A golf society is a dozen people who see each other four times a year, play for a trophy nobody can remember winning, and spend the whole afternoon looking for reasons to charge each other a pound. The fines list is the point of the society.
The short answer
Golf society fines are a list of agreed on course and clubhouse offences with a price against each one, collected on the day and paid into the society pot. Typical fines cover air shots, three putts, out of bounds, lost balls, unraked bunkers, slow play, scorecard errors and claiming a handicap you no longer have. Prices usually run from 50p to five pounds, and the pot pays for the end of season prize table or the final day's bar.
Collect on the day, or you never collect at all
This is the difference between a golf society fines list that works and one that gets abandoned after the second outing. A football team sees each other every week. A society meets in April, July, September and December, so a debt from the spring meeting is a debt nobody can remember by the summer one.
So fines get settled before anybody leaves the clubhouse. One person carries the list round, totals it over a pint, and the money goes in a tin on the table. If somebody has no cash, they owe it to the tin at the next meeting and everybody can see that written down.
On the course fines
Keep these cheap, because they happen constantly and nobody wants to be forty pounds down by the tenth.
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Air shot | £1 |
| Air shot on the first tee | £2 |
| Topping it off the first tee in front of the group behind | £2 |
| Three putt | 50p |
| Four putt | £2 |
| Missing from inside a foot | £1 |
| Not holing out and claiming a gimme nobody gave | £2 |
| Out of bounds | £1 |
| In the water | £1 |
| In the same water as your first one | £2 |
| Losing a ball somebody has just given you | £2 |
| Playing the wrong ball | £2 |
| Putting with somebody else's ball on the green | £1 |
| Duffing a chip from the edge of the green | £1 |
| Needing three to get out of a bunker | £1 |
| Taking a drop in the wrong place and being told | £1 |
| Asking for the ruling and then ignoring it | £2 |
| Hitting into the group in front | £5 |
| Not shouting fore | £5 |
Etiquette and pace of play fines
The ones your host club actually cares about. Price them higher, because a society that gets a reputation for slow play and unrepaired greens stops being invited back.
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Bunker left unraked | £2 |
| Pitch mark not repaired | £2 |
| Divot not replaced | £2 |
| Standing on somebody's line | £1 |
| Talking in a backswing | £1 |
| Phone ringing on the tee | £2 |
| Taking the call | £5 |
| Being put on the clock by the club | £2 |
| Searching for a ball well past three minutes | £1 |
| Not letting a faster group through | £2 |
| Driving a buggy where buggies are not allowed | £10 |
| Driving a buggy anywhere near a green | £20 |
| Leaving the trolley on the green surround | £1 |
| Blaming the greenkeeper | £1 |
| Blaming the greenkeeper within earshot of the greenkeeper | £5 |
Scorecard and handicap fines
Every society has one of these and every society pretends it does not. This is the section that deals with it without anybody having to have a conversation.
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Not signing your card | £2 |
| Not marking your partner's card | £2 |
| A card handed in with the maths wrong | £2 |
| A card handed in with the maths wrong in your favour | £5 |
| Writing down a score you did not have | £5 |
| Winning off a handicap you have not played to since 2019 | £10 |
| Winning two society days in a row | £10 |
| Winning three in a row, the bandit rule | £20 |
| Turning up with a handicap that has mysteriously gone up | £10 |
| Claiming you have not played since the last meeting, untruthfully | £5 |
| Announcing on the first tee that you are striping it on the range | £1 |
| Mentioning your best ever round | £1 |
| Mentioning your best ever round more than once | £2 |
| Any sentence that begins with the words at my club | £1 |
Clubhouse and society day admin fines
| Offence | Suggested fine |
|---|---|
| Turning up without golf shoes | £2 |
| Turning up without a glove and borrowing one | £1 |
| Borrowing a ball and not replacing it | £1 |
| Jeans in the clubhouse | £5 |
| Spikes in the clubhouse | £5 |
| Phone out on the dining table | £2 |
| Late for your tee time | £5 |
| Missing your tee time entirely | £20 |
| Pulling out in the week of the meeting | £10 |
| Not paying your green fee before the day | £5 |
| Not turning up for the prize giving | £5 |
| A winner's speech longer than a minute | £2 |
| Leaving before the raffle | £2 |
Prices that work for a society
- 50p to £2 for shot by shot offences. They happen all round and should never add up to real money.
- £2 to £5 for etiquette. These are the ones your host club notices.
- £5 to £20 for the card, the handicap and not turning up. These are the only ones meant to sting.
- Cap the day at something sensible, usually £15 or £20 a player, so nobody finishes the round owing more than the green fee.
- Nothing gets invented on the course. If it is not on the list, it is not a fine, and it can go on the list for the next meeting.
What the society pot pays for
The prize table at the end of the season, most of the time. After that it is the final meeting's bar, the first round at the Christmas outing, a trophy, or the entry fee for whoever wants to play the better course next year.
Say the total out loud at every meeting. A society pot that lives in one person's account and never gets mentioned is the quickest way to lose both the pot and the member holding it.
Keeping the list between meetings
A society fines list written on the back of a scorecard in April does not exist by July. Fine Club keeps the rules, the running pot and who owes what in one place the whole society can see, so the list survives the gap between outings and the prize table pays for itself. Free on iOS and Android.
Common questions
What are good golf society fines?
Air shots, three putts, out of bounds, lost balls, unraked bunkers, unrepaired pitch marks, a scorecard with the maths wrong, and winning off a handicap you no longer play to. Price shot by shot offences at 50p to two pounds and card or handicap offences at five to twenty.
How much should a golf society fine be?
50p to two pounds for things that happen during the round, two to five for etiquette, and five to twenty for the scorecard, the handicap and not turning up. Cap the total per player per day at around fifteen or twenty pounds.
What is the bandit rule in a golf society?
A fine for a player who keeps winning off a handicap that no longer reflects how they play. Most societies set it at ten pounds for a second consecutive win and twenty for a third, which deals with the problem without anybody having to accuse anybody of anything.
When should golf society fines be collected?
On the day, in the clubhouse, before anybody leaves. A society meets a handful of times a year, so a fine carried over from the last meeting is a fine nobody remembers and nobody pays.
What does a golf society spend its fines pot on?
Usually the prize table at the end of the season, or the bar at the final meeting. Some societies put it towards a trophy or the green fee at a better course the following year.
Run your fines in the app, not a notes app
Fine Club keeps your rulebook, the pot and the leaderboard in one place, so nobody has to chase a pound by hand. Free on iOS and Android.