Member Club 

What's New 2009 At the start of the 2009 season we have 50 players signed up, one fewer than last year. We have 3 new members and 1 returning member this year partially offsetting the 5 who dropped out. We will form 8 teams of 6-7 golfers each. The new members have been allocated to the teams to replace members who left. Also we had to move some players as we only have enough golfers for two 7-player teams and there were more than that. Four teams have a woman player. With 6 of the teams having only 6 players it is likely that travel and other conflicts may leave a team unable to have a twosome available for a match. As a reminder our bylaws specify that any team may use 1 substitute from any team (other than the opponent that day, of course). Hopefully with this option we will not have any scheduling problems over the course of the season. Forgot your ID and Password? If you click on "Login" there is an option to retrieve your ID and Password. New members can use this option to get their new ID and Password. Returning members have the same Password as last season but if you have forgotten it..... The schedule is unchanged with two 7-week round-robins where each team plays all the other teams, a position round at mid-season and 2 position rounds at the end. The top 4 teams will make the playoffs. Again this year the Meadows is allowing us to play on Tuesday to avoid Memorial Day and Labor Day. We will also play on Tuesdays when major outings have been scheduled on Mondays. The schedule on the website shows these dates. As the season progresses it is likely that we will need to switch to Tuesdays a couple of more times. The Meadows has agreed to give us as much advance notice as possible. Due to major conflicts with outings in September there are only two practice rounds scheduled to try and complete the league schedule before Labor Day. If you are feeling particularly rusty you can play additional mid-week rounds at the Meadows for the league price of $21 or, of course, play at other courses to get your swing back to mid-season form. Our first week is April 6 and the first league matches are April 20. The men will continue to play from the white tees and the women from the red tees no matter where they are. Per USGA procedures we will continue to use a modified slope and course rating for the men to reflect that the white tee markers are considerably shorter than the white disks which are the basis for the official Meadows slope/course rating and also a modified course rating for the women. For team matches and tournaments, continue to use the "League Scorecards" which will define the appropriate holes to apply the handicap strokes. The EACMA website offers a feature which applies to members who keep a USGA handicap at another course and enter all rounds, including 9-hole rounds, into that handicap. If you do so you may enter your Handicap Index into our system rather than all your scores. This will save the effort of putting all your scores in two different places. Each time there is a handicap revision your index will be reset to zero as a reminder to input your new index. More details can be found in the Handicap Section of the Bylaws and also at the top of the Index website page by clicking on USGA Index under League Play. It must be stressed that all rounds, including 9-hole rounds, must be entered into that off-site Handicap computer. When entering these scores off-site you should use the "Other Course" option rather than the Meadows so you can input the modified slope and course rating (Men - Overall - 67.2 119  Front - 33.7 119   Back - 33.5 118 ; Women - Overall - 67.5 117   Front - 33.8 117   Back - 33.7 117). The website is essentially unchanged from last year. For our new members, it is designed to facilitate communication within the membership and serves to: Provide players with their handicaps and scoring records Provide the league match schedule Provide the e-mail and phone numbers for all members (this is one part of the website that will be password protected. Each player will be provided with an individual password. Those of us who played last year will have the same passwords) Provide members with their match results and standings Allow all scores including practice rounds played anywhere and 9-hole rounds to be entered by players or alternatively for the Handicap Index to be entered Provide information about tournaments Provide a copy of the Club Bylaws and Rules Provide information about the roles of team Captains, match Captain etc. Provide information about your Club Officers and other volunteers that keep the Club operating for your enjoyment There is no change to our Handicap System as far as the use of handicaps in matches and allowing higher than USGA handicaps but there is the change previously described to enable members to input their Handicap Index instead of individual rounds, provided they keep an accurate and complete handicap at another course. Allowing a higher maximum handicap for our weekly matches worked out quite well the last four years and will be continued. As a reminder and for our new members the following paragraphs summarize the handicap system: Although we use the USGA Handicap System for all Club activities we introduced a local rule (see the Bylaws - Section III A-6.) allowing a higher maximum handicap to be used only for our weekly team matches. For those members affected, their local handicap will be designated with an "L" on the Handicap card. Per USGA handicap rules, for all play outside this club, the "L" handicap must be reduced to the USGA maximum handicap index. For our tournaments, the Tournament Chairmen reserve the right to enforce this rule, especially for 9-hole club tournaments such as the Head-to-Head and Mini tournaments. Players all receive an official USGA handicap that is valid for play anywhere. However, it has come to our attention that there are instances, such as the Morris County Tournaments or Member/Guest Tournaments at area clubs, where a GHIN number is required. The League cannot provide that and if you wish to play in such tournaments you will need to maintain an outside handicap (for example with a Morris County course). A new label showing the updated handicap will be issued monthly. The new labels will be made available at the Pro Shop when you sign in. Just put the new label onto the handicap card you receive at the start of the season. The Handicap Committee is responsible for ensuring that we comply with the USGA rules. All our league matches require players to have a valid USGA handicap. Those who played last year will have one carried over. New players will need to record a minimum of five 18 hole rounds (or ten 9 hole rounds) to obtain their handicap. The rounds may be on any course. Those new players who have established handicaps from other courses last year should enter those individual rounds into our system or can enter their Handicap Index. This website allows you to enter your match scores/results and your practice round scores from any course. All 9 or 18 hole rounds from all courses should be entered. You may enter your hole-by-hole scores for many of the local courses. If a course is not listed you will still be able to enter your score by inputting your adjusted gross score and the course slope and rating. There is an explanation of this process on the website. When you are able to enter your hole-by-hole score our computer does the adjustment. Please remember to retain your practice scorecards so that the Handicap Committee can review them if there is a need. Team captains should ensure that the signed copies of match cards are retained. The Golf Club Bylaws & Rules are available on the website. Hard copies will be provided to those members without web access and on request. All members should familiarize themselves with the Bylaws & Rules. In addition to the developments with scoring and handicaps, many other subjects are covered such as slow play, the role of team captain, and how to proceed when alongside a railroad tie or by the fence on the 9th green. The formats and dates for the special mini-tournaments after the end of League Play can be found by clicking on Mini-Tours under Tournaments. As a result of poor participation there will not be any mini-tournaments in October, but our members can still play.To minimize the cost increase associated with the Meadows increasing our greens fee to $21 the League will no longer pay for October play. If you choose to play in October you will have to pay the $21. Finally, we will once again hold a season long Head-to-Head Tournament (click on Head-to-Head under Tournaments) coordinated by Barron Cashdollar. Everyone with an eligible Handicap will be scheduled unless he/she informs Barron that they do NOT want to compete in the Tournament. Looking forward to another great golf season. Good luck and good golfing to everyone!