Good Morning Everyone, I hope this email finds you all well and excited for the Fall Tour to begin.  We are anxiously waiting for the cooler temperatures and the beautiful sunsets over the hills of Palmira this Fall.  We are two weeks away from our start at the Palmira Fall Tour.  We will be starting the Monday after Labor Day.  September 9th is our first day of golf this year and we will be playing through October, finishing on the 27th of October(this is a Sunday) for our Finale and luncheon.  

Just wanted to send out a quick email to everyone that has played in the past, as well as any new members this year.  I apologize for some of you who know the rules and already understand how we play, but for some of you we need a refresher, or this league is completely new so I have put our rules below.  Please read all of this email so that you have all the information before week 1.  I hope that you are all eager to play and ready to compete for the top spot and the top prize at this year’s Palmira Fall Tour.  

Play and Scoring

• Play will take place any time after 2pm on Monday afternoon.  If you know when you would like to play, please schedule a tee time so we can keep pace moving.  This is very important when the sun starts to go down earlier towards the end of the season.
• Individual Play (your compete score counts, no teams in this league)
• Must play with at least one other member of the tour each week, no exceptions
• Handicaps will be used, but handicaps are set in our league(we do not use usga handicaps).  If you do not have one in our league yet, you will.  Just keep track of your gross score and I will adjust when inputting scores.  All previous players of the tour with at least three rounds finished have an established handicap in our system.  New players will receive 80% of their score as a handicap until three rounds have been completed.  After you have completed three rounds your handicap will be established and adjusted weekly based on scoring.  
• Net score will be what counts each week(Your final score minus your handicap)
• Individuals will be ranked each week based on lowest score and points will be awarded depending upon where you finish in the rankings each week.  (points breakdown will be discussed below.)  
• Tee Boxes – Men will play from the white tees
  • Over the age of 68 you may play from the senior tees
  • Women play from the red tees.  
• Both Par 3’s will have Closest to the Pin Prizes each week.
• On Par 3’s with water, there will be drop areas marked by a stake or paint.  
• Lift, Clean, and place in all areas of the course for the entire season.  Sand traps are rake and place, unless marked ground under repair or no rake is in the area.  If this is the case, take the closest point of relief no closer to the hole.
• Leaf rule will come into play during the season when leaves start falling.  Pace of play is very important, so keep moving!
• Inclement weather updates will be posted on the website each Monday afternoon as well as an email sent out(keep your email up to date with me)  Fall weather can be unpredictable.  Final decisions will be made by the Rules and Weather committee by 1:00pm each Monday when necessary.  If we are permitted to be on the course, we will be playing. It’s a short league, so canceling events is something we would like to avoid.  It’s going to be cold at some point, and probably wet, dress for the weather.  If we can swing a club safely and use the cart path, we will be playing! 
• Again, you must play with at least one other person that is in the league for your score to be legit.  We are here to keep things honest.  If you can not find someone to play with, come to the course and the starter will help you find a group to play with.  

Other Info –

• Greens fees are $20, paid in the clubhouse before your round each week. 
• League fees are due Monday September 9th. This is a one time fee at the beginning of the year and is used for the purchase of Closest to the Pin prizes each week as well as our end of the year Lunch that will be provided after you finish your round on the final day.   League fees this year will be $20.  
• Scorecards are due at the end of each round.  There will be a dropbox at the clubhouse for all of our scorecards, or you can find me somewhere around the clubhouse to turn in your scorecard and Prize Money.  Please make sure to have both First and Last Name for each player on your card, so there is no question on scoring. 
• Prize Money – Each week, $10 is due at the time of turning in your scorecard.  This $10 goes into our Prize Money for the end of the year prizes.  More on this will be explained below.  
• Just to make things clear for new members because there are always questions.  On Monday September 9th you will have to pay for your greens fee($20), League fee($20), and prize fee($10).  Every week after this you will pay greens fee($20) and prize fee($10).  

Fun Stuff – 

This year as in the last few, we are ranking based on Fedex Cups Points.  FedEx Cup 

points are given based on how you place in each round.  If you place 1st place in the 

weeks event with the lowest score, you will receive the highest amount of FedEx Cup points. If you place last in that weeks event you will receive the lowest amount of FedEx Cup points, but you will still receive points.  Points breakdown is listed on the website. https://longballgolf.com/palmira-fall-tour/

• Each week you will put in $10 for prize money.  This money will be put into the prize pool for the end of the year.  At our end of the Tour Luncheon on Sunday October 27th, prizes will be given to every player that has played in at least 4 tour events this year.  
• All FedEx Cup points will be added to each individual each week and the player with the most points at the end of the year will have first selection of the prize pool provided at the luncheon.  
  • Prizes range from Golf bags, clubs, rangefinders, chipping nets, walkers, golf gloves, golf balls, Night Glow balls, Poker Chips, etc.  
  • There are prizes for everyone that has competed in at least 4 events throughout the year.  The more events you participate in the better your chances are of making it to the top and getting first pick of the prizes.  
• Weekly Scoring updates will be posted to the website by 12pm on Wednesday each week.  https://longballgolf.com/palmira-fall-tour/

NOT SO FUN STUFF, THAT I DON’T LIKE TALKING ABOUT – 

• This is a fun league…Not the actual PGA.  That being said,  I ask that there is no cheating.  Please don’t put myself or the Committee in a position to have to penalize or DQ someone.  We have relaxed rules so that we can keep pace of play during the time of year when the sun goes down very quickly and people have to work and can’t get out to play at 2pm.  But that doesn’t mean that you should take advantage of the relaxing atmosphere that we have.  If you hit a bad ball, there are no Breakfast balls, no Mulligans or “oops that was a practice swing”.  You hit it, you count it.  Please don’t give your friends 5 foot putts.  From 5 feet, the PGA Pros miss 23%.  So you should not pick up your ball unless it hits the bottom of the cup.  If you hit a Titleist 2 into the tall grass with a red stake, the Titleist 1 that you find isn’t your ball without counting the stroke and dropping it.  If you can’t come out and have fun playing fair and honestly, then the rest of us suffer and when you get caught the penalty will be at least 10 spots on the leaderboard.  This isn’t a Million dollar prize pool we’re chasing.  You’re going to win a Golf Club or a Box of Balls…you’re not really on tour, if you were and you turned in a false scorecard, you would be disqualified.  PLEASE PLAY FAIR!   

This is a lot of information.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask any questions you may have.  Please DON’T REPLY ALL  to this email as we don’t want to blow up everyone’s email.  Send an email directly to me at danno@longballgolf.com or text me at 219-789-9354.  Hope that everyone has a great year and a ton of fun on the tour this year.  Weekly Scoring updates will be posted to the website by 12pm on Wednesday each week(hopefully).  

Monday Tee Times are after 2:00pm, Sunday the 27th Tee Times are after 10:00am

Week 1 – September 9

Week 2 – September 16

Week 3 – September 23

Week 4 – October 30

Week 5 – October 7

Week 6 – October 14

Week 7 – October 21

Week 8 – October 27 (Sunday / Luncheon and Prizes after Golf)