Society Rules

Rule 1: Prize Money:

Only members of an official NCGA society with an official NCGA handicap will qualify to win any prizes, including daily competitions and overall competitions prizes (money, retail awards, trophies etc..)

Rule 2: Tee Totalers Championship - See Tee Totalers Championship Page

Rule 3: Last Man Standing (Match Play) - See Last Man Standing Page

Rule 4: U.S.G.A. Rules

U.S.G.A. rules of golf govern all play, except when modified by championship rules or local course rules. Local rules will be displayed on the score card of each particular golf course. If no local rules are printed on a golf courses score card it will be assumed that no local rules apply.

As each player is receiving a handicap and therefore everyone should have an equal opportunity to win, the U.S.G.A. rules for Water Hazards (Rule 26), Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball (Rule 27) Ball Unplayable (Rule 28) will be strictly enforced. They are detailed below for your convenience.

Water Hazards (Rule 26)

If your ball is in a water hazard (yellow stakes and/or lines) you may play the ball as it lies or, under penalty of one stroke:

• play a ball from where you hit the ball into the hazard, or

• drop any distance behind the water hazard keeping a straight line between the hole, the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard and the spot on which the ball is dropped.

If your ball is in a lateral water hazard (red stakes and/or lines), in addition to the options for a ball in a water hazard (see above), under penalty of one stroke, you may drop within two club-lengths of, and not nearer the hole than:

• the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, or

• a point on the opposite side of the hazard equidistant to the hole from the point where the ball last crossed the margin.

Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball (Rule 27)

Check the Local Rules on the score card to identify the boundaries of the course.

If your ball is lost outside a water hazard or out of bounds you must play another ball from the spot where the last shot was played, under penalty of one stroke, i.e. stroke and distance.

You are allowed 5 minutes to search for a ball, after which, if it is not found or identified, it is lost.

If, after playing a shot, you think your ball may be lost outside a water hazard or out of bounds you should play a ‘provisional ball’. You must state that it is a provisional ball and play it before you go forward to search for the original ball.

If it transpires that the original ball is lost (other than in a water hazard) or out of bounds, you must continue with the provisional ball, under penalty of one stroke. If the original ball is found in bounds, you must continue play of the hole with it, and must stop play with the provisional ball.

Ball Unplayable (Rule 28)

If your ball is in a water hazard, the unplayable ball Rule does not apply and you must proceed under the water hazard Rule if taking relief.

Elsewhere on the course, if you believe your ball is unplayable, you may under penalty of one stroke:

• play a ball from where the last shot was played, or

• drop a ball any distance behind the point where the ball lay keeping a straight line between the hole, the point where the ball lay and the spot on which the ball is dropped, or

• drop a ball within two club-lengths of where the ball lies not nearer the hole.

If your ball is in a bunker you may proceed as above, except that if you are dropping back on a line or within two club-lengths, you must drop in the bunker.