Revised on January 10, 2022

SIGN-UP PROCEDURES FOR ALL TOURNAMENTS:

All entrants must submit payment and a completed entry form to play in the event.

Check your current credits so you can apply them to the entry fees if desired.

   Submittal of entry form and methods of payment:

Online entry – Fill out the online entry form, enter all info and submit for payment.

Member Credits – If paying 100% with credits. See the online entry form on how to sign up.

Entry deadlines are 5 days prior to the tournament date.

You may request to play with specific players by indicating your preference on the entry form. However, please coordinate with your preferred playing partners, to ensure they intend to play, and that they have not already committed to another group.

If you do not elect and pay for the optional contests when you send in your entry form, you can add them the day of the tournament.

REFUNDS:  

Home tournaments: If the tournament committee (not the golf course) is notified more than 24 hours prior to the tournament, you will be entitled to a full refund of your entry fee and any amounts you paid for optional contests.  If the tournament committee is notified within 24 hours of the tournament, you will be eligible for a partial refund of your entry fee and any amounts you paid for optional contests.  The portion of your entry fee allocated to prize funds will not be refunded, since all the calculations have been completed and published.  If you need to cancel within 24 hours and cannot contact the tournament committee, then call the golf course at 408-225-2650 and ask them to notify the tournament chairman.

Away tournaments: Once payment has been made to the Golf Course, if you cancel, the tournament committee will try to fill the vacancy with available alternates.  If the golf course is willing to refund the green fees, you will be eligible for this refund; otherwise your entry fee shall be forfeited. If you notify the tournament committee more than 24 hours before the tournament, you will be eligible for a refund of any amounts allocated to the prize fund, or any amounts you paid for optional contests.

For both home and away tournaments, if no notification of cancellation is given, you are not eligible for any refund.

Contact the tournament committee at tournament-info@stmgc.com

TEE TIMES: Times shall be posted on the website several days prior to the tournament. The Pro Shop Staff will also be provided with a list of tee times for the convenience of players who call in for their times.

In general, tee-times are assigned based on Pace of Play performance. Players with a proven history of fast play will be given the early times. The date of entry will be a secondary factor in assigning starting times.

Special requests for an early time will be honored, but the group must exhibit good Pace of Play performance, or future requests may be denied.

As a condition of competition, we’ve adopted the Note to Rule 6-3, which grants a player a 5-minute grace period after missing his tee-time (at a penalty of 2 strokes for stroke play, loss of hole for match play); after 5 minutes, the player is disqualified.

HANDICAP INDEX TO BE USED: Starting in January 2020, the NCGA updates your Handicap Index daily.  For our tournaments, the day the Times and Flights are posted your Handicap Index that day will be used and remain the same for the event and any future rounds for that specific event.

ELIGIBILITY: Except for the annual Member/Guest Tournament, participation in home tournaments is limited to members of STMGC with valid handicap indexes. If a new member appears on the club’s roster on GHIN with enough posted scores, the Handicap Chairman can issue a temporary handicap for use in that month’s tournament (USGA Handicap Manual 8-2h).

FINALIZATION OF TOURNAMENT RESULTS: As a convenience to our members, we publish the tournament results on the website as soon as they’re available. These results are considered unofficial, until the Board has a chance to review them. After a short review period, the Tournament Chairman declares the competition closed, and the results are then official.

TIE-BREAK PROCEDURES: Always check the Tournament Rule Sheet to determine the Tie Break method in effect.  Logistics normally prevent us from using a playoff to break ties; in these cases, we break ties by consulting the players’ scorecards.  See details below:

Scorecard Method: For most club events, we’ll use the USGA recommendation for breaking ties by scorecard, as outlined in the Rules of Golf, Appendix 1, Part C, Section 11 – How to Decide Ties, Stroke Play (c). If this does not settle the tie, this procedure will be applied to the front nine. Here is the description:

An acceptable method of matching cards is to determine the winner on the basis of the best score for the last nine holes. If the tying players have the same score for the last nine, determine the winner on the basis of the last six holes, last three holes and finally the 18th hole. If this method is used in a handicap stroke-play competition, one-half, one-third, one-sixth, etc. of the handicaps should be deducted. Fractions should not be disregarded. If this method is used in a competition with a multiple tee start, it is recommended that the “last nine holes, last six holes, etc.” is considered to be holes 10-18, 13-18, etc.

Playoff Method: For stipulated events, a 3-hole aggregate playoff will be used to break ties, with one-sixth of the course handicaps used for the 3-hole playoff, allocated over the first 3 holes. Handicap stroke fractions of one-half stroke or more will count as a full stroke, and any lesser fraction shall be disregarded. If still tied after 3 holes, a sudden-death playoff will commence on the 4th hole, with handicaps spun off the lowest handicap, and the handicap strokes will apply as stated on the official scorecard used for the competition proper.

• Individual Formats:  The 3-hole Playoff Handicap is deducted from the 3-hole aggregate gross score, to arrive at the 3-hole net score.
• Four-Ball Formats:  The 3-hole Playoff Handicap Allocation for the first 3 holes will be 1, 3, and 2, respectively (this corresponds to their relative handicap allocation ranking). For example, the team of A and B have a Course Handicap of 4 and 15, respectively. They are in a playoff with C and D, who have Course Handicaps of 14 and 19.

  		Holes 1, 2, 3			Holes 4, …
  Player	Course Hdcp	Calculation	3-hole Playoff Hdcp	Stroke Holes	Sudden Death Hdcp
  A	4	4 ÷ 6 = 0.67	1	1	0
  B	15	15 ÷ 6 = 2.50	3	1, 2, 3	11
  C	14	14 ÷ 6 = 2.33	2	1, 3	10
  D	19	19 ÷ 6 = 3.16	3	1, 2, 3	15

FLIGHT GUIDELINES: Flights will generally be sized between 12 and 20 players. Flight sizes will be equally sized, if possible. The following guidelines will be used to determine the odd-sized flight(s):

• Keep all golfers with the same index in the same flight
• Minimize handicap spread across a flight
• Payout up to top 4 spots
• Payout to One-Third of the flight size
• First place will be determined by card match
• All other ties will split the combined prize
• The last payout position will be determined by card match

The number of players in a flight determines prize money. Therefore, the larger flight(s) will have more prize money spread among the finishers to ensure equity.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SETUP AND FORMAT: The Club Championship will have one Championship Flight and multiple handicapped flights. The number of entries determines the number of flights. Note: Participation in the Club Championship is limited to current members who have played in a minimum of 2 STMGC tournaments since the prior year Club Championship. The two yearly Away tournaments are included in this calculation, but the TOC Finals and the NCGA Team Match Play events are not.

• CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
  The Championship Flight is played at scratch and is contested from the Pro Tees. Any member may enter the Championship Flight, regardless of their handicap index.
  A minimum of 8 members must enter the Championship Flight, or it will not be contested.

  If exactly 8 members enter the Championship Flight, the championship will start at Match Play. The Handicap Index will determine the top 4 seeds. The opponents for the top seeds will be determined by blind draw. In this situation, the first two rounds of match play will be contested during the first weekend, and the semi-final and championship matches will be played on the Saturday of the 2^nd weekend.

  If more than 8 members enter the Championship Flight, a medal qualifying round will first be held to determine the 8 players who will advance to Match Play. The qualifying scores will be used to determine the seeds. For the purposes of seeding, any ties will be broken using the USGA card matching procedure (see Tie Break Procedures section). 
  Tee times for the medal qualifying round will be assigned based on flights.
  In Match Play, any ties after 18 holes will be broken by a Sudden Death playoff commencing on the 1^st hole.

• HANDICAP FLIGHTS
  The size of the handicap flights will be at the discretion of the Tournament Director. The handicap flights will be contested from the Black Tees.
  A medal qualifying round will determine the 8 players who advance to Match Play. The qualifying scores will be used to determine seedings. For the purposes of seeding, any ties will be broken using the USGA card matching procedure (see Tie Break Procedures section).Tee times for the medal qualifying round will be assigned based on flights.

  Handicap strokes for Match Play will be calculated based on the lower handicap. For example, if Jim has a 16 handicap and his opponent Bob has a 20 handicap, Bob will receive a handicap stroke on the 4 lowest handicapped holes.  The official scorecard will show the correct assignments. It is also posted on the club website (see Competitions – Scorecards).

  In Match Play, any ties after 18 holes will be broken by a Sudden Death playoff commencing on the 1^st hole. Handicap strokes will continue to apply as they appear on the scorecard for the duration of the playoff.

MEMBER/GUEST TOURNAMENT: Guests in the annual Member/Guest tournament must meet the following eligibility guidelines:

• Guests must have an established handicap index from a USGA approved organization (e.g. NCGA) or from an R&A-approved National Union; otherwise, the Guest shall play at scratch.
• Guests can play their appropriate tee, using the gender-appropriate rating/slope for the purpose of computing the Guest’s Course Handicap.
• Guests are not eligible for the Hole-In-One prize for $100.
• Guests are eligible for Closest-to-Pin awards.
• Juniors are eligible to play as Guests and are expected to perform at an acceptable level.
• Members are responsible for their Guests’ behavior and pace of play.

USGA RULES OF GOLF APPLY: If extraordinary ground conditions require Local Rules, or if any other Special Rules are applicable, beyond those printed on the Golf Course score card, they will be provided on Tournament Rule Sheets available at check-in.

CELL-PHONES AND PAGERS: The use of electronic communication devices is discouraged during Tournament play. For the enjoyment of the other players, please turn off the ringers on such devices.

GPS AND OTHER RANGE FINDERS: As a condition of STMGC competitions, we allow the use of GPS and other range finders, cell phones, per Decision 14-3/1. These devices may determine distance only the use of devices which gauge or measure other conditions that might affect a player’s play (e.g. wind or gradient) is not permitted.

MULTI-DAY TOURNAMENTS: Each player (or team of players) who advances past the first day of a multi-day tournament is responsible for paying their greens fee (for all subsequent rounds of the multi-day tournament) directly to the Pro Shop. Players who don’t pay their greens fee are not eligible to receive any prize fund money or any additional TOC points.

NCGA TOURNAMENT SUBSTITUTION POLICY: When a player who has qualified at the Club Qualifier cannot participate in the next stage of qualifying, the Tournament Director must be notified as soon as possible. The qualifying spot will be offered to the 2nd place finisher in the Club Qualifier. In the case of a team event, if the team withdraws the 2nd place team will take the spot and the purse will adjust. If a substitution cannot be made from 2nd place, the 3rd place finisher will be offered the qualifying spot and the purse will adjust.

CLAIMS, DISPUTES, DECISIONS: At all tournaments, one or more Committee members, or their designates, will be assigned to resolve claims and disputes.

DISQUALIFICATION: A player who has been disqualified is still eligible for TOC entry points, and any Skins or Closest-to-Pin awards he may have won.

POSTING TOURNAMENT SCORES: After completing a tournament round, the player should check his scorecard, sign it and obtain the marker’s signature. DO NOT POST the adjusted score on the GHIN computer; the Tournament Director will post scores for all tournament rounds.  For the purposes of returning your scorecards, “scoring area” is defined as the entire Santa Teresa Golf Course property.

INCOMPLETE ROUNDS: This policy outlines the process that STMGC will use to determine final tournament scores in the event that not all players complete 18 holes of play due to weather conditions, darkness or some other event not in the control of STMGC. Click here to read.

TYPE OF PLAY to be used for Posting Purposes: Scores can be posted as H or T scores. T scores are reserved for significant events that pack the greatest prestige.

SLOW PLAY: The Committee, in consultation with the golf course Marshall, is empowered to penalize groups, or individuals for slow play (see Rule 6-7: Undue Delay). The USGA penalty for breaches of Rule 6-7 may include disqualification.

HOLE-IN-ONE AWARD: If you score a hole-in-one while playing the first round of any STMGC tournament, you’ll win a $400 cash award.

REVIEW AND CHANGE PROCEDURES: This document will be reviewed at least once a year by the Board for appropriate additions and amendments.

The Board welcomes written suggestions for change and improvement to these Policies and Procedures and encourages feedback from the membership. Please send your comments to webmaster.