CDI Memorial Golf League
League Rules
2003
Purpose
The purpose of the league is to encourage fun and competitive spirit – and to give us an excuse to go golfing every week.
This document outlines the rules of the league in detail. The rules are almost identical to last year’s. They have been altered to reflect a new playoff format and cost structure
The league format is each player playing for themselves, in three simultaneous matches each week against the other players in their group for seventeen weeks, for a total of 54 matches. Each group will consist of four golfers. Each player will play each other player several times during the season. This is followed by semi-final matches for those that qualify. Those that did not qualify for the playoffs are invited to open golf, and are eligible to win the weekly prizes. The two semi-final winners will play an 18-hole championship on a date to be determined. The two finalist will have their round paid for. Other league members are invited and encourage to attend at their own expense. A three-club scramble will also be played at mid season. The format and teams for this even are described below
The cost is $220 for the season, of which $188 is for greens fees and $32 is for the prize fund.
Players must pay for the entire season in advance by April 8th.
Each week each player will play in two or three matches simultaneously, one against each of the other players in their group. The player’s score for each hole and the round will be compared against each of their opponents’ scores.
Before a match begins, the handicap for each match will be calculated by subtracting the smaller handicap from the larger. The higher handicap player will receive that many handicap strokes for the match, and the lower handicap player will use their scratch score. Note that each player may end up using a different handicap for each match.
Before determining the winner of a hole or round, the high handicap player’s match handicap will be subtracted for the hole or round. The handicap will be the same as last year’s handicap rule. See below for the exact calculation of a handicap.
Each player will begin with an initial handicap that will be taken from a previous year’s league, if one is available, or a best guess to be determined by the player and the league commissioner if no official handicap is available.
Each match consists of nine holes in which 20 possible points can be earned as follows:
- Two points awarded to the winner of each hole, or one point to each player in the case of a tie.
- Two points awarded to the winner of the round, or one point to each player in the case of a tie.
As an example, assume the following two rounds between two opponents.
|
Name |
Hdcp |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Total |
|
Par |
|
4 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
36 |
|
Hole Hdcp |
|
8 |
2 |
9 |
7 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
|
|
John |
6 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
43 |
|
John w/hdcp |
|
4 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
43 |
|
Tom |
11 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
48 |
|
Tom w/hdcp |
|
5 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
43 |
Before the match began, Tom and John compared their handicaps. The difference is 5, so Tom (the higher handicap) will receive 5 strokes during the match. Handicap strokes are allotted evenly to each hole, with any remaining strokes assigned to the holes with the lowest handicap rating. In this example Tom gets one stroke on the five hardest holes: #’s 6, 2, 7, 9, and 8.
Therefore, the match score would be 11-9 in favor of John. Tom won two holes and tied four for 8 points. John won three holes, and tied four others for 10 points. John and Tom had the same net total for the round, so they each get an additional point. Notice that for match scoring purposes, we only pay attention to the handicap line of scores.
You should also note that while playing you only have to write down your actual score for each hole. The league secretary will calculate the net score for each hole and the final match score.
For each hole you will find a handicap rating. This rating ranks the holes from 1 (the hardest) to 9 (the easiest) (18 hole course holes are ranked 1-18). These ratings are determined by the course using who knows what methods and are used to allocate handicap shots during a match. To make things a little more realistic, we will be using our own league results to handicap the holes for each course. As this is our first year at this course, we will only be using this year’s data to calculate hole handicaps.
The average score to par will be used to rank the holes from one to nine and these rankings will be used as the holes’ handicaps. These handicaps will be printed on your weekly scorecard.
To even things out, the course’s handicap ratings will be averaged in by counting them as two shares. So the first time we play a course this year, the course’s own rankings will be used. The second time however, our results will be factored in. These scores are then ranked to give each hole a handicap from one to nine. This weekly recalculation will continue thought the season and playoffs.
Players are responsible for their appearance each week. Refunds are not available. If a player is absent in a week their score for the round will be determined by adding 25% to their average score to par (rounded to the nearest whole number), broken evenly by hole, with remainder strokes being applied to the lowest handicap holes. For example, if a player’s average score to par is + 8.7, the 25% penalty brings it to +10.9 (rounded to 11), so the player will score one over par on each hole and two over par on the two hardest holes. The player’s regular handicap will be used in scoring. The absent round will not count toward the player’s future handicap or averages.
To avoid this, players may supply a substitute golfer. The substitute’s scores will be used to compute the match outcome for that week. If the substitute has a league-approved handicap, it may be used. Substitute’s handicaps will be approved if from play in this or another league, or from a good faith estimate if that week’s group agrees. Since the round is paid for in advance, it is the responsibility of the absent golfer to collect any fees from the substitute.
The league playoff champion will receive a trophy and several sleeves of balls. The new league champion will have his name added to the CDI Memorial trophy and may take possession of the trophy until his or her reign ends. The runner up will receive a smaller number of sleeves of balls. In addition to these, three sleeves of balls will be awarded each week to winners of various contests. The contests are divided to award the good and not-so-good golfers alike.
Each week one contest will be selected at random from the following list and the winner will receive a sleeve. Once a contest has been selected, it cannot be selected again for three weeks.
- Closest to the pin on a par 3 hole
- Longest drive on an appropriate driving hole
- Low gross (no handicap) score
- Low net score
- Best-worst hole
The best-worst contest winner is determined by comparing each golfer’s worst hole for the round (no handicaps). The winner is the one with the best of these. In the case of ties, the winner is the player with the fewest of these worst scores, followed by the fewest of the next worse scores and so on.
Each week three contests will be selected from the following list. At the end of the round one of these three will be drawn randomly and the winner will receive a sleeve. Once a sleeve has been awarded for a contest, it cannot be selected again for three weeks.
- Most penalty strokes
- Hi gross score
- Hi net score
- Worst-best hole
- Best poker hand
- Worst poker hand
The worst best contest is similar to the best-worse. The winner is determined by comparing each golfer’s best hole for the round (no handicaps). The winner is the one with the highest of these. In the case of ties, the winner is the player with the fewest of these best scores, followed by the fewest of the next best and so on.
The best and worst poker hand is determined by making the best (or worst) possible poker hand with any five of your hole scores (no handicaps). For example, with a nine hole card of: 5 6 5 5 6 4 3 4 8, the best hand is full house (fives full of sixes) and the worst is 8 high (8,6,5,4,3). The hand order is (best to worst): 5 of a kind, 4 of a kind, full house, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card.
Finally, one additional sleeve will be awarded to the player whose gross score matches the mystery number drawn after the rounds are completed. Scores of thirty through sixty-five are represented and drawn randomly until there is a winner. Ties split the sleeve for this and the other contests.
At the conclusion of 15 weeks of simultaneous match play the top four teams, ranked by match points, will be seeded for single elimination match play playoffs. Tiebreakers for each position (including any ties for the final playoff spot(s)) will be broken in the following manner:
1. Points in head to head matches
2. Overall holes won-lost-tied percentage
3. Overall rounds won-lost tied percentage
4. Overall holes won
5. Overall rounds won
6. Coin toss
For multi-way ties if at any step one player is better than all the rest, they win the tiebreak. Begin again at step #1 with the remaining teams to determine the next placement, if necessary. Otherwise, if one player is worse than all the others, eliminate that team and start again at step #1 with the remaining players.
Match play is the same as the match point system used in the weekly play, except that no bonus is given for the round score. Ties in the playoffs will be broken by extra holes, starting at the first and continuing until one player wins a hole.
The first round will take place on week 19. The groupings for that week will be as follows:
1st vs. 4th
2nd vs. 3rd
The remaining players will fill in the groups and play open golf.
The two winners in the semi finals will play in the championship match on a date of their choosing, and will have their rounds paid for as part of their prizes. The rest of the league is invited and encouraged to attend at their own expense.
Our starting time this year has improved (5:45), but it is still important that each player be prepared to tee off at the league starting time. Complete groups will start first. Remaining groups will start short handed. Late players may join their group out on the course, but missed holes will be counted using a 25% penalty method, similar to the one described for absent golfers.
Course management has informed me that all attempts will be made to keep all leagues on pace. The league in front of us will probably fix our pace, but it is very important we do not fall behind them. If we keep up with them, and still finish in the dark we can take our complaints to the course management, but if it gets dark because we are slow we have no legitimate recourse.
Timely play does not have to mean rushing your shots. It is usually sufficient that each player be ready to hit when it is his or her turn. Don’t be too concerned about hitting in the proper order. Give preference to those that are away, but if you are ready and they are still walking up to their ball – go ahead and hit. The same applies on the green. Line up your putt while others are hitting. If you are ready and others are not, go ahead and putt, even if you are not away.
The other potential time waster is hunting for a lost ball. None of us likes to lose a ball, especially if it costs a stroke. But if everyone else has hit and they’re waiting for you, give it up and take the drop.
Last year’s handicap system worked pretty well. I know this because nobody complained about it. Here is how the handicaps are calculated:
Each player’s handicap is calculated using their last seven round scores to par, applying weights to each based on their age, and averaging these weighted scores. If a player has played fewer than seven rounds (such as in the first six weeks of the season) the initial handicap is substituted as many times as needed to get seven scores.
The rounds scores are not the raw scores recorded by the player, but rather each round’s scores adjusted to account for maximum scores allowed per hole and are weighted by the rating and slope of the course on which it was played.
A maximum score per hole is counted for handicap purposes based on your handicap. These maximums are:
|
Handicap |
Worst score allowed |
|
Less than 5 |
Double bogey |
|
5-9 |
7 |
|
10-14 |
8 |
|
15-19 |
9 |
|
20 or more |
10 |
The course rating is subtracted from this modified round score and multiplied by 56.5. Finally, this value is divided by the course’s slope to arrive at the round’s adjusted score. It is these scores that are used to calculate your handicap.
Course |
Rating |
Slope |
Blue
|
TBD
|
TBD |
Gold
|
TBD
|
TBD |
Red
|
TBD
|
TBD |
White
|
TBD
|
TBD |
The weights used to calculate the average are:
Most recent round: 100%
Two rounds ago: 100%
Three rounds ago: 100%
Four rounds ago: 80%
Five rounds ago: 60%
Six rounds ago: 40%
Seven rounds ago: 20%
The player’s handicap is then calculated by multiplying their weighted seven score average by 0.9 and rounded to the nearest integer. Note that negative handicaps are possible.
Here’s an example:
John’s rounds so far this year after nine weeks have been (in order):
|
Course |
Score |
Adjusted handicap score |
|
Blue |
48 |
11.58 |
|
Gold |
44 |
9.64 |
|
Red |
42 |
7.70 |
|
White |
45 |
8.80 |
|
Blue |
45 |
10.62 |
|
Gold |
41 |
6.72 |
|
Red |
47 |
10.66 |
|
White |
44 |
9.64 |
|
Blue |
42 |
7.70 |
The last seven rounds, weighted are added:
7.7 x 100% = 7.7
9.64 x 100% = 9.64
10.66 x 100% = 10.66
6.72 x 80% = 5.38
10.62 x 60% = 6.37
8.8 x 40% = 3.52
7.7 x 20% = 1.54
The sum = 44.81, weighted average = 8.96
The handicap: 8.96 times 0.9 = 8.064, rounded to 8
There are a few good topics to address here. People play golf in different ways. To make the league competition fair, everybody should be playing by the same set of rules. Fortunately, the rules of golf are already published and I don’t have to type them all out.
There are only two or three issues that commonly come up, however:
1. Stroke and distance
According to the rules of golf, when you lose a ball, or hit one out of bounds the correct penalty is one stroke, plus you must hit the next shot from where you were before. This is commonly called “stroke and distance” as you lose any distance you hit the ball along with your penalty stroke. This doesn’t really work for league play, as it would tend to slow things way down if you had to go back to your last ball position after looking for a lost ball for five minutes.
What we will do instead (and how the game is commonly played anyway) is this. The next shot after a lost ball or a ball out of bounds will be played from within one club length from the spot as close as possible to where the ball traveled out of bounds or where the player judges his lost ball ended up. The one stroke penalty still applies, however.
2. Preferred Lies
Also called “fluffing”, it is picking up and placing or nudging your ball into a better lie for your next shot. This is totally against the foundation the game: “play it as it lies”. However, recognizing that we don’t play on PGA level courses maintenance-wise here is a common compromise.
On any fairway a player may nudge, or otherwise fluff their ball before the next shot if they deem it necessary to obtain a “fairway” lie. This would include things like having your ball stop in a divot or un-mowed portion of the fairway. Let’s face it – its rare enough that we hit it in the fairway at all. It only seems fair that we should get a good lie for our efforts. Note that this only applies to your own fairway. No fluffing bonus for slicing the ball far enough to get it into the next fairway!
The only other comprise is anywhere on a hole, except in a hazard (water, sand trap), if your ball is “plugged”, or has a large clump of dirt or mud on it you may pick it up, clean it, and place it near the old spot before your next shot.
3. The Mulligan and other “gimmies”
For obvious reasons, a player may not declare a mulligan during league play. Every shot counts. For the same reasons, each hole must be played to its conclusion, except where shots are conceded. To help speed play, if all of the player’s opponents agree to concede the last putt, the ball may be picked up.
As usual, I would like to point out that all the money collected is returned to the players, either in the form of greens fees, or as prizes. I am paying a full share. The only benefits I get from running the league are 1) having a league to play in! And 2) It’s another outlet for my over-developed sense of competition. Oh yeah, and in case you didn’t guess, I will be serving as league secretary again this year as no one came running to me begging for the job. After this year, anyone else is welcome to try it if they want. J