 10:30 roll up (Anyone can play) which has the tee reserved for it from 10:30 until 11:50 and for which the draw is made on the prior Thursday evening. Fortunately morning fog delay isn’t a regular occurrence but as when we get it it often doesn’t lift until after 10:30 just wondering what other clubs do.
 

HomerJSimpson

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Well...slipping everyone is not an option that would go down well with such as our 10:30 roll up (Anyone can play) which has the tee reserved for it from 10:30 until 11:50 and for which the draw is made on the prior Thursday evening. Fortunately morning fog delay isn’t a regular occurrence but as when we get it it often doesn’t lift until after 10:30 just wondering what other clubs do.
So why should a 10.30 roll up get priority when people have already had a booked time. I can think of plenty that wouldn't want to play as part of a roll up and far happier in their own group and doing their own thing. I can see that some people that have a time affected by fog won't hang about anyway, but why should those that have a time and have waited then get shunted to accommodate a roll up
 

Imurg

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To my way of thinking..if the course is closed for whatever reason then you miss your slot.
If it reopens then times run on as per the system.

If the course closes at 7am due to rain but reopens at 1.30 as the course has drained..if I had a 7.45 time booked I wouldn't expect to be able to claim the 2.15 slot....
7am, its foggy, course is closed...go home.
 

MrGrumtastic

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To my way of thinking..if the course is closed for whatever reason then you miss your slot.
If it reopens then times run on as per the system.

If the course closes at 7am due to rain but reopens at 1.30 as the course has drained..if I had a 7.45 time booked I wouldn't expect to be able to claim the 2.15 slot....
7am, its foggy, course is closed...go home.
To extend the logic, what about the tee time booked at 1.20? Do they get sent home because the course isn't due to open until 1.30 and they have missed their tee time?
 

Imurg

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To extend the logic, what about the tee time booked at 1.20? Do they get sent home because the course isn't due to open until 1.30 and they have missed their tee time?
Yep.
If youre going to have a rule you can't start bending it...
Harsh but where do draw the line?
10 minutes, half an hour?
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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To my way of thinking..if the course is closed for whatever reason then you miss your slot.
If it reopens then times run on as per the system.

If the course closes at 7am due to rain but reopens at 1.30 as the course has drained..if I had a 7.45 time booked I wouldn't expect to be able to claim the 2.15 slot....
7am, its foggy, course is closed...go home.
Which seems to be the opposite view to that expressed by @Homer...or maybe I misunderstood that. But there does seem to be split between those saying that those in slots impacted by fog lose their slot, tough, and the whole booking moving back until the course is open.

My mentioning the rollup is not that the 40 members playing in it are in any way special - but that as the rollup is set up as a competition in our system should it be expected to move.

Also let’s say a group or two of visitors are booked into early afternoon slots - if every booking slips due to a morning start delay do the visitors lose their times...
 

MrGrumtastic

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Yep.
If youre going to have a rule you can't start bending it...
Harsh but where do draw the line?
10 minutes, half an hour?
I can see both sides of the argument here, I feel that your approach would be suitable for a decision made in advance. So as long as when the decision is made at the beginning of the day a message is sent out saying all tee times before 1.30 are cancelled, I think that's fair and works well for a rain delay.
Fog is a bit more tricky though because it is a bit more subjective and less predictable. If you say the course will be open at 10.00 and there is still lingering fog at that time, does the 10.00 tee time go out, go home, or do they wait a few minutes to see if it clears up a bit?
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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I can see both sides of the argument here, I feel that your approach would be suitable for a decision made in advance. So as long as when the decision is made at the beginning of the day a message is sent out saying all tee times before 1.30 are cancelled, I think that's fair and works well for a rain delay.
Fog is a bit more tricky though because it is a bit more subjective and less predictable. If you say the course will be open at 10.00 and there is still lingering fog at that time, does the 10.00 tee time go out, go home, or do they wait a few minutes to see if it clears up a bit?
Bearing in mind that in normal times at my place - with no tee booking - any folks turning up to play early but course not open will often just put a ball the ballchute by the first tee and hang around.

That said, every day we get an email from our head greenkeeper at about 6am telling us 'state-of-play' - so if foggy or otherwise closed we know. He sends out an hourly update as things continue or immediately when they change. And in normal times all that works OK. If I turn up at 10am and find the clubhouse full of players delayed from playing then I simply decide if I too wish to hang around until they have all tee'd off.

But of course we have to make a decision on how we operate with a booking system in place and no gathering allowed in or around clubhouse.
 

Lord Tyrion

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I emailed the golf manager at my club and asked what our ruling is on this. He classed it as a temporary suspension of play, as per lightning, flooded greens etc and so tee slots would simply shuffle down in order. His assumption was that if it was a long delay then some would simply give up and go home, meaning the impact would be lessened. I like the way our place does it and at least I know now.
 
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