2017 PGANY CLUB RULES & REGULATIONS

ARTICLE 1: Membership Fees
Membership Fee for 2020 has been set at Eighty dollars for men & women ($80.00) and for Spouse Forty Dollars ($40.00) per year. The fee for each tournament will range between $85 – $90. An amount of $10.00 in the tournament fee will be used for credit towards the Annual Awards Night or for credit towards the last tournament fee of the season.

Membership Fee must be paid no later than May 31 and are needed to cover expenses for trophies, course reservations, postage, supplies, bank fees and other expenses associated with the club’s year round activities. New members accepted after May 31 should pay the required membership fee. Membership fees shall be refunded in full in the event a member chooses not to participate in the PGANY tournament BEFORE the start of the first tournament of the season. Membership fees will be forfeited should any member decide to withdraw his/her membership AFTER the first tournament of the season. MEMBERS WHO HAVE NOT FULLY PAID THE MEMBERSHIP FEES will play as guests and are not eligible to win any trophies or awards.

ARTICLE 2: Schedule
A complete tournament schedule will be posted in our website at www.pgany.net. Venues, tee-off times, tournament chairman and directions to the golf courses will be posted as well. Members must be at the golf course at least one (1) hour before the scheduled starting tee time.

ARTICLE 3: Tournament Fees
All tournament fees must be paid in full before the tournament starts. Members must see the Tournament Chairperson for payment and instruction UPON ARRIVAL at the golf course.

ARTICLE 4: Tournament Officials
The President, Vice-President, Tournament Director, Rules Committee Chairman and the Handicap Chairman will compose the tournament committee. These officials will have sole jurisdiction in the enforcement of the rules and regulations throughout the tournament. They have the absolute authority to make decisions and recommendations within the guidelines set forth in the Rules and Regulations. Decisions made by tournament officials are FINAL.

ARTICLE 5: PGANY Venue
The venue will be selected based on budget, proximity and location. It will be alternation between NJ & NY and must be reserved early every year for the November awards dinner. 
A yearly total of 13 golf courses which includes the President’s Cup tournament must be posted in the PGANY Souvenir Journal. The PGANY-FIGNA tournament and other fund-raising tournaments attended by PGANY members are not part of the PGANY tournament.

ARTICLE 6: Membership Meeting
There are four general membership meetings in a year: opening season meeting in March, Journal meeting in July, Awards Night meeting in October and the Christmas exchange Gift details in December. The officers can call their special meetings as need arises.

ARTICLE 7: Conduct and Behavior
Members must follow the rules of golf etiquette (refer to your Golf Rules in Brief). These rules shall be applicable to any member or guest player who is found guilty of conduct unbecoming. A conduct is considered “unbecoming” if it is detrimental to the best interest of the tournament. It includes, but not limited to unsportsmanlike conduct, indecent gestures, unnecessary delay of play, inciting a fight, violation of golf course rules and golf course signs.
The tournament officials will determine appropriate penalties, if any. If a membership suspension is necessary, a general membership meeting will be called and the members will vote on the issue.

ARTICLE 8: Handicaps
1. All participants in these tournaments shall have played a minimum of five practice rounds (18 holes) with a PGANY member before the start of the first tournament and are encouraged to submit their scorecards to the Handicap Chairman to establish their handicap index, otherwise the most recent handicap index from the last two seasons will be used until the MGA index cards become available. The PGANY handicap cards (MGA issued) will be distributed as necessary.

2. ALL players will use their full handicap index in all tournaments of the season. Your full handicap index will also be used to determine the Course handicap for tournament play.

3. NEW AND RETURNING PGANY MEMBERS who are holders of the previous year’s verifiable MGA handicap index cards issued by PGANY or other MGA registered golf clubs will be able to use their handicap index as computed by the GHIN. NEW MEMBERS without verifiable handicap index cards will be subject to the System 36 handicapping system in their first 5 tournaments of the season or until a handicap index is determined by GHIN. Practice round scores played with PGANY members can be used in the submission for handicap computation purposes provided the PGANY member has an official PGANY issued handicap index card already.

4. All members are required to post on-line at the MGA website or submit at least ONE PRACTICE ROUND score to the Handicap Chairman per month. A penalty will be imposed by the GHIN handicapping system every time this policy is not followed based on USGA guidelines.

5. Maximum handicap index for men is 36.0 and for women is 40.0. In rounding the handicap numbers, 0.7 goes up and 0.6 goes down.

6. All Tournament scores will be subject to the USGA adjustment rules for handicapping purposes. Except for Closest to the Pin, NO guest player can win any trophies or award in any PGANY scheduled tournaments. All tournament scores will be submitted or posted to the GHIN handicapping service. Revisions of handicap are done every two weeks and the revised handicap stickers are given out to members as soon as they become available.

Please remember: HANDICAP INDEX IS NOT YOUR COURSE HANDICAP INDEX. The handicap index is used to determine the member’s handicap for a particular course. A member’s course handicap can go lower on easier golf courses (lower slope rating) and can go higher on difficult golf courses (higher slope rating).

ARTICLE 9: TOURNAMENT RULES
U S G A Rules and Local House Rules shall govern all tournaments subject to the following modifications:

Player Classification
There will be only one division that consist of REGULAR players, SENIORS and LADIES. Men with handicap index 18.0 and below will be with the “Regular” player group, irrespective of whether they are 62 years old and over. Senior players (62 years old and over) with handicap index over 18 will use the senior tees. Ladies will use the forward tees.

If any member decides to use the regular tees, please notify the Handicap Chairman for course handicap recalculation.

To speed up the play, there is a DOUBLE PAR + 2 maximum in recording the score at any tournament.

If unable to cross water hazard; the Two-ball rule is in effect.

Foot prints in the bunker: player may lift his ball, smooth the sand and roll his ball closest to original lie.

The tournament format for the season will be STROKE PLAY unless another tournament format is decided by the tournament committee, in which case, the announcement will be made before a scheduled tournament. Each division will have three winners, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place for players who get the lowest net score (gross score minus course handicap index) in each tournament. In other tournament formats, the tournament committee will decide.

ARTICLE 10: PENALTIES
The following penalties will be imposed:

1. Fee for each tournament includes a $10 deposit to cover the cost of tickets to the Awards Night. If a member failed to attend the Awards Night for whatever reason, the total deposit will be forfeited.

2. A full green fee charge will be assessed against a player who confirmed participation in a tournament but did not show up. The player who confirmed but cannot show up can call the tournament director not later than the 7 PM on the Wednesday of the tournament week. Proof of a real, unavoidable emergency may be considered by the tour director.

3. Handicap index will be recalculated by GHIN based on USGA guidelines for members who failed to submit or post at least one practice round score in a month.

ARTICLE 11: PRIZES AND AWARDS

1. Please refer to the POY System Chart at www.PGANY.net for tournament scoring. The chart is distributed to the members on a regular basis. All major trophy winners MUST play 7 out of 12 games in the season. The Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year competition will be using this point system.

2. PLAYER OF THE YEAR PERPETUAL TROPHY will be awarded to the player who accumulated the most number of points at the end of the season. Points are reset after the Qualifying Tournaments (games 1 – 8) and bonus points are awarded to the top ten, ranging from 200 – 20, before going into the playoffs (games 9 – 12). Points awarded in the playoff games are doubled.

3. CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS PERPETUAL TROPHY: To qualify, a member should have at least one FIRST PLACE win in the earlier tournaments of the season and must have played 6 out of the first ten (10) scheduled tournaments of the season. This trophy will be awarded to the champion who will have the lowest net score on the last Playoff Game (game 12). This award was started in 1994.

4. CLUB CHAMPION PERPETUAL TROPHY: To qualify for the Club Championship, a member must have played 6 out of the first 10 scheduled tournaments of the season. This trophy will be awarded to the player who have the lowest cumulative net score in the last 2 Championship Games (games 11 and 12).

NOTE: The PERPETUAL TROPHY winners will have their names engraved on the trophy and will keep the trophy for a year. The Perpetual Trophies will then be presented by the winners to the Perpetual Trophy winners of the following year. If the member wins the same perpetual trophy three (3) consecutive times he/she shall keep the perpetual trophy.

5. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR TROPHY will be awarded to the rookie who has accumulated the most number of points at the end of the season and ONLY rookies are eligible to win this award. The points accumulated by the rookies will be tabulated separately using the same point system in determining the Player of the Year award.

6. MOST IMPROVED PLAYER TROPHY will be awarded to the player who has improved his/her golf skill the most as attested by the most lowered handicap index from the start to the end of the tournament season. The winner will be chosen by the Tournament Committee.

7. Rookies are not entitled to win the Player of the Year award, Champion of Champions or Club Champion award.

8. Other SURPRISE awards maybe given at the end of the season during the Annual Awards Night.

ARTICLE 12: TEE BOXES DESIGNATION

If a golf course has only 3 tee boxes:

A. Ladies will tee-off from the front tees

B. Men will tee-off from the next tee-box after the Ladies tee-box. This Men’s tee-box is generally called Middle or White tee-box

If a golf course has only 4 tee boxes:

A. Ladies will tee-off from the front tees

B. Senior male members who are 62 years old and over, and whose Handicap Index (not the adjusted Course Handicap) is above 18 will be allowed to tee-off from the second tee-box

C. All other Male members will tee-off from the third tee box

D. Any member who choose to play the third tee-box must notify the Handicap Chairman for adjustment of their Course Handicap

This designation is in the best interest of staying competitive and to experience better enjoyment of the game.

ARTICLE 13: RULES FOR SHORTENED GOLF TOURNAMENT DUE TO DARKNESS OR INCLEMENT WEATHER AND OTHER LOCAL RULES.

To determine the winners, the following rules apply.

1. If the last group of players played only 15 holes, the players must record a score of par plus any handicap strokes normally received for the holes not played or holes not played in accordance with The Rules of Golf. For example, player A is not able to play holes 16, 17, and 18 due to darkness or inclement weather and player A has a Course Handicap of 12 and holes 16, 17, 18 are a par 5, 3, 4, and are allocated as the number 4, 16, 10 handicap holes, respectively. Therefore, player A will record a 6, 3, and 5 on holes 16, 17, and 18, respectively.

2. If the last group of players played 14 holes and not less than 9 holes, use the total number of holes completed by the last group to determine winners. For example, the last group played only 12 holes, the tournament will become a 12-hole tournament and net score will be based on the 12 holes.

3. If the last group of players did not complete 9 holes, the tournament will be cancelled or re-scheduled depending on the Tournament Committee and PGANY Officers’ decision.