Could it affect the result if your greenkeepers need to cut fairways, greens, or rough while an event is under way?
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
Here’s a sure-fire way to get members complaining: start cutting down the rough at your course in the middle of a competition.
The early starters were flailing around in the deep stuff whenever they were offline, while those teeing off later were able to carve it all over the golf course at will.
It’s an extreme example, of course, but what if your greenkeepers have been unable to complete their maintenance work before an event gets under way? Or what if they need to do something while a competition is taking place?
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Do you need to cancel the competition? What if a sudden issue on the course arises, such as when the weather turns?
It can be confusing in the heat of the moment and when you’re under pressure from golfers, to know how to react.
But in the Committee Procedures issued by The R&A and USGA as part of the Official Guide to the Rules of Golf, there is clear advice on what to do if course maintenance is carried out during the round.
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It’s obviously preferable “to have all maintenance on the course completed before the first group reaches each hole” so that all golfers can play the layout in the same condition.
When it’s not possible, though, and whether that’s cutting greens, fairways, rough, or raking bunkers, “the results of the competition stand as played”.
When there are areas of ground under repair that are unnoticed until play is under way, or when additional damage is caused by weather or players, the Procedures say committees can decide to make those areas ground under repair.
“The decision to mark an area should be made regardless of whether a player has already played from that area,” the guidance states.
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
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