Tee off time

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awilliams89

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Hi folks

First time poster.

My brother was DQ from a competition today for teeing off too early.... is this a thing?

His group were first out and there was no starter. The tee was empty so they decided to tee off about 10 mins early.

He won the competition and was notified by text that he was DQ for teeing off early.

Is this a thing?
 
awilliams89 said:
Hi folks

First time poster.

My brother was DQ from a competition today for teeing off too early.... is this a thing?

His group were first out and there was no starter. The tee was empty so they decided to tee off about 10 mins early.

He won the competition and was notified by text that he was DQ for teeing off early.

Is this a thing?
Click to expand...

Yes that is the correct ruling

5.3 Starting and Ending Round
a. When to Start Round
A player’s round starts when the player makes a stroke to start his or her first hole (see Rule 6.1a).
The player must start at (and not before) his or her starting time:
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Why not? Course was empty, why not just crack on? Waiting for a start time when the course is empty is just pedantry isn't it?

Educate me. Why is it a genuine issue, not just 'it's the rule'.
Click to expand...

I think its fair enough, it's annoying having someone tee off behind you the second they think youre out of range, rather than just wating for thier tee time.
 
robinthehood said:
I think its fair enough, it's annoying having someone tee off behind you the second they think youre out of range, rather than just wating for thier tee time.
Click to expand...
I agree with you but in this instance they were the first group out. Equally, let's say you are off at 1.30 and the group before were off at 12.50. Would it really matter if you went off at 1.15?

When it really doesn't matter, why is it an issue? (Genuinely happy to hear a good reason and have my mind altered)
 
It is a rule that in one way does not make sense to me.

When the new rules were coming out and we were asked for our comments and it is one I commented on.

There have been occasions when it has made sense once to me personally and another to another member who made a complaint to the club.

On both occasions we were booked in to play with people we did not know and on each of the occasions the other pair on the booking teed off well before the tee time
leaving us stranded - booked in without any body to mark our cards.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
I agree with you but in this instance they were the first group out. Equally, let's say you are off at 1.30 and the group before were off at 12.50. Would it really matter if you went off at 1.15?

When it really doesn't matter, why is it an issue? (Genuinely happy to hear a good reason and have my mind altered)
Click to expand...
It happened at my club once .
Blind tee shot one of the players hit a greenkeeper preparing the course.
He was advised there was nobody on the course until a certain time.
The players were DQ and disciplined for putting the GK in danger.
 
Not all of them do, but this one kinda makes sense to me;

Tee off time is 10:00am
The Group decide to tee off at 09:50 cos everything’s clear, no players in front etc
09:55 after a big bounce Player A holes out his second for an eagle (woohoo)
09:58 Player A rips the hell out of his tee shot to the long par 3 second hole to land within an inch for guaranteed bird, 3 under already, it’s a great start
09.59 the heavens open and it lashes it down big time and although it eases the rain is on for the day
Its 10:00 Back on the first tee & you can’t even see the green, the next group have arrived for their 10:08 tee time looking half drowned just in the time they moved 50 yards from the clubhouse, but already they and all the gear are soaking & they wonder where Player A and group are?

Player A wins the comp by a shot from one of the guys starting at 10:08 & takes a 2’s pot of a three figure sum, they were the only group to play any part of the round in the dry
 
Lord Tyrion said:
I agree with you but in this instance they were the first group out. Equally, let's say you are off at 1.30 and the group before were off at 12.50. Would it really matter if you went off at 1.15?

When it really doesn't matter, why is it an issue? (Genuinely happy to hear a good reason and have my mind altered)
Click to expand...
Like all rules infringements, it becomes a question of where do you draw the line. It's OK for the 1st group to tee off early but no other groups? Or all groups can start early if the group in front are clear?
 
Generally players in a competition are given start times in order that the committee can keep track of play. If the starter is not expecting the next group for 20 minutes (say) he may have gone from the tee when the players have gone off early. They would not be aware of any information the starter may have intended to give them (like local rules, preferred lies because of poor conditions on a particular hole etc).
Further, there could be a safety concern. When is it safe to go? Outside competitions, clubs should be setting start times to ensure players don't just tee off willy nilly. What is a safe time? One minute, two, seven?
 
i'd imagine it was first thing in the moring and the greens keeprs would expect to get prep work done and out the way before members hit the course.
 
drive4show said:
Like all rules infringements, it becomes a question of where do you draw the line. It's OK for the 1st group to tee off early but no other groups? Or all groups can start early if the group in front are clear?
Click to expand...
I like the point made by some regarding greenkeepers. That is very logical and I take that onboard.

In terms of your point, where do you draw the line, I like the use of common sense in these things. I know it is often in short supply but if a course is clear, group in front are on the 2nd tee already, do you really need to wait another 4 minutes just for the sake of it? As long as the gaps between groups are maintained then if everyone shuffles forward a few minutes I don't see the harm.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Why not? Course was empty, why not just crack on? Waiting for a start time when the course is empty is just pedantry isn't it?

Educate me. Why is it a genuine issue, not just 'it's the rule'.
Click to expand...
I suppose it can make a difference in the following situation:

Let us say 1st group is out at 9.00am. Nice morning, but heavy rain forecast at 12pm, and wind due to pick up progressively throughout the day. Would it be fair that the 1st group could start as early as they like, to try and beat the elements? What if they turned up just after 8am, and were told the tee was clear all the way up to 9am? They'd be getting a big advantage over the rest of the field. Furthermore, if they teed off at, say 8:15am, if the 2nd group happened to be there, could they then tee up just after? But, if the 2nd group were not there, but the 3rd group were, could they nip in and take advantage by going out second?

Ultimately, there will always be "luck of the draw". But, if golfers were permitted to then tee off as early as they liked, assuming the tee was clear, it would make a bit of a mockery of an organised competition.

So, in the original posters case, yes it feels harsh. But, it is probably a fair rule in the end to ensure groups get off as fairly as possible.
 
I was made aware of this rule quite early on as I liked to play early so was in the 1st group out a few times a year. I used to note people teeing up then standing for a minute or so, keeping an eye on the clock before hitting.

Also the reason you will find that pretty much every club has a clock in sight of the 1st tee, so that no one could claim they didn't know the correct time or their watch was wrong.

And like many rules of golf, some strict enforcement seems very harsh, but as @Swango1980 pointed out, some people may try to take advantage, whether innocently enough or not, which others in the field couldn't or wouldn't do.
 
I had to DQ someone years back who was due out in the last group of a competition and he and his two mates just decided to go off first to avoid some expected bad weather. They were told they would be DQd but went anyway. Then after the round, when one of them had posted the winning score, they got one of their mates on the committee to allow it claiming I had said to them it was OK as competition organiser and it was my word against theirs. The entire club was up in arms about it and when it came to the presentation, the competition was named and the trophy just left on a table. Water off a duck's back to this guy who was a known cheat and liar.


On the original post, you cannot pick and choose the Rules of Golf you want to adhere to. By all means go the process of trying to get them changed but they are there for everyone to adhere to.
 
We are clock watching on the 1st tee these days - watching as in watching how slowly the big hand moves... With 10mins tee off intervals the group ahead have long disappeared over the top of the hill - and the next group can normally go. But we wait, and wait, until the hand ticks round to our time. It's a different scenario but the principle is the same. We have a tee time. We tee off at our tee time. The point about greenkeepers prep'ing the course and also on beating the weather are more pertinent to the first tee of the day.
 
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