Pace of Play Guidelines

GGA Pace of Play Expectations

1. Be in position with the group in front of you.
2. Complete your 18 holes in 4 hours or less.

Monitoring Pace of Play

1. Each group's scorecard will show their start time off the first tee.
2. When each group reaches the 10th tee, their first 9-hole completion time will be recorded.
3. When each group completes their 18 holes, the finish time will be recorded.

Every attempt will be made by the GGA to have Marshals on the course during each tournament, giving feedback to each group about their position relative to the group in front of them and, if possible, their pace to that point.

Even if there are no Marshals on the course, each group is responsible for maintaining its proper position with the group in front of them, not the group behind them.

When Your Group Is In Position

Your group is in position with the group in front of you when:

1. On a par 3, your group arrives at the tee box as the group in front is replacing the flag and walking off the green.
2. On a par 4, your group arrives at the tee box as the group in front is driving away after hitting their approach shots to the green.
3. On a par 5, your group arrives at the tee box as the group in front is driving away after hitting their lay-up or approach shots to the green.

If your group arrives at a tee box later than any of the situations above, your group is out of position. Speed up your pace of play until you are back in position, then maintain that position for the remainder of the round.

Marshal Warnings

If your group falls behind, the Marshal will give your group a warning to catch up within the next 2 holes.

On the next warning by the Marshal, the entire group will be penalized one stroke and given another 2 holes to catch up.

If slow play continues, the entire group will be moved up one hole by the Marshal and assessed a double par for the hole they are playing.

Checkpoint Timing

A Volunteer Ambassador or GGA Advisory Board member will be near the 10th tee box to record turn-time completion of the first 9 holes and let each group know how they are doing in relation to the group in front of them.

The first 9-hole turn time is recorded when the entire group reaches the 10th tee box.

If a group takes more than 2 hours 10 minutes to complete the first 9 holes and is 16 minutes or more behind the group in front, each player in the group will be assessed a one stroke penalty added to their score on the just-completed 9 holes.

The penalty will be waived if the group catches up on the back 9 holes and completes the round in 4 hours 30 minutes or less.

A Volunteer Ambassador or GGA Advisory Board member will be near the 10th tee box or 18th green to record turn-time completion of the last 9 holes and let each group know how they did in relation to the group that finished in front of them.

If a group takes more than 2 hours 5 minutes to complete the last 9 holes and is 16 minutes or more behind the group in front, each player in the group will be assessed a one stroke penalty added to their score on the just-completed last 9 holes.

Penalty Guidelines

The 16-minute out-of-position gap is based on a 4-hour 18-hole round, or an average of 13 minutes per hole. Par 3s should take about 10 minutes, par 4s about 13 minutes, and par 5s about 15 minutes. A 16-minute finishing gap puts the group at least one hole behind the group in front and out of position.

If a majority of the players in a penalized group communicate that a single player was the sole cause of the group's unsatisfactory pace of play, the penalty stroke or strokes will be given only to that player.

In the interest of speed and fairness, any pace of play penalty stroke assessment will be made by the Tournament Committee before the end of the day in which the infraction took place.

Any pace of play penalty stroke assessment will be communicated directly to the GGA Handicap Chairman for tournament results calculations and to the recipient of the penalty strokes, and will be disclosed to all GGA members.

Assessed penalty strokes will be added to a player's score for determining the player's standing and final results in the respective tournament, but will not be added when entering the player's score into the GGA Handicap system.

Weather And Course Conditions

GGA tournaments played under cart path only guidelines, or under a process other than scheduled tee times, may have any or all of these guidelines waived by the Tournament Committee.