Event FAQ & Rules

Note: these rules may be updated on event days.

USGA RULES

• All USGA rules apply – except as amended by Local Rules below.

LOCAL RULES

• When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his partner, his opponent, or any of their caddies or equipment. The moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced. This rule applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green and any movement is accidental. Note: If it is determined that a player’s ball on the putting green was moved as a result of wind, water or some other natural cause such as the effects of gravity, the ball must be played as it lies from its new location. A ball-marker moved in such circumstances is replaced.
• Distance-measuring devices (lasers, GPS, etc.) are allowed unless they have wind and terrain measuring (distance or slope angle) capability.
• No “winter rules” except when/where specifically allowed by the Tournament Leader. When and where allowed, this means you may lift, clean and place the ball within one club length of its original position, not nearer the hole, and not in a hazard or on the putting green.
• No “gimmie” putts – the ball must be holed.
• 6” bump allowed, except in a hazard and on green.
• Stones in bunkers are moveable obstructions. They may be removed and if the ball moves in the process, it must be replaced. No penalty attaches to either action.
• For immovable obstructions close to putting green, players may take relief as follows: if the ball lies through the green and an immovable obstruction on or within two club lengths of the putting surface and within two club lengths of the ball intervenes on the line of play between the ball and the hole, the player may take relief. The ball may be lifted, cleaned and DROPPED at the nearest point that is not closer to the hole, avoids the interference, and is not in a hazard or on the putting green.
• Natural objects marking distance on the course (e.g., rocks, shrubs at 150 yards) are part of the course and no relief is available.

MISCELLANEOUS

• Scores will be automatically posted to the GHIN system, except for guests.
• Refer to the USGA Rules of Golf if necessary.

Q. How are CGC members notified of upcoming events?
A. Email is our primary form of communication of upcoming events. An email
notification of an upcoming event, and a request for an email response of intent to play,
will generally be the first notice. Within a week of the required deadline for providing a
course the final head count of players for an event, a second email – listing those who have
expressed an intent to play up to that point in time, will follow as a second notice.

Q. Can I still play in an event if I don’t respond to the initial event requests?
A. That is dependent on the availability of spots for an event. In most cases, it is
difficult to get additional starting times after providing a course a final player count for an
event (generally required 1 to 2 weeks prior to an event). In some cases, the number of
players committed to an event does not fill complete foursomes, so individual spots may
be available up to the day of the event. If interested in or available to play in an event after
the entry deadlines, you should contact Alan Rankin (contact information at the bottom of
this FAQ sheet).

Q. How do I find out my tee time for an event?
A. Between Monday and Wednesday of the week of the event (example – event is
Saturday the 10th, so between Monday the 5th and Wednesday the 7th) the starting time
sheet will be entered on the website (www.carmichaelgolfclub.com). On the main page
of the website, in the box on the right hand side where the event is listed with entry
forms, the time shown will have an underline (link) – click on this link to go to the
starting times. If you are unable to access this link, you then need to contact Alan or
Debbie (contact information at the bottom of this FAQ sheet). We will only call
members with starting times who do not have an active email address with the Club.

Q. What is the CGC’s cancellation policy for an event?
A. Prior to 72 hours leading up to an event, cancellations will be refunded or
applied to a future event. Within the last 72 hours, the member who cancels is responsible
for finding a replacement if the CGC does not have a waiting list of players to fill an
available spot. If the course requires payment for a cancelled and unfilled spot within the
last 72 hours, the cancelled members’ original entry payment will be used to cover this
cost. If the course does not require payment for a cancelled and unfilled spot within the
last 72 hours, entry will be either returned to the member or applied to a future event if
requested by the member.

In certain events, some courses will have stricter guidelines on payment requirements. We
will make every effort to inform members in advance if stricter requirements will be in
effect for a particular event.

Q. What is the CGC’s rainout policy for an event?
A. Golf courses, in scheduling tournament events, are providing their course to your
group for a specified period of time (for weekend events, generally during peak times of
the day). On potentially inclement weather days, our tournament is likely their major
revenue source for that day. Almost all tournament contracts leave the decision on
rainouts to the course – so except for the worst of weather conditions, expect the course to
delay a final decision right up until the first scheduled tee time.

On the worst of weather days (especially where potentially hazardous weather is
predicted), we will make every effort to get a confirmation of cancellation before players
head out to the course on the day of the event. In most cases, however, you will need to
come to the course and be prepared to play golf in less than ideal conditions.

If the course will not cancel a tournament on the day of the event, the course will likely
also have the final say on whether they will charge for the full number of players
committed – or if they will give some leeway in the event of players who choose not to
play.

Financially, we will only charge members for costs we are charged by the course.
Members need to understand, however, that many of these decisions are made by the
course, not by the CGC.

Q. When should payments be made for an upcoming event?
A. Payments should be received prior to the day of an event. Almost all tournament
contracts require final player count amounts to be paid prior to the day of the event – and
while currently most courses will allow final payment on the day of the event, a handful of
courses do require prior payment. Even if the CGC does not deposit personal checks until
after an event, we should have the security of having payments in hand to make prior
payments, if necessary.

Q. How are payments for events handled?
A. Checks are cashed after an event is completed – our experiences with cashing
checks prior to the event have not gone smoothly when rainouts or cancellations occur. In
cases where a refund is appropriate (rainout or cancellation where payment is not required
to the course played), checks will either be returned to the member – or, at the request of
the member, can be applied to a future event.

Q. Is a credit card or electronic funds transfer option for making payments available?
A. No, not at this time.

Q. Can I pay for entries or skins on the day of the event?
A. We will accommodate these payments occasionally, especially when a late entry
makes receiving a payment in the mail in time for the event problematic. However, please
consider two things when making this a more common practice – 1) payments are not
cashed until after the event, there is no really good reason (saving the price of a stamp IS
NOT a good reason) not to pay in advance, and 2) Alan is also there on the day of the
event to play golf. Every occurrence of him collecting or paying out money prior to the
round is taking away from his time to prepare for his round of golf. A little courtesy in
this would be greatly appreciated!!

Q. How are prize payouts handled from an event?
A. Prize payouts are made in announcements at the course after scoring is
completed after each event (except on multiple day ‘away’ trips, where payments are not
made until after the trip). For members who win cash or gift certificates, but who have left
prior to the prize payouts, we will maintain a listing of payouts not made and attempt to
pay these out prior to the next event the member participates in. Mailings of payout
winnings not received at an event will generally only happen twice a year – following our
away trip and at the end of the year. We have found that many small amount checks
written throughout the year don’t get cashed and clog up our check balances of the CGC
checking account.

Q. How is the hole-in-one pot funded, and paid out?
A. The hole-in-one pot was funded initially from the Club’s general fund, at the
agreed upon payout amount of $1,000. When a hole-in-one is made, the fund reverts to
$500 – then re-generates back up to a capped amount of $1,000 at a $1 increment per
player for each subsequent event. Therefore, if a hole-in-one is made while the pot is in
the process of re-generating from $500 to $1,000, that hole-in-one would be worth what
the pot is at entering that specific tournament, and then revert back to $500 to start regenerating
at the next event. We offer the payout in a lump sum or covering dues for
subsequent years – amazingly, all 3 hole-in-ones in Club history have taken the lump sum
payment!!

Q. How is the in-the-leather pot funded, and paid out?
A. The in-the-leather (in-the-leather is a tee shot, most likely on a par 3, that ends
up within 25” of the hole (the distance of the putter head to the beginning of the leather
grip) pot was funded initially from the Club’s general fund, at the agreed upon payout
amount of $50 for the shot, and an additional $25 if the putt is made. We are able to
maintain this fund at the constant dollar amount level described above.

Q. How are tees played determined for CGC events?
A. We are not a single-digit handicap dominated tournament group, and are much
more committed to pace of play issues and enjoyment for our members – so we gravitate
towards the base sets of tee options (generally 6,000-6,200 yards for Men, up to 5,400 for
Women), based on the choices available at each course. However, we also utilize the
handicap options provided by NCGA for playing from separate sets of tees – so will on
occasion play different flights from different sets of tees on a particular day/course. The
make up of the group (handicap range and number of players within each range) on a
particular day will play a part in the sets of tees played for a particular event.

Q. How are flights determined for CGC events?
A. The make up of the group (handicap range and number of players within each
range) on a particular day will play a major part in the number of flights for a particular
event. The general goal is to have somewhere between 3 to 5 flights, with each flight
having between 7 to 11 players – with as narrow a handicap range within the flight as
possible. Having a similar number of players in each flight on a particular day is also
considered (but not as strictly), to allow for some flexibility as needed (specifically related
to tees being played, and adjusted handicaps between Men and Women from different tees,
with different slopes/course ratings).

Q. How are handicaps determined for CGC events?
A. Per recommendations from NCGA, the CGC maintains each member’s index in
CGC events only. For each CGC event, we take the member’s latest NCGA index and
their index for CGC events only, and apply the lower of the 2 indexes for that particular
event. Adjustments are made for members with fewer than 20 scores (either on their
NCGA index or their CGC event index).

Q. Why are there not Women’s flights?
A. In the early years of the CGC, the Women members were quite adamant that
they did not want separate flights from the Men – they wanted to compete equally with the
Men based on handicaps. With all the efforts made by the USGA and the NCGA to
accurately capture handicaps via indexes, course rating and slopes from various tees, we
have remained a strong proponent of playing together as a group – letting the distinctions
being by handicap flights, not gender.

Q. How are skins determined?
A. At each event, within each flight, $ 5 from every member who wishes to
participate is put into a pool. Net scores are used for each hole for all members who pay
into the pool – the number of holes won outright are divided by the pool to determine the
skins payout for that flight for that event. Skins are paid out at a $ 5 minimum per skin (a
pool above that divides out to less than $ 5 per skin is increased to $ 5 per skin – and pools
that average out to more than $ 5 per skin are rounded to the nearest dollar). Skins are not
determined by a carryover of holes between each winning hole.

Q. Posting of CGC tournament scores?
A. The CGC Handicap Chairman posts CGC member scores from CGC events.
They are posted as ‘Away’ scores, not ‘Tournament’ scores. Non-CGC members of
NCGA need to post their own scores at CGC events. The goal is to have all CGC events
posted before the next NCGA handicap reporting period (done the 1st and 15th of every
month).

Q. Posting of regular golf scores?
A. If possible, scores should always be posted at the handicap computer located at
each course. If you are unable to post at the golf course, CGC members are supposed to
have access to the electronic posting capability provided through the NCGA website. If
you find you are unable to post through this method, you can provide Alan (via email, at
rankingolf@comcast.net) with the information for that day’s round (day, course, tees
played, equitable adjusted score) and he can post the score directly to NCGA.

Q. What are the statistical categories?
A. There are 6 categories. One, Most Improved Golfer, is determined by a
member’s NCGA index over a 2 year period. The other 5 categories are based on CGC
events during a particular year. These categories are 1) Golfer of the Year, 2) Adjusted
Net Average, 3) Putting Average, 4) Greens In Regulation Average, and 5) Putts on
Greens In Regulation Average.

Q. How are flights determined for year long statistical categories?
A. Based on the number of members in the CGC in a particular year, with each
flight having between 15 to 20 members – the July 1 indexes are listed in numerical order
and separated with an equal number of members in each flight (the First Flight being the
lowest indexes, then Second Flight, etc.).

Q. Why did I get disqualified for a year end award?
A. Four of the categories are average based, and can be manipulated by not
completing a CGC round. Therefore, not completing a CGC round started will disqualify
a member from the average based awards. We do not differentiate between a round not
completed due to physical injury vs. mental injury.