Suspensions to play

It might be because of bad light, fog, flooding, severe winds, thunder and lightning, or a combination of the above, but at some point it’s likely that all of us will have been delayed by a suspension in play. Chris Wallace, Rules manager at The R&A, explains how the Rules of Golf deal with such circumstances.

Suspensions can be a fairly regular occurrence depending on which part of the world you play your golf, particularly when it comes down to the elements. So it’s important to know what to do if and when play is suspended and what options you have as players. There are two types of Committee suspensions, each with different requirements for when players must stop play (see Rule 5.7b).

The first is for situations where there is imminent danger to players, such as from lightning, where play is suspended immediately. When this happens, all players must stop play at once, evacuate the course or get to a place of safety, and must not make another stroke until the Committee resumes play.

The second kind of suspension occurs when there is no danger to players, but the Committee believes the course may have become unplayable, either for bad light or bad conditions. If the Committee suspends play for these reasons, what happens next depends on where each group is on the course.

If all players in a group are between two holes, they must stop play and not make a stroke to begin another hole until the Committee resumes play. However, if any player in the group has started a hole, the players may choose either to stop play or to play out the hole (or as much of the hole as they can). This is why you occasionally see players running to tee off on the 18th if they are aware a suspension is coming, in order to be able to complete their round and not have to come back to finish early the next morning.

If players do not agree on what to do, any player in the group may choose to stop play or go on to continue the hole, no matter what the others in the group decide, except that they can only do so if their marker stays to keep the player’s score. This is also slightly different in match play where, if one opponent stops play, the other player must also stop until the Committee resumes play.