COVID-19 SPECIAL RULES AND INFORMATION
Visitors and Guests of Members
- All visitors and guests will be required to adhere to ALL the measures the club has put in place as outlined below.
- Guests of a member paying a guest’s green fee cannot play before 10:30 at the weekend.
- Casual guests paying a green fee cannot play before 10:30 at the weekend.
- All tee bookings will need to be pre-booked and paid via the pro shop.
- Casual ‘walk in pay & play’ green fees will not be accepted.
Playing Golf
For the period that measures are required to combat COVID-19 the club has had to introduce the following changes:
- Changing/Locker rooms are closed.
- All players MUST pre book a tee time in advance including Saturday & Sunday mornings.
- All play will commence from the 1st tee (The 10th will NOT be a starting hole).
- Tee time until 10:30 on Saturday and Sunday mornings are reserved for 7 day fully paid up members only
- Tee times will be at 10-minute intervals.
- Tee times will be available to use either alone or with up to three other players while keeping 2 meters apart. Maximum four balls only.
- The Golf Club may add players to any unfilled tee slots.
- Members will be allowed to book tee times from 7 days in advance (the club will monitor abuse of the system if tee bookings are not taken up on the day).
- Players should NOT arrive any earlier than 15 minutes before their tee time.
- Upon arrival players must book in with the Starter / Pro Shop.
- Players will be allowed to walk to the first tee no earlier than 5 minutes before their tee time, taking measures to be at least 2 metres from each other. Please wait at the patio area.
- Whilst on the course, always keep at least 2 metres from each other and other groups.
- Take extra care when searching for a ball and playing shots.
- Stray golf balls not from your playing group should not be touched.
- Do not shake hands at any point of your round.
- Do not touch other player’s equipment, including when conceding a putt.
- Have no contact with the flagstick.
- The flagstick to remain in place throughout play.
- Avoid contact with the hole liner when taking the ball out of the hole. Use a club to pull away from hole where possible.
- Bunkers, with no rakes on the course please ensure every effort is made to smooth the sand after playing your shot using your club/feet.
- Upon completion of the round, players are requested to leave the venue as soon as possible to restrict gatherings around the clubhouse area.
Facilities:
The changing/locker rooms:
- These will be out of action until there is a further relaxation of social distancing measures.
- Members are required to remove equipment from their lockers if they intend to play during this period of restrictions on the club.
- We will allow golfers to collect their belongings from the clubhouse locker room on the first time they have booked a tee to play golf once the restrictions are lifted and will ask all members to not return items to the clubhouse locker room until further relaxation of the social distancing measures.
Clubhouse toilets
- The main clubhouse doors will be kept open between the hours of 07:00 – 19:00 seven days a week so that access to the disabled toilet and pro shop is unrestricted. The close time will vary depending on the last tee time. Hand sanitiser will be in place at the entrance and exit; enabling use both before and after a player uses the facilities.
Putting Green, Practice Nets and Practice Areas
- These will all remain closed whilst social distancing measures are in place.
Clubhouse Patio with tables
- The patio area in front of the club house will be out of use with all furniture removed until there are fewer restrictions in place. Please wait here until it is your turn to move to the 1st tee.
Pro Shop
- The pro-shop will be open for all your needs before you tee off. Please make yourself know before you tee off so you can be crossed off.
- Although the Pro shop will be fully functional, strict social distancing measures will be in place.
- A maximum of 2 customers in the pro-shop at any one time.
- The pro-shop will have floor markings to help with the social distancing measures of 2 metres.
- Hand sanitisers will be placed outside the pro-shop for customer use.
- All staff will be trained to provide a safe environment to reduce the risk of Covid-19.
- Buggies and Trolleys will be available for hire but will be sanitised before and after play
- Only 1 person per buggy unless members of the same household.
- Contactless payment is preferred if possible.
- The staff in the shop will check against the membership list and BRS booking list that those arriving to play have paid the appropriate membership fee/ green fee.
- Individual golf lessons are available while adhering to social distancing guidelines.
Rules of Golf-Related Matters
Forms of Play and Scoring
- For the first 4 to 6 weeks of reopening, there will be no club competitions and only social golf. The Committee will review the clubs playing calendar in line with further government advice.
Hole and Holed
- The hole cup will be set in such a way so that the ball will not fall to the bottom of the cup enabling it to be retrieved by a player without the player touching the hole liner or flagstick. The ball will be considered ‘holed’ if any part of it is below the surface of the putting green.
Flagstick
- Players are required to leave the flagstick in the hole at all times and NOT to touch it.
Bunkers
- Due to the lack of rakes on the course and the potential of unfairness if players have not taken care when smoothing bunkers, we have introduced the following Temporary Local Rule:
“If a player’s ball comes to rest in a Bunker the player has the option of a ‘preferred lie’ and may place the ball in the bunker within 1 club-length of the original spot and not nearer to the hole than that original spot”.
ADDITIONAL LOCAL RULES FOR STAY SAFE PLAY SAFE 2020
PLEASE read this carefully before playing golf at the Manor of Groves to ensure you are adhering to the government guidelines and those recommendations issued by England Golf on behalf of the R&A.
RULE 1 – BUNKERS
When your ball is in a bunker you may opt to use preferred lies in bunkers and this provides that a player may PLACE a ball in the bunker within one club-length of the original spot and not nearer to the hole than that spot
Players should endeavour to make good the sand I bunkers by using the club or their feet as course rakes are not in use at this time.
RULE 2 – STAKES
All stakes (red, yellow) are to be treated as immovables obstructions and should not be touched. This leaves the player the option of taking full relief and dropping their ball from knee height. Note: There is no relief from white stakes (out of bounds markers).
RULE 3 – PRACTICE NET
The practice net is NOT TO BE USED until further notice.
RULE 4 – TEE BOOKING AND ARRIVAL AT THE COURSE
Players MUST book a tee time using the BRS booking system and adhere to the timings reserved.
Players should NOT proceed (to the starter) from the car park until 15 minutes before the booked tee time.
Players should be on the tee 5 minutes before their tee time to allow the next group to move to the starter.
RULE 5 – PRO SHOP
If you need to go into the pro shop, please ensure you are adhering to the guidelines for social distancing and no more than 2 people at a time.
Score cards will be available from on the cabinet inside the clubhouse door or the pro shop.
RULE 6 – TEE AREAS – GENERAL AREAS
Ensure that you are staying at least 2 metres apart on tee areas, putting green, and all other areas of the course. DO NOT pick up a stray ball. Players should mark their ball for ease of identification in all situations. Golfers to stay more than two metres apart when walking to the ball, searching for a ball, and playing shots.
RULE 7 – FLAGSTICKS
Flagsticks should NOT be taken out of the hole. If you touch the flagstick other than to remove your ball from the hole you should add a penalty shot to your score.
RULE 8 – HOLING OUT
To minimise the need to lift the ball from the hole, it is a local rule that a ball is holed with the next stroke if it is within 12 inches of the hole (which is just over the length of a standard putter grip). DON’T FORGET TO ADD THIS SHOT ONTO YOUR SCORE
RULE 9 – SCORECARDS
Players should mark their own scorecards as play will be non-competitive golf and as such standard rules for marking do not apply so as long as you have verbal agreement on scores from your playing partner that is sufficient.
Players wishing to record a supplementary score should scan (or photograph) the scorecard and email it to golfsecretary@manorofgroves.co.uk on the day of play BUT SHOULD HOLE OUT NOT TAKING GIMMIES.
RULE 10 – AFTER THE ROUND
Social distancing is as important after a round as it is during the round, so when the round is over all golfers must leave the course and the club/facility immediately so that there are no gatherings around the clubhouse area.
RULE 11 – BALL LOST IN ROUGH
When your ball is agreed by your playing partner to be lost in the rough, until further notice, you may drop a ball in the approximate place where your partner thinks it to be lost and add a penalty shot to your score rather than stroke and distance.
RULE 12 – MARK, PICK, WIPE AND PLACE
Until further notice you may mark your ball and pick wipe and place within 6 inches of the marked position on closely cut areas – fringes of green and fairways