Who doesn’t love a halfway house? We’ve devoted reams of column inches to it and the search to find the best in golf.
Great ones? The Bothy at Nairn comes immediately to mind. I do remember a cracking one at JCB Golf & Country Club. And though I’ve never been, people I know who have been go on and on about the offering at Sunningdale.
There is no doubt a great halfway house can immeasurably add to the experience of a great round. But can it get you into rules trouble?
I had the following email, which propelled me into writing this column and delving deeper into the halfway house rules.
“We play a seniors inter club match which at the end the top three clubs go on to play a final to decide the winner. At our club, we buy the opposing team a coffee and biscuits after nine holes then carry on.
“As far as I am aware the 18 holes should be continuous play. We are the only club in the league to do this. Would this disqualify the competition as we have not played the 18-holes continuously without pause under the Rules of Golf?”
First of all, relax. You’re all good here. But it’s worth explaining why and outlining the couple of occasions where you can get into bother if you’re not careful. Let’s get stuck in…
Can a stop at the halfway house be an unreasonable delay of play?
First things first. Let’s answer our emailer’s query directly. If having a break at a halfway house was always a rules issue I imagine loads of clubs would be turning up at R&A and USGA headquarters with pitchforks and torches. They’d be losing plenty of valuable revenue – and I’d be DQd from pretty much every competition I’ve ever played!
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Rule 5.6 says you must not unreasonably delay play, “either when playing a hole or between two holes”, but a clarification to that rule says actions likely be treated as reasonable include “briefly stopping by the clubhouse or half-way house to get food or drink”.
The key is in the word briefly. If you’re picking up a quick snack, it’s all good. Sitting down for a meal? Erm, no.
It is worth bearing in mind what is reasonable, because you can end up adding a one-shot penalty in the fairly unlikely event someone decides that is not what your actions were.
There is one other way you can come a cropper and it’s if your committee have stepped in.
It’s found in the same clarification and says an action likely to be treated as an unreasonable delay “if causing more than a brief delay in play” is “stopping by the clubhouse or half-way house to get food or drink for more than a few minutes if the committee has not allowed for it”.
So fill your boots in the halfway house. But just make sure you keep half an eye on the clock…
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
What do you think about these halfway house rules and those on unreasonable delay of play? Let me know your thoughts by email at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com or by leaving a comment on X.
