Match Play Tournament Info and Rules - All Players must Read!

 

This page describes Match PlayTournament Requirements and Operational Rules and Requirements for both the President's Cup and the Two Man Match Play.  All participants must be familiar with all of the information on this page.

 

1. Tournament Fee: $25

 

See Payment in the Top Navigation bar for electronic payment methods and requirements.

 

All payments are due PRIOR to your first QUALIFIER or MATCH event. Failure to pay prior to your first qualifier or match will result in a 1 stroke penalty assessed on all qualifiers and matches until you have paid and a $5 late payment fee.

 

2. Membership Requirement

 

All players must be active members of the Willows Men’s Club and the GHIN handicap system.

 

3. Participation Requirements

 

Match play Quarter-Final rounds (Round of 8) require at least 18 holes of golf played in regular Willows Mens Club events during the same year.  The Final Championship requires 36 holes of golf in regular WMC events.  Players who do not meet the requirements prior to their match will be disqualified. 

 

4. Posting Scores

 

Post your own scores to GHIN using HBH as Competition (C) scores: You must post your own Match Play scores to GHIN handicap system.  Please use the "Hole by Hole" entry (not total score). All match play scores must be posted using standard 2020 USGA posting rules (e.g. net double bogey).  Hole-by-Hole does this for you automatically. The tournament directors will not be posting scores for you for Match Play.  Please note that Match play scores are definitely acceptable for posting per USGA rules: See Handicap rule 2.1a.

 

Net Par: Once the match is decided, WMC declares the round to be complete for handicap posting purposes and requires all remaining holes be treated as “not played” for scorecard & posting purposes. Use Handicap rule 3.2 (3.2 When a Hole is Not Played - match finished before final hole).  You may elect to actually play the remaining holes, but all remaining holes should be posted at Net Par.  If you get two strokes on a Par 4, you post as a 6, no matter what you scored (lower or higher).  This posts a handicap-neutral score for each remaining hole and removes any concerns about level of effort once the match intensity is no longer present.  (Note: The dots on the card are relative to your opponent, not the full strokes that you use for Net Par.)

 

Net Double Bogey replaces ESC: Make sure you apply the “Net Double Bogey” score limit to your individual hole scores for posting purposes.  All players are strongly encouraged to use the Hole-By-Hole (HBH) posting on the GHIN web site or app, which will automatically limit hole scores correctly (plus make it easier on your handicap chairman).  The handicap chairman has stated that failure to follow proper USGA posting rules can result in a handicap reduction (on the assumption that the correct net double bogey was not used in computing handicap) or disqualification, at the discretion of the handicap chairman. Using HBH posting is the simple way to eliminate this risk.

 

5. Course & Tees

 

Play can be played from Eagle Talon white tees or Coyote blue tees only. Players must schedule their tee times in advance with the Pro Shop.  Important: Please notify the Pro Shop when scheduling your tee time that this is a Men’s Club Match event. 

 

Course for Match Play – Let me know if you are NOT playing a match on Eagles Talon

Golf Genius is set to a default course of Eagle Talon White for Match Play.  You are free to schedule your match on Coyote Creek Blue, however I will need to switch the course for your match so it has the correct dots on the correct holes for the Golf Genius scorecard and Live Scoring.  If you are planning to play on Coyote, please notify me as early as possible and not later than 1 day in advance.  If you send me an email from the first tee, I probably won’t be able (or inclined) to fix it in time.

 

It is a good idea to double check in Golf Genius a few days before each match to make sure the course is correct and that everything else looks right.  Especially if your prior match was on Coyote, I may need to switch you back to Eagles Talon.  If you have questions about handicaps, check the Handicap Analysis page before you email me about it.

 

What do I do if the course is wrong in Live Scoring and I’m about to tee off?  It’s probably too late to fix Golf Genius.  Use the Alternate Manual Process using GHIN App above (three steps) to calculate your strokes and dot a blank card. 

 

After your round, when you send in the scorecard, make sure to include a note about the course so I can fix it in Golf Genius.  I may then ask you to enter the scores in the app.  It’s probably a good idea to practice this once at home in case you ever need to do it in a hurry.

 

How can I tell which course is being used in Golf Genius / Live Scoring? Golf Genius doesn’t show the course name?

If you are on Results/Bracket view (on either Web Portal or Mobile App)

  • Click on a player’s name to show the hole-by-hole scorecard.
  • After clicking on Player in bracket, click on an individual player name (blue underlined) AGAIN to see scorecard details (par per hole, etc.). 

If you are  in the Mobile Phone App Scorecard View or Live Scoring

  • In the “Scorecard” view or in “Live Scoring”, you can look at the Par 3 holes.
    • If the Par 3's are on holes 7 and 9, it is Eagles Talon
    • If the Par 3's are holes 5 and 9 it is Coyote Creek

 

6. Player Contact Info

 

To schedule your match, you can go to the Player Information section and choose the Player Email Form in the nav bar above. (You must be logged in to see this section!).  Check the box by the name you want to email, then click the "email" button.  Please do not email multiple people at once, this just sends individual emails to each person

 

7. Scheduling Matches

 

Please contact your opponent directly and arrange a mutually agreeable time to play each of your matches. 

 

You should schedule your next match as soon as both opponents are known – you do not need to wait for the end date of a round. This can give you a larger window to find a mutually agreeable date. It is the responsibility of EACH player to contact each other to agree on a date and time and course.  The tournament committee may send reminders when a prior round is complete but you should not rely on a reminder. The current bracket can be found here: https://wmc-presidentscupmatch2021.golfgenius.com/or in the Golf Genius app.

 

If the opponents can’t agree on a date prior to the round end date, please contact the WMC Tournament Committee.  In some cases, we may be able to grant a brief extension.  However, please realize that this affects your next opponent and the delay can cascade into future rounds if the subsequent match cannot be completed within the allotted dates.  If a match schedule cannot be mutually agreed upon by the participants and the committee, assuming both teams made a good effort to find a mutually agreeable time, the match will be decided via a coin toss. No one wants to have this happen.

 

8. Handicap

 

Your Handicap Index is converted to a Playing Handicap for Eagle white or Coyote blue tees, depending on which course you are playing for the match. As per USGA Handicap Rules, the higher-handicapped player receives the full difference in Playing Handicap between the two players; the lower-handicapped player plays from scratch.

 

My handicap is wrong – it’s way too low!

There are several reasons that your Playing Handicap is lower than your Handicap Index.

  1. The Playing Handicap is typically ~3 strokes lower than the old USGA Course Handicap on Willows Run coureses, because the new WHS (2020) subtracts the difference between Course Rating (~69 for Eagles Talon and Coyote Creek) and Par (72).  This makes your target score Par if you shoot your handicap. (Under the old GHIN system, it would have been the Course Rating, but no one really knew this.)
  2. If you are playing in Two Man Team Match Play, or the July Two Man Chapman, or similar events, the USGA Handicap Appendix C: Handicap Allowances recommends using a reduced % of the Course Handicap.  For the Two Man Match, it's 90% of both player's CH.  For the Chapman, it's 60% low handicap + 40% high handicap. 
  3. We need to manually refresh the handicaps from GHIN to Golf Genius.  Unfortunately, GG doesn't automatically sync to GHIN, so I do it manually a few times a week.  If you need it updated, ping John Gray or any board member and ask for the match play handicaps to be updated. 

 

Questions about how handicap is calculated?  Please see the Handicap Analysis Page under Player Analysis if you have any questions about how your handicap or your opponent's handicap was calculated.  This is a great resource! You have to scroll down to the Tournament Round and then find your name. (You need to be signed in to see this section/page).   

 

Please check the Handicap Analysis page first before sending me a question about your handicap. If something in the handicap analysis doesn't make sense, or your handicap needs to be refreshed from GHIN, feel free to ping John Gray or any board member and we can update them. 

 

9. Scorecards, Strokes and the WHS “Daily Handicap Update”

 

The new World Handicap System updates handicaps every night after you post a new score.  This means that handicaps can update daily, and it means that the dots on a preprinted scorecard could be out of date by the time you play a match. Thus I am not planning to generate PDF scorecards for matches as I would have to do it the day before every single match. You will need to check online and create your own manually dotted scorecards before your match.

 

Important Notes:

  • Golf Genius does not refresh from GHIN automatically.  A board member has to do it manually; we do this several times a week.  If the Handicap Analysis in Golf Genius shows an out-of-date GHIN handicap, we just need to refresh the handicaps from GHIN manually - ping any board member and we can update them. 
  • Handicap Allowance 90% For the Two Man Match. The USGA Handicap Appendix C: Handicap Allowances recommends using 90% of both player's Course Handicap.  Please don't forget to set this in the GHIN app if you are using it for the Two Man Match handicaps. Individual Match Play uses 100% of handicap index. 
  • LIVE SCORING in Golf Genius App - As of late April, Live Scoring is still working in the Golf Genius App.  If live scoring is working, please enter your scores in Live Scoring AND keep a paper scorecard. At some point this year we expect this service to stop working and will rely on paper-only scorecards at that time. 

 

Players must make up their OWN DOTTED SCORECARDS ON THE DAY OF THE MATCH

Tip: It's not the way you used to do it! Do not try to compute Course Handicap like you have in the past, the formula is different under WHS!

 

Method 1: USING GOLF GENIUS APP or Web Site

 

  1. Go to the Leaderboard or Scorecard view in Golf Genius: Go to either the "Scorecard" view or the “Leaderboard” view, find your match, and click on one of your names. This will show the full scorecard view, with dots on individual holes, and will show total strokes beside player names in parenthesis. 
  2. Make up a Dotted Scorecard using a regular Willows Scorecard: Copy the strokes from the scorecard or leaderboard view to a printed scorecard (using a pen or pencil) the same day as your match (to make sure you have current handicaps) so you have a printed scorecard on the course with you. If you want to do this the night before on a piece of paper to take with you to the course, you can do that but check the strokes/dots in the morning.  Its also a good idea to check the total strokes using the GHIN app as per below to make sure that it's up to date.

 

Method 2: Using GHIN App on your Phone or Web Site

 

 

  1. Click on "Handicap Calculator" on the home screen in the GHIN app. Your name will be listed.

    • Select the Course

    • Click Add Golfers to add your opponent(s).  Type in the LAST name.  Find the golfer, hit "+" beside their name, and hit Add Golfers. 

      • Tip: Use the "Filter" to limit to Willows GHIN or expand to all of Washington GHIN, and to search for first names. 

  2. Set the Handicap Allowance - if this is a Two Man Match Play, set Handicap Allowance to 90%

  3. Set the Tees for the top players and it will set it for all the other players. 

  4. The S.O Column automatically shows "Strokes Off" the low player. 

  5. Dot the card starting with the "Handicap Hole #1" and working your way up for the number of strokes shown for each player. 

 

 

 

10. Scoring the Match

 

Each hole is worth 1 point to the winner. If tied no points are awarded. Exchange cards and keep each other’s score. If tied after 18 holes you will play sudden death. 


Score the match as +1, +2,-1, -2, etc., e.g. keep a running net totall below the hole scores. 

 

11. Sudden Death Playoffs if tied after 18 holes

 

If the match is even after 18 holes, players must continue, starting at hole #1, and play until a winner is decided. You must see the Willows Run Starter or Golf Shop staff about getting back on the course to complete the match. 

  • Per-hole handicap strokes remain the same for playoff holes as the original round.
  • Record your scores for each hole in playoffs on the card.  (Live Scoring does not support extra holes)
  • Tournament Director will enter the extra holes and results for you - be sure to send in the results.
  • Report final results as "19 Holes" or "20 Holes" etc.

 

12. Reporting your Score - Result / Date / Sign / Photo / Email / Post

 

  1. Result: Write down the Match Result CLEARLY on one of the scorecards (e.g. Smith 6 & 5).  
  2. Date: Make sure the match DATE is on the scorecard.
  3. Sign: BOTH PLAYERS Sign the Scorecard. 
  4. Photo: Take a photo or scan of your scorecard with your phone. 
  5. Email: The WINNER is responsible for sending email to willowsmensclub@hotmail.com. 
    1. (a) the Match Result TYPED in the body of the email so we can read it AND
    2. (b) the Scorecard Photo  
    3. (c) Please copy your opponent.  That's their "attestation."
  6. POST: Post your OWN score to GHIN as a Competition (C) Score. Be sure to account for Net Double Bogey strokes, not ESC. WMC does not post match play scores.

 

Please remember to include your opponent on the email results so they can verify the results (and watch out for typos). 

 

 

13. Pace of Play

 

Please keep up pace of play when playing match play. 

  • If you are out of a hole, please concede the hole and both players pick up your balls without putting it out and move on. 
  • If your opponent concedes the hole and you have not yet holed out, please pick up your ball and move to the next hole.

 

14. Conceded Hole - Ball not holed out - Score for Posting

 

If you pick up prior to holing out, estimate your “most likely score” for posting per Handcap Rule 3.3

 

A "most likely score" is the score a player must post for handicap purposes if a hole is started but not completed or if the player is conceded a stroke. The most likely score is:

  • The number of strokes already taken to reach a position on a hole, plus
  • The number of strokes the player would most likely require to complete the hole from that position, plus
  • Any penalty strokes incurred during play of the hole.
  • If this number exceeds the player's Net Double Bogey limit, you can just write the Net Double Bogey number.
  • Most likely scores should be determined on any hole in accordance with the following guidelines:

 

Position of the Ball

Strokes to be Added

If the ball lies on the putting green, and is no more than 5 feet (1.5 metres) from the hole:

Add one additional stroke.

If the ball lies between 5 feet (1.5 metres) and 20 yards (20 metres) from the hole:

Add 2 or 3 additional strokes, depending on the position of the ball, the difficulty of the green and the ability of the player.

If the ball lies more than 20 yards (20 metres) from the hole:

Add 3 or 4 additional strokes, depending on the position of the ball, the difficulty of the green and the ability of the player.
   

 

 

 

15. A quick note on Match Result Terminology

 

A match result is “Smith beat Jones 2 and 1” or “Smith won 2 up” or “Smith won in 20”.  

  • 2 and 1 – means up by 2 holes with one remaining hole. This is not “Smith won 2 up on 17”.
  • 3 and 2 – means up by 3 holes with two remaining
  • 1 up or 2 up – mean 18 holes played and the match was won by either one hole or by two holes.
  • 3 up or 4 up – this doesn’t mean anything.  You either win 3 & 2, 4 & 2, or 4 & 3.  Etc.
  • Smith won, 20 holes.  Means Smith one on the 20th hole. This is not “1 up after 20” it’s just “20 Holes”.  There’s no way to win by 2 up after 20.