Men's Senior Interclub Series

Rules

Effective January 20, 2011
Click to see previous Rules

PRINCIPAL CHANGES

General Provisions

Organization  Adds information concerning the annual team representatives' meeting, the website, and the email list.

Annual Championship  Moves the Brady Cup Tournament from December to November.

Conditions of Competition

2-1. New Member Clubs
2-2. Removal of Member Club  Moved from Section II to Section I thereby causing the numbers of the subsequent sections to be decremented.

3-4. Tees  Authorizes the Tournament Chairman to select the tees defining the USGA-rated course closest to 6,000 yards.

3-6. Inclement Weather  Authorizes the Tournament Chairman to suspend or cancel play in consultation with the host club's Pro and the league's team representatives.

4-1. Distance-Measuring Devices  Amended to conform to the specimen rule in Appendix I.B.9 of The Rules of Golf.

5-4. Current Handicaps  Rescinded.

6-4. Player not Present  Assigns a point-based penalty to a player who fails to complete his round, return a scorecard, or show up for play and assesses a $10 penalty on a player who fails to show up without finding a substitute.

SECTION I    general provisions

Purpose

The Men's Senior Interclub Series (MSIS) provides monthly competition and a yearly championship event for eight-man teams from Member Clubs in the Jacksonville area. It has been doing that since 1997.

Organization

The MSIS governing organization consists of a Tournament and Handicap Chairman, a Scheduling and Public Relations Chairman, and a Team Representative from each Member Club. The Chairmen conduct the league's business with the advice and consent of the Team Representatives who meet annually in the month following the Brady Cup Tournament.

The league maintains a website (http://jaxsi.org/index.html) and an email list as its principal means of communication between the Chairmen, Team Representatives, and team members.

Member Clubs

Team Representatives will be notified on the prospective addition of a new Member Club. A majority of the Team Representatives must approve the addition. Any Club's membership may be revoked for lack of participation or conduct detrimental to the organization. A majority of the Team Representatives must approve of the revocation.

Annual Championship

The regular season begins in December with monthly events rotating among our Member Clubs' courses. The season ends in November with the John Brady Cup Tournament played at a neutral site chosen to ensure no team has an unfair advantage. The neutral site's fees are apt to be higher than our Member Clubs' fees because they are up-scale courses and unaffiliated with our organization.

SECTION II    Conditions of competiton

Eligibility

1-1. Participation

Participation in MSIS events is limited to males aged 55 or more from our Member Clubs. New members may play in an MSIS event during the month they attain age 55.

Team Composition

2-1. Teams

Teams consist of eight players, all of whom must be from the same Member Club.

2-2. Partial Teams

A team that fields less than eight players is still competing for the same individual and team prizes as a full eight-man team. Accordingly, the team will be assessed a partial fee for each empty slot in the amount reserved for prizes.

2-3. Vacant Slots

Players from other clubs may fill any vacant slots but their scores will neither count in the competition nor toward handicap calculations and prizes. They will pay the normal price for the round less the amount charged for prize money.

The Game

3-1. USGA Rules of Golf

Play is governed by the USGA Rules of Golf except as modified by local rules of the host club and the MSIS.

3-2. Format

The format for all competitions is the net Stableford scoring system in accordance with USGA Rule 32-1b.

3-3. Starting Time

MSIS competitions use a shotgun start, normally at 9:00 a.m. Some Member Clubs may require a different starting time. The host Pro and the MSIS Tournament Chairman will brief players 15 minutes before the starting time to ensure that players will arrive at their designated teeing areas at the starting time.

3-4. Tees

All players will compete from the same tees. The Tournament Chairman will select the USGA-rated tees closest to 6,000 yards and direct the host club's Pro to arrange the tee markers so the course length is as near to 6,000 yards as feasible. Consistent with the course rating, the host club should balance the effect of a shortened or lengthened course, respectively, by cutting harder or easier than average hole locations and managing faster or slower greens.

3-5. Pace of Play

Each group is requested to maintain a steady pace of play and to keep up with the group in front of them. We play Ready Golf.

3-6. Inclement Weather

The Tournament Chairman, in consultation with the host club's Pro and Team Representatives, shall decide when play is to be cancelled or suspended. The Tournament Chairman should do everything possible to protect players from lightning. He should not cancel or suspend play simply on account of rain, unless the rain is so heavy that it would be unfair to require players to continue. When practicable, the Tournament Chairman may reschedule a cancelled round.

3-7. Communications

On-course communications regarding the competition in progress is strictly forbidden. This applies to players and spectators.

Local Rules

4-1. Distance-Measuring Devices

A player may obtain distance information by using a device that measures distance only. If, during a stipulated round, a player uses a distance-measuring device that is designed to gauge or measure other conditions that might affect his play (e.g., gradient, wind speed, temperature, etc.), the player is in breach of Rule 14-3, for which the penalty is disqualification, regardless of whether any such additional function is actually used.

4-2. Lost Balls

We limit searches for lost balls to three minutes.

4-3. Continuous Putting

We encourage, but do not require, a player who starts putting to continue to putt until he holes out, unless doing so would cause him to step on someone else's line.

4-4. Provisional Ball, Water Hazard

If there is doubt whether a ball is in or is lost in a water hazard (including a lateral water hazard), the player may play another ball provisionally under any of the applicable options in Rules of Golf: Rule 26-1.

a.       If the original ball is found outside the water hazard, the player must continue play with it.

b.      If the original ball is found in the water hazard, the player may either play the original ball as it lies or continue with the provisional ball.

c.       If the original ball is not found or identified within the three-minute search period, the player must continue with the provisional ball.

Handicaps

5-1. MSIS Handicap System

To ensure a level playing field we use our own system to calculate handicap indexes based on each player's adjusted gross scores in MSIS competitions. All scores, including those for holes not finished and holes not played, are subject to the application of Equitable Stroke Control.

5-2. MSIS Handicap Index

Until they have played in three MSIS competitions, players must use their USGA Handicap Index, and are thereby limited to a maximum of 38 Stableford points. Once players have competed in three MSIS competitions they will be assigned a handicap index based on their scores in MSIS competitions.

5-3. Tournament Score

For purposes of reporting their MSIS round to their home club handicapping system, players should report their round as a Tournament Score.

Scoring

6-1. Scorecards

We require complete and legible scorecards signed by both the marker and the player. Scorecards must include the first and last name of the player, his handicap, and his gross score on each hole. No other information is required. The player's total adjusted gross score and Stableford points will be calculated by the scoring committee and submitted to the host Pro for posting.

6-2. Picking Up

If a player should pick up on a hole, the marker must record a "0". The committee will calculate the player's adjusted gross score for that hole.

6-3. Incomplete Scorecards

The committee will reject incomplete scorecards, including those that have not been signed by the marker and the player. If an incomplete scorecard is not corrected and submitted in a timely manner, the player will be treated as not present.

6-4. Player not Present

A player who fails to complete his round, return a scorecard, or show up for play will receive the same number of Stableford points as the lowest score in the field that day. This penalty is applied eight-fold to a Member Club that fails to field a team.

When an individual player fails to show up, he shall be assessed a $10 penalty and his team may not play in subsequent competitions until the fine is paid. This applies to a player who has been listed on the team roster then fails to show up without providing a substitute player.

6-5. Leaving the Course

If the Tournament Chairman has not suspended the competition and a player should leave the course, his marker will submit his score up to the time he left. The player will receive the greater of his actual points scored or the lowest score in the field for that day.

Team Competition and Prizes

7-1. Monthly Competition

At each monthly competition, including the John Brady Cup Tournament, the team with the most Stableford points scored by the best seven of its eight players is declared the winner.

7-2. Monthly Competition Tie-breaker

In the event of ties among the winning teams, the six highest point totals for each team will be used to break the tie. If that fails to break the tie, then the five highest point totals are used, and so on, continuing until the tie is broken.

7-3. Monthly Prizes

We award merchandise certificates to the top four teams in each monthly competition with more than 13 or more teams. For competitions with less than 13 teams, we award prizes to the top three teams. The amounts of the merchandise prize certificates to be awarded are listed in the appendix.

7-4. John Brady Cup

To cap the season, the points scored at the annual John Brady Cup Tournament are doubled. The team with the most Stableford points for the season will be recognized as that season's MSIS Champion and awarded the John Brady Cup. The MSIS Champion retains the cup for one year.

7-5. John Brady Cup Tie-Breaker

If two or more teams tie for the John Brady Cup, then the cup is awarded to the team that was ahead in the season's standings immediately prior to the John Brady Cup Tournament.

7-6. Year-end Prizes

A cash reserve is built up throughout the regular season. Starting in 2011, that reserve will be spent for year ending prizes as follows:

Three (3) $100 dinner gift cards and the following cash payouts to the top 12 teams: (Ties split prizes for the positions involved).  Note: Amounts must be consider approximate and depend on the size of the cash reserve at the end of the year. 

In addition to the gift cards and cash payouts, we will also solicit and distribute donated prizes.

Appendix – Table of Merchandise Prizes