WEATHER POLICY
Extreme Weather
To assist in providing a safe environment for employees and players, Curlewis Golf Club The Bellarine reserves the right to suspend play or close the course due to extreme weather of any kind including but not limited to fog, frost, snow, wind, temperature and lightning.
Other than when the course is closed or play is suspended due to extreme weather, players are not precluded from playing on the day, but they must be mindful that there may be no drinks cart, nor staff on course.
All golfers must consider the weather conditions prior to commencing their round of golf and shall play at their own risk.
The extreme heat component of this policy has been developed with reference to Golf Australia and Sports Medicine Australia’s Hot Weather Guidelines –
http://www.golf.org.au/site/_content/document/00006997-source.pdf
Forecast extreme heat, lightning, strong winds, heavy rain or hail.
In the event of extreme weather conditions being forecast, members and visitors are advised to re-consider their need to play. Any decision to play will be the sole responsibility of each player.
When the Bureau of Meteorology Geelong forecast at 5.00 pm on the day prior predicts a temperature of 36 degrees Celsius or more for the following day, competitions will only be available to players commencing their round on or before 9.00am.
On these days, golf carts, GolfBoards and pull buggy usage may be restricted or not permitted at all.
Should the event of the day be of a significant nature (e.g. Board event, quarterly medal, etc) the event will be postponed to a date to be determined.
Should a decision be made by the Golf Operations Manager, Club Manager or Course Superintendent or the most senior Golf Operations staff member on duty to suspend play due to extreme weather conditions, a siren consisting of one fifteen second blast will be sounded to indicate that play has been suspended.
Players must stop immediately, mark their ball, and must not re-commence play.
Players must make their way back to the Clubhouse and exercise extreme caution whilst doing so.
Any decision to re-commence play will be made by the Golf Operations Manager, Club Manager or most senior Golf Operations staff member.
Non-Forecast Extreme Weather
In the event of non-forecast extreme weather conditions occurring, including the temperature reaching or exceeding 36 degrees Celsius, a decision may be made by the Golf Operations Manager, Club Manager or the most senior Golf Operations staff member on duty to close the course or suspend play due to extreme weather conditions.
A siren consisting of one fifteen second blast will be sounded to indicate that play has been suspended. Players must stop play immediately, mark their ball, and must not re-commence play.
Players must make their way back to the Clubhouse and exercise extreme caution whilst doing so.
Any decision to re-commence play will be made by the Golf Operations Manager, Club Manager or most senior Golf Operations staff member.
Fog Policy
Play will not commence or will be suspended if the flag on the 9th hole (150m) is not visible from the counter in the Golf Shop. If we cannot see 150m, then this escalates the risk of unintentionally hitting up on players in front of you as well as a safety precaution for the ground staff.
Should a decision be made by the Golf Operations Manager, Club manager or most senior Golf Operations staff member on duty to suspend play due to fog, a siren consisting of one fifteen second blast will be sounded to indicate that play has been suspended.
Players must stop immediately, mark their ball, and must not re-commence play. Players may remain on course if they wish and think there is a chance of clearing.
The Golf Operations Manager or most senior Golf Operations staff member must advise the Club manager and the Course Superintendent of any decision to suspend or re-commence play.
Any decision to re-commence play will be made by the Golf Operations Manager, Club Manager or most senior Golf Operations staff member on duty. Play may re-commence when the flag on the 9th hole is visible from the counter in the Golf Shop and this will be indicated by two short blasts of the siren repeated three times, with a pause in between.
Resumption of Play:
Upon resumption of play, players must ensure the group in front or any staff are not within hitting range before playing a stroke.
Players who have already commenced their rounds will have right of way when play commences if the break has been less than 45 mins (Almost 6 Tee Times), and subsequent tee times will be pushed back accordingly. Golf Operations staff will attempt to update afternoon Tee Times so it is important if we have had thick fog, to either call ahead or check the Tee Sheet in the members portal for any changes to later Tee Times in the day.
If the Fog delay is longer than 45 minutes, then all players who were booked within the suspended time will need to re-book in later Tee Times, however any rounds started are able to re-commence from their marked ball at resumption of play. We will do what we can to add new Tee Times and rearrange groups to fit in as many competition rounds as possible if they are available to play in later Tee Times.
*We believe this to be the fairest option for the majority, but understand it won't meet every golfers needs which we do apologise for. Our aim is to have competition golf accessible to as many of our members as possible during these events, but health and safety does take precedence during during heavy fog with staff and other players safety taken seriously.
Frost Policy
Play may have to stop, not commence or be delayed in the event of a heavy frost. A decision on frost conditions will be made by the Course Superintendent or the most senior groundsman on duty.
The Course Superintendent or most senior groundsman on duty will be responsible for informing the Golf Operations Manager and Club Manager when play can commence. When a frost occurs, no golf carts, nor GolfBoards are permitted on the course and no buggies are permitted across greens.
Players on the timesheet have right of way on the starting tee over players whose round has been delayed due to frost.
Smoke Pollution Policy
With the onset of bushfire smoke significantly affecting our golfing environs and posing a health risk to players and staff, Curlewis Golf Club The Bellarine (CGCTB) has developed the following guidelines to assist in managing the risks associated with physical exercise in changing air quality and smoke haze.
Modifications address the need to take a more conservative approach, particularly given the irregular availability of professional medical support available.
The risk of health issues due to poor air quality is related to:
- Concentration of pollutants in the air (air quality measures)
- Exposure
- how long you are exposed to the pollutants
- how much you are breathing in (e.g. exercising v stationary)
- Individual risk factors like
- Asthma or other respiratory conditions
- Pregnancy
- Older or very young people
- Cardiovascular disease
We will use air quality measures published through the www.aqicn.org website to evaluate the current level of air quality and provide general advice on implications for players and staff.
Air quality measure Action
VERY GOOD (0-33) Enjoy activities
GOOD (34-66) Enjoy activities
FAIR (67-99) People unusually sensitive to air pollution should re-consider playing
VERY POOR (100-149) AIR POLLUTION HEALTH ALERT Asthmatics or symptomatic non-asthmatics and those in Item 3 should not play. All Junior Golf Programs will be cancelled
HAZARDOUS (150+) AIR POLLUTION HEALTH ALERT Play will be suspended and the course closed
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