A good halfway hut can provide a welcome break. A chance to rest your legs, get some refreshments, or simply just try to forget a poor front nine and reset for a good run in.
Many clubs offer halfway facilities, some more opulent than others. In those more comfortable halfway houses, a Gleneagles (see pic above) perhaps, you could be tempted to hang around, particularly if they’re serving some nice food and drink. Or maybe if the weather has taken a turn for the worse.
But how long are you allowed to stay in a halfway hut. Is there a limit to how long you can stop?
Well, first thing’s first: Are you playing a counting round? If not, you can stay in the halfway hut as long as you like. You would probably have to leave when they were closing up for the day, unless you knew one of the members of staff and they were prepared to leave you a key.
But no, if you’re just out for a knockabout with pals, there is no limit to how long you can stop in a halfway hut.
Many clubs will give guidelines though, for pace of play purposes. It might be recommended that you move on when the following group enters the halfway hut. Other clubs might recommend not spending more than 10 minutes eating your sausage sandwich…
It would depend on how busy the course is. If it’s full up, then having a set policy for moving on from the halfway hut is sensible and it should be adhered to, or the 10th tee will become a battle ground!
What about if you are playing in a competition though? Can you stop at the halfway hut, and for how long? What do The Rules say?
You’ve got to look at Rule 5.6 here. It says you must not “unreasonably delay play, either when playing a hole or between two holes.”
Hmm, that would suggest that you can’t hang about in a halfway hut then… What if you’re really hungry? Don’t worry. There’s a clarification to that Rule which will come to your help.
Clarification 5.6a/1 gives examples of actions that are considered reasonable delays to play and these include:
“Briefly stopping by the clubhouse or halfway house to get food or drink.”
It’s relatively vague that and the concept of “briefly” will vary quite significantly between different groups. But “briefly” should be taken to mean, enough time to have a quick something before the next group hove into view…
You must be slightly careful on this because, also within the clarification, an example of an unreasonable delay to play is “stopping by the clubhouse or halfway house to get food or drink for more than a few minutes if the Committee has not allowed it.”
So, if the Committee, has said “no stopping for more than a brief break in this event” and you sit down for pie, beans and chips, you’re going to be in breach of Rule 5.6 and receive a penalty shot.
Generally speaking then, common sense should be used when stopping at a halfway hut. A few minutes to get a bite to eat and a quick drink is fine, but sitting down to a slap-up lunch isn’t really on if it’s going to hold up play.
