TWIN BRIDGES MEN’S CLUB OFFICIAL RULES & INFORMATION
COURSE CONDITION
PUTTING
PACE OF PLAY
SAND BUNKERS
FAIRWAY BUNKERS
LEAF RULE
PENALTY AREAS & DROPPING
BLIND DRAWS
TEE ASSIGNMENTS
HANDICAPS
TIE BREAKING
MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS
MEN’S CLUB DUES & FEES
SIGN UPS & DEADLINES
HOLE-IN-ONE
IRBY RACE & FEES
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
UNKNOWN GOLF FEES
START TIMES & DEADLINES
CHOOSE UP FEES
WINNINGS
MISC
COURSE CONDITION
Unless you are incurring a penalty or are getting relief from one of the noted bunkers, we will play Lift, Clean and Place within 6 inches of where your ball came to rest throughout the entire course.
PUTTING
All putts must be holed. If you pick up, your score will be an Automatic Triple Bogey.
PACE OF PLAY
Holing out putts, will in theory add a slightly bit more time. Do your prep on the green and in the fairway while others are playing. Be ready when it's your turn. Play ready golf when you can. Be self-aware. We don't need 5-hour rounds! Rule of thumb, you're most likely doing something wrong, if you have the same number of people in your group as the group in front of you and you are not keeping up to them! Unless you're under 4-hour pace, you should always be keeping up with the group in front of you.
You have three minutes to look for your ball. The three minutes begins when you get to the point where your ball crossed into a hazard or is assumed lost.
SAND BUNKERS
You are entitled to lift, rake and place within 6 inches in sand bunkers.
In addition to any areas that are marked with white paint as “Ground Under Repair”, we consider the following as Ground Under Repair:
- #6 Front Left Greenside
- #10 Front Left Greenside
Relief from these bunkers is Lift, Clean and Place, no closer to the hole, within one club length from point of complete relief outside of the bunker. They are not marked, so as a reminder, complete relief means you do not have to place your ball on the side of the hill that is part of the bunker.
FAIRWAY BUNKERS
Most of our fairway bunkers no longer exist. Some are filled in. A few are not maintained. You are entitled to lift, rake and place within 6 inches in any of those fairway bunkers.
In addition to any areas that are marked with white paint as “Ground Under Repair”, we consider the following as Ground Under Repair:
- #13 Left and Right Fairway Bunkers…the ones reachable from the tees
- #16 Right Fairway Bunker
Relief from these bunkers is Lift, Clean and Place, no closer to the hole, within one club length from point of complete relief outside of the bunker. They are not marked, so as a reminder, complete relief means you do not have to place your ball on the side of the hill that is part of the bunker.
LEAF RULE
If you and your Team Captain are reasonably certain that your ball is under a leaf that is not in the woods or at the edge of the woods or in a pond or at the edge of a pond then you are entitled to, without penalty, put a new ball into play by placing the ball, as close as possible to the point where you believe the ball is.
PENALTY AREAS & DROPPING
We will play all of the heather, woods, ponds, creeks and driving range as a Red Stake Lateral Hazard.
If your ball lies in a penalty area (woods, pond, creek, heather or driving range) and you choose to play it, you can lift, clean and place within six inches without penalty.
The three areas below incur a one stroke penalty.
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- You can play from where your last stroke was made (Stroke and Distance)
- You can take Lateral Relief by placing your ball within two club lengths of where the ball crossed the hazard line…not where it came to rest in the hazard
- You can move back as far as you want keeping the point where the ball entered the hazard in a straight line between the hole and where you place your ball.
You have three minutes to look for your ball. The three minutes begins when you get to the point where your ball crossed into a hazard or is assumed lost.
BLIND DRAWS
When needed, the computer will select a random B or C player from one of the ABCD teams that day. We will use a B or C player because they have an appropriate average of impact. This will be a player not from the same team. Blind draws are used for score only. They are not paid, unless the original team that the blind draw is on, is knocked out of the money by the team the blind draw is on. In that case, they will receive money as a blind draw for that finish.
TEE ASSIGNMENTS
The Men’s Club Board shall establish Tee Assignments. We use a formula that takes into consideration age and handicap. If you feel your Tee Assignment is not appropriate, please seek a meeting with the Men’s Club Committee.
We will assign people based on this guide. In the end, if you disagree or want to play another tee, we will let you decide where you want to play as long as it's a handicapped event, and it’s not a flagrant choice. You can always move a tee backward without issue. However, we require you to choose a tee and then remain there the rest of the year and not hop around. If you go against our guide and move forward when you probably shouldn't be, that will all be on you. Meaning, you should consider your decision carefully and why. If it comes across not legitimate you'll have to live with the reality and ridicule it may possibly bring your direction. None of this applies to gross events like the club championship, where we will assign tees based on different criteria.
Our guide is this ... Up to 49 years of age is on the Gray tees. 50 to 64 is on the White tees. 65 to 79 are on the Gold tees. 80 and older are on the Red tees. And then if your handicap index (not course handicap.... your index) is greater than 14, you are entitled to move up one tee.
We make this assessment at the beginning of each year and expect the player to remain there for that season, until a re-assessement takes place at the beginning of next season.
HANDICAPS
A BlueGolf handicap is required for everyone to play in our club. This is acquired through the pro shop. The cost is $30 unless you have purchased a season pass, which, in that case, is included with your membership at the golf course. We will be playing 100% handicap this year.
The handicap committee reserves the right to adjust a player’s handicap prior to a tournament if their handicap is discovered to be inaccurate.
TIE BREAKING
- Choose Ups - All ties shall be broken by looking back on the last 9, then 6, then 3, then 1 holes played. The computer does all these calculations automatically.
- Irby Cup Events - All ties shall be broken by looking back on the last 9, then 6, then 3, then 1 holes played. This applies to money and points. The computer does all these calculations automatically.
- Club Championship Divisions will be decided by Sudden Death Playoff starting on hole #1 and continuing until we have a Champion.
- Irby Cup Championship - if there happens to be a tie in the final year long standings after the 2-day playoff, the champion will be determined by who finished highest in the 2-day playoffs. If that by chance is a tie, we will then look at who had the best performance in the majors.
MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS
Our league is open to all, but with slight restrictions. Due to our games and how our league is designed, we maintain an ability requirement so that each player can have an impact on the games we play. Our guide to ability is that a player can break 90 from the Gold tees.
MEN’S CLUB DUES & FEES
Annual Dues for the Men’s Club is $30 and is required to participate in any choose-up or event. We do allow 2 free guest plays to “try us out.” This must be paid in cash at the golf course or given to Eric Gessner or Buford Peebles.
The fee options for the Irby Cup year long points race that spans over 10 events are:
- $20 per event if you pay-as-you-go. This fee covers closest-to-pin contests, skins and hole-in-one contests.
- $160 for the entire year which needs to be paid prior to our first Irby Cup Event. Paying the $160 up front can save you $40 (2 events). The package price of $160 includes fees, closest-to-pin contests, skins and hole-in-one contests.
If you want to play on a day that we have an Irby Cup event, but you do not want to participate in the Irby Cup, that fee is $15.
SIGN UPS & DEADLINES
In winter mode our deadlines tend to be relaxed. We communicate on our GroupMe chat and flex with the conditions and if the course is busy or not. But when we are in normal summer mode, the following are how our deadlines work:
- Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday choose-up deadlines are 2 hours before tee-off unless our tee times are full.
- Saturday events and all other tournaments or special events, the cutoff is 5:00 p.m. two evenings before the event unless our tee times are full.
- You must signup and register using Unknown Golf.
HOLE-IN-ONE
Hole-In-One is only available to Men’s Club Members who have paid their dues, unless we have an event with a stated exception. It will be assumed you are participating in the Hole-In-One each time it is played unless, for that day, prior to teeing off, you advise your Team Captain that you are not participating.
We will have a Hole-In-One contest anytime there are 12 or more players (3 groups) in an event.
When there is a Hole-In-One winner, the winner shall win 80% of the pot, and we use the other 20% to start a new pot. If we have two holes-in-one on the same day, the two winners will split the 80%.
IRBY RACE & FEES
We have 3 majors and 7 team events for our season long FedexCup type points race. The top 15 will be paid out from a prize pool ranging from $2000 - $2500.
For collecting points, we count your best 2 out of 3 majors, and your best 5 out of 7 team events. And in the year ending 2-day playoff championship event, we count your best 1 out of 2 rounds.
Even though we play a team format, all 10 events are based on your individual performance, including the 2-day championship playoff. You will collect normal points during team events, double points during majors, and triple points in the year ending playoffs.
90% of our players purchase the $160 season pass that covers all 10 events. With this package, you are playing 2 events for free. Or you have the option to pay each event as you go at $20 per event. The 2-day championship playoff is a separate entry fee of $5 per round.
If would like to go ahead and pay your $160 pass, you can give cash or check to the golf course or Eric Gessner or Buford Peebles.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
Our championship is a 2-day, 36 hole stroke play event. There are 3 divisions. Super Senior Champion (gold tees), Senior Champion (white tees), and Official Men’s Club Champion (gray tees).
Entry fee for event is $30. Winners will get their name on trophies in the clubhouse, along with a parking space near the front of the club. As well, we will award 6 places in shop credit for each division. This is based on having the minimum participation level in each division.
Eligibility is based on age. If you qualify for the Super Senior and wish to move backwards and play in the Senior or Men’s division you can. And Senior can play in Men’s. But you cannot move foward… Men’s cannot play in Senior or Super Senior, and Senior cannot play in Super Senior.
- Age 54 and younger will play in Men’s Official Club Champion division
- Age 55 to 69 will play in Senior Champion division
- Age 70 and older will play in Super Senior division
UNKNOWN GOLF FEES
Every person who plays in our club will be required to pay the Unknown Golf subscriber fee. This gives you full rights through the app with all features. If you have not really checked out all the features, you can do so here: https://www.unknowngolf.com/players/features They are constantly improving and developing the app and it has given us the ability to run net/gross games effortlessly and play many formats and streamline all our efforts from an administrative perspective as well as give us great features like live scoring and much more.
Once you install the app from your app store on your phone, you can subscribe through your profile and then under the billing tab. Or you can learn more here: https://www.unknowngolf.com/players/pricing The cost is normally, $10 per month or $49 for the year. UKG has given us a special promo code to use that will knock an additional 10% off your annual subscription - TWIN10 - which will bring it down to $44 for the year. I would encourage everyone to get signed up today in preparation for the season!
If you choose not to pay a subscription, you can use the web based, limited version, and you will be charged an extra $2 per round for any event at the club to cover the fees they charge us for unsubscribed event players.
START TIMES & DEADLINES
This year, our Saturday and Special Event start times will be 8:30. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday will remain at 12:00.
CHOOSE UP FEES
All regular choose up fees during the week and weekend will be a $10 game. Unless it is a special event.
WINNINGS
- Irby Cup events and year Top 15 payout and club championship are paid in Shop Credit
- All other events and choose-ups are paid in cash
MISC
All situations not addressed in this document will be covered by Twin Bridges Local Rules and the USGA.