The Tournament
- KP’s will be near pins only, $5 per person during the ‘regular season’ and $10 per person per day during the final. It is not required that the person go on to score at least par in order to have won. We decided this because it is already pretty tough for average and high handicappers to get a KP and they are the ones that might have the most difficulty putting for par. Makes it more fair for everyone.
- A website-based sign up process is being created to avoid some of the crazy e-mail traffic. We will need to get people used to going to the site for most information. (Bob, Kevin and John working the details.) To start each year all player will ‘sign-up’ on the website and then be included in e-mails and other communications.
- We agreed to put a cap on how much a person can improve from the regular season to the final. Going forward, a person can only shave 12 strokes off their handicap average, which is the best the pros have ever been able to muster (59 on a par 71 is best score by a professional, so how can we say it is OK for someone to shave even more off?) The cap will apply to each round, so in the final the best a person can do is play 24 strokes above their handicap.
- Any player eligible for the trophy, will count all 5 rounds from the current year if possible. However, they must play at least 3 rounds with the group and their other 2 scores will be the lowest 2 from the previous year. This should work for everyone as in order to even be eligible a player had to have played at least 3 rounds with us the previous year. Can’t win the trophy your first year.
- We agreed to find a way to always post for everyone to see what the first round results are during the final. We want to all be able to not only see where we stand, but who and where the competition we’re up against also stands.
- The 2014 Final round battle for the trophy will be held on September 6 & 7 somewhere in the Chelan area. Dean is exploring options like Desert Canyon, Bear Mountain and Highlander. Final decisions about where and the times will be determined during/after the July regular season round.
The Rules
- Winter rules (lift & clean) will apply at all times, regardless of time of year.
- A ‘Captain” will be named for each foursome who will be responsible for rules decisions and ensuring the “gallery rule” is enforced. (“Gallery Rule” refers to situations where everyone is certain the ball stayed in play, but for some reason cannot be found. In such cases the rest of the foursome can make a call and the player that can’t find their ball will not be docked a stroke, but place the ball at the point people agree on, and play on. The “Captain” would have final say if there is disagreement.
- No Mulligans!
- Red-stake rule is no lift & clean, and the player cannot ground their club if they choose to play it form that spot. If not, they may move it back toward the t-box as far as they want, not nearer to the hole and backward along the same trajectory as it went in. They will take a stroke for moving the ball as described.
- Even though still OB, a ball that goes into a white-staked area will be played the same as red-stake, other than they cannot play it from that location (have to move it back) and they would incur an extra stroke, just like any other play that goes out of bounds. The reason for this is to avoid having players go all the way back to where the ball was originally hit from (typically the T-box) in order to replay the shot.
- The Beaver Board (BB) was formed as of 1-27-14 for the purpose of better organizing and managing the annual Beaver Lake Golf (BLG) tournaments and so that any issue that is brought forward has a place where it can be discussed and resolved. We agreed on the following: (Note: Might make sense to discuss and vote on officer’s titles, since I am taking a few liberties here…)
- Create a Chairman of the Beaver Board that would rotate on a regular basis between board members. For 2014, this will be Kevin. The basic responsibility would be to act as the focal point for the 7 person board (Kevin Bell, John LeSourd, Dean Miller, Scott Sanberg, Mike Silva, Packy Smith & Jim Burgess). Duties include calling and running board meetings, selecting or electing other officers (see below), making final decisions when consensus or voting doesn’t work, and ensuring that certain things are never again forgotten. • Group Photo after final round • Ensure the trophy is properly presented to the winner and appropriate pictures of that also taken. • Ensure all rules are being followed (with help from everyone else) & resolving differences of opinion. Sometimes this will mean the chair just makes the decision and we all abide by it. The BB Chair has final say on any rules determinations, but can utilize whatever trusted input he desires. This includes the potential disqualification from trophy eligibility for rules violations.
- Final Event Organizing Officer. We agreed that each year there will be the need for an organizer for the final round (picking the course, specific times, logistics, etc. For 2014, this will be Dean
- Communications Director will create, maintain and utilize the latest distribution lists (DLs), which at minimum would be the BB DL and the general BLG player’s list DL. The idea is to have one source or funnel for BB communications to/from the larger group of players. And, to communicate BB decisions, findings and direction to everyone. For 2014, John has volunteered to perform this role.
- BB Greens Keepers. We will pick at least one officer from the BB to lead the selection and scheduling of the regular rounds (all, other than the final). For 2014 these are Mike and Packy. They are free to utilize any method desired, but there are a few general guidelines we agreed on: • Try not to have us go to the same course in the regular season 2 years in a row. • Try to pick only one ‘expensive’ course and the rest ‘middle-of-the-road’ in terms of prices. • Tell everyone at the start of the season not only what the regular season dates will be (every 3rd Sunday except Father’s Day weekend, where we will play on Saturday instead), but also the courses, by month. • Determine the pairings/groupings for each outing, attempting to avoid having the same people golfing together all the time and instead trying to give guys a chance to golf with as many of the group as possible during the season. (Final round pairings will be the responsibility of the Final Event Organizing Officer as part of that effort.)
- Documentation Officer will be responsible for capturing notes during BB meetings and sending them to the Communications Director for distribution and follow-up. For 2014, Jim has volunteered for this duty.
- Website Manager has responsibility for maintaining the website with the current information provided by other officers and BB members. Since Bob Mortensenhas been performing in this capacity and even though not a formal BB voting member, we all recognize his importance to our efforts and will include him a little more than other players due to this role.
- We agreed to have at least 1 or 2 board meetings before the first round in April to finalize officer selection, review recommendations, make necessary decisions and discuss any other board business.
- We agreed that as part of the completion of the final round on Trophy Sunday, after-golf festivities will ALWAYS include the trophy presentation, group photo & selection of next year’s BB Chair. (The rest of the officers can be finalized in the 1st meeting of the next year, which is set up by the new BB Chair in late Jan or early Feb.)
As expected there was a LOT of energy around figuring out improvements to how we handle handicaps. We ended up voluntelling Scott to take an action to come up with some options, ideas and recommendations for an improved method that does a better job of equalizing the playing field by the time the final is played each year. We agreed he is welcome to use any source he can find, including BB board members or players, to develop options. The board will review Scott’s options and recommendations in the next meeting (Kevin will call in mid-Feb) to agree on the methodology for 2014. Whatever we agree on will be it for this year and in the following year we can tweak it. But once we decide, it will get really messy to try to change it in the middle of the season. The BB Chair will have final say on what we do, if the BB is unable to come to a consensus agreement.
Almost every year we are faced with potential new members. Some seem to just want to play a round here and there while others are more serious and want to contend for the trophy. The trophy eligibility rules are as follows:
- In order for anyone to be eligible at the end of any year, they MUST have played in at least 3 regular rounds during that year.
- ALL rounds, in order to count, must be played on the official courses and on the official dates set by the BB. No more adding in a score from a different day or course (although the BB or the BB Chair has the ability to make exceptions, if we get hit by unforeseen circumstances).
- New members will be required to play for one year (at least 3 rounds) before being eligible in their second year and assuming they meet all other criteria.