If lightning is in the area a player may stop play if he or she reasonably believes there is danger from lightning.

Bad weather is not of itself a good reason to discontinue play.

If the player discontinues play without specific permission from the Match Committee (Committee), the player must report to the Committee as soon as practicable. If the player does so and the Committee considers the player’s reasons satisfactory, there is no penalty, otherwise the player is disqualified.

Please find below the Recommendation for Lighting Protection from the Medical Journal of Australia.

Recommendations for Lighting Protection
The “30/30” rule is recommended for lighting safety as a guide for the suspension and subsequent resumption of activity.

The first part of the rule (a flash-to-bang count of 30 seconds) is a guide to the suspension of activity. The flash-to-bang count is one the of most practical techniques for estimating the distance to lightning activity. Given that sound travels at a speed of about one kilometre every three seconds, the time that elapses between the flash of lightning and clap of thunder can be divided by three to give a measurement of how far away the storm is in kilometres.

For example, if the time elapsed between the flash of lightning and clap of thunder is 6 seconds then the lightning is approximately 2 km away.

The second part of the “30/30” rule provides the criteria for resumption of play, here it is recommended that people wait 30 minutes after the last sight of lighting or sound of thunder. The figure is based on the observation that a typical storm moves about 40 km/h. Thus, waiting 30 minutes allows the thunderstorm to be about 20km away, minimizing the probability of a nearby strike. It is important to emphasise that blue skies and lack of rainfall are not adequate reasons to breach the 30
minute return-to-play rule.

The Committee is confident that understanding the relevant Rules of Golf and proximity of lighting will help provide direction to
Members should lightning be in the area.

The Rules of Golf state
Lightning is one case where players may stop play on their own accord if they believe there is danger from lightning (Rule 5.7). However, if a player does so, he or she must report to the Committee / Golf Shop as soon as possible.

Therefore, the Club encourages all members and visitors to monitor the weather and act accordingly.

On members and public social round days, visitors can report to the golf shop for a rain check; however, if play is expected to resume soon then it would be expected those players to also return to their hole of play.

Lightning
Any time there is lightning activity, there is a significant risk of being struck by lightning on a golf course. It is an individual’s responsibility to check weather forecasts and to ensure your own safety with regard to lightning before you use the golf course. It is a condition of entry to this course that you acknowledge that you do not rely on the club or pro shop to ensure your safety from lightning.

The Club will only sound a siren to indicate play has been suspended, due to unplayable course conditions (eg: flooding of greens). Once the Siren sounds all players must mark their golf ball and walk off the golf course. Whether or not the siren is sounded, everyone should be vigilant about changing weather conditions to determine their own safety and whether or not it remains safe to play.