SSBGC
Tournament Rules and Tips

Welcome to the SSBGC. Whether you’re a seasoned competitor or a first-timer, it’s important to understand the special rules we’ll be enforcing during our club tournaments. These rules are designed to keep the competition fair, fun, and flowing smoothly. Here’s what you need to know:

💸 Tournament Payment Policy Update

As tournament participation has grown and golf course policies have become more stringent, we are implementing a firm payment policy to ensure our events remain organized, financially secure, and respectful of course requirements.

In the past, some golf courses allowed flexibility with payment, including paying in full on the day of the event or after the 14-day deadline. However, most courses—especially those operated by management companies such as American Golf and Troon—now require final headcounts and full payment at least 14 days in advance. This policy is strictly enforced by the courses, and exceptions are rarely granted.

Additionally, while we have previously accommodated members who preferred to pay after the 1st of the month, this is no longer sustainable. There have been several instances where members have committed to play without submitting payment, only to withdraw at the last minute. In these cases, the club has been responsible for covering unrecoverable green fees. This places an undue financial burden on the club and complicates event management.

With over 75 active members and increased participation in each tournament, our planning and logistics have grown more complex. It is essential that we receive timely payments in order to finalize pairings, submit accurate headcounts, and ensure smooth coordination with host courses.

All payments must be received by the posted deadline in order for a member to be included in the tournament.
Verbal commitments, IOUs, or messages indicating future payment will no longer be accepted.
Members who do not pay by the deadline will not be included in the tournament.

If you do not use Zelle, please mail your check well in advance to ensure it arrives before the deadline.

We understand that unforeseen situations may arise. If you need to cancel after the deadline, we will request a refund from the course. If a refund is granted, we will credit your account toward a future event. You may also send a substitute player in your place and handle reimbursement between yourselves. Additionally, the $30 wager fee will be refunded if you cancel at least one day before the tournament.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we continue to grow and improve our club experience.

🕰️ Tee Time Requests Policy

For tournaments that utilize tee times instead of a shotgun start, members may request a preferred starting time (early, late, or the mystical middle). If you would like to make such a request, it must be submitted before the starter sheet is finalized and distributed.

Once the starter sheet is sent out, tee times are considered final. No changes, trades, or adjustments will be made after that point.

Please keep in mind that assembling the starter sheet requires thoughtful consideration of group dynamics, pace of play, and member rotation to ensure a fair and enjoyable experience for everyone. We strive to give all members the opportunity to play with a variety of fellow golfers throughout the year but also must remain cognizant of our Pace of Play Policy (see below).

If you have a specific request, please communicate it in advance, and we will do our best to accommodate it. However, once tee times are assigned and distributed, they will remain in place.

Thank you for your cooperation and for helping maintain a smooth and equitable tournament experience for all members.

⛳️ Format & Scoring Rules

All USGA and Local Golf Course Rules, as well as any Special Tournament Rules, must be adhered to during the playing of competition. Failure to do so will result in penalty strokes being added to a player's score and depending on the rule violation, may result in disqualification.

Stroke Play: Most of our tournaments follow standard stroke play rules, but keep an eye out for occasional Stableford, Match Play, or Shamble/Scramble formats.

Individual Net Scoring: Eight-five percent of our tournaments are individual low net tournaments with the field being broken up into flights. We try and keep an even number of people in each flight so the payouts can be similar. In the event that the cutoff for a flight has two or more players with the same Tournament Index then the one with the lower GHIN handicap will be placed in the flight with the lower handicappers.

To calculate your handicap for a tournament we will use your official GHIN handicap on the 1st or 15th of the month, which will be adjusted for the course rating and slope. If the tournament is not using this method to calculate handicaps the method being used will be thoroughly explained in the tournament announcement or rule sheet.

🏌️‍♂️ Tee Box Assignments

In most Individual Low Net tournaments all flights will play from the same tee boxes. If a tournament is a team event this could change.

In each tournament we try and play the tees that are closest to 6,000 yards. In order to reach this goal there are some tournaments that we will play a combo of tees.

⚠️ Local & Club-Specific Rules

Play “READY GOLF” & maintain acceptable “PACE OF PLAY”, 4.5 Hours. Please Keep Up: NO GAP IN FRONT OF YOU. 4-hour 30-minute round max.

PACE OF PLAY POLICY - BOTH SCORECARDS must be turned in to the scorer’s table within 4 hours and 45 minutes of your start time. Anything longer than that is a two-stroke penalty for the entire group unless the group in front of you was on a slower pace. If the group in front of you plays longer than 4 1/2 hours you will only be penalized if your group doesn’t turn in both scorecards within 25 minutes after the group in front of you turned in theirs. (All cards will be time-stamped by tournament official.)

SSBGC Scoring Rule - Announcing on the green - Players must announce what they are laying before they putt. 1st time wrong number is given warning. 2nd time wrong number is given 1 stroke penalty. 3rd time wrong number is given player is disqualified. If players continuously fail to follow the rule they will be disqualified. Example : I am on the green in two and before I putt I announce " I am laying two putting for a three." I do not say I am putting for birdie. The reason being is that sometimes people may confuse the par for that hole and saying you are putting for birdie or par would then be wrong. Announce the number of stroke you are laying before you would count the putt.

SSBGC Out of Bounds and Lost Ball Rule – If you went forward and did not hit a provisional before leaving the previous spot there is no going back! If you CAN’T find your ball within the allowable 3-minute search time, drop ball two club lengths into fairway from lateral point where ball was last seen crossing the boundary (no closer to the hole) and add a two-stroke penalty. If you can see your ball out of bounds you may laterally drop it two club lengths into the fairway parallel to where it lays out of bounds with the same two-stroke penalty. If you go back to the previous spot, drop and hit you are disqualified.

Second Ball Rule - If during a round you are unable to get a clear ruling on how to proceed in a particular situation while on the course, you may invoke the “second ball” rule and get a ruling following the completion of your round. See USGA Rule 20.1c for details.

No Gimme Putts: All putts must be holed out unless the format specifically allows gimmes or allows you to pick up.

🏆 On-Course Competitions and Payouts

All tournaments have a $30 wager fee included in tournament cost. That $30 goes for a multitude of prizes explained below. Prizes are based on the number of competitors in each flight. The prizes explained below pertain to tournaments that are Individual Low Net competitions. If a tournament is a team competition then the pool usually encompasses the whole field and if there are any individual flight competitions in a team event they will be explained in the Rule Sheet.

1st, 2nd, 3rd: All tournaments have a prize for players that finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their respective flight.

Putts: There will be a Low Putts contest for the lowest number (front, back and total) in each Flight. No “gimmies” putt out on all holes.

Closest to the Pin (CTP): Each flight has a CTP hole. This is a Par 3 and is measured from the edge of the cup to the ball. You must be on the green for your shot to qualify. You do not need to make par or better. If no one wins, the pool rolls over to the next tournament.

Skins: Skins will be based on net scores for that hole. Each flight will have a Skins Pool based on the number of players in the flight. The amount for each skin won will be the amount of skins won divided by the amount in the pool.

Net Par 3 and Net Par 5 competition: These are two separate competitions in each flight. If any player or players, net par all the par 3’s on the course they will win the pool for their flight. Same for all the par 5's. If no one wins, the pool rolls over to the next tournament.

Circle Hole: Every tournament there is a Par 3 that is designated the circle hole. This is open to all players in the bets. In order to win your ball must come to rest on the green within three feet of the hole. If more than one player lands in the circle then the prize will be split amongst the winners. $1 is taken from each player's $30 wager fee to be put in the Circle Hole pool. If no one wins, the pool rolls over to the next tournament.

Guests eligibility: Guests that join us are allowed to be in all the bets if they have an official GHIN handicap. If they don't have an official handicap they can be in the bets but play to a handicap equal to the lowest handicap used in the tournament. Also, guests are not eligible to win any roll over money or the hole in one prize.

Payouts: If we do not payout at the course, winners will receive their winnings electronically or through another method.

🔢 Knuth

Knuth’s Tournament Point System has been adopted by over 1000 golf clubs to date as well as many USGA Associations as their defacto standard for tournaments in order to make tournaments fair and equitable for all players.

How Will This System be used in Our Club? In essence this system will create tournament handicaps for all members of our club based on where they finish in our tournaments only. A small percentage of the membership will have their handicap reduced based on these results. In this system, depending on the number of golfers in each flight, the top- 3 or 4 Net finishers in every flight will accrue points for placing in their respective flights in all team and individual tournaments. Based upon the points accrued and the number of tournaments played, a member’s tournament index may indicate a reduction. Their USGA Handicap Index is not changed.

Please click on the Handicaps tab at the top portion of this page to read more about Knuth.

🐢 Tips on How to Avoid Slow Play

Jeff Foxworthy used to have a bit called “You might be a redneck if…” Well if you answer, “YES” to any of these questions you might be the reason why your group is two holes behind and getting hit into. If you can’t figure out who the slow player is in your group then it is probably you.

Are you NEVER ready to hit when it’s your turn?

Meaning when it’s your turn you still haven’t figured out your yardage?
You don’t have a club in hand, and haven’t started your pre-shot routine while the last guy to hit has his ball still in the air?
Are you are the guy rifling through your bag looking for a ball or tee after everyone has already hit?
Waited to pace off yardage after everyone has hit?
Only bring your rangefinder to your ball then have to go back to your cart to get your club?
Are you tossing grass in the air over and over to figure out the wind?
Your glove is still in your pocket when you get to the tee box, or worse yet you left it in the cart?
Do you chip from the front of the green and leave your clubs there when you putt so when you finally hole out you have to walk back to get them?
When it’s your turn to putt, is the time when you finally start lining up your putt and looking at it from the other side of the hole or from nine different angles only to miss it short by 4 feet?
Pre shot routine? Do you take five or more practice swings, some of which take a divot and require a wet towel and starting over?
Once you finally get over the ball, do you take a few pump fakes where you take it all the way to the top and stop?
Do you take another 20 seconds or so standing over the ball, so when you finally make a swing the seasons have changed?
Lost Balls? Are you the guy to be found flanking lateral hazards and traipsing through people’s yards trying to salvage their Maxfli Noodle?
Do you spend way too long looking for balls that are clearly lost but will request that the rest of the group help you look for it?
Do you think because you can’t see the group behind you, no matter that the group in front of you is now two holes ahead you are making good time?
Are you on your phone or want to tell a ten minute story when it’s time to hit?
Is the group in front of you out of your range but you decide to wait because you “might get lucky?”
You never drop a guy off at his ball and go to yours?
Park your cart on the wrong side of the green and as far away from the next tee box as possible?
You all look for a player in your group’s lost ball instead of going to hit your shot first then coming back to help?

If you answered "Yes" to any of this or if this sounds like you, then "YES, YOU ARE A RED... I mean SLOW PLAYER" Here are some hints, tips and hacks to stop being a slow player.

Rules of Ready Golf

Goal: Play round in 4 ½ hours or less.

Keep sight of the group in front of you, not behind you.
If the group in front of you is in the fairway, your group should be on the tee.
Be ready to hit when group in front moves to next shot.
Keep your phone conversations and texts to a minimum but try and not have any.

On the Tee

No “Honors”-(except in Match Play). The first player ready tees off.
Shorter hitter should hit first.
Carry an extra ball in case you need to re-tee.
Come to the tee with the clubs you think you might use and your rangefinder. Don’t walk up to the tee with your range finder and shoot the yardage then walk back to your cart to get a club.
Get to the tee with your glove on, a tee and a ball ready to hit.
If you can’t see your ball and you think it might have gone OB, and you want to re-tee do it now. Declare you are going to hit a provisional and hit another tee shot. There is no penalty for this. Or take strokes and distance and drop ball where it crossed the OB boundary add two strokes and hit next shot. You cannot go back to the tee or where you last hit. GOING BACK RESULTS IN DISQUALIFICATION! Tournament rule directs you to take the line of flight and drop to the nearest point in the fairway you are now lying 3 and hitting 4.

On the Fairway

Drop off rider (with 2 or 3 clubs). Ready Golf particularly means that the DRIVERS of carts should DROP OFF their partners, let them CHOOSE their clubs (take extra ones if required), DRIVE to their own balls, and then get READY to play.
Drivers proceed to their ball and Hit when ready, but safely, no “Honors”. DRIVERS should NOT wait for their partners to hit the shot, and then drive to their own balls to make their shots
Shorter hitters should hit, if longer hitters are waiting
Watch other players hit shots to avoid looking for golf balls
All players should GO TO THEIR BALLS as soon as possible.

Lost Ball

Drop player off who lost the ball.
All other players go to your own ball. Hit and come back to help look for lost ball.
Do not take more than 3 minutes to find lost ball.

On the Green

Park carts between green and next tee.
ALWAYS, and we mean ALWAYS, leave clubs at the back or side of the Green closest to the next tee.
If a shot is played in front of the Green first, the player should move his or her clubs to the back or side of the Green before playing the next shot.
If one player is having trouble around the green, others should putt up until player in trouble is ready.
Playing Ready Golf around the Greens means getting READY to putt BEFORE it is your turn!
Players should line up their putts WHILE other players are putting, so they're ready to putt when it's their turn.
Whenever possible continue putting until holed out. Ready Golf also means putting CONTINUOUSLY if the ball is not in someone else's line, and if the player does not have to spend a lot of time surveying the putt.
If you prepare in advance to putt, you can take your time AND play Ready Golf.
1st player in the hole picks up the flag. Move quickly off green, record scores at next tee.

Summary

Walk to your ball as soon as possible, so that you can choose your club and think about the shot in ADVANCE, not when it is your turn.
When driving a cart, drop off your partner first, let your partner choose his or her club, and then drive to your own ball to get READY to play.
When a ball is lost, hit your shot FIRST and then help look for the lost ball.
When on the Green, line up your putt BEFORE it is your turn, and putt out immediately instead of marking, if you are not in someone else's line.

SSBGC Tournament Rules and Tips