CTGA 2024 Pace of Play Policy

Our CTGA Pace of Play policy was established and approved by our members at our 2021 Annual Meeting but has been quite relaxed up to now.  In light of expectations from golf courses and our CTGA members, we have made the commitment to apply and enforce this policy to its fullest in 2024.

Our 2024 CTGA Pace of Play policy has one common goal… ALL FOURSOME FINISH TIMES SHALL NOT EXCEED 4 HOURS 30 MINUTES, AND NOT TO EXCEED 20 MINUTE FINISH BEHIND THE FOURSOME IN FRONT.  Most all CTGA members are making a concerted effort to meet this goal, yet we continue to see some groups every event who just can’t seem to play in less than 5 hours. 

Why does CTGA have a Pace of Play Policy?

  1. Golf courses are becoming less lenient on excessive slow play and its important for CTGA to maintain a positive relationship with all golf courses on our schedule;
  2. Our Members continually request an acceptable Pace of Play in our tournaments.
  3. We will not lose valued members due to the continual frustrations of Slow Play.
  4. It is the right way to play golf.

The success of our Pace policy is determined by 3 factors….

  1. The pace of the General Public play in front of our lead foursome;
  2. Our lead CTGA foursome maintains an acceptable pace behind the GP foursome in front;
  3. All other CTGA foursomes maintain an acceptable pace behind our lead foursome.

As Directors, our commitment to our Members is to:

  1. Honor the continuing requests to eliminate Excessive Slow Play;
  2. Clarify our position as to what constitutes “Excessive Slow Play” as explained below;
  3. Avoid premature penalizing of players until we understand why their finish time was excessive;
  4. Be fair and consistent on when to or not assess penalties for Excessive Slow Play.

Excessive Slow Play will not be assessed if….

  1. The foursome completes their round in 4 hours 30 minutes or less or finishes more than a hole behind the foursome in front but within our 4 hour 30 minute goal.
  2. The foursome maintains an acceptable distance with the foursome in front but finishes in more than 4 hours 30 minutes, caused by excessive slow play in front of them.
  3. The foursome gets behind during the round but is successful in catching up and getting back to an acceptable position behind the foursome in front.

Excessive Slow Play WILL be assessed if…..

  1. The foursome maintains a position of more than a hole behind for most of the round and finishes in excess of 20 minutes behind the foursome in front;
  2. The foursome fails to maintain an acceptable pace behind the foursome in front that causes excessive wait time and bottlenecks of foursomes behind and make no effort to catch up.

ACCEPTABLE POSITION ON THE COURSE is defined by CTGA policy as….

  1. Being ready to play when the group in front is out of range on the same fairway;
  2. The group in front is still in the fairway on Par 4 and Par 5 holes or on the green on Par 3 holes when your group reaches the teeing ground on the same hole.

Simply stated, if you’re waiting for the foursome in front to clear to make your shot, your pace is

excellent, whereas if you can’t see the foursome in front, your pace is poor.

 

THE 2 MAJOR FACTORS THAT WILL ENSURE AN ACCEPTABLE PACE OF PLAY:  Although there are many helpful hints one can incorporate in his/her game to ensure an Acceptable Pace of Play, the 2 Major Factors all players should focus on are:

  1. Be aware of your play time to ensure a 4 hour 30 minute maximum time on the course.
  2. Be either waiting or not more than one hole behind the foursome in front.

As we move forward into our 2024 tournament schedule, it’s important that we continue to stress Pace of Play by implementing the following initiatives that we hope will help our members  monitor their Pace Time on the course to meet our Acceptable and Reasonable Pace of Play goal:

  1. All players in the foursome are considered Pace Champions.
  2. The actual time all official scorecards are returned to the scoring area will be recorded and reviewed.
  3. Official tournament scorecards will have expected finish times for all 18 holes for player reference.
  4. A finish by any foursome deemed Excessive will be evident in the time lapse between their finish and the finish of the foursome in front.
  5. The assessing of Excessive Slow Play Penalties to any player or foursome will be the result of neglect to maintain an Acceptable Pace on the golf course and finish within our target time as shown above.
  6. CTGA Directors will, if necessary, assess PENALTIES based on the time difference between your finish and that of the foursome in front and the factors that resulted in the Excessive Slow Play.
  7. For Tee Time events, a 5 minute grace time will be deducted from the actual time the scorecard is returned to the scoring area.
  8. For Shotgun Start events, a grace time will be deducted from the actual time the scorecard is returned to the scoring area based on the distance between their finishing hole and the scoring area.
  9. If warranted, we will implement a CTGA Self-Monitoring Marshal to help improve foursome Pace of Play.

Our CTGA Pace of Play policy is as important as Playing the ball down, holing all putts, 14 club limit, etc.  In fairness to all members, we will enforce it as we do all other Rules of Play.  All players in every foursome are considered a Pace of Play Champions and have the responsibility to ensure your foursome is complying with all CTGA Rules of Play, including Pace of Play.

Lastly, we welcome any feedback and/or suggestions that may help CTGA members improve our collective Pace of Play.

Thanks in advance to all for your efforts and cooperation.

Your CTGA Directors
November 16, 2023