Golf Genius ::

29-April 2021

Greetings,

It's spring in the PNW and here at your Willows Mens Club. Already we've had rounds played in the mid 80’s and low 50's, (referring to temperatures, not scores.) More importantly, we have had strong turnouts for both our two Presidents' Cup qualifiers and first three Thursday night events. Like birdieing the first few holes, this summer has lots more golf to be played. Here's some highlights:

Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup is a season long, single elimination Match Play tournament featuring 64 players with the seeding based on the results of two qualifying tournaments which were held on April 17th and 24th. Members had the choice of signing up for one or both qualifiers or taking their chance on the waiting list if they were unable to play. 63 people played in at least one qualifier and 15 in both with the last spot being filled from the wait list. Congratulations to Doug McKinney for earning the top seed . Here are the top seeds based on net score:

#1 Doug McKinney

#2 Max Williams

#3 Bryson Agnew

#4 Vic Lawson

#5 Jerry Schulte

Interestingly, 3 of the top 4 seeds all came from the second round which was played in weather that most would agree was less than desirable. The full list and rankings are available on Golf Genius https://wmc-presidentscupmatch2021.golfgenius.com/ If you are in the President’s Cup, you should have received an announcement from John Gray with the pairings link, contact information, deadline for matches, rules and more. The first matches are slated to be finished by May 16th.

2-Man Match Play

Similar to the Presidents Cup this 2-man team event is a Match Play tournament played head-to-head with the best net score on the hole deciding the winner. This format is also known as "Four Ball." As an aside, he USGA Four Ball Championship is taking place at Chambers Bay this year. The field is limited to 64 participants (32 teams.) The signup deadline is May 9th at 6pm. As of April 26th, we are at 50 participants/25 teams, so if you are thinking about signing up, don't delay. If you are looking for a partner, sign up and put “Single” as your partner name and we will pair you up.

Thursday Night League

This event which has proved to be extremely popular is a 9 hole tournament played weekly with tee times, depending on the time of year, beginning as early as 3:30 and ending as late as 6:45. If time allows, you can play more holes, or join fellow members for a beverage after the round. Prizes are paid for both weekly winners and participants earn "points" towards the season ending championship held in early October. The top earners will qualify for the event. Signup for each Thursday opens on Golf Genius at 6pm the Wednesday 3 weeks prior to the event. (22 days.)

Upcoming Events

Here is a list of the rest of this summer's schedule. Sign up times to be announced closer to the dates:

June 19th: June Stableford Classic. Individual play using Stableford Scoring system to reward the good holes while minimizing the damage on the blowup holes by capping score at double-bogey.
July 5th: Suncadia Road Trip.Watch for sign-up information for our 36 hole stroke play competition at Suncadia Prospector and Rope Rider courses.40 player limit.Tee times will begin at 8:00am. The cost for this event will be about $183 per player, which includes tournament fee, greens fees for both courses, range balls, and cart. We will assign 20 players to Prospector at 8AM and 20 players to Rope Rider at 8AM. Finish your round, grab a quick lunch, and switch courses for afternoon teetimes beginning at 1:30. Each course will have 5 tee times with 10 minute gaps through 8:40AM. We will accept either pairing requests or tee time requests (early or late). Please feel free to make one or the other - a pairing request, or a tee time request but not both. You will pay the pro shop $148 plus tax and your $20 tournament fee will be paid to Matt Welle via Venmo. We will also have an optional skins game for an additional $10. The sign-up page on Golf Genius will be coming soon.You must have played in at least 36 holes of regular Willow’s Men Club events in the last 2 years to participate.
July 24th: Two Man Chapman. Not related to the 2-man match-play event, this one day tourney has you and your partner playing ChapmanFormat, a form of Alternate Shot.You can use the same partner as the other event or mix it up and play with someone new.Singles can sign up and we’ll match you up as well.
August 21/22: Club Championship. Like it sounds this two day event determines the WMC Club Champion: Lucky for most of us, there is both a Gross and Net champion, with prizes paid in both categories.

Sign up for all these events typically begins 3-4 weeks prior, although the Suncadia event will probably open in mid-May. Watch your email for exact dates. Also, all these events will have separate "Skins" pots. Entry is done through Venmo @welleout. $5 for Thursdays and $10 on weekends.

Other News and Notes:

Pro Shop Book Money: Hopefully you have had a chance to use most or all your book money. Any amount left on the books will be reduced in half on May 1st.

Local Rules: With the course in various levels of condition based on weather and/or maintenance, it is important that we all are consistent in the application of the Local Rules as they apply to lift, clean and place, and to balls that can't be found, but are generally agreed upon by the group are within the course and meet specific circumstances. Please read and familiarize yourself with rules 7 & 8 below as they address this specific topic.

Section 3. Winter Rules

Willows Run course determines whether Winter Rules or regular rules apply and posts a sign on the starter shack. The following WMC Local rules are in place WHENEVER the Winter Rules sign is on the starter shack OR if called out explicitly by the Tournament Director.

WMC Local Rule #7: Lift, Clean and Place

When a player’s ball lies in anywhere “in the general area” (e.g. closely mown areas and rough but excluding penalty areas, bunkers, teeing grounds and putting green), the ball may be lifted cleaned and placed within 6 inches of the original spot without penalty. The player must mark the spot before lifting the ball (see Rule 14.1).

The ball must be placed within 6 inches of the original spot (which if not known must be estimated), except when the ball must be replaced on a different spot under Rules 14.2d(2) and 14.2e.

Note: An embedded ball anywhere in the general area is covered by Rule 16.3, which allows you to lift, clean and drop within 1 club length, the entire season.

WMC Local Rule #8: Lost Ball believed to be embedded below surface or in abnormally long grass under specific circumstances

If at least one other player in your group agrees that it is "known or virtually certain" that a ball is lost:

a) in a specifically identifiable soggy area and is likely embedded below the surface, or

b) if it is lost in an area that is normally mown to a length where balls are typically able to be found, but has longer than normal grass due to seasonal maintenance/mowing limitations,

the ball can be played without penalty by dropping in an equitable area agreed upon by all players.

This rule does not include normally un-mown “native” (tall) grass areas which are deemed hazards.

If there is any doubt where the ball disappeared, e.g. if no other player in the group has a high confidence of where they saw the ball land, the player should proceed under the local lost ball local rule #5.

Score Posting: This is a friendly reminder that during posting season (Mid-March though Mid-November,) it is your responsibility to post the scores of all rounds played regardless of if they are in a tournament or if you are just out drinking beer with your buddies. Regular rounds played in WMC events will be posted for you, but not Match Play. Rules for how to post Match play scores will be presented when the pairings are sent out and are already available on the Member portal. Also, If you play only 9 holes, post it as a 9 hole score. If you play 13 or more, even if you do you do not complete the round, there is a process in place to post that as a 18 hole score. If you play in an outside tournament, remember to post it as a "C" score. If you have questions , ask either Rich Klep or any other board member.

Thursday League Signups: Don’t Give Up on the Waitlist – We’ve noticed some people sign up, find out they are on the waitlist, and cancel right away. Don’t give up so easily! So far this year we have been taking most of the Thursday waitlist every week, sometimes everyone. Because it’s early in the year and we don’t know exactly when tee times will start each week, we have the initial registration capped at 40 or 48. But, we’ve been getting early tee times and have been able to get 56 or even 60 tee times. This means as soon as the tournament director starts setting up the actual tee times (Tuesday night), we increase the limit to 56 or 60 and a bunch of people automatically get moved from waitlist to confirmed right away. So if you sign up and get on the wait list, have faith!

Cancel if you can’t make it– from the event OR from the waitlist! If you can’t play on Thursday and fail to give at least 24 hours notice, you will be waitlisted at the back of the field for the next event.

A question we've all asked ourselves since last year is now answered below:

Why is my Playing Handicap so low? My handicap is12 but my Playing Handicap is 9?

This is the result of one of the big changes starting last year with the new World Handicap System (WHS) formula. The original USGA Handicap formula just corrected for “Slope,” which means if you play to your handicap, your target score would be the “course rating,” not Par. On Willows Run, the Course Rating for Eagles White is 69.1; for Coyote Blue is 69.0. That’s also one reason why we used to see 20%-30% of players scoring below Par (red numbers) on a good weather day, because Par was three strokes higher than their handicap target score.

The new WHS adds a correction to adjust the target score to Par. On Willows courses, where Course Rating is ~69, that means subtracting an additional three strokes from everyone’s Course Handicap to produce the final Playing Handicap, reducing your old Course Handicap by three strokes to get the new Playing Handicap. This shifts everyone’s Playing Handicap lower by three strokes, and therefore everyone’s net score higher by three strokes. Since everyone is adjusted by the same amount, there’s no advantage one way or another to lower vs higher handicaps, it’s just a change in the score totals. If you’re playing in a match where the stroke differentials matter, there are still exactly the same number of strokes different between your two Playing Handicaps as there used to be with Course Handicaps.

2020 was a year like no other both on and off the golf course. Thankfully, golf was one of the few "normal" things we were able to do in an otherwise abnormal year. It was so fortunate to be able to have that part of our routine, however modified, continue. Here's to a great 2021. See you on the Links (and in the bar, of course!)

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