Gaming Rules : USGA Double Bogey : Handicap Rating Changes

Root Rule is a safety rule.  Don't take chances it's not that important!  NO PENALTY to move away from tree roots. Safety first!

Do Not Drive Golf Carts on Street Roads! Stay on the Course

GAME RULES AND GENERAL INFORMATION

  • Par 3, Regarding closest to the pin, Par or Better to win.  Anyone not Writing Par or Better on the card will be disqualified. We DO NOT ASSUME PAR.
  • Scoring in Match Play,  a player picking up and not completing a hole is forfeiting the hole to the opposing player.
  • If you take a breakfast ball on a Par 3, the breakfast ball DOES NOT QUALIFY for closest to the pin or Hole In One.
  • We are Lift Clean and Place until further notice.
  • Picking Up   Not completing a hole rule is Par +5. The USGA rule is Par + 2 + Handicap and our system will ADJUST to the USGA rule.
  • Balls lost in the rough, if all parties in the group agree the ball did not go out of bounds and you cannot find the ball in the rough. Free drop, no penalty.
  • There are only a couple out of bounds areas marked by white stakes. We have hazard areas with stakes. The penalty is one stroke.
  • Par 3-hole #2 waste area, DO NOT PLAY out of this area. It is OFF LIMITS. We are playing it as a Penalty 1 stroke. Drop at the ball drop are left front of the green.
  • Bunkers, if there is water in the bunker, if there is no rake, move the ball out of the bunker no closer to the hole, no penalty.
  • USGA ID, we prefer everyone purchase a USGA ID annual ID. Using the Handicap System legitimizes your play in all handicap competitions.  Some events require this ID to play.
  • Root Rule.  We do not want anyone to get hurt.  You can move the ball 1 club length no closer to the hole. YOU MUST KEEP the obstacle between you and the hole. You cannot move away from the obstacle blocking your shot.
  • Event Participation.  Players must have a minimum of 7 rounds played to qualify to play in special events.  Players with 7 or more rounds have sign up priority, if less the player is waitlisted.
  • SLOW PLAY Shotgun formats especially, round play should be 3.5-4 hours.  Please keep up the pace, golf balls at the RT. 95 golf ball shack are $7.95 /dozen, 2 dozen, for $13.00 (I’m being a wise guy). If you cannot see the group in front of you, you need to step it up.  We want to retain our shotgun advantage and hate to lose it if we start holding up the field.
  • Flighting. We will try and flight days where we have 34 or more players. 

 

Course Hole Change and Handicapping

The course changes are resetting the tee boxes which causes changes to the handicapping of holes as well.  Hole 18 new tee boxes, so the handicap rating is going to change. This is also a correction to the current course and reason for new scorecards

USGA Requirement for Hole Difficulty Order (Hardest to Easiest)

Under the USGA Handicap System, each hole on a course is assigned a stroke index from 1 to 18, with 1 being the hardest and 18 being the easiest This ranking is part of the World Handicap System (WHS) and is used to determine which holes a player receives strokes on.

How the order is determined

    • The hardest hole (No. 1 stroke index) is chosen by the course’s designated staff or handicap committee, based on factors like length, hazards, green size, and overall difficulty Once the hardest hole is set, the rest of the holes on that nine are ranked in order of difficulty, alternating odd and even numbers for the front and back nines 

EXAMPLE

  • Front nine: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 (hardest to easier)
  • Back nine: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 (hardest to easier)

 

USGA Double Bogey Rule

A scorecard scoring explanation.  There are two things to be aware of, 1st we have our game scoring where double bogey and beyond come into play. 2nd the USGA will not post a score higher than a Net double Bogey.

IF you take a 7 on a Par 3, that is important as far as our game is concerned, BUT the USGA handles the differently.

In the context of the USGA, a "net double bogey" is the maximum score a player can post for a hole when calculating their handicap, which helps ensure that high scores do not disproportionately affect a player's Handicap Index.

Definition of Net Double Bogey

  • Net Double Bogey is defined as the par of the hole plus two strokes (double Bogey) plus any handicap strokes a player is entitled to receive based on their Course Handicap. This means that the maximum score a player can post for a hole is calculated as follows:

The introduction of net double bogey as a maximum score helps to ensure that a single bad hole does not significantly impact a player's overall Handicap Index. This adjustment promotes fair play and allows golfers of varying abilities to enjoy the game together without the fear of excessively high scores skewing their handicaps

Golf Genius will RETAIN your actual score but when posting to the USGA necessary adjustments are made if needed.