Thurs/Wed Golf Rules-n-Regs

• Goals
• Hosting and Organization
• Scorekeeping and Handicapping
• Competition
• Rules of Play
  • Special TWGL Rules
  • Doubtful Shots over Yellow Penalty Areas
  • Fenced-in Environmental Protection Areas
  • Common Mistakes
• Incomplete Outings and Rounds

• Play 18 holes every Thursday (or possibly Wednesday...) afternoon.
• Play at a brisk pace: 4-hour rounds strongly preferred.
• Tee time about 4.5 hours before sunset: enough time for 18 holes, but also try to conserve AL.
• Aim for mid-level courses (Glade Valley, Hollow Creek), but with occasional forays to Maple Run (low), Whiskey Creek (high), etc.
• Approximate USGA rules and handicaps.

• choice of course to play
• obtaining tee times sufficient for all players that week to get in 18 holes
• may suggest grouping and order of players so as to balance speed of play
• should take the lead on the weather call, if necessary
• decides what kind of competition to hold for the day: individual stroke play, team match play, etc.
• finds a nice place to eat out afterwards

Normal deadline for informing the host whether you're playing is the preceding Monday morning, but this may vary at the host's discretion.

The initial handicap index of a new TWGL player is based on his/her declared recent scores. The goal is to have at least four 18-hole rounds as a basis. Once someone plays a TWGL round, thereafter only TWGL scores are added to his records. I.e. non-TWGL rounds are used only for the purpose of establishing the initial index. If no actual scoring record is available, we use a software routine to build a virtual record that supports a player's estimated handicap. There is also a software routine to extrapolate from scoring in the NIST league to a TWGL handicap, based on the scoring records of players who participate in both.

For long-time players, the index is based on the best 8 of the last 20 rounds (as per WHS) in TWGL play. More details can be found here.

In addition to the usual payout, a player who makes a hole-in-one shall a) collect $10 apiece from everyone else playing that day and b) buy everyone a couple of drinks afterward.

Lenny's Delight

Yes, you can roll the ball in the fairway.

Pick It Up

As per USGA rule 21.2, the maximum score on a hole is par + 5.

Objective Gimmes

A player's putt is automatically conceded if the distance of his/her/their ball to the hole is less than or equal to either: a) 24 inches, measured edge to edge (i.e. 24 inches of green between the hole and the ball), or b) 27 inches measured center to center. Note that the difference between a) and b) is negligible. For a typical putter shaft and grip, two feet is roughly equivalent to "inside the leather".

Yellow Peril

You may (and should if there's any doubt) play a provisional shot when dealing with a yellow penalty area as well as with OB. I.e. If you "maybe" made it over, take a drop as if the ball were lost in the penalty area and play a provisional to avoid the walk-back. See section 5.2 below for details on your options.

Sufficient Suffering:

After two strokes into same penalty area, you may drop on other side (no more than 5 yards beyond penalty area, and not on the green) with a virtual 3rd shot. E.g. two tee shots into a penalty area and you're lying 5 on the other side. This is optional relief, if you're in a Tin Cup mood.

Eschew S+D

TWGL uses the USGA's local rule for alternative relief for OB or lost balls. Short version: instead of stroke and distance, you may take a TWO stroke penalty, but you then get to drop in the fairway. For OB, use point of entry into OB as reference point, and drop no closer to the hole, two club lengths into the fairway. If this was your tee shot, you are now lying 3. See link for details.

Rough Break

If a ball is determined to be lost in an unmarked (no stakes) and generally playable area, such as fairway or rough or sparse woods, you may drop as nearly as possible to the estimated location of ball, ONE stroke penalty. The new ball location should have conditions comparable to where the ball was lost, e.g. if the ball was lost in the rough, drop in the rough. This is a 3rd option for balls lost outside a penalty area, in addition to stroke-and-distance and the two stroke penalty described in the previous item.

Seeing Red

If a ball (whether lost or not) is determined to be in an unmarked (no stakes), but clearly unplayable area, such as thick vegetation or woods, treat it as a red penalty area. Estimate a reasonable "point of entry" into the area as the reference point and drop within two club-lengths. (The hope is that most courses will in fact mark these as red penalty areas, as provided in the 2019 USGA rules.) This does not apply to areas in which a stroke can reasonably be made in most locations, such as normal rough or sparsely wooded areas.

Dead Drop

If the presence of a drop area is not obvious or noted on the scorecard, and a player attempts to hit a 2nd or 3rd shot over the associated penalty area, he or she may either use that shot OR use the drop area upon discovering its existence. E.g. on a par 3, with a 2nd shot over the penalty area, the player would either be lying 3 with the 2nd shot, or lying 2 in the drop area.

• A ball that "almost" made it over a yellow penalty area (e.g. rolls back in from the far side) did not make it over. You must drop behind the penalty area. When in doubt, play a provisional before hiking around.
• The reference point for penalty areas or OB relief is the point of last (most recent) entry into the penalty area or OB, not the ball location. Actual or estimated ball location is used as the reference point for a ball lost outside a penalty area or for an unplayable lie.
• Relief from penalty areas is on the line away from pin, not flight path.
• Once you take a valid drop, the ball is in play, even if the lie is terrible.

Suppose you're hitting your 2nd shot over a yellow penalty area and you "maybe" made it over. Hit a provisional ball using normal rules as if the original shot were lost in the penalty area - this means you can re-play either from the same spot or on a line starting where the original shot entered the penalty area away from the pin. Now go around to the far side and start looking - three possibilities:

• Case 1: Original ball is found outside the penalty area: you must abandon the provisional and play the original, lying 2 (even if the provisional is now resting at the bottom of the cup).

• Case 2: Original ball is lost or unplayable inside the penalty area. Provisional ball is now in play, lying 4. If the provisional is also lost in the penalty area, you can invoke the "sufficient suffering" rule and take a drop on the far side, lying 6.

• Case 3: Original ball is found and playable inside the penalty area. You now have a choice (!) as to which ball to play: the original, lying 2, or the provisional, lying 4.

• Case 1: Ball is outside the FIEPA: if the fence interferes with your swing or stance, you get relief. Drop within one club-length of nearest point of relief.

• Case 2: Ball is inside the FIEPA, but can be played without entering the penalty area (e.g. ball is a few inches in, and there's room to make a stab at it). You then have the usual options for a ball in a red penalty area - try to play it as is, or take a drop and penalty stroke.

• Case 3: Ball is inside the FIEPA, and either the fence interferes or ball is unreachable without entering the FIEPA: take a drop and penalty stroke.

Outing cut short by external conditions

For the sake of equity, actual scores are used only for those holes which were available for completion by all players. All other holes are scored as net par according to hole rating and the player's ratings-adjusted handicap. Any actual scores taken for these other holes are dropped. The resulting 18 hole score shall count for handicapping and competitive purposes, just as if the rounds had actually been completed.

For example, if rain causes play to stop after one group has completed hole #16, and another #17, then actual scores are used through #16. For holes #17 and #18, all players are assigned net par.

Players should make reasonable efforts to complete as many holes as possible, but each player has the responsibility of determining whether continuing play is safe, sensible, etc.

Rounds counted for Handicapping

Rounds left incomplete for personal reasons

Summary

if external conditions prevent any player from completing 14 holes
   outing cancelled
   no rounds counted for handicapping or competition
else (everyone had opportunity to play at least 14 holes)
   if your round is not completed because of personal reasons
      your round not counted for competition
      if your round < 14 holes
         your round not counted for handicapping 
      else 
         your round counted for handicapping 
      endif
   else (you played as many holes as possible, and at least 14)
      your round counted for handicapping and competition
   endif
endif