Save the Dates for 2016 JustGolf Tournaments

Hi JustGolfers,

Please save the following dates for the 2016 JustGolf tournaments:

Wednesday, May 18 (Shore Gate)

Wednesday, June 15 (McCullough’s)

Tuesday, July 12 (Blue Heron Pines)

Monday, August 15 (Seaview Bay)

Tuesday, September 20 (RiverWinds)

October, date to be determined (Linwood)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Regards,
Linda

Linwood Prize Winners and Photos

John Huda and Kevin Kaufman

Steve Barry and Mitch Kato

Paul Behnke

Rich Mayan

Nick Russo and Ken Metzger

Ed Walsh and Jim Palmore

Ineke Daniels and Terry Zimmerman

Denise Quisito and Gail Davies

Carmella Mulvenna and Jen McGrann

Vinnie Marino and Bev Rayfield

Linwood Results, Full Field

I will post the prize winners tomorrow.

Linwood Pairings

Linwood Stableford Handicaps

Linwood Rules and Course Information

[Corrections: Yesterday's explanation of the Stableford format indicated that this will be a net tournament. That is incorrect. This tournament will be gross and net. Also, this is an aggregate format – both balls count.]

Please read all information carefully, and print a copy for your use at the tournament. Since this is a shotgun, there will be no opportunity to explain the rules prior to play. If you have any questions, e-mail or call me now.

Important Information Specific to Linwood

• PLAN TO ARRIVE BY 9:30. Put your name on your bag. Leave bag at bag drop. Register at the JustGolf table as soon as you arrive.

• Be at your cart by 10:15.

• Range: Leave your bag on your cart. Take a selection of clubs and walk to the range. You may not take your cart to the range. Range balls are free.

• Siren: If the siren sounds it is mandatory to leave the course immediately.

• Snack shop and restaurant will not be open. Please bring your own snacks

• Cart rules: Carts may be driven anywhere except near tees and greens. Exit fairways at signs. Do not ride over curbs. Stay on cart path from green to tee.

• Bathrooms located in the snack shop (accessible from holes 10, 11, and 13) and in the clubhouse.

• Pick up if your score will exceed double bogey (men) or triple bogey (women) and record an X plus your most likely score (e.g., X-6).

• Environmentally sensitive areas: Marked by signs and red lines on holes #7, 8, and 11. DO NOT ENTER TO RETRIEVE OR HIT YOUR BALL. Drop within two club-lengths of margin no closer to hole and add one penalty stroke to your score.

• If your partner arrives late, he may join you between holes.

• Play the ball down everywhere!

Scorecards

• Record gross score for each player. If you pick up, record X plus your most likely score (I must have a number so that I can post your score).

• Write scores on the first two lines only. Leave the rest of the card blank.

• Write in pencil only, and use an eraser to make corrections. I will not score at the tournament – your scorecard must be legible.

• Sign your card. If there are any errors, I will call you. You will not be DQ’d for an incorrect scorecard – we will correct errors on the phone.

DO NOT POST YOUR SCORE. I WILL POST THE SCORES.

Local Rules

Out of bounds: Parking lot area; fence along holes 4, 9, and 11; driving range; curbing around staging area of carts and around 10^th green. Must return to where you hit your previous shot and add one penalty stroke to your score.

OB fences: No free relief from OB fence (unplayable: one-stroke penalty to drop within two club-lengths or return to previous spot and hit again.

Waste bunkers: Defined by green stakes. You may ground your club.

Stones in bunkers: Loose impediments; you may remove any near your ball.

Hazards: defined by outer edge of rocks (the rocks are in the hazard), yellow lines (water hazard), and red lines (lateral water hazard).

Rocks bordering water hazards are in the hazard.

All meadows are environmentally sensitive lateral hazards. No play permitted. One stroke penalty and drop within two club-lengths or replay from original spot.

Please rake bunkers, repair ball marks, and fill divots with sand.

Course Information

Tees: White tees for men; Silver tees for seniors; Green tees for women

Yardage markers: Red, white, and blue raised disks in the middle of the fairway; many sprinkler heads. All yardage measured to center of green.

Hole location: Flags – Red (front), White (middle), Yellow (back).

Hole 2: Dogleg left.

Holes 7, 8, and 11: Red-lined areas are environmentally sensitive. Do not enter. Drop within two club-lengths of the hazard margin, no closer to the hole, and add one penalty stroke to your score.

Hole 7: A ball may not be played from environmentally sensitive area, but you may stand in the area to play a ball outside the area.

Distance to water: 335 (White); 215 (Silver); 210 (Green). After your tee shot, markers have two numbers: distance to water and distance to center of green.

After #7: Men turn right onto dirt path; all others turn left onto paved cart path.

Hole 9: Range is out of bounds; no free relief from fence (if unplayable, one stroke penalty and drop within 2 club-lengths no closer to hole or replay from original spot).

Hole 11: 150 yards to carry hazard from White tees. Drop area for men is near women’s tee box. Green slopes left to right.

Hole 12: Water crosses the fairway. After tee shot, markers have two numbers: distance to water and distance to center of green

Hole 13: Dogleg right. 170 from Green tee to second bunker on left.

Hole 18: Dogleg right. Distance to right bunker: 165 (White); 140 (Green).

Stableford Format Explanation

The JustGolf tournament scheduled for Thursday, October 8 at Linwood will use the regular Stableford format. A Stableford is a stroke-play competition in which the high total wins, not the low. That's because in Stableford, your final score is not your stroke total, but rather the total points you have earned for your scores on each individual hole.

This is a two-man or two-woman team tournament in which both players’ Stableford points will be added together; it is not a better ball tournament.  If your partner has a bad hole, he will not drag down the team score, because there are no negative points.

The JustGolf Stableford tournament is a net and gross tournament and awards points as follows:

• Net  or gross double bogey or worse: 0

• Net or gross bogey: 1 point

• Net or gross par: 2 points

• Net or gross birdie: 3 points

• Net or gross eagle: 4 points

• Net or gross double eagle (albatross): 5 points

There are no negative points. Male players will be instructed to pick up their ball on any hole where their gross score will be 3 over par or worse (double bogey max). Female players will pick up at 3 over par on holes where they receive one handicap stroke (double bogey max), and at 4 over par where they receive two strokes (triple bogey max).

Players will receive 100% of their Course Handicap. The maximum Course Handicap is 18 for men, 24 for women.

You may be familiar with the Modified Stableford used by the pros. The Modified Stableford gives the pros higher points for birdies and eagles, and severely penalizes poor scores with negative points. Typical amateur golfers are not going to be scoring numerous birdies and eagles. It is also discouraging for amateurs to lose points on a bad hole. The Stableford we are playing, with no negative points, is the recommended format for an amateur group.

Linwood Information

I will post the Linwood Handicap Chart, Rules and Course Information, and Pairings over the next few days. Here are a few early bits of information:

• This is a 10:30 a.m. shotgun. There will be no starter to explain the rules to you (don’t all cheer at once). Please read the rules carefully, and bring a copy with you to the tournament. You must be at your cart by 10:15.

• Make sure your name is on your golf bag. The bag drop is in the front of the clubhouse. An employee will pick up your bag, drive it around back, and load your cart. The JustGolf registration table will be around back.

• The range balls are included in your fee. However, you may not drive your cart to the range. Allow yourself enough time to arrive back at your cart by 10:15 for announcements.

• The snack shop will not be open. Bring snacks and drinks with you.

• Since this is a shotgun, and Stableford scoring is time-consuming, I will not do any scoring at Linwood. Please write legibly, and use an eraser to make corrections (do not write one number over another – it’s close to impossible for me to figure out which number is official). Please total the gross score for the front and back nines for each player. You are not responsible for the accuracy of the totals, but it helps me confirm that I have read your hole-by-hole scores correctly.

• Record each player’s gross score on the official scorecard – nothing else! I will need the other lines for Stableford scoring. Keep your own score on a separate scorecard.  

• All JustGolf volunteers are playing in the tournament. If no one is at the scorer’s table, and you must leave right away, make sure both scorecards have two signatures and leave them on the table.

Looking for New Members

Some of you may have noticed a decrease in participation in the JustGolf tournaments this year. Whereas in past years each tournament had between 40 and 60 competitors, this year’s attendance ranged from 20 to 42, averaging 33 per tournament.

While some turnover every year should be expected, in the past we seem to have replaced lost members with new ones. This year, losses far outweighed gains.

It is going to prove difficult to book good courses if I can’t guarantee at least 40 players. So I’m writing to ask your help recruiting new members.

I have ordered business cards for JustGolf. I will distribute them to those of you who are playing at Linwood, and will mail them to anyone else who requests them. I would like you to store the cards in your golf bag, and give them to anyone you play golf with that you feel would enjoy competing in our tournaments. If you are not playing at Linwood, please send me an e-mail to request business cards.

I do not want to disband JustGolf, but we will need more members if we are to remain a viable organization. I appreciate any efforts you make to recruit new members.

Thank you,

Linda

Clearing up a misunderstanding

Towards the bottom of every tournament application, you will notice the following instruction: “Last date to mail application: day, month, date.” This means that I would like you to put the application in the mail no later than the date listed. So, for example, in the Linwood application, which lists Friday, September 25 as the last date to mail the application, you may mail the application as late as Friday, September 25. It must be mailed by the 25^th; it does not have to arrive at my doorstep on the 25^th.

Something else you should know…

If you miss the deadline, and you want to play, send me an e-mail or make a phone call right away. Most of the time I am able to squeeze in a few late applicants. It never hurts to ask.

In the meantime, special thanks to those of you who mail your applications before the deadline. Early applications make my job that much easier.

Regards,

Linda