The Telephone Pioneers Golf League

2011 Charter and Rules

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I. Purpose of League

The Telephone Pioneers Golf League exists specifically to provide enjoyment, recreation, and friendly competition for its members and their guests.

III. Membership

The league was originally founded as The Telephone Pioneers Golf League.

IV. Officers

Officers of the Telephone Pioneers Golf League will consist of a president, secretary, and a treasurer who will be elected at the annual meetings. The president will be responsible for coordinating league activities and outings. The treasurer will collect all dues and manage the league treasury. He will also be responsible to report on league activities to the league members. The secretary will be accountable for keeping handicaps, league point values, and other league statistics. He will be responsible for providing these statistics for the members each week of competition.

V. Annual Meetings

Annual meetings of the Telephone Pioneers Golf League will be called by the president within a month of the start of the league and will be open for the general membership. Rules modifications and league parameters will be discussed and voted upon at these meetings. A rules committee may be convened for issues that are beyond the scope of the meeting.

VI. Dues

League dues will be collected on or before the first week of competition. The fee will be $35 for competing members. Fees for substitutes shall be set prior to the league startup. The dues will be placed in a "kitty" to pay for prizes, president’s league expenses, secretary’s expenses, year-end prizes and costs of the year-end outing.

VII. Format

The members of the league will be formed into teams of two players. Teams will play weekly match and medal play competitions with other teams in a round-robin fashion. Each team will be arranged into two flights based on their handicaps from the previous rounds. The lowest handicap player will be placed in the A-Flight, while the higher handicap player will be placed in the B-Flight.

The playing season will consist of, a minimum, twenty-four (24) weeks of play. Points for the competing members will be accumulated over the season. There will be an additional week of play with no points prior to the annual year-end outing.

VIII. Rules of Play

USGA rules of play will be in effect with the following exceptions:

A. Balls hit out of bounds will be dropped within one club length, no closer to the hole, of where the ball crossed the Out-of-Bounds and played with a one stroke penalty. For this league, to speed up play, there will be no provisional ball under USGA rules.

B. Lost balls will be played as above. If a ball is determined to be lost in the fairway, the competitor and his opponent can agree on the nearest reasonable spot where the ball may have been lost, and play the ball from that point with no penalty. If a ball is lost off the fairway, rough woods, etc. it shall be played as above with a one stroke penalty. The ball shall be played as close as possible to where it was lost. The ball will be dropped within one club length, no closer to the hole, of where the ball went into the woods. Simply stated the woods are treated as water. If the ball is found in the woods it must be played according to USGA rules.

C. A ball hit into the water from the tee on holes#14, #17 and #18 will be played as above with a one stroke penalty.

D. Plugged balls may be lifted and cleaned anywhere on the course, including the woods, with no penalty.

IX. Point Calculation Parameters

Points will be awarded to competing players using a 5-point system. Stokes will be added to the lower handicap player on the highest handicapped holes based on the difference between the two competitors handicaps. Points will be awarded as follows:

A. Player with the lower score on a hole (with strokes given) will be deemed to have won the hole. The player with the most winning holes in a round will be awarded one point.

B. In the event of a tie for the number of winning holes, each player will be awarded one-half point.

C. The player with the lower total net score (Gross – handicap) will be awarded one point.

E. In the event of equal net totals, both players will receive one-half point.

F. If a player does not show for a match, his partner will play against both opponents. The partners score, with handicap, will be used as if he was his regular opponent using his handicap strokes on the highest handicap holes using the point format described above.

G. A team playing with no opposing team will be awarded all 5 points. The playing team (2 players) must score a net team score of par plus 3 or better to be awarded points using the point format described above. If there is only one player playing against a missing team that player must score a net team score of par plus 2 or better to be awarded points.

X. Prizes

Occasionally, at the president’s discretion there may be a play with prizes taken from yearly dues. These prizes will be accumulated throughout the season and will be awarded at the year-end outing. Substitute members are not eligible for the weekly prizes. The president may run a round with prizes with members contributing to the round’s prize pool. Any and all players may contribute but only contributing members shall be eligible for prizes fro that round.

XI. Handicap Calculations:

Handicaps will be calculated using a USGA type format. The ten best of the last twenty scores will be used to determine a player’s handicap.

The adjusted gross score is determined using the USGA Equitable Stroke Control system. This system limits the number of strokes that can be used for handicap purposes for a hole as double par.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN PLAYERS CAN “PICK UP” AFTER SCORING DOUBLE PAR. Since points are calculated on gross less handicap players must keep playing until they hole out. Players that pick up either by declaring so or do not “Hole Out” will have a score assigned of triple Par for that hole PLUS any additional strokes which awards the hole to his opponent.

NOTE: Stroke limitation does not affect the score a player records on his card and is not counted in match play competition. Actual scores should be recorded and used for competition on the player's scorecard.

The ten adjusted gross scores (AGS) are then modified using the course slope and rating to determine a final handicap (See formula below). All handicaps are rounded. 0.50 is rounded to the next highest number.

USGA Handicap Calculation Formula:

(AGS - Course Rating) * (Slope / 113) = Handicap

TopStone has a course rating of 111 on the front nine and 131 on the back nine and a rating of 34 for the front nine and 35 for the back nine. Note that new players will need only one score to establish a handicap.

Players without handicaps will have their handicap calculated using 80% of the difference between the course par and the players’ score. If a player scores 46 on a course with par 36 his handicap shall be eight (8).

Substitute players, with assigned handicaps, shall have a handicap assigned which is 90% of the assigned handicap.

XII. Player Tees

Players shall tee from the White or Gold tees except for holes 9 and 18 where everyone will tee from the Gold Tees. Players select which tees they will play at the start of the season. This selection cannot be changed except under extenuating circumstances and approved by the League President.

XIII. Etiquette

Players are encouraged to use common golf course etiquette and courtesies while on the course. Players are advised to ignore the "honors" system and play "ready golf" to increase the speed of play for all on the course. It is encouraged that you communicate with your opponent during the week if you think you will be late or absent from your match.

Players are encouraged to utilize “Ready Golf” to allow a smooth rotation of players around the course in a fair time period. If you should see that at any time the players ahead of you are two or more shots ahead then your foursome is delaying play and should attempt to catch up.

Have fun. Enjoy your round and the camaraderie!