Just a quick note about this page, with all the varied formats and contests it just seems like the right move to put all these up here, these are OUR CLUB’S rules, so please abide by them, as well as the rules of golf, any major changes to the rules of golf will be posted on our front page with links for further explanations whenever possible. Thanks!

Please note, any rules changes within the club will appear in red for the first full season they are in effect,

ALL HANDICAP EVENTS WILL USE THE HANDICAP OF RECORD THE DAY PRIOR TO THE EVENT WITH THE LONE EXCEPTION OF THE COLORED BALL CONTEST.

NEW RULE FOR CONTEST HOLES STARTING IN 2025!

AS WE STARTED DOING LAST SEASON, THERE WILL BE NO LONG DRIVE CONTESTS, BUT WE WILL HAVE A CLOSEST 2ND SHOT ON THE SHORTEST PAR 4 ON EACH COURSE INSTEAD, WE WILL CONTINUE TO TRY TO “SPREAD THE WEALTH” BY LIMITING HOW MANY TIMES ANYONE CAN WIN CONTEST HOLES, AND HERE IS HOW THAT WILL WORK: YOU CAN WIN NO MORE THEN 3 CONTEST HOLES FROM THE START OF THE SEASON UNTIL THE EAST END TRIP IN SEPTEMBER, THEN THE COUNTER RESETS TO 0, HOWEVER AS ALWAYS YOU CAN ONLY WIN 1 2ND SHOT CLOSEST OR CLOSE TO PIN AT THE EAST END EVENT, AND FROM THAT POINT, YOU CAN ONLY WIN 2 CONTEST HOLES UNTIL THE CLOSE OF THE SEASON, WINNERS WILL HAVE “c” OR 2 OR 3 “Cs” NEXT TO THEIR NAME ON THE SIGN IN PAGE! THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO GUESTS

THE MOST IMPROVED GOLFER QUALIFICATIONS

In order to qualify to be the most improved golfer of the year a member of the club must meet the following qualifications.

• The Golfer must play at least 7 rounds during the current handicap season ( April 1- November 15th).
• At least 1 of those rounds MUST BE an F-Troop Club outing.
• The member must be in good standing.
• No player may win the Most Improved Award in consecutive years.

THE SEASON LONG CHAMPIONSHIP RULES

Our version of the “Fed-Ex Cup” on the PGA tour. This is a handicap using title to give all players a chance at winning. Obviously the more club rounds you play, the better your chances, every outing the club plays counts with only one exception, that being the Men’s Net Fourball. (Starting in 2021 the Scramble will count towards the season long title with players splitting the points based on their finish i.e. first place team split 200 points etc. This rule will also apply to the new alternate shot title.)

Players must make sure that there scorecard is submitted no later then 8 hours after their tee time, furthermore it must be the actual card from the outing, no faxed, photo, email, text, will be accepted, NO EXCEPTIONS. Even if you don’t play often turn in your card, your round can still have effect on how the season turns out, it’s the right thing to do.

Finally to be named season champion a player must be in good standing.

New for 2025 the top 8 players at the end of the season will receive an F-Troop Golf Polo Shirt!

The scoring system is listed below

POINTS CHART

All players who finish below 30th place and turn in a completed round scorecard will receive 12 points. Any player who is unable to complete the round but turns in a scorecard with 14 or more holes completed will receive 8 points, any player who starts the round will receive 5 points. Ties for all positions will result in the adding of the points for those positions and divided among the players tied rounded to the nearest tenth of a point.

The Par 3 Championship Rules

• The F-Troop Par 3 Championship winner is awarded to the player who has the best 18 par 3 scores for the season.
• Only F-Troop Outing scores are used. The Men’s Fourball Net round is not used. (Starting in 2021 the 2 player scramble par 3 holes will be used as players will be playing their own ball on all par 3 holes in that format.).
• Players must submit their scorecards no later then 8 hours after tee time to be counted, no photos, texts, emails etc. only original scorecards will be accepted, NO EXCEPTIONS.
• Only the best 18 scores will be used, so once a player has submitted 18 par 3 scores (5 rounds) that player’s score can only improve.
• Should 4 or more outings be cancelled the minimum number of holes needed to qualify may be reduced from 18.
• To win a player must be in good standing.

THE COLORED BALL CONTEST RULES

• The colored ball contest will be held twice a season whenever possible, all players at the event are required to play unless they are in a 3some. The cost for entry is $5. per player.
• Each team of 2 players will receive 1 colored ball which will be randomly numbered prior to the event.
• Players will alternate holes playing the colored ball, each playing the ball from tee to cup on their assigned hole, should a player arrive late to a round, that player will play the colored ball from the first full hole he plays until he has matched his playing partners already completed holes, from that point forward players will alternate holes.
• YOU MUST PLAY THE COLORED BALL, FAILURE FOR EACH PLAYER TO PLAY IT, IS AUTOMATIC DQ.
• Lost ball exception: If a colored ball is lost, such as being struck our of bounds (white stake, off property etc) and another ball is played, if the colored ball is found it may replace the penalty shot ball, and continued from there, this can only be done if only 1 shot has been taken on the hole with the replacement ball.
• Teams should mark their scorecards with their own scores and should have one line just for their colored ball team score.
• Scorecards must be submitted in their original form, no photos, texts, emails, etc will be accepted, the card MUST be submitted with the assigned ball, at the post round location no later then 90 minutes after the players tee time, NO EXCEPTIONS.
• The colored ball contest is a handicap used event. F-Troop members will be using their handicaps in this event.
• Handicaps will be added and divided by 2, and then will be rounded off with that number taken off the colored ball score to determine a winner.
• Guests may use their handicap, however it must be a USGA handicap and must be noted prior to tee time.
• Members and Guests who do not have a USGA handicap will have their stroke count adjusted using the Delaware Golf Association Modified Callaway System which is listed below, that number (shown in green in the example) will be used along with their partners handicap or adjusted score total, divided by two, and rounded off to be used to determine that team’s colored ball score.
• Low adjusted score wins, in the event of a tie low score on the first handicap hole will determine the winner.

The DSGA MODIFIED HANDICAP SYSTEM EXPLAINED

Since we use a shotgun start a regular Callaway system is problematic, by including a randomly chosen hole to eliminate and eliminating a players use of their worst played hole, working the system is nearly impossible.

Here is the table provided by the DSGA with the gross scores listed to the left and the number of holes deducted on the column all the way to the right, in addition their is a stoke adjustment on the final line which assists in evening the scores within the groups of 5. (Got that?)

68	69				-0.5
70	71	72			0
73	74	75	76	77	0
78	79	80	81	82	1
83	84	85	86	87	1.5
88	89	90	91	92	2
93	94	95	96	97	2.5
98	99	100	101	102	3
103	104	105	106	107	3.5
108	109	110	111	112	4
113	114	115	116	117	4.5
118	119	120	121	122	5
123	124	125	126	127	5.5
128	126	130	131	132+	6
-2	-1	0	1	2	<-stroke adj.

EXAMPLE: A golfer shoots a gross 102, including a bad back 9 with all the worst holes shooting scores of Hole #10=8, Hole# 11=7 Hole #12= 7 Hole #13=9 and Hole# 14 = 6 Looking at the chart the we find the gross score of 102 and look to the right to find we will take off 3 holes scores (but not the worst #13or the randomly selected blind hole, in this example hole #10) So we remove 3 holes strokes holes 11, 12 and 14 scores of 7, 7 and 6, and we use the chart and go down to the stroke adjustment and remove 2 additional strokes for a total of 22. The players modified score is 80 but we are concerned with the 22 which we will combine with his partners handicap and divide by 2 to get our reduction number for the colored ball score.

THE MATCH PLAY FORMAT RULES

• The cost to enter the Match Play event is $20, there are no re-entries.
• Maximum number of players allowed in a season is 64, all players must be club members in good standing with an active USGA handicap. All entries must be submitted by 6pm of the date of the outing preceding the first round of match play.
• Players may enter as a single or may enter with their first round opponent, in addition if a group of 4 wishes they may enter with their opponents named (or not) and with the winners meeting in the second round. However after the second round all matches are determined by the draw.
• The draw will be blind (with the exception of deuces or 4somes listed above), and will take place at the bar after the outing preceding the start of match play.
• Participants are strongly encouraged to play their first round at the outing selected which will occur in June. All first round matches should be completed by the end of June. In addition all subsequent matches should be completed by the end of the following month with the final 8 played in September and final 4 and 2 played in either September or October.
• Course handicaps will be used throughout the event with the lower player playing from scratch and the higher handicap player being allotted the difference in course handicap on a hole by hole basis. (Example: Player A is a 10, Player B is a 15, therefore player B would receive strokes on the 5 most difficult holes a per the scorecard. In the event of a difference of over 18 strokes i.e. 20 stroke difference, the higher handicap player would receive 2 strokes on both the first and second handicap holes.)
• This is a hole by hole match play style event, you win a hole and move on, scores do not carry over if a hole is tied to the next hole, you win, lose or tie one hole at a time. The player with the most holes won after 18 played is the winner. In the event of a tie, it is very strongly encouraged to play as many playoff holes as needed until a player wins a hole, if not possible then use of the high handicap hole winner will be enforced.
• Prize money will be awarded as follows:

First Place 55% of Prize fund

Second Place 23%

Third Place 14%

Fourth Place 8%

All prizes will be rounded up to the higher $10. increment.

(Starting in 2021 those finishing in the “Elite 8 will receive a gift.)

This event also counts towards the season long title, with the breakdown of points handed out as follows:

All Season Long points will be award when the rounds in question are completed.

2 Player Scramble Championship Rules

• The 2 player team must have a combined handicap no lower then 21.5.
• Handicaps will be used as follows:

The 2 player team will only use a % of their handicaps, the higher handicap player will use 40% of his or her handicap, with the lower handicap player using 20%. So if Player A has the higher handicap of 20.5 which works out to a course handicap of 23 he would get 40% which is 9.2 rounded down to 9 strokes. The lower handicap player example of 14.7 to a course handicap of 14, 20% of which is 2.8 rounded up to a 3. Therefore that team would get a reduction of 12 strokes.

• Both players tee off on all holes, on all par 4 and par 5 holes the team chooses which tee shot to play from and both will play from within 1 club length of the shot no closer to the hole.

• However a ball in the rough may not be marked outside the rough, this rule applies to all lies including in bunkers or any other hazards.

• All putts should be taken from the same spot as marked on the green.
• Rule Change starting in 2021. Each player must use 6 of their tee shots which does not include par 3s.
• Rule Change starting in 2021. Each player will play his own ball from tee to cup on all par 3 holes. Teams will use the best two par 3 scores from each player, however you may not use 2 scores from the same hole. Therefore, on a standard course with four par 3’s one player will provide scores from 2 of the holes and his partner’s scores will be used for the other 2 holes. Obviously which par 3 scores will be used may not be decided until after the last par 3 of the round is played. Par 3 scores played during the scramble will now also count towards the season long par 3 championship.
• As this is a consecutive tee time event most tie breakers will use the number 1 handicap hole scenario, although whenever possible a tie breaking hole is recommended. When tie breaking holes are used the handicap number will translate to hole by hole based on handicap allowances.

NEW EVENT

2 PLAYER ALTERNATE SHOT

• This is a 2 player event with no handicap limits on teams
• Handicaps will be used as follows:
  • The lower handicap player will be allotted 60% of his/her course handicap
  • The higher handicap player will be allotted 40% of his/her course handicap
  • Example Player A has a course handicap of 8, 60% of that would be 4.8 so rounded up to 5, Player B has a course handicap of 18, 40% of that would be 7.2 rounded down to 7. So team A/B would receive 12 total strokes.
• ALL players tee of on every hole, from that point it is completely alternate shot, so if the decision is to use Player A’s tee shot on the first 3 holes then Player B would take the next shot on the first 3 holes.
• 7 tee shots from each player must be used or the team will be disqualified this includes par 3’s
• Alternate shot is used on Par 3’s also, this competition is not involved in the Par 3 season scoring.
• In the event of a tie, the number 1 handicap hole scenario will be used to break all ties.
• Season long points will be awarded the same as done in the scramble with 200 points split by the winning team and so on down.