Rainout Rescheduling: A Golf Club’s Guide to Fair Rebooking
A rainout in golf means a round or competition is cancelled, delayed or cut short because of rain, and rescheduling means deciding who gets which replacement tee time. The fair way to do it is simple: publish the rules before the weather turns, name who makes the call, keep original tee times where you can, and give everyone the same chance at any new slots. This guide shows how clubs do that, using published club weather policies as examples.
TL;DR
- Decide in advance who calls a suspension or closure. At one Scottish links, that is the Course Manager, the duty greenkeeper or the professional-shop staff.
- For a competition delayed before the start, a common approach is to push tee times back for up to an hour. After that, original times stand.
- Refunds and credits vary by course and by how the booking was made, so write your own rule and state it plainly.
- Replacement slots are where arguments start. Release them in an orderly way, not as a race to click.
- Tell members how you will communicate: the app, email, the pro shop, or on-course signals.
Table of Contents
- What a rainout means for a golf club
- Who decides when golf is suspended or cancelled
- How to tell members what is happening
- Rescheduling tee times fairly
- What competition secretaries should do when rain hits
- Refunds, credits and card payments
- What your rainout policy should contain
- Our perspective
- Run replacement slots through a waiting room
- FAQ
- Sources
What a rainout means for a golf club
On a golf course a rainout can happen at three points. Rain can close the course before anyone tees off. It can delay a competition that is about to start. Or it can stop a round that is already under way. Each needs a slightly different answer, which is why a single line saying “play may be cancelled in bad weather” does not help anyone.
Policies differ widely. A report on what golfers can expect after a washed-out round notes that some courses offer refunds or credits while others refuse a voucher once you have teed off. That article is American, but the point travels: the outcome depends on the course, and members and visitors get frustrated when they only discover the rule after the rain has started.
For a club, the practical question is not “what is a rainout?” but “what do we do, in what order, and how do we tell people?” The rest of this guide answers that.
Who decides when golf is suspended or cancelled
The first rule of good rainout handling is a named decision-maker. Arguments between members, a committee member and the pro shop about whether the course is playable are avoidable if the policy says who has the final word.
Murcar Links in Aberdeenshire is a good example. Its published weather policy puts the decision with the Course Manager, the duty greenkeeper or the professional-shop staff, who weigh the risk to golfers and to the course.
Conditions worth listing
The same policy sets out the situations that can lead to suspension: fog, lightning, high winds when a travel warning is in force (unless conditions are favourable), and flooding that makes it impossible to hole out or take relief. Listing conditions like these does two things. It shows members the decision is based on criteria rather than mood, and it gives the person making the call something to point to.
Move holes before you close
Closing is not always the first option. A Welsh club, Clwb Golff Y Bala, states in its booking and bad weather policy that when heavy rain is expected, holes are moved to higher or drier ground where possible. Only if putting is still impossible is the course temporarily closed and play suspended. Putting that order of steps in writing tells members you have tried to keep them playing before you pulled the plug.
How to tell members what is happening
A good policy covers two kinds of communication: before play and during it.
Before play. Decide your channels and stick to them. Most clubs have more than one: the booking system, email, the website, social media and the pro shop phone. Pick one as the source of truth and say so. When members see conflicting messages on different channels, the pro shop phone rings off the hook.
During play. On-course signals need to be unambiguous. Murcar Links uses a Klaxon. One long blast means a safe suspension, so golfers may finish the hole or mark their ball. Three blasts mean leave the course immediately after marking the ball, as the weather policy explains. If your club uses any signal, publish it in the same document as the rest of the rainout rules and print it on the scorecard or the notice board, not only on the website.
Rescheduling tee times fairly
Rescheduling is where fairness is won or lost. Members who were due to play at 8:30 and are rained out will all want the same few dry slots the next morning. If your system is first come, first served, the quickest clickers take them, and everyone else feels cheated.
Start with these principles:
- Keep original times where you can. Moving people around only creates new complaints.
- Set a clear delay threshold. After a certain wait, the original schedule either stands or the event is cancelled.
- Tell people who is eligible for replacement slots. Only those whose time was lost? Everyone?
- Give a fixed window for rebooking. Open-ended offers lead to chaos and leave the secretary holding half-empty tee sheets.
- Say how slots are allocated. Order of original tee time, a queue, or a ballot all work if they are stated in advance.
A worked example from a published policy
Murcar Links gives a concrete model for competitions. For a delay before the start of up to one hour, tee times are pushed back. After that, original tee times remain, and players who booked during the suspension can rebook if times are available, through the V1 app or the pro shop. The rule is short, easy to remember and removes most arguments, because nobody has to guess what happens at the 61-minute mark.
You do not have to copy those numbers. A parkland club with a busy Saturday sheet may prefer a shorter window; a club with a quiet midweek may be happy with longer. What matters is that the figure is in writing.
Rebooking after a cancellation
When play is cancelled outright, think about the rebooking surge. Dozens of members will go online at the same moment, usually when the weather forecast improves. That is exactly the situation in which fastest-finger booking is at its worst. Clubs that have already moved to a queue or turn-based release for popular slots can use the same mechanism for replacement times. Our guide to turn-based tee booking explains how that works in practice, and the piece on fair tee-time booking covers the principles behind it.
What competition secretaries should do when rain hits
Competitions add a layer of complexity because results, handicaps and prizes depend on what was completed.
Before the start
If rain arrives before the first tee time, the Murcar policy generally lets the competition go ahead with tee times pushed back for up to an hour. Beyond that, original tee times stand and the pro shop may cancel. Your own policy might differ, but the structure is worth borrowing: a short grace period, then a firm decision.
During the round
Once players are out, the question becomes whether scores count. Murcar’s policy says scores are treated under CONGU and WHS guidelines if golfers have completed at least 10 holes, as set out in its weather policy. If you run competitions, check the current CONGU and World Handicap System guidance for your own rules, and write down what your club does about prizes and results when a round is incomplete.
A checklist for the secretary
- Confirm who has authority to suspend or cancel, and how you will reach them quickly.
- Have the member contact list and the tee sheet to hand, whether downloaded or emailed.
- Decide in advance whether a postponed competition is replayed, merged into another date, or voided.
- Post the decision on the agreed channel first, then follow up on the others.
- Keep a short note of what was decided and why, for the next committee meeting.
Refunds, credits and card payments
If members or visitors pay for tee times online, expect questions about money. The research shows the policy depends partly on the course and how the reservation was made, and that third-party booking services apply their own policies. So a visitor who booked through an outside platform may be under different terms from a member booking through your own system.
A clear refund rule, shown at the point of booking, is the best protection. State whether a rainout before play gives a refund, a credit or a free rebooking, and whether the answer changes after the first tee shot. It also helps to know how chargebacks work, since an unhappy payer who feels a rule was unclear may dispute a card payment with their bank instead of contacting the club. A visible policy cuts that risk.
Our article on tee-time cancellation policy looks at how clubs set cancellation windows and keep them fair, which is a useful companion to a rainout rule.
What your rainout policy should contain
Pulling the research together, a short, readable policy should include:
| Section | What to state |
|---|---|
| Decision-maker | Who can suspend, close or cancel (for example, the course manager or duty greenkeeper) |
| Conditions | Lightning, fog, strong winds, flooding or unplayable greens |
| Signals | What on-course signals mean, if you use them |
| Delays before a competition | How long tee times are pushed back and what happens after |
| Incomplete rounds | When scores count, with reference to CONGU and WHS guidance |
| Rebooking | Who is eligible, how slots are allocated, and the deadline |
| Money | Refund, credit or neither, for each stage of the booking |
| Communication | The one channel that is the source of truth |
One page is enough. Put it on the website, in the booking system and on the notice board, and mention it in the new-season email to members.
Our perspective
Rainouts are not really a weather problem for a club. They are a fairness problem that weather sets off.
When a morning is lost, members all want the same replacement slots at the same moment, and the one with the quickest connection wins. We built BallChute so that a club can replace that scramble with an online waiting room: members join a queue, take their turn to choose, and the club sets its own rules and time limits. Members who are less confident online get the same fair chance as everyone else.
We do not replace your membership or competition software. We focus on the busy release, which is exactly what a rainout creates. A club that can say “here is the rule, here is the queue, here is your turn” will take far fewer calls in the pro shop and far fewer complaints at committee.
Simon
Run replacement slots through a waiting room
If your rainout policy says members who lost a tee time can rebook, you need a fair way to hand out the new ones. BallChute gives your club an online waiting room and turn-based booking, with your own rules, time limits and group selection, plus member verification and tee sheets you can download or have emailed. You can try it free for 14 days with no automatic fees.
The Standard plan is £29 per month or £290 per year per club. The Intelligent Golf plan is £35 per month or £350 per year per club, and suits clubs that use Intelligent Golf membership systems; see our page on fairer releases with Intelligent Golf. To compare approaches such as waiting rooms and ballots, read how a tee time waiting room works.
FAQ
What does a rainout mean in golf?
A rainout is a round, competition or booking that is cancelled, postponed or cut short because of rain. It can happen before play, at the start of a competition or mid-round. Whether you get a refund, credit or rebooking depends on the course’s own policy.
Who decides whether golf is suspended for rain?
It should be a named person or role. At Murcar Links, for example, it is the Course Manager, duty greenkeeper or professional-shop staff, who consider the risk to golfers and the course. Your club should state its own decision-maker in its published weather policy.
How long should a competition wait before cancelling?
There is no universal figure. One published policy pushes tee times back for up to one hour before the start, then keeps the original times, and the pro shop may cancel. Choose a threshold that suits your tee sheet and publish it.
How can a club reschedule rained-off tee times fairly?
Decide who is eligible, set a rebooking window and use an allocation method members can understand, such as a queue or turn-based selection, instead of first to click. A waiting room lets everyone take their turn without racing.
Do scores count if a round is rained off?
That depends on the rules the club applies. The Murcar policy treats scores under CONGU and WHS guidelines if golfers have completed at least 10 holes. Check current CONGU and World Handicap System guidance and your own competition conditions.
Sources
- Weather Policy, Murcar Links, Aberdeenshire
- Booking T&C and Bad Weather Policy, Clwb Golff Y Bala
- If your round gets rained out, should you expect a refund?, Golf.com
- What Is Chargeback? Definition, 71P