Tournament Rules ››

See the bottom of this page for rules about signing up for the trip.


1) Tournament Format - The tournament will be a 5 round Ryder Cup like setup with two teams of an equal number of golfers on each team.

The first four rounds will consist of 2-on-2 match play best ball matches, using handicaps. Handicaps will be finalized around 2 weeks before the trip. The golfer with the lowest net score on that hole will win that hole for their twosome. Halved holes are not carried over. The winning twosome of each match earns 1 point for their team. If the match ends in a tie after 18 holes, 1/2 point will be awarded to each team.

The fifth and final round will consist of 1-on-1 match play matches, again using handicaps. Handicaps for the final round will be determined based on each golfer's best 2 scores from the first 4 rounds. The winner of this match will earn 2 points for their team, and ties will give 1 point to each team.


2) Points Possible - Points possible depend on the number of golfers:
4 vs 4 = 16 points possible
6 vs 6 = 24 points possible
8 vs 8 = 32 points possible
10 vs 10 = 40 points possible


3) Match Scoring - 1 point will be awarded to the winning team of each two on two match. 2 points will be awarded to the winning golfer in the one on one matches.

Handicaps are used in all matches, and those details will be finalized a few days before the trip.

If the match ends in a tie, each team is awarded a 1/2 point (or 1 point for the one on one matches).


4) Winning - The team with the most points after all matches are complete it the Myrtle Beach Cup Champion.


5) Tie Breaker - If there is a tie after all matches have been played, the following tie breakers will be used, in this order:
1) The lowest total combined score (net strokes) for each team in the 5th round.
2) The lowest total combined score (net strokes) for each team in the first 4 rounds.
3) The team who had the player with the lowest 18 hole score (net strokes) in any of the 5 rounds.
4) Putting contest - details to be determined by the Captains.


6) Final Round Pairings - The final round pairings will be chosen by the team captains after the first four rounds.

Handicaps will be used in the final round. Your final round handicap will be based on your best two gross scores out of the first 4 rounds. So keep your score accurately the first four rounds and be sure to complete all 18 holes in each round even if the match is over. Remember the rules on gimmies as this could also affect your final round handicap.


7) Mulligans - You have 1 mully per 9 holes, which DOES NOT carry over to the next 9 if you don't use it.

If you think you lost your ball, hit OB or hit into a hazard, you can call a provisional mully. You must call this before re-hitting your shot.

If you CAN play your first ball, you MUST play your first ball, and you DO NOT lose the mully. If you CAN'T play the first ball, you MUST play the second, and you have used your mully. If you can't play your second, see rules for penalty strokes below.

Mulligans CAN NOT be used to win closest to the pin or long drive contests. You can use a mulligan on those holes to count towards your match, but they will not be used to win the contest.


8) Penalty Strokes - All penalty shots are to be counted as "lateral hazard" penalties. That means if you hit your ball in the water, OB, or lose your ball, you will drop a new ball nearest the point where the first ball was lost, went into the hazard or went OB, and take a 1 stroke penalty.

For example, if your tee shot goes OB, you drop a new ball closest to where your ball went OB, and you are lying 2. Your next shot will be your 3rd.

You may, but do not have to re-tee a ball hit OB. You can take a drop at the point your ball went OB.

Note: you MAY play your ball from inside a hazard (water or other red/yellow staked hazard) without penalty, but you MAY NOT play your ball from OB (white stakes).


9) Gimmie Putts - In two on two matches, both members of an opposing team have to confirm that a put is "good" without actually putting. Don't pick it up unless you get that confirmation from both other team members. Also in two on two matches, all gimmies must be "inside the leather" in order to get an accurate stroke play score for determining the final pairings. The hole can be conceded, but players must putt out until the ball is "inside the leather."

In one on one matches, you can do what you want with gimmies. Think strategy.


10) Stroke Limit - In all matches, the stroke limit for a person is 9. This is the max score that can be used for individual stroke scores, and in combined or best ball match plays. If you fail to complete a hole, record a 9 on your score card for that hole.

In 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 best ball matches, a golfer who used 9 as the stroke limit cannot win the hole, but someone who actually records a true 9 can win the hole. A "natural" 9 beats a "max strokes" 9.


11) Rainouts - If we have to stop a round without completing, the following rainout rules will apply.

If the match has completed at least 9 holes, the match will be scored as it currently stood through 9 holes. So whoever was leading at that point wins the match, or if it's tied, the match is halved. The only exception to this is if the match was already done. For example, if a match was won 5 and 4 (up 5 with 4 holes to go), 14 holes would be completed. The match can no longer be rained out and the team that had already won keeps that result.

If less than 9 holes are complete, the match is halved unless one team is already leading by 3 holes. In that case, the team leading by 3 or more holes is the winner.

If there are delays on days where there's 2 rounds: If a morning round starts late, we will play that round as long as there's enough time to finish at least 9 holes before we have to leave to play the afternoon round. Captains will decide before that round the plan for how many holes to play. If it's decided we don't play the round, all matches in that round will be halved.

If an afternoon round starts late, we'll play as long as we can until dark, as long as there's time to finish 9 holes. Captains will decide before that round the plan for how many holes to play. If it's decided we don't play the round, all matches in that round will be halved.

An exception to the above: the Captains, with input from their team, can decide if they want to try and play rained out holes on Sunday before the 1-on-1 matches, on the course for Sunday's matches. Of course, that will need to be available based on tee times at the new course, weather forecast for that day, extra money we may have to pay for those extra holes, etc.

In general, Sunday rounds will be reserved for the 1-on-1 matches, so we should be able to complete 18 holes throughout Sunday. However, if rain does impact the Sunday 1-on-1 matches, the above rainout rules will apply.



Signup Rules ››

See the top of this page for tournament rules.


Each year in October or November, we'll send out an email to begin to gauge interest in the following year's trip. Once we get an idea of about how many people are interested, we'll follow the process below in order to have plenty of time to reserve tee times for the trip. The more people we have, the earlier we will need to book the trip to be sure we can get back-to-back tee times. For the examples in the process below, let's assume we have 16 people interested. The dates below have been updated for the 2010 Myrtle Beach trip.

We will proceed with making reservations for the trip for 16 people interested. However, the following is how we will fill spots for the trip, and by Febuary 1, we will lock in the reservation for either 8, 12 or 16 golfers. It's pretty common sense, but I wanted to set the rules up front so there aren't any questions about who's in and who's out when we're trying to confirm who's going.

1. The first 8 people to make their payment are guaranteed a spot. After the first 8, you still need to make your payment to hold your spot, but of course will get it refunded if you don't get confirmed. Note: you should NOT book a flight until you have confirmation that you have a spot for the trip.

2. If you sign up after 8 people have signed up, you will be considered an alternate. You won't be guaranteed a spot A) unless one of the first 8 people backs out, or B) until we get 12 people to sign up and pay. This way there is no question as to who gets in and who doesn't. We'll do the same thing once 12 people sign up, the next 4 will be alternates until we get 16 paid. The max will be 16.

3. If you sign up as an alternate (ie, #9 - #11 or #13-15 or #17+), and don't get a spot, your money will be refunded 100% shortly after Feb 1. However, until the trip is finalized at 8, 12 or 16 people, your payment will be used to hold your spot "in line" as an alternate.

4. On February 1, we will lock the trip down with either 8 or 12 or 16 people. If we have 16 paid, the trip will be 16 people. If we have 12 or more, but not 16, the first 12 paid will go, and the others will be alternates in case someone backs out. Same if we have 8 or more paid but not 12. Note: if we are 1 or 2 people short of the next foursome, we will do whatever we can in the weeks following Feb 1 to try and find one more person to go. But to make the trip work, financially and for the golf games, we need to be in groups of 4.

5. After February 1, if you didn't get a spot, your money will be refunded. However, the order you paid will still keep your spot in line as an alternate in the case that one of the confirmed players backs out.

6. After February 1, if you are one of the confirmed golfers, your payment will NOT be refunded, unless we can find a replacement for you.