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Listed below are the Permanent Local Rules for all Michigan Golfweek Amateur Tours. These rules supersede any conflicting rule listed in the USGA Rules of Golf. Other than where superseded below... the USGA Rules of Golf will govern all Tournament Player on the Golfweek Tours of Michigan.
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- Triple Bogey Max Rule
- All Heavily Wooded Areas & Heather or Extreme Long Grass will be considered a Red Penalty Area
- Out of Bounds Rule
- One Ball Rule in Effect
- Embedded Ball Rule Anywhere in General Area
- New Member Probation Period of 2 Calculated Rounds
- No Drop Zones Used for Any Event
- Guest Policies for Placing in Tournaments
- Play Ready Golf!
- Pace of Play System in Live Score
- GPS and Range Finders Permitted
- Putt Out Instead of Marking
- Play 2 balls in event of a rules dispute
- Score Card
- Optional Cash games
- Triple Bogey Max Rule
The maximum score that a player in A, B, C and flights can score on a hole is triple bogey. If you are sitting at double bogey, and are not in the hole, pick up your ball and score a triple bogey. Do not continue to play the hole as the whole reason for this rule is to speed up pace of play. If you continue to play past double bogey, you are defeating the purpose.
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- All Heavily Wooded Areas, Heather or Extreme Long Grass will be considered a Red Penalty Area
All Heavily Wooded areas, Heather or Extreme Long Grass areas may be considered a Red Penalty Area (only if known, or virtually certain that the ball has entered one of these areas, otherwise is considered a LOST BALL) and take relief from these areas according to the Red Penalty Area rules. The proper drop location is determined just as it would be had the ball gone into a marked Red Penalty Area (think of the whole area of trees or heather as if it were a Penalty Area). The drop is where the ball first crossed into this area and is subject to the same regulations as a Red Penalty Area. The drop location is NOT perpendicular to where the ball lies or expected to be. This rule can be used for all flights, including Champ Flight.
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- Out of Bounds Rule
If you hit your ball Out of Bounds, and did not hit a provisional ball, you mustdrop within 2 club length of where you crossed into out of bounds under penalty of 2 STROKES and not just 1 stroke. You cannot take the fairway drop option.
This rule can apply to all flights, including Champ Flight.
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- One Ball Rule in Effect
Each player must play the same make AND model ball for the duration of the round, not just the same make. Each player must uniquely mark each ball so that it can be certain of ownership. This includes that they must play the same color ball as well even if it is the same make and model. The USGA Approved Ball List lists each color as a separate line item in the list which means it is technically a different ball.
If a player does not mark the ball, then there is no way to know if a lost ball is found. If a ball is lost, and presumed found, said player must triple bogey the hole (if a provisional was not played - and marked), as there is no way to be certain that a found ball belongs to the player in question.
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- Embedded Ball Rule Anywhere in General Area
A ball embedded in its own pitch mark, anywhere in the General Area (this is the whole area of the course except: the teeing ground, putting green of the hole being played, out of bounds and all penalty areas), may be lifted, cleaned and dropped as close to the original spot, no nearer the hole, without penalty. This is a USGA rule.
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- New Member Probation Period of 2 Calculated Rounds
We do our very best to try to make sure that all new members are placed in the proper flight to begin with. This is not an exact science especially if the new member does not have an established USGA Index.
To make sure that we protect the field from New Members not being placed in the proper flight, we are implementing the following rule.
All new members will only be allowed to win up to 2nd place in any flight, other than Champ, for their first 2 Tournaments. In the event that a New Member with less than 3 Tournaments played shoots a score that would place them in first place for the flight, they will automatically be moved to 2nd place and the player that would have taken 2nd place will be moved to first place in the event that they are a member with more than 2 events played as well. The New Member will be awarded the 2nd Place Prize Money and Points for the tournament.
The likelihood that a new member that is in the proper flight would win their flight within the first 2 events is extremely low due to being new to tournament play. If a new member were to card a score that would win in a particular flight, after their index was calculated based on the winning score, they will most likely be moved up into the next flight anyways. This is why we are implementing this rule in order to handle this situation should it happen and there is now a clear cut rule to handle this.
This is not meant to punish New Members but to protect the integrity of the flights and our tournaments from improper flight placement.
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- No Drop Zones Used for Any Event
No Drop Zones will be used by Any Player during any Michigan Amateur Tour Event except for Champ flight may use drop zones where available.
Because No Drop Zones are allowed at Nationals and because the Triple Bogey Max Rule is in Effect then we will not use any Drop Zones during our Events as well. Champ Flight does not have triple bogey max therefore can utilize drop zones for Michigan events.
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- Guest Policies for Placing in Tournaments
To be sure that we keep the full integrity of our flights in all of our tournaments, we are implementing a set of policies revolving around guests playing in our tournaments. Due to the high demand of tournaments, with many selling out, guests are not allowed to join an event until the Monday deadline of the event. If there are still open spots, guests may join an event on the monday deadline.
As a guest, guests will not be allowed to place any higher than 3rd Place in any event for all flights with the exception of the Champ Flight. If a guest posts a score that is higher than 3rd place, they will be moved to 3rd place and those that were in 2nd and 3rd place will be moved up to 1st and 2nd place provided that they are not guests and have met the minimum 2 round rule for New Members.
Also, any prize money awarded to any guest for placing must be used towards the purchase of a membership or future event. Cash games is not included in this and cash games will be paid to the guest.
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- Play Ready Golf!
Ready Golf will be played at all of our events, and at all times, tee to green and on the green as well! If you are waiting on the group in front of you, thenyou may observe turn etiquette, otherwise there should be NO ONE waiting to hit - not on the tee, fairway, rough, hazards or greens. If you are ready, and it's clear, then go ahead and hit! Keep the play moving forward. Play should never be at a standstill. Even if waiting for the group ahead, there are things you can be doing to ensure you will be ready to hit when it is clear such as getting yardage, making club selection, etc...
Honors is exactly that, an honor and there is no rule about hitting rotation in Stroke Play. If the player with honors in not ready, and you are, please announce to that player that you are ready and you are going to hit. If you have the honors and are not ready, you must not get upset if someone wants to hit first if they are ready. If you are not ready, announce that you are not ready and invite anyone that is ready to hit to go ahead and hit. Do NOT use this rule as an excuse to make yourself 'not ready' so that you don't have to go first!
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- Pace of Play System in Live Score
In the Live Scoring System, there is a Pace of Play monitoring system. Your status is displayed on the top of the Main Scoring Page after you enter each score in. The time that you enter each score in is logged and compared to the group in front of you and is what is the determining factor on if you are on pace or behind pace. The system will understand how far behind the group in front of you that your group is and if you are an entire hole behind or more then you will be given warnings and possibly even penalty strokes if you do not catch up after a hole or 2. The system will display this very clearly.
Your job is to keep up with the group in front of you at all times. We understand that there are holes that you will fall behind but your job is to then catch up if you do fall behind.
This system is designed to be as fair as possible for everyone. There is no possibility of favoritism or excuses. Everyone will follow the exact same rules and time restrictions. We understand that there are always situations where your group can fall behind, but that is what the warning is for.
In total, a group can be assessed 2 Penalty Strokes for a round that the group was continuously behind without any attempt to catch up. This may seem like a lot, but that means that said group was behind for the entire round, which means that every group behind them ended up playing a longer round than they should have. Slow play affects EVERYONE and event PGA players are put on the clock if they are too far behind the group in front of them and assessed penalties if they do not catch up.
If you are worried that you may be unfairly penalized due to a particularly slow player in your group then make sure that player knows they are slow (believe it or not, some players are just that oblivious and some also know very well they are slow.) Keep everyone moving, including yourself. We will be tracking every single player that receives penalty strokes. We will be able to track trends of individuals. If a particular individual is tagged as a problem then that person can be addressed and asked to leave the tour if it needs to come to that. This is an AMATEUR tour. There isn't thousands or millions of dollars on the line.
Please let us know if you have any questions on this system or pace of play expectations.
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- GPS and Range Finders Permitted
Only USGA approved GPS and Range Finder devices are permitted for play. Use of illegal devices, such that measure slope, etc..., will result in disqualification from the event.
Smartphone GPS apps that are used only to measure distance will be allowed during play, provided user is not also using a compass, weather app, club suggestions, or any other app/info that can be used as a benefit/advantage to the game. Any person caught using any of the additional functions other than distance measurements will be disqualified from that event. The app may be used to keep score and stats as well.
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- Putt Out Instead of Marking
If you have a ball that is only a few feet away from the hole, do not mark the ball but rather continue to putt out, provided this will not cause you to step in someone's line.
We have seen numerous players mark their balls when only a couple a foot away from the hole that could have been tapped in. This adds significant amount of time to the round. On average, if marking and then coming back to finish were to add 30 seconds each time, and is done by 2 people on each green, this would add 18 extra minutes to the round for no good reason. Most of the time the return putt is not missed due to having to have to putt out, but rather using the time to think too much about it. Usually having more time to think about it causes more misses than putting out at the time. If you watch, the PGA will usually finish the putt instead of marking.
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- Play 2 balls in event of a rules dispute
If there is ever any dispute amongst the group about a ruling, the player should play 2 balls from the point of the dispute. The player MUST announce to the other players which ball / rule they would prefer providing the ruling is made prior to taking a stroke at either of the 2 balls. Take note of both scores for that hole and move on with the round. After the round is done, and before signing the scorecard, seek out the Tour Directors (Rules Committee) for a final ruling. The proper score will be circled on the card and used for the official score.
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- Score Card
There will only be 1 official score card per group. 1 player needs to keep score on the official scorecard provided and another player keep score in the live scoring system throughout the round. Compare the live score system and the scorecard to ensure the two match and then all players must sign and turn in the card. The group may keep score on more than 1 card, but only the official scorecard should be signed and turned in. If there is a discrepency between the official scorecard and the Live Score then the higher of the 2 scores will be used and can not be contested. Please make sure when the group is confirming the scorecard and Live Score that all players in the group follow along to verify all scores are accurate before signing the paper scorecard.
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- Optional Cash games
At each event, players are able to enter into the optional CASH games. Games MUST be entered with cash as the money gets paid to the winners in cash the same day.
Players can pay $5 to get into the closest to the pin contest for the par 3's for that day. $1 of every entry goes into the hole-in-one pot and and a player will receive $500 for a hole-in-one. Only players that get into the Closest to the Pin game for that day are eligible for the hole-in-one prize, otherwise the hole-in-one winner will only receive $100).
Players can also pay $15 for their respective flight skins. Outright low score on a hole, amongst the players in the skins game, will win their share of the flight skins pot. Flights may be combined based on the amount of flight players for each event. For instance, Champ and A could be 1 group, B have enough players to be in it's own group and then C and D are the 3rd group.
Additionally, players can enter the super skins game for $10. These players compete against all the flights and players that entered super skins. Outright low score on a hole, amongst the players in the super skins game, will win their share of the super skins pot.
Any player can enter in as many, as few, or none of these events as they wish. In the case of a 2 day event, players must enter the games each day. 1st day entries go towards day 1 results and 2nd day entries go towards day 2 results.
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