General Information Palmetto Senior Amateur Golf is a Charleston area golf group comprised of avid senior golfers who like and want to play competitive golf in a friendly atmosphere. Membership is open to anyone, male or female, 55 years or older in a calendar year and is of amateur status as defined by the USGA. All tournaments are individual modified medal play events. Each tournament will consist of 5 flights. There will be prize winners in each flight. Each event will have optional, by flight, pins and skins competitions and a hole-in-one contest pot. The PSAG season will be between approx. February 1 and October 31. Tournaments will be held about every two weeks. A season ending 2 day finale will be held in early November. Season flight champions will be crowned. Palmetto Senior Amateur Golf events are conducted under the USGA rules of golf. There are no mulligans and there are no gimme putts. It is the responsibility of each member to know the Rules of Golf as set by the USGA. Information about the rules of golf is available at USGA.ORG. An individual is welcome to check out the tour without obligation to become a member by playing as a Guest in any one regular event at a reduced rate. Guests are not eligible for prizes. Membership in Palmetto Senior Amateur golf is $50 per season. Handicaps There are several ways to establish a PSAG handicap index. The best and easiest way is to already have an official USGA handicap. This will be used to establish your PSAG handicap index and for flight placement. If you do not have an official USGA handicap if you can provide one of the following. Your 5 most recent scores, including course name, date, course rating, slope and tee played or A verifiable handicap index from another golf tour or league. A new member who does not have a verifiable handicap will be put in a special flight and is eligible for skins/pins contests but not tournament prizes. Three (3) scores will be required from special flight members to establish a PSAG handicap index. After your PSAG handicap has been established only scores from our tour will be used to maintain your PSAG handicap index. A player s index will be valid after 3 tournament rounds. The number of rounds to compute the PSAG index will be based on the 5 best of the 10 most recent scores. If a player has less than 10 rounds the following will apply: 9-10 rounds----best 5 differentials 7-8 rounds----best 4 differentials 5-6 rounds----best 3 differentials 3-4 rounds----best 2 differentials
Tour flights A players flight assignment will be determined by their PSAG tour index. Champ Flight (E) 0 3.0 1st Flight (A) 3.1 8.0 2 nd Flight (B) 8.1 14.0 3rd Flight (C) 14.1 21.0 4th Flight (D) 21.1 28.0 A players PSAG handicap index will be applied to the course rating to establish the course handicap for each tournament, per USGA guidelines (Reference Section 3-3 and 10-4 of The USGA HANDICAP SYSTEM ). Tee Boxes Champ and A flights will play from tees that are approx. 5,800 to 6,200 yards. (Back tees) All other flights will play from the next closer tees approx. 5,300 to 5,700 yards (Front Tees) Women will play from the tees generally designated for women. Exception Players 70 and over with a PSAG index of 20 or more may ask to play from the most forward tees. Player moving into a higher flight Generally a player will remain in the flight assigned at the beginning of the season or at the time of membership. A player will move up in flight when: Their performance improves to the point their tour handicap falls in a lower range or They show exceptional performance in any single event (battlefield promotion) or At a players request A player moving up in flight will take with them 80% of their accumulated points as long as it does not exceed a tie for 5 th place in the point standings in the new flight. Player moving down in flight A player may request a downward flight movement only if their PSAG handicap index increases. Any downward flight movement requires director approval. When a player moves down in flight they will take with them 100% of their accumulated points. No downward flight movement will be allowed after September 1 st. A player must play a minimum of 4 tournaments before a downward movement in flight will be considered. Flight stroke allowances Players within a flight may receive handicap strokes based on the difference between their course handicap (flight maximums apply) and the lowest handicapped person in their flight for that tournament. Strokes will be based on the following differentials. 1 stroke difference No adjustment 2-3 stroke difference 1 stroke adjustment 4-5 stroke difference 2 stroke adjustment 6-7 stroke difference 3 stroke adjustment Scoring out of flight Flighting is based on a performance index system that groups together players of roughly similar potential abilities. In order to maintain flight integrity, PSAG directors may move a player to a higher flight if they return a score that indicates their potential ability exceeds the general ability of their current flight. If at any time a player s net score meets or exceeds 3 strokes better than a player s index, the player s PSAG handicap index will be adjusted by 50% of the difference between the players net score and the course rating. This may also result in a change of flight. The intent behind this policy is to ensure that everyone is on a fair playing field. This policy is meant to protect players, not punish them.
Guests and new member incentives Membership in the group allows members to bring one or more guests to our tournaments. The guest will be charged the normal entry fee. The guest will not be eligible for any tournament prizes, but may enter the optional skins and pins competition providing they have proof of handicap. If a member brings in a person who joins PSAG, for the first time, the member will receive a $10 incentive reduction in their next tournament fee once the member has paid their full membership dues. Member loyalty incentive Any member in good standing that plays a minimum of 10 events during the 2015 season will receive 50% off their next tournament event entry fee. (excludes year-end championship) PSAG EVENT FORMAT Tournament registration Only PSAG members and guests may participate in PSAG events. We prefer event registrations be done online through WWW.PSAGolf.com. You can also email us at bob@psagolf.com or denny.psag@gmail.com with the required registration information. Registrations will end 3 days prior to any event. This allows time for pairings, flight placements, handicap adjustments and the courses to prepare for our arrival. Payments should be made in advance on line or by check. If paying by check, make check payable to PSAG and mail to address listed at the bottom of the online sign up page. Checks need to arrive 5 days prior to the event. You can also pay by cash at check-in on the day of the event. Tournament format All tournaments will be modified gross stroke play by flight. Flight stroke allowances will be applied is applicable. The rules of golf as governed by the USGA will apply with the following exceptions: Triple bogie max on any hole. Local rules will take precedent over USGA if any in effect. Tournament prizes A portion of the event fee will be placed in a flight player s prize pool. The amount and number of prizes will be determined by the number of participants in each flight. Approximately 40% of the field will receive prizes. The PSAG adheres to the USGA Rules of Amateur Status; therefore, no single prize shall exceed $750.00. All prizes will be in the form of Gift Certificates/Cards. Each player will also earn points based on where they finish in their flight. (See Schedule below) Optional skins and pins flights may be combined depending on the number of players in a flight. PSAG point system The PSAG point system is intended to level the playing field and allows golfers the opportunity to qualify for the Championship event at the season finale. The point system applies to each flight. Major Tournament points are double the non-major Tournament point schedule below. Place Points Place Points 1 450 11 100 2 275 12 90 3 225 13 85 4 175 14 80 5 165 15 75 6 155 16 70 7 145 17 65 8 135 18 60 9 125 19 55 10 115 20 50
Check in Please check in with the league director at the sign-in table AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVE AT THE GOLF COURSE. Check in at least 30 minutes before your assigned tee time. Please bring cash for optional skins / pins and hole in one pots. At this time we are not set up to take credit cards at the events. Cancellations and no shows All withdrawals must be done before registration for the event is closed. If a player is a no show his/her fee will be forfeited. First tee Verify your scorecard is correct regarding tee box, handicap, etc. Exchange scorecards within your group. The starter/director will provide any local course rules. Players may use approved electronic devices that measure distance by line of sight only. Devices that measure slope or elevations are not permitted. Pace of play We want you to enjoy your but for the sake of everyone s enjoyment you need to stay in position. Our goal is to play our round of golf in 4 and ½ hours. Play ready golf. The triple bogie rule is in effect. Player s should always hit a provisional ball when a ball goes into an area that may be lost or OB. After the round Turn in your scorecard, as soon as possible after the round. If you need a ruling, get it before signing the affected card. USGA rules for returning official scorecards will be followed. Circle birdies and eagles, no other markings, please. If a player submits a signed card with a lower score on a hole than the actual score made, the player is disqualified. All scorecards require at least two signatures; one by the marker and one by the player. Tiebreakers All ties will be decided by the best gross score on the back nine, then the front nine. If there is still a tie the best gross score on the front nine. If there is still a tie then the best gross score on the #1 handicap hole will be used. If there is still a tie then best gross score on #2 will be used and so on, until there is a winner. Event conclusion Once the final scores are tabulated and the prizes have been awarded the event is considered closed and final. We hope you enjoyed your round.