WESTSIDE SENIOR INTERCLUB GOLF ASSOCIATION By-Laws

(Amended As Of January, 2024)

Membership  

Founded in January 2007, the Westside Senior Interclub Golf Association (WSIGA) is a self directed and administered organization composed of Senior (aged 50 years or more) golfers from The Club at Falcon Point, Sienna Golf Course, Pecan Grove Plantation Country Club, Quail Valley Golf Course, Sweetwater Country Club, Weston Lakes Country Club, The Wilderness Golf Course and Willow Fork Country Club (the 'Member Clubs').   WSIGA shall have no more than eight (8) Member Clubs at one time.   Membership preference is given to private country clubs located within a modest sized geographic area.  

Purpose

WSIGA has been created to organize competitive golfing events among Senior golfers from the Member Clubs and to promote fellowship, fair play and equal consideration for all participants during those events.  

Governing Board  

Each Member Club shall name one (1) Senior golfer as its Representative and one (1) Senior golfer as its Alternate to the Governing Board, which Governing Board shall make all decisions necessary as to matters affecting competition and amenities related to play at WSIGA events.  

All decisions by the Governing Board, including changes to the provisions of these By-Laws, will be by simple majority of those voting on any issue. Each Member Club shall have one (1) vote which shall be cast by its Representatives, or by a club's Alternate in case that club's Representative cannot cast the vote.  

The Governing Board shall meet in person in January of each year and at such other times as needed upon call of the Commissioner.   Discussion of matters by email and voting by email are encouraged.

A Senior player from a Member Club shall serve as Commissioner of the Governing Board. The Commissioner shall be in communication with Representatives, Alternates and Club Pros as appropriate to address issues as he sees them develop or as they are brought to his attention by Representatives of the Member Clubs. He shall chair debate, whether by email or during meetings in person, on such issues and call for, tally and announce votes on such matters as needed.  

One Representative or Alternate shall serve as Vice Commissioner of the Governing Board and shall be responsible for calculating and disseminating statistics showing the competitive position of all Member Clubs after each event. Member Clubs shall take ordered turns providing the Vice Commissioner. The Member Club provides the Vice Commissioner in any year shall provide the Commissioner in the following year.

The Governing Board shall appoint a Webmaster to create and maintain a site for the posting of player lists and results and other uses which may benefit Senior players from all Member Clubs.

When play is at their home course, Representatives are responsible for event co-ordination with the host pro shop and food manager. The hosting Club is also responsible for computing the tournament results.
At all events Representatives are responsible to post a list of players and Handicap Indices on the web site before 9:00 a.m. on the third day prior to an event and to see that fees are paid by check or cash to the host club pro shop. Additionally, Representatives shall also be responsible to insure that the posting of all Home, Away and Interclub scores of their Interclub players, by the players themselves or their Pro Shop as the case may be for each Club, is current prior to the Handicap revision date preceeding the next upcoming Interclub event.

Competitve Events

Each Member Club will host one (1) event each calendar year. The month of play at each Member Club will be constant each year and Representatives from the Member Clubs will advise the Vice Commissioner of the specific date of play at their facilities late in the year prior to the year of play. No event will be held during January, February, July, or December.  

Eight (8) Senior golfers who are active members of their club's Senior organization (if their club has such an organization) will compose a team from each Member Club, although teams as few in number as five (5) may compete. On-course groups will be 4-somes to the extent possible. The host club should try to put 2 players from the same club in a cart and pair with 2 players from another club to create the 4-some. This process of creating the 4-some is encouraged because of the covid 19 pandemic. Players will tee off at 9:00 a.m.

One (1) Pro from each Member Club will be welcome to sign up and play at each event. However, Pro's are not part of a Member Club's team and the details of their play and individual $50 cost are left to them to work out with the various Member Clubs.

Details of play are given in the Appendix to this document.

Costs

Visiting Member Clubs will pay $480 to the host club to participate in an event. Host club players will pay $360. The host club will allocate $200 to food, $160 to prizes and $120 to cart costs, range balls and green fees for each visiting club and $200 to food and $160 to prizes for host club players. Visiting Member clubs are responsible to pay $480 regardless of the number of players that play. Host club players will pay their club an amount for carts, range balls and green fees equal to each member's normal cost to play at home during the week.

A Member Club that cannot field a team an event and notifies the host club Rep, the host club Pro and the Vice Commissioner of that fact before 9:00 a.m. on the third day prior to the event, will not be responsible for any fees for that event. A Member Club that withdraws, with or without notice, after 9:00 a.m. on the third day prior to an event shall send the host club a check for $200 for late withdrawal. Should a Member Club fail to field a team three (3) times during any calendar year, that club shall be removed from WSIGA membership.

Amenities

The host club will provide coffee for arriving guests, water on the course during play and a respectable lunch after play that excludes hamburgers and hot dogs while including desert.

The host club pro shop will accept fees as players arrive, provide a scoreboard in the lunch room, arrange for carts and range balls, create on-course groups from players posted on the web site, print scorecards and create prize certificates that may be redeemed in the pro shop.

Certificates that may be redeemed for merchandise in the host pro shop will be awarded to players on the top three (3) teams and to four (4) individuals at each event. Individual awards will be based on "closest to the pin" at par 3 holes. Pro shop merchandise shall be sold at "member prices" or at a discount of at least 20% from full retail if the host pro shop does not utilize "member pricing". Certificates shall be good for one year and pro shop sales at "member pricing" or discounts shall also be available to other players on event day.

Each player shall receive all prize money for which he qualifies. The attached Appendix details prize payouts.

A rotating plaque will be awarded to the best performing Member Club each year and kept by that club until a different Member Club wins the competition in a subsequent year.

WSIGA Handicap Policy and Procedure

Handicap Policy

WSIGA member clubs shall insure their players maintain a handicap index, and each WSIGA player is responsible for keeping an accurate handicap index at their home club to insure fair play for each WSIGA event. Each player's handicap index calculation must be compliant to USGA Handicap handbook. Should the WSIGA Handicap Committee discover a player's handicap index is not compliant to USGA standards, the player will not be eligible to participate in WSIGA events until handicap index issue is corrected.

Handicap Adjustment Procedure

Following each WSIGA tournament the WSIGA Handicap Committee will review scores identifying all individuals who achieved 38 WSIGA Stableford points or above. Should an individual achieve a score of 38 WSIGA Stableford points or above in two consecutive events the WSIGA Handicap Committee will begin the process of adjusting that player's handicap index for the next WSIGA tournament. In these cases, the WSIGA Handicap Committee will apply USGA Handicap Rule 10.3 for exceptional tournament scores to justify index adjustment. The following calculation will be used to establish a Tournament Adjusted Index for each round 38 WSIGA Stableford points or above. Once the adjusted index is calculated for the two consecutive events they are averaged to arrive at the next events handicap index.

Handicap Adjustment Calculation

TSP: Total Stableford Points (unadjusted)

HCP: Players Course Handicap

ETGS: Equitable Tournament Gross Score

CR: Course Rating

TAI: Tournament Adjusted Index

36 - TSP + HCP + Course Par = ETGS

(ETGS - CR) * 113 / Slope = TAI

The average of the two consecutive rounds TAI will be compared to player's current index and the lower of the two will be used for the next WSIGA tournament in which they participate.

These By-Laws, including the attached Appendix, were passed by vote of the Member Clubs as of February 3, 2022 and will remain in effect until amended by further vote of the Member Clubs.

APPENDIX

Team Composition, Individual Play and Individual Scoring

A team is composed of 8 Senior players. No player may represent more than one (1) Member Club in any calendar year. USGA rules shall apply to play along with local rules printed on the host club scorecard or separate local rules sheet placed on each golf cart prior to tournament start.

Each player will play his own ball with 100% handicap. Handicap shall be determined from each player's periodically published Handicap Index effective 5 days prior to the date of play and the slope of the host course. Maximum allowed handicap is 36.

Beginning the season of 2015 there will be play from two different tees on each hole at all scheduled tournaments, the regular men's tee and the forward men's tee. Play from the regular men's tee will be on a course of 6000 to 6300 yards. Play from the forward men's tee will be on a course of 5300 to 5700 yards.

The singular qualification of a player eligible to play the forward men's tees is that he has reached the age of 70 at the time of the event. The qualified player can choose to play from either the regular men's tees or the forward men's tees at the time the team 8 man roster is reported to the Host Club. He must play from the chosen tee throughout the round. Each Club must clearly indicate players who will be playing forward by placing an "F" next to the player's name when reporting to the Host Club. Clubs are not required to include a forward player's age. However, if it is determined a player is not at least 70 at the time of the tournament and plays from the forward tees, that player will be disqualified.

Through the Host Club Course Rating and Slope, along with the player's Handicap Index, a determination of the number of strokes each player will receive from the tee at which he will play will be made by the HOST CLUB using the USGA Handicap Manual rule 3-5 regarding handicap differences when competing from different tees. In the event a Host Club has not had the course rated at one of the two tees, it will refer to the USGA Handicap Manual Section 5-2g to establish a temporary Course Rating and Slope for any unrated tees.

Individual scoring will be Stableford, 0 for net double bogey or worse, 1 for net bogey, 2 for net par, 3 for net birdie, 4 for net eagle and 5 for net double eagle.

Ties for team place will be broken by comparing the Stableford points of the sixth highest scorers on the tied teams, or the seventh highest scorers if necessary, or the eighth highest scorers if necessary, or by scorecard playoff in handicap hole order of the highest scoring individuals on the tied teams if necessary. Ties for "closest to the pin" will be won by the first player to reach the tie position.

Team Results at Each Event

TEAM SCORE will be the sum of the 5 highest individual player scores on a team. For purposes of calculating TEAM SCORE, an individual player's score will be deemed to be all Stableford points earned up to 38 points and half a point for each Stableford point above 38. For example, a player scoring 41 Stableford points will contribute 39.5 points (38 + 3 half points) to TEAM SCORE for his club.

At the first event of the year, each team will be given a "Quota" of 180 (5 players x 36, which is the score a player makes by shooting all net pars).

At the end of the event, each team's Quota shall be subtracted from their TEAM SCORE to see by how much each team exceeded, or failed to exceed, their Quota.

TEAM PLACE in the event shall be determined by best performance versus Quota. 8 points are awarded to the best performing team, 7 to the second best and so on. No points are awarded to a "no show" team.

Each team's Quota is then modified by adding half the excess (or subtracting half the deficit) of their TEAM SCORE versus their current Quota. The modified Quota becomes the team's target at the next event.

Example: In the first event team A had a TEAM SCORE of 200. Since this is 20 higher than their first event Quota of 180, their second event Quota will become 190.

Example: In the first event team B had a TEAM SCORE of 165. Since this is 15 lower than their first event Quota of 180, their second event Quota will become 172.5.

All calculations involving Quotas are rounded to the nearest 0.5.

Results for the Year

The team with the most cumulative points based on performance versus Quota at all events will be the winner of the competition for the year.

Pace of Play (January, 2024)

To promote faster play, the following 9 point announcement will be made at the beginning of each tournament

1. All players should finish 18 holes within 4 hours 30 minutes.

2. Play READY GOLF

3. Pick up after net double bogey

4. Hole all putts. To speed the putting process, always be ready and putt out (if practical) until holed, preferably without marking a second time or waiting for another player who is             further from the hole.

5. Enforce the three-minute rule for a lost ball.

  a. WSIGA local rule -- If ball is not found within the three minutes, player will drop ball where player and a competitor concur is the most likely location for the lost ball, with only a one       stroke penalty, in order to speed play.

  b. This rule does not apply if the ball is judged to be most likely out-of-bounds.

6. Local stroke-and-distance rule for ball hit out-of-bounds is in effect

  a. If ball is hit out-of-bounds, player must find where their ball went out of bounds and create an imaginary perpendicular to the fairway, no closer to the hole.

  b. From there, player can drop anywhere within two club-lengths behind the line.

  c. The next shot will be the fourth shot for the player.

7. WSIGA By-laws state that yardage from Regular Tees is between 6000 and 6300 yards, and yardage from Forward Tees is between 5300 and 5700 yards.

  a. If yardage on Scorecard is longer or shorter than our By-laws state, note that the tee markers have been adjusted to adhere to the by-laws, usually by shortening par 3 distances         and/or shortening distance of forced carries over water.

8. Turn scorecard in at Tournament Scoreboard immediately after play, and before returning clubs to your car.

9. Lunch will begin at 1:30 P.M.

CANCELLATION, INTERRUPTION AND SCORING

Cancellation

If the weather forecast looks bad for the following day's event, the host club should cancel by 6:45 p.m. If the event day's weather looks favorable but turns overnight or early the next morning and golf cannot be played, the host club must cancel by 6:45 a.m. NOTE: If the event is not cancelled early and players arrive, and if the event is thereafter cancelled prior to the start of play or during play, players will be charged for brunch/lunch and should stay until served.

Interruption of Play

All players must complete nine holes of play for the event to count. If not, the event will be rescheduled for the host club's rain date.

Scoring in Case of Interruption

Those players having completed the most number of holes will be determined. All other players will add 2 Stableford points to uncompleted hole(s) to reach that same number of holes played.

Protocol for Cancellation

Once the host club Pro and Representative have communicated and decided it is necessary to cancel:

Host Pro calls the other pros.

Host Rep calls the Webmaster first to post cancellation on the web site.

Host Rep emails all Reps, Alternates and Pros.

Host Rep calls Commissioner, Vice Commissioner and other Reps to confirm cancellation.

Each Rep calls his team members.

Host Rep calls food service.

Green Light

If the weather is favorable and we are playing as scheduled, the host Rep will call the Webmaster by 6:45 a.m. the morning of the event so that a "GO" can be posted on the web site.

All Reps and Alternates should pay attention to the web site the evening prior to and the morning of an event. They should advise their team to do the same and NOT call the host club if play is in question.

If there is no cancellation posted by 7:00 p.m. the prior evening, then play is a "GO" up to that point. If the weather is questionable, everyone should check again at 7:00 a.m. the morning of play.

Payout Credits at the Host Club Pro Shop

If 8 teams are playing ($1280.00 in prizes) 1st place(8 players) $65 each, 2nd place(8 players) $45 each, 3rd place(8 players) $30 each, closest to the pin 4 individuals at $40 each.

If 7 teams are playing ($1120.00 in prizes) 1st place(8 players) $60 each, 2nd place(8 players) $41 each, 3rd place(8 players) $23 each, closest to the pin 4 individuals at $32 each.

If 6 teams are playing ($960.00 in prizes) 1st place(8 players) $53 each, 2nd place(8 players) $36 each, 3rd place(8 players) $19 each, closest to the pin 4 individuals at $24 each.