Telephone Pioneers - 2009

		This Week In the News - START OF A NEW YEAR
		Dear Fellow Golfer, Welcome to the 2010 golf season. I hope you have been thinking about playing as I have. With schedule in hand, we are ready. We will enjoy some interesting rounds playing each other. There is a good possibility that there will be openings for additional players and substitutes. Please make an effort to encourage your friends to join us for fresh air, exercise and camaraderie on the course. Al Navickas is the Treasure. Please make sure you see him for Annual Dues which are still $35. The dues pay for league expenses, such as the software and website, competitions, prizes, year end festivities and the organizational meeting. The organizational meeting will be the Thursday after Easter on April 8th at Topstone Golf Course. It will start promptly at 8:00 AM. with tee times for the first day of competition following the meeting, so come ready to play. Some Team numbers have changed. Schedules, teams, etc. will be passed out at the meeting. The website will be up but until the first page says 2010 it will still have some old info on it. Don will be making changes over the next couple of days and when it is up to date he will send out an email. For players who are missing a partner, partners will be assigned and absent members accounted for, as in the past. Snow birds, etc. should indicate their date of return. Tee times will be available after the meeting for those wishing to sharpen their skills. Don Maloney has prepared an excellent article on "READY GOLF" which will help keep up the pace of play. Please take a moment to read the article. Let us all do our best to make this a pleasurable experience with a competitive spirit. This is Senior Golf. Thank you. Wayne OK Lets open up this page to news on the course. Any events - strange shots - unusual bounces that happened to you or someone in your group. Email me and let me know so I can post it. Don't forget that *&%$ shot that just happened to skip over the water, through the trap, bounce on a stone and land 1 foot from the pin for a par. Let me know so everyone can know what a good day you had or the great shot you made to keep you coming back out for more.

Rules of the League and Course - refresher

General Rules

NO PROVISIONAL BALLS OFF TEE

Out-of-bounds, lost balls and water hazards are only a 1-stroke penalty. You do not loose distance. Drop the ball on grass at the nearest point from where you think the ball ended up (no closer to the hole).

OB and Water - like water hazard. 1 Club length from where ball crossed line of OB or Water Hazard. Add a stroke.

Lost ball, not in fairway - Drop at point where you think ball ended up. Add a stroke.
Do not bring ball to fairway and drop.

Lost ball, in fairway - Drop at point where you think ball ended up. No penalty - Same as USGA

Sand Traps - No relief - play it as it lies - Same as USGA

Spring (April, May) and Fall (September) play:

If your ball is in the fairway you may move the ball six inches back or to the side, NO CLOSER TO THE HOLE, so long as the ball is on cut grass.

Summer (June, July, August) play:

No more "rolling" the ball over. Even in the Fairway. With winter rules it was OK but now that we are in Summer session play it as it lies.

All Season play:

1. Count every Stroke and play the ball down (keep playing till the ball is holed out).
The point system is Match and medal play so your total gross score is used to calculate one of your match points and the team net total. So count every stroke.

2. Picking up. If you pick up. Make notation on scorecard and your score for that hole will be adjusted so you opponent wins the hole. Any addition will add to your gross score total.

3. Keep Track of your stroke count. It was reported that someone was 7 on the fringe and 4 putted. When asked what his score was he said 9.
The person that reported this, and confirmed by his partner, didn't want to confront the player reporting the 9. Yes we are playing for fun but everyone needs to play by the rules. If any player is reported then it isn't fun - it's frustrating.

4. Show up by the fiorst scheduled tee time 8:16 or 7:28. This allows substitutes to be put on teams and make sure who will be playing that day. Sometimes the players in front of you are quicker. The Course managers need to have us on time so their following scheduled tee times are on time.

5. Pick up the pace. If you are on the tee and the group ahead of you is on the green on a par 4 or hitting their third shots on a par 5 then YOUR group is SLOW. Play needs to move along at a good pace. If you are watching everyone hit and then have to travel 100 yards to get to your ball seems like you could be the delay.

6. Ready Golf. If you are at your ball and you can hit safely, while a player is still traveling to his ball, then hit.
Same on the green if you are ready to putt and another player is still getting his putter or not ready to hit, within reason, then putt.

Ready Golf and Picking Up the Pace makes it easier for the course managers to make sure all players tee off on their assigned tee time.

7. Replace your Divots. Last week there were a lot of fresh divots that were not replaced. Replacing your divot not only helps to maintain a clean hitting surface but helps you to not be in a hole in the fairway the next time you play. Besides the fact that if it continues it may mean that someone will be asked to not come back. Be considerate of the course and the other players.

Scoring - How are the points calculated

A question came up regarding the points and how they are calculated.

Here goes:

Each person on a team has an opponent which you play for two points.
1 for total holes won and 1 for total net score (gross - handicap).
The total holes won is your individual hole score vs your opponents hole score adjusted for the difference in handicap.
If there is a tie for number of holes won then you each get 1/2 point
If there is a tie for gross score - handicap then you each get 1/2 point.

Two matches (one for each player on the team) = 4 points.

There is 1 point for total gross team score (you + your partner) - total handicap.

Whichever team has the lowest net total score (Gross - handicap) gets the point.
If both team tie for total net then each team gets 1/2 point.

So for any day you can get a maximum of 5 points.

If you have any questions I can send you more info.

Handicaps

The league uses the USGA HANDICAP SYSTEM(tm) with SLOPE. Includes current Equitable Stroke Control and Exceptional Tournament Performance implementation. Uses the exact USGA nomenclature.

Uses Course index and course handicaps. Converts index to course handicap for any golf course and tee.

The USGA uses a slope of 113 as an average.
Topstone front has a 111.
Topstone back has a 131.

The handicap is calculated from the rating Topstone front is a 34 and the back is a 35.

So if you score a 42 on the front the handicap is 42 - 34 = 8
8 x 111 / 113 = 7.85.
Since it is greater than 7.5 the handicap would be 8 for the front.

So if you score a 42 on the back the handicap is 42 - 34 = 8
calculated as 8 x 131 / 113 = 9.27
Since it is less than 9.5 the handicap on the back would be 9.

Willow Brook front is a slope of 83 so the handicap would be
8 x 83 /113 = 5.87 or a 6.

Shooting a 42 on the back will give a handicap of 42 - 35 = 7

To use both score the system adds the differences 7 + 8 = 15
and divides by the number of scores (2) to get a 7.5.

Then the handicaps are calculated from the 7.5.

This league uses the best ten of the last 20 scores (differences) and calculates the handicap. For play less than 20 USGA uses a varying number e.g. 10 holes played - best 3 etc.

If you want a sheet showing your numbers please email me.

Subs and new players are calculated from 80% of their handicap or 80% of the calculated difference if no rounds have been played.

Don