I don't use FB and myself along with a few buddies who also don't use social media are interested in playing some local competitions.
Can you provide me with more information on the leauge? Do you play tags? Entire metro or primarily southern courses.
It is traveling league, meaning that every month we play at a different course. While attendance is not mandatory at every event, the point system is set up to reward attendance as much as consistent play.
Our first meeting was in March, at Wabun Picnic Area in Minneapolis. This was a preseason event, so it was purposely a smaller course. Normally, we like to play larger courses to make it feel more like an event, and to make it worth the travel for those who may have to drive a little bit. This event, since it was preseason, was not worth any points. However, we are now live, so points count now.
Our next league event is April 21st, 10am, at Acorn park.
May 19th - Blue Ribbon Pines
June 16th - Kaposia
July 20th-22 - Annual Road Trip - this year it is Big Eau Pleines Mosinee, WI
August 18th - Wintercrest
September 12st (Friday) - Annual Night Round at Plymouth Creek 9pm
October 13th - Year End Event Bryant Lake
Unofficially - we have several us get together for a trip to Mont du Lac in May and somewhere like Annandale, Oak Island, Millstream, or such in late October or early November. These are not official league events, and therefore attendance is not mandatory. We also try to run an Ace Race in early August in Becker and get a large group together for the Winter Carnival Ice Bowl.
What makes us unique is that instead of just monthly events, we also play head to head matches throughout the month. There are a lot of things that make us unique, so let's start here:
1) The league champion is determined from the winner of the top group at the Year End Event.
2) The top group is comprised of a combination of the top 8 players according to the standings as of Friday night before the Year End Event. The top 3 players are locked into the group automatically, but at the Year End Event, players rated 4-8 play Holes 15-18 with the winner by true score claiming the last available spot in the top group. The remaining four players comprise the second group when the Year End Event officially starts.
3) League events, unless noted otherwise, always play skins. However, skins do not carry-over from hole to hole if they are not won.
4) You get points based upon how you place within your group, not against the whole field.
5) In your group, there may be ties between second, third, and or fourth, but a winner must always be determined.
5a) In the event that there is a tie for first because of skins, sudden death must be played until the tie is broken. Note - We have had the league championship determined by sudden death at least twice in eleven years.
6) The better you place within your group, the more points you get toward the season standings (Year End Event excepting). However, even fourth place in the group gets points for attendance.
6a) The Road Trip has a different attendance policy only because it will comprise of a minimum of four rounds, and while attending the Road Trip is going to be fun, it should not be totally detrimental if you are not able to make it.
7) Each month between scheduled events, you will be assigned three opponents in which you must play a head to head match. While you are assigned these opponents by the league coordinator, you and your opponent may decide when and where you wish to play. The only thing you need to determine is a winner - no ties.
7a) It must be 18 holes minimum. Standard scoring is strongly advised, but ultimately, as long as all ground rules are agreed upon by the players before the match starts, you determine the winner.
7b) Often you will find that with so many of us working weekdays, having to travel, or having to deal with family, we usually meet on Saturday mornings anyway. You are allowed to play as many matches as you are scheduled at once if everyone is there. This happens quite often that a single group will have numerous matches going on at the same time. In the event that so many people show up that it seems like a mini-event, you are still allowed to have a match even if your opponent ends up being in a different group. At this point, it would be like tournament scoring.
8) Like league events, you get points based upon winning or losing, but even if you lose, you will still get attendance points.
This is a semi-casual league made up of players putting up scores anywhere from 750-970 with the majority of rounds likely rated from 850 to 930. The age range is from mid-20s with numerous in their 30s and 40s. Age is not an issue, but just a glimpse of our demographic.
There is a 30 dollar one-time fee to join. We try to invest this into something unique that changes year to year but it will always have our logo and year on it. This year I believe it is a performance towel. The remainder of the money goes toward Year End Prizes and general operating expenses.
At every event there is an optional ace pool of $1. While the money carries over if it is not hit, you are only in for the event that you pay for. 51 is not mandatory, and I hate to say it, but most of us do not play it. Traditionally, the road trip is 5 dollars covering the whole weekend, but that is usually determined just before we leave for the trip.
The league, while hopefully competitive for your skill level, is more about playing and having fun than it is for winning prizes. If you are within our skill level, you will be challenged, but it is not about the money. However, there are prizes, and it all depends on how crafty our league coordinators are that year in getting sponsors. We have a good partnership with GGGT, and some of us can get something going through our jobs.
We have CTPs throughout the year at every event, and the player who has the most CTPs at the end of the year will claim all the leftover money in the Ace Pool (if there is any left). The Year End will always offer enough CTPs where even the person who starts that final event with 0 CTPs can still win it all if he or she were to sweep all of them.
At the Year End Event, there are always prizes for the winner of each group. There is still something to play for even if you do not qualify for the top group.
Finally, our main avenue of communication is going to be Facebook, but when joining the league, you will give us your phone number and email address. We have a website that operates as a secondary source of information.
www.balrodg.com. From there you can see who your matches are and how to contact them.
This is a lot of information, but it is so much simpler once you play and see how it works in person.
