Four-Player Scramble Tournament Rules

Description: In a scramble, each team member tees off and the team chooses the best result as the position to hit their next shot. This procedure is followed until the hole is completed. Each team will receive a handicap based upon a weighted-average of the individual team members' handicaps. Estimated handicaps will be accepted for this tournament.

U.S.G.A. rules apply unless otherwise stated herein. Since this is a scramble, not many do, so don't be picky.

Rules for this tourney

• Men play from the WHITE (or equivalent) tees. Women play from the RED (or equivalent) tees.

• One club-length improvement is allowed anywhere on the course except in hazards or on the green. The ball should be positioned with the club head, not hand-placed. Subsequent players should attempt to drop their ball as close as possible to the spot where the first player hit and position the ball with the club head to maintain the same lie and stance.

  If a team is playing from a sandtrap, the first player should play the ball as it lies, subsequent players can rake and then hand-place the ball near the position where the first player hit.

• Teams shall hole out all putts. In the interest of speeding up play, if a player putts to within tap-in distance (six inches or less), he/she may go ahead and hole the tap-in rather than marking. If a subsequent player holes the original putt, the lower score counts.

• If all players' balls are lost or in the woods on the same shot, they should proceed per the general lost ball/woods rules and choose the best result under the circumstances.

• If all players' balls appear to be out of bounds on the same shot, they should consider golf lessons, then hit provisionals. In the interest of speeding up play, it is not necessary for all team members to re-hit. Get a good one and get going.

• No Shows:

  • If one team member fails to show, one of the three remaining players will be allowed to play 2 balls, including putts, on each hole. The player designated to play 2 balls should rotate on a hole-by-hole basis.
  • If two or more team members fail to show, the remaining player(s) will be allowed to play 2 balls, including putts, throughout the round.

  In either case, the team handicap will be adjusted accordingly.

• Late Arrivals/Early Departures: If one or more team members arrive late or have to leave early, the remaining players shall play all applicable holes per the No Show rule. There will be no team handicap adjustment unless an individual player misses 9 or more holes.

• Ties: Ties will be broken as follows:
  1. Low team score for the last 9 holes
  2. Low team score for the last 6 holes
  3. Low team score for the last 3 holes
  4. Low team score for the last hole
  5. Coin flip

General rules for all tournies

• In the case of bad weather, check with the golf course. If the course is open, we will play.
• If a player's ball is in the woods, the player has two options: 1) Play the ball as it lies; or 2) treat the woods like a lateral hazard and drop within two club lengths of the point where the ball was thought to have crossed into the woods with a ONE STROKE PENALTY.
• If a player's ball is lost in the woods or elsewhere, there is also the option to replay the previous shot with ONE STROKE PENALTY. This is often impractical during public play, so players have the further option of dropping another ball as near as possible to the place where the original ball is thought to be lost, keeping the same lie, and adding ONE STROKE PENALTY.
• All tournaments are flighted to allow individuals/teams to compete with those of near-equal ability.
• Prizes for each tourney are based upon the number of entrants.
• Play temporary greens as if they were real (i.e. hole out all putts).
• If any group can not finish the tournament due to weather or darkness, all scores and prizes for their respective flights will be determined by the last hole completed by all individuals/teams in each flight.
• Keep up with the group in front of you!

Handicapping for this tourney

Tournament Handicaps
================

1. Calculate the Tournament Handicap for each participant as follows:
    
                                   (USGA slope rating for tees being played)
   (Current USGA handicap index) X -----------------------------------------
                                                      113

   Round this result to the nearest whole number with .50 or more rounding up,
   .49 or less rounding down.

   Example: A player with a 7.8 index playing from the blue tees, which have
            a slope rating of 126, would have a calculated Tournament Handicap of:
            
                  7.8 X 126/113 = 8.697  or  9  
                   
2. Make tee rating adjustments as necessary if participants are playing from
   different tees.
   
   Case 1 - Blue (or White) tees rated higher than Red tees:
   
            Subtract Red rating from Blue rating and add the result to the
            Tournament Handicaps of all participants playing from the Blue tees.

            Round this result to the nearest whole number with .50 or more rounding up,
            .49 or less rounding down.

     Example: Blue rating 70.6, Red rating 68.1.
   
            70.6 - 68.1 = 2.5 or 3
            
            Add 3 strokes to the Tournament Handicaps of all Blue tee players.

   Case 2 - Red tees rated higher than Blue (or White) tees:
   
            Subtract Blue rating from Red rating and add the result to the
            Tournament Handicaps of all participants playing from the Red tees.
   
            Round this result to the nearest whole number with .50 or more rounding up,
            .49 or less rounding down.   

     Example: Blue rating 71.4, Red rating 72.2.
   
            72.2 - 71.4 = 0.8 or 1
            
            Add 1 stroke to the Tournament Handicaps of all Red tee players.

Team Handicaps
====================

   Four-player teams:

      Multiply the Tournament Handicap of the lowest handicapped player by .20
      Multiply the Tournament Handicap of the second-lowest player by .15
      Multiply the Tournament Handicap of the third-lowest player by .10
      Multiply the Tournament Handicap of the highest handicapped player by .05

      Sum the four numbers and round to the nearest whole stroke with .500
      or more rounding up, .499 or less rounding down. 

   The resulting number of strokes are subtracted from the team's gross score
   to determine their net score.

Last Updated on 6/18/2007
By Jeff Lance