Club News

INFORMATION ON COMPETITIONS AND HANDICAPS, THE CLUB CONSTITUTION, SAFEGUARDING, THE CLUB COMMITTEE AND THE CLUB’S CODE OF CONDUCT CAN ALL BE FOUND ON THE CLUB INFORMATION TAB ON THIS SECTION OF THE WEBSITE.

Remember that if you want to enter any Club competitions, you can do so through the ‘Bookings’ tab on How Did I Do? 

CLUB NEWS OCTOBER 2024

NO MORE QUALIFYING SCORES

Now that the course has gone into winter mode, it is no longer possible to enter qualifying scores at Rodway Hill, either in general play or competitions.  You are still able to enter scores on the How Did I Do? screen, but it has been set so that these do not transfer to England Golf and the WHS database. 

Your scores at other courses where qualifying golf is still permitted will reflect in your handicap but not at Rodway until we are able to start qualifying rounds in 2025.

COMPETITION RESULTS

A reminder that the voucher prizes for Club competitions will be distributed in early November, at the end of the competitions season, with trophies being presented on Presentation Night in February 2025.

The winners of the October Stableford were:

Division 1: Rob Hamilton (overall winner)  2nd Simon Glastonbury 3rd Phil House

Division 2: Bob Preston   2nd Norman Price  3rd Allan Mathura  

Division 3: James Clayton

RODWAY HILL WINNERS 2024

In all, and including medal competitions, over 80 men and seniors (of a membership of 220) won a place in a competition this year – a great level of participation ‘sharing of the prizes’!

PACE OF PLAY: THIS IS IMPORTANT

At the request of members, the Club Committee is working to improve Pace of Play during competitions. Since we brought this to your attention and asked you to take part in our Pace of Play Survey, we have noticed an improvement in the time taken to complete competition rounds – thank you!

PACE OF PLAY POLICY

The Committee is now introducing a Pace of Play policy which applies to competition rounds and  other non-competitive Club initiated events such as roll-ups.  For all other rounds, Pace of Play is the concern of the  Course owners.

All members are expected to have read and to comply with the R&A’s Rules of Golf – Rule 5.6b deals with Prompt Pace of Play and Rule 6.4b(2) refers to Ready Golf. Prompt Pace of Play is in the interests of all golfers. We used to talk of slow play, but fast play can also be a problem. So, we may need to adjust our pace of play to achieve ‘prompt’ Pace of Play for the benefit of the majority.

In response to our Pace of Play Survey, many of you said that penalties should be applied to ‘slow’ players. To apply penalties, players need to know what is expected of them. It is therefore necessary to have an idea of how long we should take, as members, to play a competition round at RHGC. At Rodway Hill GC the majority of Medal / Stableford and other competition rounds are played in three-ball groups and so the Club’s  Pace of Play Policy is based on three-ball competition rounds with an extra time allowed for four-ball rounds.

The R&A says that the average times for playing a Par 3 is 10 minutes, a Par 4 13 minutes and a Par 5 16 minutes – this is taken to include the time taken to walk between holes and mark cards. Rodway Hill GC has Par 3s x 6, Par 4s x 8 and Par 5s x4 , so:

Par 3s x 6 @ 10 minutes = 60 minutes

Par 4s x 8 @ 13 minutes = 104 minutes

Par 5s x 4 @ 16 minutes = 64 minutes

                                      Total = 228 minutes (3 hours 48 minutes)

For competition purposes, the RHGC Committee considers that men playing in three-balls off the white tees should be able to complete their rounds in 3 hours 50 minutes. Two-ball and Foursome matches should be able to complete their rounds within this time. Four-ball groups (Better Ball and Scrambles) will probably take 30 minutes longer to complete their rounds.     

THE CLUB POLICY

The R&A has produced various Pace of Play models that clubs can adopt or adapt. The Rodway Hill policy is as follows:

‘All groups should complete their rounds within the prescribed time: 3 hours and 50 minutes for three-balls and 4 hours and 20 minutes for four-balls. If a group exceeds the prescribed time, plus 10 minutes, each player in the group may be subject to penalty. Any following group will be considered out of position if it is over 10 minutes behind the group in front of them and has exceeded the prescribed time.’

To ensure that the Club’s Pace of Play Policy is effective, the Committee will monitor Pace of Play.

1. Competitors will monitor their own pace of play during competitions – the lead group should set a prompt pace in line with the suggested time for the competition of the round, e.g. 3 hours 50 minutes for a three-ball. Following groups should keep up with the group ahead or call faster groups through – there should be a limited need to call groups through if provisional balls are played and ball-searches limited to the three-minute rule.
2. Competitors will be asked to record the time that their group finishes their competition round – the time to be recorded on scorecards once the group has left the 18th green and are marking and signing their cards.
3. The Committee will publish the Start and Finish times of the fastest and slowest groups after each competition. That way all competitors will see how their times compare to other groups.
4. The Committee may contact all players in a three-ball group taking more than the starting interval and over 3 hours 50 minutes (4 hours 20 minutes for four-balls) to ask for an explanation for the slow play. Failure to reply or provide an acceptable explanation will place a player at risk of sanctions.

READY GOLF

To help to achieve a prompt pace of play, we expect players to play ‘Ready Golf’. This means:

• If you are ready to play, and it’s safe then play!
• No ‘Honour’ – except in Match Play – the first player ready plays.
• Players should play their own ball if it’s safe before helping to look for a lost ball.
• When not playing your shot you should be preparing to play your shot!

To achieve a prompt Pace of Play through the application of Ready Golf principles, we expect players to do the following:

• At the first tee, agree with the others in your group to play Ready Golf and tee-off at your group’s start time.
• At each tee be ready to play when you can.
• Watch all tee shots in your group and let your partners know where their balls have gone.
• Play a Provisional ball if a ball may be lost or out-of-bounds – encourage your playing partners to do so, if necessary.
• Move promptly between your shots and go to your ball.
• If you need to search for a ball, check your watch – you have three minutes to find it. Make certain that others in your group take no longer than three minutes to search for their balls. Call the following group through if necessary – remember that your group’s position is behind the group in front.
• Prepare for your next stroke and play when it is your turn or play Ready Golf safely.
• At the green, position your bag/trolley/buggy on next tee side of green.
• On the green read the line of your putt while others are preparing to putt. Putt out if you can.
• Leave the green and mark your card at the next tee.
• Repeat to 18th green! And, On leaving 18^th green, players in your group should note their finish time on their scorecards.

FINALLY

All RHGC Club Members must read the following R & A guidance which is available on the R & A website or app:

• R&A Rule 5.6b – Prompt Pace of Play: https://www.randa.org/en/rog/the-rules-of-golf/rule-5#5_6b
• R&A – Rule 6.4b(2) – Encouraging Ready Golf: https://www.randa.org/en/rog/the-rules-of-golf/rule-6#6_4b

It would also be helpful to read the R&A Pace of Play Manual, especially:

• Section 2.5 ‘Ready Golf’: https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play/manual/2-management-practices#5-ready-golf
• Section 2.9 ‘Deterring Slow Play’: https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play/manual/2-management-practices#9-deterring-slow-play
• Section 4.3 ‘Being Aware of Position on the Course’: https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play/manual/4-player-behaviour#3-being-aware-of-position-on-the-course
• Section 4.4 ‘Allowing Faster Groups to Play Through’: https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play/manual/4-player-behaviour#4-allowing-faster-groups-to-play-through
• Section 4.5 ‘Being Ready to Play’: https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play/manual/4-player-behaviour#5-being-ready-to-play
• Section 4.7 ‘Various Actions Players Can Take to Improve Pace of Play’: https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play/manual/4-player-behaviour#7-various-actions-players-can-take-to-improve-pace-of-play
• Section 4.9 ‘Have you been told you are a “Slow Player”?’: https://www.randa.org/pace-of-play/manual/4-player-behaviour#9-have-you-been-told-you-are-a-slow-player

CLUB POLICIES

The Committee has recently revised its Disciplinary Procedure and its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.  These, together with the Club’s other key policies, can be found on the Club tab of the website, and members are urged to update themselves on these matters.

CLUB COMMITTEE 2024-25

The following are members of the Club Committee and the composition of the Club Committees.  If you have any queries for them, please use the email [email protected] and it will be directed to the appropriate person