LA GOLF News and Announcements

Here Come the Rains!

We're getting into the rainy season, so here's an explanation of what happens when there's rain on one of our golf days. To a large extent, we are at the mercy of the golf course we are playing. Most courses stipulate that if the course remains open, there are no refunds available. On the other hand, most courses don’t want to alienate customers and will work with us.

If we are able to cancel the event and receive a refund, we will do so. And if we are able to do so before reaching the course, we'll cancel early and email or call all the players (so be sure we have a good home email and phone number for you!).

In many cases, it may be raining in one area but not in others. Don't assume that because it's raining at your house, it's raining at the course! Unless you hear from us, assume that the tournament is on.

If you suspect that there is a cancellation but have not received official word, you can call the course and ask. If you decide that you will not play, regardless of whether the tournament is canceled, be polite and let us know you won't be there!

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Post the Correct Adjusted Score!

I was really surprised when I reviewed the posting sheets for one of our tournaments and found that nearly a quarter of our members adjusted their scores incorrectly! And these weren’t new members who might not know all the procedures!

As a reminder, to adjust your score, you look at your handicap on the course you are playing, NOT your handicap index! So you may have a handicap index of 9, for example, but you will very RARELY have a single digit handicap on a Southern California course.

To adjust your score, you compute your handicap for the tees you are playing (always shown on the scorecards for our tournaments). If your handicap is under 10, you may only post a double bogey on each hole. If your handicap is 10-19, you can post up to a 7 on any hole; for handicaps from 20-29, you can post up to an eight; for handicaps from 30-39, your maximum is 9 strokes, and a course handicap of 40 or more means you adjust anything over a 10.

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As you know, every member of LAGS has a membership in the Southern California Golf Association, which uses the scores you post to calculate your handicap index. According to their rules, you should post all your scores - good and bad - and even post scores where you finished at least 13 holes (by calculating scores on unplayed holes at your adjusted par). So always play by USGA rules and always post your scores.

When you post the scores for LAGS tournament play, post them as regular games NOT as tournaments. Our events do not meet the SCGA's definition of a tournament, which would be something like a club championship tournament. Tournament scores are kept separately in the SCGA database, and if you happen to play extremely well on a tournament round, the SCGA could deduct several strokes from your index as an indication that you may be a sandbagger. This penalty can last a year.

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Most of you know that we are very diligent in our attempts to maintain a good pace of play on the golf course. Not only is it the rule at most golf courses, it is a much more pleasant experience for everyone when each foursome moves from hole to hole without delays. We use a system of “monitoring and motivating” to keep play moving.

Normally on two holes of the 18, we have signs where foursomes write down the time at which they arrived at the tee. Players can look up the times of the earlier foursomes and identify if any foursome ahead has been playing slowly. If there are slow group(s), it’s a good indication that the pace may pick up, as the slow group(s) start to catch up.

The “motivating” part of our program is that we time the completion of the round. If any foursome is more than 15 minutes behind the group ahead of them after the eighteenth hole, all the members of the foursome are disqualified from the LAGS contests (team, closest to the pin and longest putt) and receive a two-stroke penalty on all bets.

We’ve written suggestions about speed of play in the past, but they bear repeating. Here are some of our suggestions on how to maintain a speedy but pleasant pace.

• The key to keeping up is to never get too far behind. Always keep an eye on the group ahead. If you’ve fallen behind on one hole, it isn’t too difficult to catch up on the next hole if you make the effort early.

• Let shorter hitters tee off first. This often means NOT giving honors at the tee, but it can save several minutes when the longer hitters have to wait for the group ahead. This guideline applies on the fairway, too.

• When you and a partner share a cart, leave the cart between your two balls if your shots are relatively close together. Alternatively, where it is safe, you can drop off the first hitter and move the cart to a safe area near the second ball in order to save time.

• Track your errant shots; if you think your ball may be hard to find or may be out of bounds, hit a provisional ball. Don’t search longer than 3 minutes for lost balls. If you didn’t hit a provisional ball, DO NOT return to the previous shot site - drop a ball where your ball went OB or where you thought you would find your lost ball and take a 2 stroke penalty.

• Continue to putt once you have started, unless you are “mentally unprepared” to continue (we all have those moments, don’t we?). When you have putted out, collect clubs and the flag so that everyone can make a quick departure from the green. Record scores at the next tee box rather than taking the time at the green.

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When we put together the pairing sheets for our events, we do our best to “mix things up” - having you play with a different partner each time you play. Sometimes it involves quite a bit of gymnastics to accomplish that, particularly on weekends, when we make sure you don’t have ‘repeats” within your foursome, as well as for your partner.

Often, the pairings sheet must be sent to the courses well in advance of our play, and score cards are prepared in advance as well. So while it may not seem like much to make a last minute request for a pairing, or for golfing at a particular time, it can add substantially to the work.

If you would like to request a particular playing partner, please follow these guidelines:
• If possible, make your request in writing when you send in your check.
• For single day events, you must make your request at least 10 days prior to the event.
• For weekend/multi-day events, requests must be made at least 14 days in advance.

Thank you for considering this when you sign up for golf.

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We've been surprised several times this year with the popularity of some of our events. On occasion, members have sent in their sign-ups before or at the deadline and still missed out.

Getting your sign-up in before the reservation deadline does not guarantee that you will have a spot in the tournament. The deadline is generally the date on which we have to return unused tee times, rooms, etc. to the host facility and pay for the spaces we will be using.

We do our best to estimate demand and prebook as many tee times as we will need. If we experience a shortfall, we try to add space. Sometimes increasing the space isn't possible due to other reservations at the course, daylight considerations, etc. That can cause space to be limited and your name to go on a waiting list.

The best advise we have is to sign up as early as possible. Early sign-ups also give us more opportunity to meet extra demand by adding spaces before courses are booked up with other early bookings.

We want to accommodate as many people as possible. You can help us succeed by signing up early for the events you'd like to play.

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No more emailed tee times! Check our website for our tee time messages-when you play, with whom, and other relevant details. Times will be posted by Wednesday of the week of the event. Bookmark the page, while you're at it!

Need to sign up for a tournament? Want to see who scored well at last week's event? You'll find all this and more at www.lagolfsingles.org!

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When we have a two - or more - day tournament, remember that members who sign up for the entire weekend of play have priority. That way we are assured of a more balanced weekend and don't end up turning away players who would have filled by the weekend more evenly.

As tournaments fill up, people who signed up for less that the entire weekend could get moved onto the waiting list. You will be notified if this happens to you. So if you really want to play a course on a weekend tournament, clear your calendar and sign up for the whole weekend. We know you'll enjoy it!

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We are doing more and more of our correspondence on the Internet rather than by phone call or letter. We are using email to look for golfers where we have openings at tournaments, give corrections, directions and special instructions.

Don't miss out. Make sure we have your email address so you'll be in the loop, too!

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