FOURBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

 

RULES OF ELIGIBILITY and CONDITIONS OF COMPETITION

 

The Fourball Championship is governed under USGA Rule 23, which can be found in the 2023 USGA Rules of Golf.

 

This is a MATCH PLAY playoff tournament. In summation, there are two players on each team. Each member plays to 85% of their current index for the past year as established by the GHIN Handicap System. This index will be locked for the entire tournament.


This is a net best ball tournament. Player A and Player B are on one team, Player C and Player D are on the other team. All players will play off the lowest handicap player of the group in which the lowest handicapped player will play at scratch and other players will take strokes of them. In the rare case that a competitor cannot make the match and is also the low handicap, the handicaps for the group will be enforced the same as if they did make the match.  Example:
 

PLAYER

INDEX

HANDICAP

STROKES

A

3.9

4

0

B

7.2

7

3

C

7.5

8

4

D

12.1

12

8


Player B would have a stroke on each of the three lowest handicap holes, Player C on the four lowest handicap holes, and so forth. This tournament is a four-ball match play competition where two competitors play as partners, each playing their own ball. The lower score of the partners is the score for the hole. Each team will use the ball that has the best NET score for the hole. If one partner fails to complete play of a hole, there is no penalty.


A team may not have a player that receives more than one stroke per hole against any opponent.

The tournament begins with a first-round qualifier in which the top eight teams in each division will move on to compete in fourball match play competition. Second and third round play will be self-scheduled by each group, but each round's competition will have completion dates that must be met. If a match cannot be completed before the stipulated match deadline, both teams will be disqualified.


Second and third rounds of this competition may be played at any golf course (including non-city courses) that players from both teams agree upon.  If the two teams cannot reach an agreement on a course, the match defaults to any Griffith Course. In the event that an agreement cannot be made between Wilson or Harding, the default course is Wilson.

The finals must be played on Wilson Golf Course.


When the winners of each flight have been determined, the Gallardo and Strong Champions shall represent Griffith Park at the SCGA Four-Ball Net Championship scheduled in August/September. The Duhon Champions will represent Griffith Park in the SCGA Four-Ball Championship.
 

ELIGIBILITY


This tournament is open to GPGC Members who are (a) members in good standing when sign ups open (b) who have an established low index, and (c) who have competed in at least 5 GPGC tournaments in the current GPGC season that the event is being held. In the event you do not have a partner to team with, you may still sign up as a single in need of a partner. Players who sign up as singles will be listed on the website with handicap and contact information so that other singles may suggest a partnership. At least one week before the first round qualifying takes place, players remaining on the list will be paired by the tournament director. We reserve the right to alter any of the conditions and schedules herein. We reserve the right to reject the entry of any applicant, at any time, for any reason. Any decision that is made in any matter, shall be final.
 

HANDICAPS


Because the club deems this a major tournament, all competitors will be required to use 85% of their allowed strokes after using their established index to calculate the handicap strokes. The same index will be used during the entire tournament for purposes of establishing the player's stroke handicap and locked in at the start of the event prior to seeding. All players play off the lowest handicap among the competitors.  The MAXIMUM differential limit is five (5) strokes between the two partners in one team.  You may still partner with someone who has a handicap differential of more than 5 strokes than your own, but the player with the higher handicap will be lowered to 5 more than the low partner.  Handicaps should also be adjusted so that no team has a player receiving more than one stroke on a hole. In other words any differential in player A to D may not be greater than 18. All players of a particular gender in a match must play from the same tees.
 

REGISTRATION


Entry to the tournament and payment of the individual fee will be made available online.

 

SELF-SCHEDULED PLAY


It is the responsibility of BOTH teams to contact each other and select an agreeable date and time to play your stipulated round of golf, then make a tee time and play. Each round of play will be given at least 3 week time period to complete the match. If matches are set prior to the start of that rounds play, the two teams can elect to play early. Extensions may be granted at the sole discretion of the Tournament Director but may be contingent on a set agreed upon date between competitors and a tee time reservation already made. An extension may only be granted once per group for the entire tournament. If the Tournament Director feels any team has not made a proper effort to complete a match, the director may declare the opposing team winners. Players are encouraged to play their match at Griffith Park Golf Courses, but matches may be played on any 18-hole championship length golf course that is acceptable to both teams. All competitors shall exercise due diligence in the selection of golf courses for play and make a good faith effort to complete the round within the deadline. We will be using the same Golf Genius System that all our tournaments are run in. Please follow these procedures for play.

  1. Make contact with your competitors and agree on a course and tiebreaker method
  2. Email the Tournament Director with the course information so they can adjust the match course and handicap in Golf Genius
  3. On the day of the match, assign a mobile scorer (GGIDs will be given throughout the event) and at least one physical score keeper
  4. Play the match
  5. Both teams sign the physical scorecard and one person email it to the Tournament Director for verification and score posting within 24 hours of the match
  6. Repeat for each round until knocked out or champions

 

A cancellation of an agreed upon date must be made at least 48 hours prior to the tee time or it will need to be agreed upon by the opposing team. A cancellation within less than 48 hours without the agreement of the opposing team yields a default. A team is only granted one cancellation of an agreed upon tee time for the entire tournament.
 

TEES FOR MATCHES

 

Tees for each match played can be decided by the two teams playing. If an agreement can not be reached, it will default to black tees for Duhon matches, blue tees for Gallardo matches, and white tees for Strong matches. The same will go for the equivalents on other courses with different tee schemes. When in doubt, ask the Tournament Director for final say.

 

DEFAULT TIEBREAKERS

 

Generally a tiebreaker should be agreed upon before the match by both parties. But in the case that no tiebreaker was agreed upon, then the default tie breaker is to play another match. Alternative tiebreakers include extra holes, putt off, card off of any method, or coin flip, but any method agreed on by both parties may be used. The Tournament Director reserves the right to determine any nonstandard tiebreaker invalid for any reason which will result in the match using the default tiebreaker. If the match is not replayed by the round deadline, then a card off will be used on the original match to determine the winner. The card off method will be selected randomly between USGA, back to front, and hardest hole first. The results will be final.

 

REPORTING TO THE FIRST TEE


There may be an occasion when one team member will be late or may not be able to play at all. In that event, the lone remaining team member may play the other team by themself, but they are only allowed to play their one ball. If the player shows up after the match has started, they are allowed to proceed but no prior holes may be replayed. Any deliberate act to delay play will result in a warning, then loss of the hole, loss of another hole, and ultimately forfeit as mentioned in USGA Pace of Play - Match Play.
 

RULES OF GOLF


All play shall be in accordance with four-ball match play in the USGA Rules of Golf. It is the responsibility of each partner to know the rules of four-ball match play and how they differ from regular stroke play.

 

PACE OF PLAY


Competitors choosing to play at Griffith Park Golf Course shall be familiar with and follow the pace of play policy to avoid penalty for slow play.
 

PRIZE PAYOUTS AND CHARLIE CHAPLIN CUP POINTS


This is a two-way payout structure. The First Place team in each flight will receive 75% of the prize pool from their flight. Second Place teams will receive 25%. Amount is TBD based on number of entries.

Teams are awarded points based on the "Playoff" Point Distribution.