3.2a Reason for Not Playing One or More Holes

There are various reasons why a round is not completed or one or more holes are not played during the round. Valid reasons might include:

• Fading light or weather preventing the continuation of play,
• Player injury or illness,
• A match finishing before the final hole,
• The course being played has fewer than 9 or 18-holes because:

  • A hole (or holes) has been declared out of play by the Committee for maintenance or reconstruction purposes, or

  • The Committee has organized a competition over a non-standard number of holes, for example during the winter months.

• Any other situations considered reasonable by the Committee.

If it is determined that the player does not complete a round or does not play one or more holes for an invalid reason, the score is not acceptable for handicap purposes. Invalid reasons might include:

• Weather that does not prevent the continuation of play.

• Not playing a particular hole on a golf course because the player knows it usually causes them difficulty and they are likely to return a high hole score.

• Not playing the final holes on a golf course in order to avoid submitting a high score (if playing badly) or a low score (if playing well).

• Any other situations considered unreasonable by the Committee.

If the Handicap Committee determines that the player’s actions were for the purpose of gaining an unfair scoring advantage, it may consider posting a penalty score to the player’s scoring record (see Rule 7.1 Handicap Committee).