North Rockland Golf League

North Rockland Golf League

North Rockland Golf League By-Laws

NRGL:

The golf league will be known as "The North Rockland Golf League".

League:

The NRGL will be a nine (9) hole golf league, playing in the afternoon and approved by Philip J. Rotella Golf Course. League play will be routinely on Thursday afternoon.

Number of Teams:

There will be NO more than 16 teams making up the NRGL.

Entry Fee:

Each team will pay an entry fee of $650 ($325 per person), or as approved by the membership at the annual meeting. The Entry Fee MUST be paid at the league meeting before the season starts or in no case later than the opening night for the league. In this matter all forfeit rules will apply. If you are unable to make the league meeting, you must make arrangements with the NRGL President on the first night of league play to pay the entry fees.

Fees are due before start of play on first week of season. If a player has not paid in full, the team/golfer cannot win skins. If fees are not paid by the second week of the season, that team will forfeit 3 1/2 points to their scheduled opponent and 1 1/2 points will be deducted from their point total. Total amount of fees are due if the player is paying late, no prorating of fees will be allowed.

If not paid by the third week, that team must resign from the NRGL. Team Member Rights, see below, will then be enforced for a replacement team.

Team Member Rights:

Each member of a team has the equal rights to the team. Changes between team members can only occur as vacancies occur on the team or as teams are added. Existing team members have first rights to fill expansions slots, either when teams are added or to move between teams as vacancies occur. A roster will be maintained by the league President and/or the Secretary of all people wanting to play in the league. This roster will than form the leagues SUB list that will be used by teams needing players. Players on this list will either have a ‘league’ handicap or USGA Handicap or they will be taken off the list. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Additionally, each member of the NRGL will be entitled to a vote when voting upon league matters. If members cannot make the annual league meeting, their votes will be collected via email, text or phone call. A simple majority will determine the outcome of a vote.

Handicaps:

The handicap system that will be used by the NRGL will be based on the USGA method of calculation handicaps, modified to the nine (9) hole 90% format. The format will be based on the ten (10) most recent scores, with no more than three (3) strokes over par allotted on any hole. Handicaps will be maintained throughout the season up until the beginning of the playoffs. The handicap each member has after the final position night will be the handicap you will keep throughout the playoffs. Your handicap will not change during the playoffs(i.e. your handicap freezes for the league playoffs).

New Members:

A new member or a new SUB MUST establish a handicap with the league before being permitted to play in league play. A handicap can be established by either submitting a USGA handicap card or ten (10) scores to the President and/or league officers for acceptance. If a sub that has never played in a league match shows up ready to play and does not have a handicap from another Rotella league or a USGA handicap, he will not be permitted to play. If the SUB has ten (10) cards to present to a league officer he still will not be permitted to play that week, but will be permitted to play the next week and all following weeks once the handicap has been established in NRGL. The handicap for this method with USGA will be half of their USGA handicap minus one (1). Subs that have played four (4) rounds in the NRGL will have an official NRGL handicap.

The maximum player handicap for the NRGL will not exceed twelve (12). Players or Subs who have handicaps greater than 12, will play as a 12 handicap in the NRGL.

Position Night:

The NRGL will have (3) three position nights during the course of the season for the purpose of establishing league-standing adjustments.

Substitutes:

Should a team member not show up to play, a substitute will be permitted to play in his place. The substitute must meet the requirements of having a USGA handicap or handicap established with aRotella/Haverstrawweekday league or they will not be permitted to play. Any member of the Cast Away Golf League(Monday night league) or the Brick Town Golf league(Wednesday night league) is also permitted to be substitutes, however, they will need to play to their handicap from their established league even if they have a NRGL handicap since their Monday & Wednesday handicaps would be the most up-to-date handicaps. It will be the responsibility of each team to make arrangements for a substitute should one be needed. No member of the NRGL can substitute for another team during the season.

Playoff Substitutes:

Each team member may use a SUBonly in the FIRST Round of Playoffs. After the first round, Subs are not permitted to play.

SubsPer Team:

Although the intent of the NRGL is to have both team members present to play each week, sometimes it's not always possible. Therefore, a team will be permitted to use subs throughout the season. Except during the playoffs, where teams are allowed only a sub for the FIRST Round of playoff.

FORFEITS:

If both members of a team fail to show up to play their match by 5:30pm and have not made arrangements with the other team, the team that did not show up will LOSE 1 1/2 in the standings. (See below when both teams don't show up.) The team that showed up to play will be awarded 3 1/2 points. The President of the NRGL should be notified if other arrangements have been made to play the match.

Any team, who in the course of the season, forfeits THREE (3) matches, will have their continued participation in the NRGL voted on by the majority of the league. A vote will be taken from the other 30 members of the NRGL with 16 votes(simply majority) needed for continued participation. Fifteen(15) votes or less, would result in dismissal from the NRGL.

If arrangements to make up a match has been arranged, and for some reason the course is closed on the arranged date, the original team that was present on the scheduled Thursday will be awarded 3 1/2 points and the other team would forfeit and lose 1 1/2 points in the standings.

Exigent circumstances, such as injury, death in family, etc. will not count towards the three (3) forfeitrule.

Make Up Matches:

If two (2) teams make arrangements to make their match up, it MUST be made up prior to the next Position Night. If for some reason a match can't be made up by the next Position Night, than the original team that was present on the scheduled Thursday would be awarded 3 1/2 points and the other team would forfeit and lose 1 1/2 points in the standings. Also put, the team that requested to play on a different night other than a Thursday would be assessed with the forfeit and the team that was willing to play on that Thursday would be awarded the 3 1/2 points.When two teams make arrangements to play on another day, it will be the responsibility of the team requesting to play on the other day to know if they don’t play that rescheduled match prior to the next Position night that they are subject to forfeit.

If both teams had agreed prior to the match that theyBOTH could not play on a Thursday, and for whatever reason the reschedule match cannot be completed prior to the next scheduled position night, the teams will match cards from theweek before position night or their teams previous round if it’s the week before position night that was the rescheduled round. No forfeit points will be awarded or subtracted.

FYI - Since making-up matches can be difficult with the rescheduling (i.e. course could be closed due to bad weather,etc. on rescheduled date) all teams should make a considerable effort to obtain subs to play for them on the normal scheduled Thursday night to avoid any issues with making-up matches.

Committees:

The President of the NRGL may establish at leastfour (4) committee's each year. These committees are defined as, but not limited to, the Handicap, Rules, Skins and Dinner/Outing Committees. These committees do not need to be four (4) separate committees; one or more committees may be assigned to perform dual responsibilities. In some instances, the committee may only be one individual who will perform the necessary duties. These committees shall be assigned the following general responsibilities and may assume additional duties as determined by the NRGL President and Vice President. See attachment for Committee Members for the current year.

Rules Committee: Will establish the local rules for the league and will be called on during the season to make rulings on any violation of local or USGA rules governing play of this league. A decision made by the Rules Committee will have the endorsement of the President and will be FINAL.

Handicap Committee: Will be responsible for administering the league handicap system, including the acceptance or establishing of handicaps of new members and substitutes. All decisions by this committee are FINAL.

Skins Committee: Will be responsible for calculation and awarding weekly skins.

Outing/Dinner Committee: Will plan annual golf trip and corresponding dinner, if held.

Bogey Cup Captain(s): Will be responsible for establishing the matches for singles play and the Captains Pick for the team. The Captain(s) would work with the Captain(s) from the other Leagues to set up the matches.

Weather:

The NRGL will play on the assigned night unless the course is closed due to inclement weather. If it is raining and the course remains open, all teams are responsible to be at the course and play their scheduled match. If all matches are canceled due the course being closed, the week matches will be postponed to a later date. It would be up to the NRGL Officers to determine if the season can be extended an extra week or if we need to reschedule those canceled matches to an open Friday afternoon. Also, the Rules Committee may elect to suspend play due to weather conditions, only after taking a vote from the NRGL players present at the course.

If league play has started, and then is subsequently closed due to excessive rain, lightening or at the discretion of Rotella Golf Course Management, the following will apply:

If five (5) matches have finishedtheir match at the time of the closing, theremaining 3 matches(six teams), who have not completed their matches, will match cards for only the holes not complete the following week. However, no skins will be awarded for this night since all golfers did NOT finish their rounds so in this case, the following week will be a double skins night.

If four(4) ormore matches of the league are not finished at the time of the closing, the week will be considered a wash out and the week will be made up at another date determined by League Officers.

If for any reason the course is open and carts are not available for league play, the league play will be suspended for that week.

Rules:

Intentional violations of the NRGL or USGA rules governing the play of this league will not be tolerated. Any person or team found to have cheated will be brought before the NRGL where their continuation in the league will be voted on by the membership.A vote will be taken from the other 30 members of the NRGL with 16 votes(simply majority) needed for continued participation. Fifteen(15) votes or less, would result in dismissal from the NRGL.

All matches will follow not only USGA rules but also course rules,(winter rules, lift clean and place, etc). If no course rule is posted or communicated to the league for a particular league night, you must play the ball as it lies. Anyone caught in violation this rule or any other rules will be brought before the NRGL, where that person’s continuation in the league will be voted on. See above for vote process.

If during your match a rule is disputed, two (2) balls will be played and scored accordingly. The disputed rule will be reviewed by the Rules Committee and or the Rotella Course PGA Professional for a final ruling. The Rules Committee ruling is final.

Specific Course Rules:

All balls must be played into the holes. Putt everything out. No exceptions. That is what the hole is for. Putt the ball in the hole. (Dowen Rule).

Mark your all. The wooded areas are littered with generic Titleist 1’s so please mark your ball to ensure it’s your ball.

All Black Fences are out of bounds.

Hill between holes #4 and #6: All players agree that ball is lost on the hill, no penalty, and drop ball at nearest point where all players agree.

Hole#2: If your played ball crosses the road (Ridge Road) the ball is out of bounds, even if it lands inbounds on Hole #3. Play a new ball with penalty. This applies to playing hole #7, if your ball crosses the road (Ridge Road) and lands in bounds on the other side of road, the ball is out of bounds. Play a new ball with penalty. There are white stakes on the Hole # 2 up by the street.

Hole#6: Drainage ditch, inside 150 yards to the green, all balls located within the confines of the drainage ditch, is a free lift and drop the ball one club length, no closer to the hole to the closet side away from the ditch.

Hole #9: If a tee shot is lost to the right and can't be found it will be assumed that your ball was lost within the red staked hazard and your options are as follows: 1)Re-tee your ball from the tee and you will be hitting three (3), or 2) You may drop your ball as far back from the hazard keeping the pin in line with the last ball entered the hazard and you would be hitting three(3) from that drop spot.

Hole #9: If you ball is in the fairway and settles into one of the drainage depressions that goes diagonally across the fairway(at the lower portion of the fairway), you are allowed a free lift and drop out of these ditches no closer to the hole.

Sand Bunkers: If your ball is in a human or animal footprint within the bunker, with the permission of the opposing team, you may lift, rake and place your ball without penalty. Remember, please seek permission first from the opposing team before doing anything.

HOLE IN ONE RULE: (The Pat Carey Rule)THE NRGL WILL COVER ONE DRINK AT SONOMA GRILL PER NRGL PLAYER THE NIGHT A LEAUGE MEMBER ACHIEVES A HOLE IN ONE.

PLAY:

We have an agreement that we will be given the 1st Tee at approximately 4:30 for approximately 1 hour on the night NRGL plays. Should our teams not be available to play, other course players are permitted to tee off. All teams are to be available to tee off by 5:30. Teams arriving after 5:30 PM are considered to have FORFEITED their match and all forfeit rules will apply, unless other arrangements for a makeup have been arranged. The President of NRGL must be notified.

All play shall be from the Tees that are agreed upon at the membership meeting. BLUE, BLUE/WHITE or WHITE Tees will be decided upon by NRGL membership at the first meeting of the year, and it was decided that for the 2016 year, the Blue/White combo will be played for holes 1-9. In case of ties or no clear majority in voting on what TEES will be used, the President and Vice President of the league will have the deciding vote. Consideration from the Rules Committee and Sonoma Cup / Bogey Cup Co-Captains will also be solicited.

The rules of play shall be summer rules i.e., ball cannot be moved and placed on the course unless it is ground under repair, plugged, or in standing water through the green. Should playing conditions dictate that the above summer rules be changed for a particular week, the change will be posted and/or communicated out to each team with the scorecard. Once both teams are present and ready to play proceed to the 1st tee. Jumping order for any reason will not be permitted. Both teams must be on line and ready to play in order to tee off.

SCORING:

The scoring system to be used by the NRGL will be the high/low system. On each hole, one (1) little point is given for the low score on the hole and one (1) little point for the low team combined score. The team winning the most little points on each of the three (3) holes will win one (1) big point, and one (1) big point will be awarded for overall little points won. In addition, one (1) big point will be awarded for the low team net score for a nine hole match. A total of five (5) points are available to be won for each nine-hole match.