West Midlands Golf Club – General Rules
Solihull Golf Club – refer to noticeboards

The Rules of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club shall apply, with the addition of this set of rules and the Local Rules of the course. It is the responsibility of every player to be aware of these rules. Local rules are published on the scorecard, and additional local rules may be published on the notice board.  If in doubt or if a ruling is needed, contact a member of staff or a member of the Competition or Handicap committee. The Competition Committee reserve the right to make any decision which in their opinion is both justified and in the spirit of the competition.  Anyone who feels that an improper decision has been made may appeal to the club committee in writing, within 7 days of the result being announced.

Fees

Competitions are open to current members of the Club.  Some competitions will have additional qualifying requirements, and these will be clearly indicated on the competition poster for the individual competition. Entry fees should be paid as requested on the competition poster and fees paid as requested on the poster.

Majors

All Majors are to be played from the Blue Tees (Senior Majors – Whites, Ladies – Reds) unless otherwise specified on the entry sheet for the day.  For any member to enter a Major competition for which there is a winner’s board (except the Club Championship), they must be an amateur, have a current WHS handicap, be a home player (except in the Members Invitational) and have played in at least 3 individual qualifying competitions in the previous 6 months (except in the Members Invitational).  This is to ensure that their handicap has been recently monitored, however it is expected that players enter club competitions and not just Majors, therefore a player entering just Majors may have their entry not accepted, if he is deemed as playing in just the Majors.

Some Majors may have drawn tee times, where entry must be made on an entry sheet and the draw will be made 1-2 weeks prior to the event. For these events, players will be allowed to play with a specified partner for an acceptable reason, ie to share a buggy, to accompany a junior, to play with your spouse, or to assist a player with needs, but as a pair you must be prepared to be drawn with another two players. On these occasions you must play in the specified draw slots and not at your chosen tee times, as is normally allowed in other competitions.  If you need to play with a particular member, please mark this on the entry sheet.   To enter the Club Championships, players must be home club players only, and have played in at least one other Major in the previous 6 months.

Juniors

Junior and Youth members may enter competitions as per any other member.  When playing in a Major, a Juniors scorecard (not Youth) must be marked and signed by an adult member who is not family related.  He may play with his relation but someone else should mark his card.  Juniors and Youths should play off their normal handicap and play from the competition tee of the day.

Knockout / Matchplay / Order of Merit / Tied competition Rules

All matches and Knockout Competitions should be played over 18 Holes from the White Tees with the exception of the Final which should be played from the Blue Tees.  All entrants should be able to play on two different days of the week, eg one evening and one weekend day or two weekend days to play a match (It is not acceptable to insist a match must be played on a certain day of the week, or only on a midweek day during normal office hours).  In singles matchplay, you must still be prepared to join up with another two ball.  If a match is all square after 18 Holes it shall be continued until a hole is won.  The playoff hole is no.18 and shall be played sudden death up to 3 times, if there is still no winner the match is to go to hole 1,2,3 etc sudden death until the match is decided.  Handicap strokes continue to be received at the indexed holes during sudden death.  In the event of the Club Championship being tied after the designated number of holes, the players shall follow the matchplay sudden death procedure.

Singles matches are to be played off full handicap difference and pairs matches using 90% of the difference of the lowest player.  No extension of time will be allowed for Individual Matches except in special circumstances where application to the Committee should be made.  Competitors shall acquaint themselves with the draw when posted.  All players are equally responsible that the match is played by the due date.  When two players or pairs find it impossible to arrange a date for their match, they should try to decide themselves. i.e. by conceding or by lot or any other mutually agreed method.  Failing agreement as above, the matter will be left to the Competition Committee.  Winners of Matches are responsible for writing their names on the draw sheet for the next round.  In the event of an Order of Merit competition or Eclectic being tied, the players will be asked to play an 18 hole match from the white tees to decide a winner. 

 Handicaps

It is the player’s responsibility to check the competition computer before each competition and to ensure that he applies the correct handicap. If a player uses a higher handicap than he is entitled to, he will be disqualified.  It is the player’s responsibility to sign and hand in all cards, including No Returns. Cards not signed, returned or filled in correctly may lead to disqualification. The following information must be filled in on the card, or it may be disqualified:  Competition name and date, the tees played from should be marked, the players’ name(s), handicap index (s) and the gross score for each hole, with a signature from the player and marker (with markers member no). The only instance where a card is not required to be handed in, is in a matchplay event.

Tee Times

Players must be prepared to join up with other players if asked to do so.  They must also always have a valid green fee ticket which is produced upon check in.  Players should arrive 15 minutes prior to their tee time, and be ready to play 10 minutes before their tee time. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.  Repeated offenders may be disciplined by the committee whose decision will be final. If a member cannot play at a time that he has booked, they must inform the player(s) they were booked with and cancel the tee time booking.  If a player has a tee time booked, he cannot change it on the day to avoid weather conditions. 

Slow Play

Beware of slow play!  Keep up with the group in front, and wave players through rather than delaying them. Consistent slow play will result in players being reported to the Committee and appropriate action being taken.  If you hit a ball, which may be lost (i.e. in the rough) or may be out of bounds you should play a provisional ball. If the first ball is not found within 3 minutes then it must be declared lost and the provisional ball played.  Please consider your club selection and next shot while others take their own shots, not when it becomes your turn to play. Please play “Ready Golf”, if you are ready then you can play, you do not have to be the furthest from the hole (exc Matchplay).  Mark cards on the next tee, not on the green, but not when it is your tee shot first, wait until after you have played.  When you have finished your game, please log your scores in to the computer system as soon as possible, the time that you enter your score is recorded and may be referred to.  Failing to log your scores or hand in cards may lead to committee intervention.  In the event of a no return please hand in your card with this noted, and if you withdraw or leave the course please note the reason on the card and hand in as normal.  You still need to record your scores on the computer.

Bad Weather

We do not issue weather warnings, but we recommend that in the event of thunder and lightning approaching, that you mark your ball, leave the course and return only when the storm has passed.  If you continue to play or remain on the course you do so at your own discretion.  During frost conditions, any scheduled competition will be played, and all players entering, will be deemed to accept that they play the course as it is, therefore later players may play on less temporary greens. As per the rules of golf, rain is not a reason for a player to abandon a competition but in severe cases, the committee may abandon a competition before or after play has started.  If you do leave the course you cannot return again that day.

 Prize Giving

Prizes for day to day competitions will be in the form of prize money which will be added to the players club card to be spent in the bar or shop.  65% of the entry fund will be awarded as follows; for 1 –14 entrants, money will be paid out – 1st place 100%, 15-24 players, 1st 70%, 2nd 30%, 25-32 players 1st 60%, 2nd 25%, 3rd 15%, 33+ players 1st 45%, 2nd 25%, 3rd 20%, 4th 10%.  Major winners will be awarded prizes with the main presentation being held at the annual Captains Dinner, which will be advertised in advance on the notice board.  It is expected that a Major winner will attend the Dinner Dance to accept his or her prize, if they are unable to, they should tender their apologies to the Captain, in advance.

Failure to comply with Rules

It is the player’s responsibility to familiarise himself of the rules of Golf and of the individual competition being played.  Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification in which case the player will be notified on the results sheet.  If three Disqualifications are received within a six month period then the player will not be eligible to take part in any competition for one month. 

For serious breaches of rules, the Committee and Management may deal with a case on an individual basis. 

Ladies Rules

In addition to the rules in this document the Ladies section may have certain competition rules which may differ slightly, please see the noticeboard in the Ladies Locker room for any additional rules.