Imagine the scene – You’ve arrived at the golf club champing at the bit to get out on the course in the Saturday Medal. Your playing partners are ready to go, there’s nobody on the tee and the sun is shining. It’s 10 minutes before your allotted tee time but there’s nothing to stop you going out a bit early, is there?
Well yes, technically (if you’re playing a competitive round,) there is – The Rules.
Rule 5.3a deals with when to start a round. Your round starts when you make a stroke to start your first hole. You are supposed to start your round at the exact starting time set by the committee. You are expected to tee off neither before, nor after that time.
If you start your round at the wrong time, you could be penalised strokes, or even disqualified.
If your start time is 10am, the first player in the group should begin teeing off at 10am on the dot, not 9.59am and not 10.01am.
If you breach Rule 5.3a then you can get the General Penalty or be disqualified… It seems like one of the harshest rules in the game but being penalised for starting early is designed to prevent players gaining an unfair advantage, perhaps by taking the chance to sneak out in that window of better weather as described above.
If you were to start your round no more than five minutes early, compared to your allotted time, you receive the General Penalty of two shots. If you start your round more than five minutes early, you are disqualified!
Is there any leeway?
If the committee decides there were exceptional circumstances and they give you the go-ahead to tee off early, then there would be no penalty, but it would need to be a legitimate reason for the committee to make that call. Just saying, the weather’s nice and we want to get in for the football, wouldn’t necessarily cut it. It seems very strict but, if it gives you an advantage over fellow competitors to play ahead of your allotted tee time, a penalty seems appropriate.
It's more understandable that you would be penalised for being late to the tee and the same Rule (5.3a) applies. If you are at the tee ready to play no more than five minutes late, (but still late, like Monty in the image above) you would receive the General Penalty – two shots in stroke play and loss of hole in match play. Any later than five minutes and you are disqualified.
Again, there are exceptions. For a start, there is not considered to be a breach of this Rule if you are in position and ready to play at the tee at your allotted time and there is an unavoidable delay – There might be bad weather conditions, players might still be in the way on the fairway ahead, or greenkeepers might be working on the hole for example. If you are there at your starting point, at the right time and ready to play, there’s no penalty.
If the committee decides there were exceptional circumstances that prevented a player being on the tee at the correct time, an accident or a fire alarm perhaps, then there would be no penalty.
If both players in a match are late but arrive at the starting point ready to play, no more than five minutes late, and neither has faced exceptional circumstances, they both receive a loss of hole penalty, so the first hole of their match is tied.
It’s worth knowing these rules on the importance of good timekeeping in golf. They might seem harsh, stupid even! But if you stay on the right side of them, it might just save you a couple of shots, or prevent you losing a match!
