Rebuke R & A support for golf being curtailed (4)
I believe the answer is:
rate
'rebuke' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'r a support for golf being curtailed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'r' is within the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'te' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rate that I've seen before include "Assess; scold" , "Pace" , "See 12" , "Tear (anag.)" , "Relative speed (of progress)" .)