Evergreen Golf Club Competition Policies
Pace of Play Penalties
Starting times are gapped between 8 and 10 minutes, depending on the course. Any foursome finishing more than 20 minutes (one full starting position) behind the foursome in front of them may be charged a 1 stroke penalty for each member. Finishing times will be tracked in some events by the marshal, but it is the tournament chairman/scorekeeper who will assess the penalty, not the marshal.
Code of Conduct
EGC Player Code of Conduct - Coming Soon.
GHIN Handicap Policy for Competitions
For Weekend Events, all players (members and guests) MUST have an active GHIN membership prior to the round. A player is expected to have at least 10 scores posed over the prior 12 months, or a waiver granted by the handicap chairman[1], to ensure that the field is fairly handicapped when competing for the prize payouts. If you have scores in another system, please post at least 10 scores from the past 12 months into GHIN prior to the event. Players who do not meet the handicap requirement may play in the event for KP and Gross Skins (and must still pay the tournament fee) but are not eligible for net payouts.
For Thursday League events, we will work with new players who do not have a handicap to either establish a provisional handicap estimate[2], or they will play in a “No Handicap” flight at the tournament director’s discretion.
Contact the Handicap Chairman if you have questions about new handicaps or handicap waivers.
[1] Handicap Chairman Waiver will be for cases where the player has a past handicap history but may not have been able to play actively in the past 12 months to post 10 scores due to health, work or personal reasons. New GHIN members who do not have at least 10 scores entered should contact the handicap chairman for a waiver.
[2] Typical methods for establishing a provisional handicap are the lowest one out of three or four recent scores where the score, course and tee are known, an inactive handicap from a prior year that hasn’t been activated in time for the prior revision date, or documented handicap from a non-GHIN but USGA recognized handicap service.
Participation Requirements
Club Championship. The Club Championship in August requires participants to have played in at least 54 holes (2023) 72 holes of golf at other Evergreen Golf Club events during the same year. This could be eight Thursday league 9-hole tournaments, four 18-hole Weekend Tournaments, four match play rounds, or any combination. Total holes from Weekend and 9-hole tournaments played are tracked in the points tracker. Players will have to manually track and add any match play events to this total if needed.
Match Play Events. Match play Quarter-Final rounds (Round of 8) require at least 54 holes of golf played in regular Evergreen Golf Club stroke play events during the same year. The Final Championship requires 54 holes of golf in regular EGC events. Players who do not meet the requirements prior to their match will be disqualified.
Thursday League Cool Down
We have used the <Thursday League Cool Down handicap Policy> for handicap control for the past several years for our Thursday events. This has helped when a player's 9 hole performance is improving faster than their handicap reflects, especially if they are mostly playing 9 hole rounds. The policy is a recognition for playing well - If a player shoots net 2-under for 9 holes twice within any 4 consecutive Thursday night league play events, the player will be assessed a 1 stroke 9-hole handicap reduction for their next 2 Thursday night events. In addition, if a player shoots net 4-under in a single round they will be assessed the 1 stroke penalty; or net 6-under in a single round will be a 2 stroke penalty. Full details are available in the linked page.
There is currently no handicap policy for Weekend tournaments; the World Handicap System has formulas in place similar to Cool down for exceptional scores.
Scoring and Scorecards
Live Scoring: EGC will be using Golf Genius Live Scoring. You must keep both a paper card and use live scoring as described below.
How to Download and Use the Mobile App: <Click Here>
During Stroke Play tournaments (Weekend Tournaments and Thursday League), one person in each foursome is responsible for entering scores in live scoring after each hole while a second person will keep a paper scorecard. Failure to enter scores for your foursome in Golf Genius live scoring during the round will result in a 1-stroke penalty for each person in the group. Exception: If Live Scoring is not enabled when you tee off, and is not subsequently enabled by the time you complete the 5th hole (check again), you can defer entering your scores until the round is completed. Live scoring must be completed within 1 hour of completing your round.
For Match Play, entering scores in live scoring during the round is optional but recommended. A paper scorecard must be maintained in all match play. If scores are not entered in live scoring during the match, they must be entered in Golf Genius immediately (within 1 hour) after the round is completed. (An exception to live scoring is granted if the course is not the correct course in Golf Genius during your round.)
Paper Card: In addition to the live scoring, each group must keep at least one paper scorecard with all individual scores recorded. If a pre-printed scorecards are not provided, use a regular course scorecard from the golf course. The paper card should be kept by any player who is not the live scoring scorekeeper. Scores must be legible and any corrections made clearly. The card must be signed by the scorekeeper (marker) and by at least one other person in the group (certifier).
Each foursome must compare the results on the paper scorecards with the live scoring results at the end of the round to ensure there were no typos entering live score results before turning in the paper scorecard. You would be surprised how rarely there are not any typos in the live scoring. Make sure you always do this carefully!
Signed paper cards must be returned to the tournament director immediately following the round. If the tournament director is not available, a photo can be sent in to EvergreenGC@outlook.com. This must be done within 1 hour after the completion of the round. Failure to turn in a card (paper or photo) promptly (1 hour) will result in disqualification per USGA Rule 3.3 b (2).
For Thursday 9-hole league, if you choose to play additional holes, someone from your group (or a group after yours) must bring the cards in to the tournament director. Do not plan to turn your paper cards in after playing 18 holes on Thursdays, they must be turned in within 1 hour of the completion of your round. The tournament director will not stick around waiting for you.
Match Play: In lieu of turning in the paper scorecard, please send in a photo of the scorecard to EvergreenGC@outlook.com. See match play instructions for details.