US Women’s Amateur Championship Qualifier
Pace of Play Guidelines
STROKE PLAY
Players should play at a prompt pace throughout the round. Players are both allowed and encouraged to play “ready golf” in a safe and responsible way (Rule 6.4b) and should make a stroke in no more than 40 seconds (Rule 5.6b).
GENERAL
The Pace of Play Committee will designate four (4) holes on the course as pace of play checkpoint holes. When a group has been notified by a checkpoint official of a missed checkpoint, the group is expected to regain its position.
MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE TIME
Maximum allowable time is the MAXIMUM time considered necessary by the Committee for a group to complete its round. This is expressed in a per-hole and aggregate time format on the player scorecard.
OUT OF POSITION
A group is out of position when it:
- Takes more than the maximum allowable time to finish a checkpoint hole and
- Completes play of that checkpoint hole more than 14 minutes after the group in front of them.
A checkpoint hole is complete when the ball of the last player in the group to hole out has been removed from the hole.
The first group(s) of each wave is measured only against maximum allowable time until they are within 14 minutes of the group in front of them
GROUP OUT OF POSITION – MONITORED BY A RULES ROVER
- Any group that is out of position may be monitored by a Rules Rover who will individually time strokes made by a player(s).
- Each player is permitted a maximum of 40 seconds to make a stroke. A player who exceeds 40 seconds is considered to have made a bad time.
- Except on the putting green, the timing of a player’s stroke begins when it is the player’s turn to play without interference or distraction. Time spent determining yardage and other conditions, such as wind, will count as time taken for the stroke.
- On the putting green, the timing of a player’s stroke begins when it is the player’s turn to play without interference or distraction and after a player has completed the actions allowed under Rule 13.1, provided the player is not unreasonably delaying play. Time spent surveying the line of play from any angle will also count as time taken for the stroke.
- Any player(s) concerned about another player(s) in the group should request a Rules Rover to monitor the group.
- Bad times and other information gathered at any time by the Rules Committee may be used during the review process. If the group becomes liable to penalty, bad times will be considered when determining penalties.
- Regardless of position, if the Pace of Play Committee determines that a player(s) in the group is delaying play of their own group, following groups or the competition in general:
- The player(s) may be spoken to by a Rules Rover.
- The penalty for breach of Rule 5.6a (Unreasonable Delay of Play) may be applied
MISSED CHECKPOINTS (PENALTIES)
Players in a group that have missed one or more checkpoints are liable to penalty according to the following schedule of penalties:
- 1st missed checkpoint – warning*
- 2nd missed checkpoint – liable to a penalty of one stroke
- 3rd missed checkpoint – liable to an additional penalty of two strokes
- 4th missed checkpoint – liable to disqualification
*Rules Officials will be monitoring pace of play in between the two check point stations. If a group receives an official warning prior to missing their 1st check point, they could be liable to a one stroke penalty for missing only one checkpoint.
*If a group successfully clears each of their first checkpoint but is out of position (misses) at the 2nd and last checkpoint, each player in the group is liable to a penalty of one stroke.
*Any penalty strokes that are to be applied to a player(s) score are applied on the checkpoint hole(s) where they became liable to penalty.
REVIEW PROCESS
Pace of Play reviews will not take place during the round. The Pace of Play Committee will review missed checkpoints in the scoring area only (before scorecards are returned) and make a final determination whether penalties will be assessed.