NSAGA
2010 Match Play Championship Rules
Overview: The match play series is separate from regular outings of the NSAGA. This is a fun competition of head to head play that can be played either within an NSAGA golf outing or at another location of both players’ choosing. This will be a single elimination tournament. The matches will start in April and conclude in September.
1.The championship is open to all NSAGA members. Open, senior, and women will play from their respective tees. Since this is handicap based, everyone should have an equal chance of winning.
2.Both players will decide which course and what time to play. The players will set up their round on their own and the winner must send the result to handicaps@golfassociation.org. If you want to play these matches using Golf Association rounds, that is fine but you will need to be paired together for the round, use a separate scorecard for the match play scores, and use normal NSAGA rules (e.g., max of double par on a hole, no gimmes or conceded shots).
3.If you are playing matches outside the regular NSAGA rounds, you can either use NSAGA rules, USGA rules, or a combination that both of you agree to. In other words, if conditions warrant, you can do lift clean and place if you both agree to do that. If something can’t be agreed on, then the USGA rule applies. You should decide prior to play what rules govern your round.
4.All matches must be completed by the deadline for each round of play. Normally, you will need to play about one match/month. If a player fails to make a good faith effort to play their match by the deadline of that round, they will forfeit the match. If both players do not attempt to play the match, both players will forfeit the match.
5.In the event of a match that’s tied after 18 holes, the players will match cards based on the lowest numbered handicap hole. If that is tied, then it will be based on the second lowest numbered handicap hole, and continue this process until the tie is broken. If both players agree, they can determine the winner by playing extra holes in the event of a tied match after 18 holes. The latter is the preferred method but is not practical in many cases because of time constraints, darkness, or the course will not let players play additional holes for free.
6.The winner of each match will advance to the next round.
7.All matches will be 18 holes. Although, scoring can be stopped once one player has an insurmountable lead (e.g., 4&3….4 up with 3 holes to play).
8.Remember that this is match play competition, not stroke play. Therefore, the players are competing against each other hole by hole using net scores for the hole. If both players are uncertain how match play is competed or how to apply the handicap, send a message to handicaps@golfassociation.org and we’ll clarify the questions you have. If there is any confusion while playing a match, record the scores for all 18 holes and any issues can be resolved after the round.
9.Course or adjusted handicaps will be used (see examples below). To compute your handicap, take your current handicap, multiply it by the course slope for your tees (usually a number between 100 and 155), divide by 113 and round the result. If an open player is competing against a senior or woman or a senior is competing against a woman, then one further adjustment is necessary. Subtract the lower course rating from the higher course rating of the players’ tees. Add this difference to the player playing from the higher course rating and round the result. Another option is send the course rating and slope for the tees being played to handicaps@golfassociation.org and someone will respond with the correct handicaps to be used.
10.The higher handicap player will play off the number of strokes in excess of the other player. In other words, subtract the lower handicap player’s adjusted handicap from the higher handicap player’s adjusted handicap and that will be the number of strokes the higher handicap player receives. (see examples below)
Examples for computing handicaps:
Example TeesSlopeRating
Open13072.1
Senior12071.1
Women11570.2
Example 1: Two Open players are competing (this works for any 2 players competing from the same tee boxes)
Player 1’s current handicap: 5.3 Player 2’s current handicap: 26.2
Player 1’s course handicap will be 5.3*slope/113 or 5.3*130/113 = 6 (result is rounded)
Player 2’s course handicap will be 26.2*slope/113 or 26.2*130/113 = 30 (result is rounded)
Therefore, the difference is 24 (30-6) so that means that player two will receive two strokes on each of the six numerically lowest handicap ranked holes (i.e., handicap holes 1-6) and one stroke on the remaining holes (i.e., handicap holes 7-18).
Example 2: An Open player playing against a woman. Applies to any 2 players competing from different tee boxes.
Open player’s current handicap is 5.3 Woman’s current handicap is 26.2
Compute each player’s course handicap as in example 1. Therefore, the open player’s course handicap is 6 and the women’s course handicap is 27.
Next, compute the adjusted handicap for the player with the higher tee rating, which in this case, is the open tee (72.1 vs 70.2).
Therefore, the open player’s adjusted handicap is 6 +(72.1 – 70.2) = 8 (result is rounded). The women’s adjusted handicap will be the same as her course handicap(27).
The difference is 19 (27-8) so that means that the woman will receive two strokes on her numerically lowest handicap ranked hole(i.e., handicap hole 1) and one stroke on the remaining holes (i.e. handicap holes 2-18).