THINGS TO KNOW AS A TOUR MEMBER...

THERE ARE NO “GIMMEES” – PUTT EM’ OUT ( * with one small exception ): You are likely used to playing with your weekend foursome and your putt ends up an inch from the hole and your buddies say “pick it up” or “that’s good”.  On tour we putt them all out. The “ exception” to this, if you are in A – D flights, is if you’re already at double bogey. We have a triple bogey max for all holes, so in that case you can pick it up and record your triple. This does NOT apply to Champ flight - which finishes all holes completely.

DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY: At some point when you call out your score at the end of a hole, someone might question it. In tournament play there’s a lot going on and we just want to get it right to “protect the field”. So don’t get upset if someone asks if you’re sure about your score and counted all your strokes.  

LEARN ABOUT RULE 17 : PENALTY AREAS: Hands down, by far and away, the most frequently asked rules question is how to deal with your ball in a penalty area, those areas marked with red or yellow stakes. ( Most of you knew this formerly as “water hazards” or “lateral water hazards” ).  Now red and yellow areas are known as penalty areas and they cover a whole lot more than just areas with water. In reality, there may or may not be any water within a 1,000 yds! It’s up to the course what gets marked as a penalty area, and as an example many wooded areas are marked this way now. This was done to improve the pace of play, among other reasons. Previously, if you were to hit in the woods and lost the ball, you would have to take a lost ball penalty stroke and go all the way back to where you originally played the ball. Now if it’s marked as a red penalty area, you’ll still have to take a penalty stroke - but you’ll be able to drop  within 2 clublengths of where your ball entered, as one of your options. This might save you hundreds of yards. 

CHECK OUT OUR TOUR FACEBOOK PAGE: The Tour Facebook page has a whole lot of posts to it, including numerous photos & videos. You can of course download the USGA Rules app or get a Rules book, but our Tour Facebook page is also way more than that. You’ll see tournament photos, tour events, course recommendations, rules and lots more. Check it out! https://www.facebook.com/TidewaterGolfweekAmateurTour 

THE RANGE IS THERE FOR ALL PLAYERS: We’ve got 120 players in most all of our tournaments, all wanting a little warm up time on the range prior to a tournament. Don’t make the range your personal practice session and takeover a spot for an hour. Hit a few balls, stretch it out and then move on so another player can warm up. Sometime you’ll be in that same spot waiting and will appreciate it.

YOU CAN’T GIVE OR ASK FOR ADVICE: Tournament play and playing by the rules means you can’t give or ask for advice. You can’t text a buddy on another hole – “hey the wind in strong by the green on # 5 – make sure you hit an extra club”, or talk to your buddy before you hit to ask what club he used. Keep in mind “advice” is different than “public knowledge”. For example if someone shoots the flagstick with their rangefinder and provides the distance, that’s ok and considered “public knowledge”. Or if a course is marked with stakes at the 150 yard mark and you ask another player what distance are those stakes – that’s ok. 

ASK A VETERAN WHAT LAVA CUP AND THE PLAYERS CUP ARE ALL ABOUT: Our tour participates in a couple of great annual event outside of our “regular” tour events. These are Ryder Cup style match play events vs some of the other tours. If you enjoy match play as much as many do – you’ll want to find out about this and see how you can qualify.

LOST BALL OUTSIDE A PENALTY AREA: You only have ONE option when your ball is lost outside a penalty area, and that’s to replay from the original spot, and add a penalty stroke. Our Tour doesn’t use any Local Rules for a lost ball, and there’s no such thing as “dropping on the line of flight where it went out” or “dropping within 2 clublengths of where it went out” and was lost. Those just aren’t an option and never have been.

MAKE A FRIEND: You are bound to meet a lot of personalities on this tour. With over 150 players signed up you can imagine the diversity of our group. We have players who are loud, those that cuss, those that like to have a beer, those that are quiet, those that are know-it-alls and well, you get the point. You need to get used to playing your own game and get used to playing with a wide variety of personalities. But with that said – you will make some great friendships meeting guys and gals you never knew before. Remember we are all here for a good time as well as to play some competitive golf on a variety of  great courses.

PLAY A PROVISIONAL BALL: You will be playing a lot of courses you or your foursome may not be familiar with. If you think you may have lost your ball outside of a penalty area, just announce you are playing a provisional ball and go for it. This will save your foursome a lot of time and it may keep your group from falling behind and being put on the clock. Nothing worse than having to go back when you thought it might be lost in the first place and didn’t hit a provisional. As one of our well known members has said “ there’s no shame in in hitting a provisional”. Remember to have a different marking on the provisional ball.

CASH SIDE GAMES: Cash side games add a ton of excitement to our tournaments and all $ go back to the players. These side games are all optional – there is no obligation to participate. When you make that birdie that would’ve won you a cut and didn’t participate though, you’ll have wished you did! You’ll be paid cash and there’s a game for you.

BE PREPARED: Sometimes we’ll be cart path only. We need to keep play moving. If it’s cart path only, then take everything you you might need with you as you walk out to your ball, rather than measure first and come back to the cart. You’ve likely heard this a thousand times before, but we have players that still don’t do this. Don't cause a delay on things you can be ready to do and to help everyone with.

CART PATH RELIEF: Coming in closely regarding most frequently asked questions after Penalty area relief and a Lost Ball is how to proceed when your ball is on a cart path. I specifically mention cart paths as this happens the most, but this falls under a much broader category known as Abnormal Ground Conditions. This includes animal holes, ground under repair, immovable obstructions (like a cart path ) and temporary water. If you learn Rule 16 – you’ll be covering a whole lot of situations you will encounter. 

PLAY A SECOND BALL : If you aren’t sure if you’re proceeding correctly with regard to a drop or ruling, you have an option to play a second ball. (This is not the same as the Provisional ball mentioned earlier). This might be a case where you’ve spoken with the other players and no one is sure how to proceed. You have the option to play the original ball and a “second” ball. You first need to declare which ball you want to count, prior to proceeding. This means you don’t necessarily get the lower of the two scores! I’m trying not to get too lengthy here with long examples – but this one needs it. Let’s say you’re not sure if you can take relief for an Unplayable Ball . You proceed with a second ball under the Unplayable ball rule, and you want that ball to count as long as it’s allowed. You end up with a triple on that ball. You also play the original, and you hole out for a birdie. Well if it turns out you proceeded correctly with the second ball after all – sorry, the triple counts for your score. Why is that? Well you proceeded correctly under a rule, declared how you wanted to score it and the score with that ball now counts. If you happen to score the same with both balls, then just record your score as normal.

MARK YOUR GOLF BALL : Pretty simple one right? On your weekend rounds with your buddies it’s mostly for fun it’s not likely to cause an issue. On tour we need to make sure we are playing and identifying our own ball, so make sure you have a distinguishing mark. Just saying you have a Titleist 3 and another player has a Titleist 2 isn’t good enough. Players from other groups are likely playing the same brand and #, so do yourself a favor and mark it well. You risk playing a wrong ball or it being a lost ball and we don’t want that to occur.

RULES CAN ASSIST : When most players think about applying the rules, all they concentrate on are the penalties. If you have a good understanding of the rules, you really can use them to your advantage and save you some strokes as well. Could you drop in a better place, can you remove loose impediments, can you get free relief, can you maybe even take a penalty stoke but play your next shot closer to the hole than the original? 

LISTEN UP: Maybe this is the first time you’ve played on a competitive tour, or maybe you did it in the past and are getting back into it. There have been rules changes that perhaps you weren’t aware of that are pretty significant. For example when a player accidentally moves his ball on the putting green, there is no longer a penalty. Other things too, so -  LISTEN UP ! The Tour Director and the Club professionals will make announcements prior to us playing – so – quiet down and LISTEN UP, please!!  Be sure to read the notification to players which is always published prior to our tournaments to be familiar with the contents. 

LET’S GET THIS SEASON STARTED : A lot of behind the scenes work has to happen prior to any of our events being played and our Tour Director participates in many of the events as well. If you have something to discuss, it’s probably a good idea to ask a veteran first why we do what we do. If you still feel you need an answer – please respect that our Tour Director has a lot going on Tournament days and ask your questions at another time. I’m not referring to rulings that might effect that days scoring, we’ll take care of that after the round, but other questions or concerns you might have. Remember, always bring up rulings after the round is completed and not days later.