GCO Golf League

1.1 TEE BOXES. The teeing area for all league play shall be the tees closest to 6700 yards. The teeing area may be adjusted based upon weather conditions and cold weather as well as the par value of the course.

1.2 PLAY BALL AS IT LIES. The default form of play is to play the ball as it lies under USGA rules and applicable local and GCO rules unless Preferred Lies is announced.

1.21 PREFERRED LIES. Preferred Lies - Fairway may be announced by the Commissioner's Office when conditions warrant such as snowy or muddy conditions, excessive moisture in the soil, extreme heat and un-mown fairways. The Commissioner will post Preferred Lies in the Commissioner's Notes when applicable. When Preferred Lies is announced, a ball lying on your fairway may be lifted without penalty and cleaned. Before lifting the ball, the player must mark its position. Having lifted the ball, he must place it on a spot within six inches of and not nearer the hole than where it originally lay, that is not in a hazard and not on a putting green. A player may place his ball only once, and it is in play when it has been placed. If the ball fails to come to rest on the spot on which it was placed, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies, unless another USGA rule apples. If the player fails to mark the position of the ball before lifting it or moves the ball in any other manner, such as rolling it with a club, the player incurs a penalty of one stroke. Preferred Lies - Everywhere may be announce by the Commissioner's Office and provides the same relief as Preferred Lies - Fairway except you may lift clean and place anywhere on the course, except a hazard.

1.22 EMBEDDED BALL. You may lift, clean and replace an embedded ball anywhere EXCEPT in a hazard, including bunkers, or any non-closely mown area such as the woods. An embedded ball is a ball which lies, in whole or in part, within its own pitch or ball mark.

1.23 POWER LINES. If a ball strikes an elevated power line or cable, the stroke MUST be canceled and replayed, without penalty. If the ball is not immediately recoverable, another ball may be substituted. This rule does not apply to the support structures of power lines or cables.

1.3 WEATHER RULES. Scattered showers and light rain do not cancel golf. Cool, cold or windy weather does not cancel golf. Golf is only canceled by reason of thunderstorms that are ongoing at tee off, snow accumulation, tornado, ongoing heavy rain at tee off which has little hope of letup and the golf course being closed. If the weather situation is particularly threatening, please check you emails before heading to the golf course. We try to send out a last minute cancel / no-cancel notice, if possible. By nature, the fall league plays in less than ideal conditions one would expect in October and November. We do not play golf however, when the expected high temperature for the round is below 40 degrees. Cancelled events do not get rescheduled.

1.4 USGA AND LOCAL RULES: USGA Rules apply except where local course rules apply and the listed GCO league rules. In all instances where GCO, local and USGA rules contradict or contravene each other, the GCO rules shall control, followed by local rules then USGA.

2.1 WEEKLY LEAGUE PLAY. There will be various game of golf played each week by the field. Scores are handicapped using established handicaps. The "GCO-Callaway Handicapping System" will be used for the first 5 rounds played by those without established or acceptable handicaps, after which, regular GCO handicaps (based of USGA) will be used. Points will be awarded according to the "Prize Distribution Chart."

2.2 SEASON LENGTH AND SCHEDULE. The length of the schedule, shall in most cases, be determine by the length of the season. Should a week be cancelled due to inclement weather, course closure or a declared holiday layoff, the schedule shall resume by skipping the scheduled event and format until the next available event.

2.3 READY GOLF. Please play ready golf, that is, if you are ready to hit while your opponent is dinking around, go ahead. Ready golf also implies you should prepare yourself to hit as soon as possible, whether or not it is your turn. A good example of this is go to your ball with the correct club and figure out your shot while your opponent is preparing to hit and hitting. Don't wait for him to hit and then saunter over to your ball. This does not mean hit at the same time or be a distraction to your opponent or other golfers. Common Etiquette is still required. If a golfer feels that the order of play may effect the match, a golfer may, at his option, require his opponent to abide by the order of play.

3.1 GCO HANDICAPS. GCO Handicaps for this 18hole league (non-Callaway) will be calculated based on a minimum of five (5) adjusted gross scores from the home course, and then at increments (usually weekly) throughout the season. The USGA formulat for handicapping will be used. You need a minimum of 5 round before you will be issued a handicap index. No handicaps can exceed 26.

3.2 EQUITABLE STROKE CONTROL. For the sole purposes of calculating and tracking handicaps, not for calculating match or net points, Adjusted Scores will be used. The concept is to make handicaps consistent and limit abuse of the handicapping process. The amount of equitable stroke control being applied to a score depends on your handicap for the given day. An Adjusted Score will be determined by applying the following stroke control which follows the USGA guidelines:

New members who have not registered at least 5 rounds will utilized the equitable stroke control table with the provisional handicap accepted by the league for said first five rounds. Following that, the normal playing handicap calculated by the GCO will be utilized in equitable stroke control.

3.3 GCO-CALLAWAY SYSTEM. (repealed) The Callaway system is used to give new players a handicap which is then calculated at the end of a round based on a certain formula based on your score. At the end of each round for the first 2 weeks, you will calculate your handicap, with a league coordinator if necessary, and factor it into that days scoring. While the Callaway system is not perfect, neither is a regular handicap system. New players will have regular handicaps after playing two rounds and use that handicap until such time as handicaps are recalculated. The GCO-Callaway System handicap will be calculated using the below GCO-Callaway Handicap Table from a players adjusted gross score. ~~Worst hole means highest number of strokes regardless of par, however, no hole may be scored at more than twice its par for this purposes.~~ ~~If the final hole is used in the Callaway worst hole calculation, it will be limited to a double bogey for Callaway handicapping purposes.~~ ~~Half-stroke entitlements are rounded up~~

3.4 PROVISIONAL HANDICAP SYSTEM. The GCO golf league will provide a provisional handicap for all new players until such time as they have played five official rounds with the league, afterwhich, an official USGA-GCO handicap will be issued. To obtain a provision handicap, new players must submit a verifiable USGA handicap index, or in the alternative, their best 5 rounds (9-hole or 18-hole), with name of the golf course and which tees where used. The GCO will calculate a provisional handicap based on those submissions, using USGA calculations. The provisional handicap may not go up during the provisional period, but, if any single round is below the provisional handicap, the provisional handicap will be adjusted downward based solely on that sub-provisional round for the following week's play. If the Commissioner's office determines that the provisional handicap is substantially above the level of play of a new golfer, the Commissioner's office may adjust the handicap downward, retroactively, to correct the inaccuracy in the interest of fair play.

4.1 DUES. League dues shall be $40.00. Dues will be divided equally between all schedule events (less the administrator fee for the webservice) and serve as the "base" upon which each weekly payout shall be associated. In this case, the base for each event will be $4 per player.

4.2 ENTRANCE FEE. For each event a golf attends, there shall be a $5.00 entrance fee if the golfer desires to compete for the prize pool. The entry fee is added to the base each wek. Entrance fees are not required to merely play golf.

4.3. WINNINGS. Winnings shall be calculated each week based upon the "Prize Distribution Chart" which summarized the proportions of prizes based upon the number of players entered. The Prize Pool is the sum of the pro-rata proportion of the League Dues ("base") plus the Entrance Fee of all the particular week's golfers. The more golfers that attend an event the more places will be paid out. If a schedule event gets canceled, the base will be rolled over to the following week. If the final week of golf is cancelled, the base for that week will be credited to every members league dues for the next season.

4.4 DETERMINING WINNERS. The weekly winner will be determined according to the rules of that week's golf game. In the event of a tie for first place, a singular winner must be determined using the scores of the hardest handicap holes to break the tie. In the case that golfer are tied for any place other than 1st, they shall slit the winnings. For instance, if there are two golfers tied for 2nd place, the winnings for 2nd and 3rd place will be pool together and split equally between them. If the winnings cannot be split equally without paying out cents, for instance, three golfers tied for 3rd place and the payout is $29, then each golfer shall receive $9 with the last two dollars going to the golfer with the best score on the hardest handicap hole. Whenever golfers are still tied after consulting the scores on the hardest handicap hole, they will consult the 2nd hardest, 3rd hardest and so forth until the tie is broken. If a golf course handicaps its holes based on the front nine and back nine instead of 18 holes, then when consulting the hardest handicapped holes, the holes will alternate beginning with the back nine then the first nine.

5.1 RULE ARBITRATOR. In the event of a good faith ruling dispute, you may play out the hole and continue to conclusion upon agreement with your opponent. If the ruling is still in dispute by the time you reach the club house, and after consulting the rules, consult with a Commissioner who will settle the dispute and determine the scoring for that particular hole. An appeal of said ruling may be made to the Board of Commissioners and any such ruling from the Board of Commissioners shall be final.

5.2 PROCEDURE WHEN RULING UNKNOWN. In the event of a good faith ruling dispute, you may play out the hole and continue to conclusion upon agreement with your opponent. If there is a good faith dispute as to whether a golfer can or should play out a hole with a particular ball, a second ball may be played, without penalty, as an alternative, along with the first ball, and the score with each ball must be recorded. In either instance, following the match, upon consultation with the Commissioner or Vice Commissioner and the Rules of Golf, the correct score shall be determined for that hole. A party may appeal the ruling to a the Board of Commissioners and any such ruling from the Board shall be final.

5.3 FINAL SCORES. All scores become final on the week following the week in question at 10:30 p.m. unless a formal protest is filed with the Commissioner or Vice-Commissioner.

5.4 OBLIGATION TO REVIEW. All GCO members are required to review their own scores and points and the posting of those scores and points. It is the obligation of the individual member to insure that the league and Commissioner's office has recorded and calculated said scores and points correctly.

6.1 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. The league shall have an executive committee, called The Board of Commissioners, which shall consist of two or three positions, a Commissioner and Vice Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners shall:

a. Hear all appeals;

b. Consider and create new rules;

c. Amend or abolish old rules;

d. Provide information and assistance to league members as required; and

e. Issues sanctions against league members when appropriate.

6.2 BOARD VOTING. The Board of Commissioners shall vote on all issue put to it, by a majority vote. The Commissioner shall have veto power over all votes.

6.3. VOIDS AND AMBIGUITIES. In rare instances where a situation or occurrence cannot be resolved by the rules and the Commissioner has determined there is a void or ambiguity in said rules, the Commissioner shall issue a ruling and resolve such void or ambiguity in the best interest of the league.

6.4 PENALTIES. The Commissioner reserves the right to issue penalties to league member for serious transgressions of the league rules, league customs, directives of the Commissioner or the etiquette of the game of golf. Penalties may be issued for, but not limited to:

b. Failing to appear for an event registering for said event without good cause;

A single penalty will be equated to $5.00 and shall be only deducted from the winnings, if any, of the party assessed.

18 Hole Handicap	Maximum Number on Any Hole
9 or less	Double Bogey
10 through 19	7
20 through 29	8
30 or more	9

PAR 72		ADJUSTED	GROSS	SCORES	HANDICAP	PAR 71		ADJUSTED	GROSS	SCORES
70	71	72	73	74	no handicap	69	70	71	72	73
75	-	-	76	77	½ of worst hole	74	-	-	75	76
78	79	80	81	82	worst hole	77	78	79	80	81
83	84	85	86	87	1½ worst hole	82	83	84	85	86
88	89	90	91	92	2 worst holes	87	88	89	90	91
93	94	95	96	97	2½ worst hole	92	93	94	95	96
98	99	100	101	102	3 worst holes	97	98	99	100	101
103	104	105	106	107	3½ worst holes	102	103	104	105	106
108	109	110	111	112	4 worst holes	107	108	109	110	111
-2	-1	0	+1	+2	HDCP ADJUSTM	-2	-1	0	+1	+2