El Paso, TX/ Las Cruces, NM

 

 

CurrentNews:

To all Golfweek Amateur Tour Members,

 

On behalf of the entire Golfweek organization, I want to thank you for your membership of the Golfweek Amateur Tour.  We are incredibly proud of our relationship with what we feel is the best option for organized amateur competition for folks like you and me. 

 

I am writing to inform you of some changes to our magazine frequency and format for 2021. Our plan is to publish four issues in 2021 including our annual Golfweek’s Best in April and Ultimate Guide in December. In addition to these two issues, we will publish a new issue called Get Equipped in February that will highlight everything new in the game for 2021 including equipment, gear, places to visit and more. The second new issue is titled Golf Life in July and will feature in-depth stories and interviews with the movers, shakers and personalities that drive the business and sport of golf. We are excited about the new schedule and plan to bring the same style of expert, in-depth journalism that you expect from Golfweek..

 

I hope that you also enjoying www.golfweek.usatoday.com as well as our weekly digital newsletter products including: Monday Rewind, Get Equipped, Get Primed, Golf Life and Get Better. You can sign up for these here.

 

Thank you again for being a Golfweek Amateur Tour Member. 

 

Sincerely,

Patrick Leahy
VP of Revenue - USA TODAY Golf
Publisher – Golfweek

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



          El Paso / Las Cruces FAQ
  1. New Member Probation Period of 2 Events
  2. Guest Policies for Placing in Tournaments
  3. Play Ready Golf
  4. 3 Minute Search for Lost Ball
  5. Triple Bogey Max Rule
  6. Pace of Play System for Live Score
  7. GPS and Rangefinders Permitted
  8. One Ball Rule
  9. Embedded Ball Rule
  10. Putt Out Instead of Marking
  11. Play 2 Balls in the Event of a Rules Dispute
  12. Optional Cash Games
  13. Scorecard and Live Scoring

  1. New Member Probation Period of 2 Events 
    We do our very best to try to make sure that all new members are placed in the proper flight to begin with. This is not an exact science especially if the new member does not have an established USGA Index. 

    To make sure that we protect the field from New Members not being placed in the proper flight, we are implementing the following rule. 

    All new members will only be allowed to win up to 2nd place in any flight 
    with the exception of the Champ Flight for their first 2 Tournaments. In the event that a New Member with less than 3 Tournaments played shoots a score that would place them in first place for the flight, they will automatically be moved to 2nd place and the player that would have taken 2nd place will be moved to first place in the event that they are a member with more than 2 events played as well. The New Member will be awarded the 2nd Place Prize Money and Points for the tournament. 

    The likelihood that a new member that is in the proper flight would win their flight within the first 2 events is extremely low due to being new to tournament play. If a new member were to card a score that would win in a particular flight, after their index was calculated based on the winning score, they will most likely be moved up into the next flight anyways. This is why we are implementing this rule in order to handle this situation should it happen and there is now a clear cut rule to handle this. 

    This is not meant to punish New Members but to protect the integrity of the flights and our tournaments from improper flight placement. 

    If a New Member has a GHIN or USGA Handicap and can provide the Handicap then the probation will be waived, granted they are playing in their correct flight.     

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  2. Guest Policies for Placing in Tournaments 
    To be sure that we keep the full integrity of our flights in all of our tournaments, we are implementing a set of policies revolving around guests playing in our tournaments. 

    As a guest, guests will not be allowed to place any higher than 3rd Place in any event for all flights with the exception of the Champ Flight. If a guest posts a score that is higher than 3rd place, they will be moved to 3rd place and those that were in 2nd and 3rd place will be moved up to 1st and 2nd place provided that they are not guests and have met the minimum 2 tournament rule for New Members. 

    If a Guest has a GHIN or USGA Handicap and can provide the Handicap then the Guest is allowed to win up to 2nd place granted they are playing in the coorect flight or higher. 

    Also, any prize money awarded to any guest for placing must be used towards the purchase of a membership. Cash games are not included in this and cash games will be paid to the guest. By purchasing the Membership the Guest is then eligible for First Place. 

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  3. Play Ready Golf 
    Ready Golf will be played at all of our events, and at all times, tee to green! If you are waiting on the group in front of you, then you may observe turn etiquette, otherwise there should be NO ONE waiting to hit - not on the tee, fairway, rough, hazards or greens. If you are ready, and it's clear, then go ahead and hit! Keep the play moving forward. Play should never be at a standstill. Even if waiting for the group ahead, there are things you can be doing to ensure you will be ready to hit when it is clear such as getting yardage, making club selection, etc... 

    Honors is exactly that, an honor. If the player with honors in not ready, and you are, please announce to that player that you are ready and you are going to hit. If you have the honors and are not ready, you must not get upset if someone wants to hit first if they are ready. If you are not ready, announce that you are not ready and invite anyone that is ready to hit to go ahead and hit. Do NOT use this rule as an excuse to make yourself 'not ready' so that you don't have to go first!     

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  4. 3 Minute Search for Lost Ball 
    Players will only have 3 minutes to look for a lost ball. If you do not find your ball within 3 minutes, move on under lost ball, optional local tour rule of 'lateral hazard drop' or other proper rule. In this rule case, if you cannot find your ball and you do not have a hazard option, then you can go back to the original spot that you hit your previous shot from (the shot that resulted in the lost ball) and hit another shot under penalty of stroke and distance. This is the only instance in which a player in A, B, C or D Flights can go back and hit another shot. 

    The 3 minute time begins when anyone starts looking for the lost ball. This means that if anyone assists you with looking for your ball, your time begins when the looking started. If more than 1 player ball is lost, players MUST look for their own ball first! If more than 1 ball is being looked for, the 3 minutes is not for each ball, but 3 minutes total. Do not look for another players ball until you know where your ball is and will be ready to hit it when its clear, otherwise your time priority goes to preparing for your shot then any spare time can assist another player in searching for a ball. 

    If you take longer than 3 minutes to look for a ball, the other players in your group can assess you a 1 stroke penalty on that hole

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  5. Triple Bogey Max Rule 
    In Flights A, B, C and D the maximum score that a player can have on a hole is triple bogey. If you are sitting at double bogey, and are not in the hole, pick up your ball and score a triple bogey. Do not continue to play the hole as the whole reason for this rule is to speed up pace of play. If you continue to play past double bogey, you are defeating the purpose


    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  6. Pace of Play System for Live Scoring 
    In the Live Scoring System, there is a Pace of Play monitoring system. Your status is displayed on the top of the Main Scoring Page after you enter each score in. The time that you enter each score in is logged and compared to the group in front of you and is what is the determining factor on if you are on pace or behind pace. The system will understand how far behind the group in front of you that your group is and if you are an entire hole behind or more then you will be given warnings and possibly even penalty strokes if you do not catch up after a hole or 2. The system will display this very clearly. 

    Your job is to keep up with the group in front of you at all times. We understand that there are holes that you will fall behind but your job is to then catch up if you do fall behind. 

    This system is designed to be as fair as possible for everyone. There is no possibility of favoritism or excuses. Everyone will follow the exact same rules and time restrictions. We understand that there are always situations where your group can fall behind, but that is what the warning is for. 

    In total, a group can be assessed 3 Penalty Strokes for each round. This may seem like a lot, but that means that said group was behind for the entire round, which means that every group behind them ended up playing a longer round than they should have. Slow play affects EVERYONE! 

    If you are worried that you may be unfairly penalized due to a particularly slow player in your group then make sure that player knows they are slow (believe it or not, some players are just that oblivious and some also know very well they are slow.) Keep everyone moving, including yourself. We will be tracking every single player that receives penalty strokes. We will be able to track trends of individuals. If a particular individual is tagged as a problem then that person can be addressed and asked to leave the tour if it needs to come to that. This is an AMATEUR tour. There isn't thousands or millions of dollars on the line. If you can't keep up with a 5 hour round, then maybe the tour and tournament play isn't for you. 

    Please let us know if you have any questions on this system     


    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  7. GPS and Rangefinders Permitted 
    Only USGA approved GPS and Range Finder devices are permitted for play. Use of illegal devices, such that measure slope, etc..., will result in disqualification from the event. 

    Smartphone GPS apps that are used only to measure distance will be allowed during play, provided user is not also using a compass, weather app, club suggestions, or any other app/info that can be used as a benefit/advantage to the game. Any person caught using any of the additional functions other than distance measurements will be disqualified from that event. The app may be used to keep score and stats as well

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  8. One Ball Rule 
    Each player must play the same make AND model ball for the duration of the round, not just the same make. Each player must uniquely mark each ball so that it can be certain of ownership. 

    If a player does not mark the ball, then there is no way to know if a lost ball is found. If a ball is lost, and presumed found, said player must triple bogey the hole (if a provisional was not played - and marked), as there is no way to be certain that a found ball belongs to the player in question

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  9. Embedded Ball Rule 
    A ball embedded in its own pitch mark, anywhere 'Through the Green' (Is the whole area of the course except: the teeing ground and putting green of the hole being played, Out of bounds and all hazards on the course), may be lifted, cleaned and dropped within 1 club length. no nearer the hole, without penalty 

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  10. Putt Out Instead of Marking 
    If you have a ball that is only a few feet away from the hole, do not mark the ball but rather continue to putt out, provided this will not cause you to step in someone's line. 

    We have seen numerous players mark their balls when only a couple of feet away from the hole. This adds significant amount of time to the round. On average, if marking and then coming back to finish were to add 30 seconds each time, and is done by 2 people on each green, this would add 18 extra minutes to the round for no good reason. Most of the time the return putt is not missed due to having to have to putt out, but rather using the time to think too much about it. Usually having more time to think about it causes more misses than putting out at the time. If you watch, the PGA will usually finish the putt instead of marking

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  11. Play 2 Balls in an Event of a Rule Dispute 
    If there is ever any dispute amongst the group about a ruling, player should play 2 balls from the point of the dispute. Take note of both scores for that hole and move on with the round. After the round is done, and before the scorecard is signed, seek out with the Directors and Course Pro for proper ruling. Once the ruling is determined then mark your scorecard appropriately and then sign the scorecard.

    [Back to Table of Contents]
     

  12. Optional Cash Games 
    At each event, players are able to enter into the optional CASH games. Games MUST be entered with cash as the money gets paid to the winners in cash the same day. 

    Players can pay $10 to get into the closest to the pin contest for the par 3's for that day. (Champ and A are together, B,  C and D have their own hole)

    Players can also pay $20 for their respective flight skins. Outright low score on a hole, amongst the players in the skins game, will win their share of the flight skins pot. (Champ and A are 1 group, B, C and D are their own groups). 

    Any player can enter in as many, as few, or none of these events as they wish. In the case of a 2 day event, players must enter the games each day. 1st day entries go towards day 1 results and 2nd day entries go towards day 2 results

    [Back to Table of Contents] 

  13. Scorecard and Live Scoring 
    There will only be 1 official score card per group. Please keep score on 1 scorecard (blank scorecard with players first and last names entered on it) and also keep score on the live scoring system throughout the round. Compare the live score system and the scorecard to ensure the two match, but only sign and turn in the card (group may keep score on more than 1 card, but only 1 needs to be signed and turned in). 


    [Back to Table of Contents] 


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Where Amateurs Play Like Pro's!

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