McCleery Golf Club Conditions of Play, Pace of Play and Local Rules

CONDITIONS OF PLAY

  1.  Check In. A player signed up to play in a tournament shall report to the 1st tee 20 minutes prior to his scheduled tee time. If the player fails to report 15 minutes prior to his scheduled tee time, he may forfeit his entry in the tournament if a spare player is available to play in  his place. Repeat offenders risk further disciplinary actions. If you enter a tournament, be prepared to play in inclement conditions

  2.  Code of Conduct. Please refer to the Code of Conduct section on the main portal page.

  3.  The Board of Directors shall discipline any member, who in the opinion of the majority of Directors, willfully infringes upon the by-laws or rules of the club, or is guilty of conduct injurious to the character, interest, or good order of the club, e.g. abusive behavior towards another member, member of the public, or employee of the park board or pro-shop. A member being disciplined may appear before the Board to appeal his case.

PACE OF PLAY RULES

  1. One-stroke penalty for everyone in any group playing the front nine in more than 2:10 and 15 minutes or more behind the group in front.

  2. One-stroke penalty for everyone in any group playing the back nine in more than 2:15 and 15 minutes or more behind the group in front.

  3. Opportunity to negate a front nine penalty by finishing the back nine less than 15 minutes behind the group in front.

  4. No penalty for a group finishing in 4:25 or less, regardless of splits.

  5. Starter to write start time on scorecards upon tee off of first player in a group.

  6. The first group of the day must play within 2:10 (front nine) and 2:15 (back nine) or 4:25 (18) to avoid penalties, unless slowed by public players in front. We will seek the marshal's assistance in policing this and will also seek to ensure that the day is kicked off with a fast group.

  7. Groups beginning following a starter time must meet the same criteria as the first group of the day or be within 15 minutes of the group in front to avoid penalties.

  8. Scorecards cannot be time-punched until all players in a group have holed out.

  9. Failure to time-punch card will result in a one-stroke penalty for everyone in the group, per occurrence.

  10. There will be a right of appeal and a possibility of negating penalties if other players in a group agree that slow pace of play is due to a specific member or members or to other mitigating factors

  11. In addition to stroke penalties, the following will apply:

    1. Warning on first offense.

    2. Suspension of one tournament on second offense.

    3. Suspension of three tournaments on third offense.

  12. The match committee may alter or suspend these rules and procedures on any day due to inclement weather conditions. However, please note that our local rules regarding interpretation of ground under repair minimize the likelihood of incurring stroke penalties due to lost balls.

CANCELLATION POLICY 

Once your name has been officially entered in a tournament draw, you are committed to play in that tournament. If a member cancels after the draw has been posted, not only is it difficult to find a replacement, but it also looks bad in the eyes of the Vancouver Park Board and can give our Club a bad reputation. The VPB reserves the right to charge for a no-show or cancellation 4 hours or less before the tee time. 

Is there any way to avoid the penalties?

YES

We know that sometimes life can throw you a curve ball, and you may need to remove yourself from a tournament at the last minute. Nobody wants to penalize you for that.

So, if you don’t want to incur the penalties, simply find another member to replace you for that tournament, and/or let your Club Captain know by emailing him (mccleerygolfcaptain@outlook.com) as soon as possible. If you have received a confirmation email from the Vancouver Park Board, you must also cancel online with them.

LOCAL RULES

Golf Canada Rules along with the following Local Rules govern all play. All putts MUST be holed in individual stroke play. In the interest of pace of play, a player should consider “picking up” if their  score would not affect the team score in Team events or if their score would be “0” in an individual Stableford competition. Your score for posting would be your most likely score if you had finished the hole, but not more that your equitable stroke score for that hole.

  1. Golfers are expected to know the New Rules of Golf that came into effect January 1 2019. This section provides the McCleery Golf Club Local Rules which are specific to play at the  McCleery Golf Course in accordance with the new Rules.

  2. More detailed description of Out of Bounds;

  3. More detailed definition of Penalty Areas and their boundaries in the absence of lines and stakes;

  4. The wooden edging of the pond left of hole 5 green is defined as an immovable obstruction;

  5. The Drop Zone on hole 4 (for play from the Blue Tees) has been eliminated;

  6. New Local Rule providing relief from immovable obstructions close to putting greens; and

  7. New Local Rules dealing with course preservation (newly planted trees and planted areas for example).

THE  ‘SHORT VERSION’

  1. Out of Bounds (Rule 2.1):

    White stakes or lines, past the net or stakes along the right side of hole 8 and the fence along the boundary of hole 10 are the only Out of Bounds on the course.

  2. Penalty Areas (Rule 17):

    Painted lines, if present take precedence over stakes. Any Penalty Areas that are not marked with lines or stakes are defined by the natural margin of the Penalty Area. The wooden edge of the pond on hole number 5 is an immovable obstruction (Rule 16.1). Penalty Areas at McCleery include all water features, the left and right sides of hole 8 (o.b. farther right), the left side of hole 13 from the corner near the red tee box to number 14 blue tee box, and the left side of 14 up to the trees. Everything else except bunkers are the General Area and a ball not found is lost.

  3. Embedded Ball in the General Area:

    May be lifted, cleaned and dropped (Rule 16.3b)

  4. Immovable obstructions close to putting green (such as sprinkler heads):

    Relief may be taken if there is interference on the line of play.

  5. Protection of Trees:

    Trees that have stakes and cables or irrigation bags are immovable obstructions and relief under Rule 16.1b applies.

  6. Planted Areas:

    All planted areas on the course are Ground Under Repair and relief must be taken (Rule  16.1b)

  7. Distance measuring devices:

    Are permitted provided they supply distance information only, otherwise the player is disqualified under Rule 4.3.1.

  8. Ball Lost or Out of Bounds:

    If a player’s ball may be lost outside of a penalty area or is known or virtually certain to be out of bounds, the player may proceed as follows rather than proceeding under stroke and distance. They may 1) choose to hit a provisional ball for one penalty stroke or, 2) for two penalty strokes, the player may take relief by dropping the original ball or another ball in the relief area (see Rule 14.3 and the 3 diagrams below). They cannot do 2. if a provisional ball was played.  In all of these cases, the player would be lying 3 afterwards.

  9. Lift/Clean/Place (or Replace):

    This rule would only be in effect if it is specifically announced for the day’s play. (Rule 14)

  10. Leaf Rule:

    Only in effect if it is specifically announced for the day’s play. (Rule 16.1)

  11. Flooded Bunkers:

    Only in effect if it is specifically announced for the day’s play. (Rule 16.1c)

Note: The ‘Short Version’ of the Local Rules is indicative only. The ‘Long Version’ should be read for a complete understanding of the Local Rules. A Link to ‘The Long Version’ can be found here.