WEEKLY PLAY

LAST UPDATED AT 2:10 PM THURSDAY, 22 OCTOBER

We're done for the 2026 season. We'll be back in 2027, 1st event is Frostbite March 20, league play will start late March / early April, depending on weather (flooding!!) I hope to see you all in 2027.

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We start play at 3:48   Click HERE to send the Secretary a message if you can't make it.

PLAYERS FRONT BACK
Paul Chavez 15 14
Jason Visnaw 10 9
Jay Burnham 8 7
Ed Haywood 22 21
Stephanie Burnham 10 9
Chris DeBussy 9 8
Sean Haywood 14 13
Aaron Haywood 13 12
Casey Offord 12 11
Daven Hash 7 6
Rich Gregory 14 13
Dave Smith 5 3
Brian Ching 8 6
Mert Sapinoro 14 13
Marcus Rosenbam 19 17
NOT PLAYING POST SEASON
Tamara Ching 21 20
Jim Iwamoto 7 6
Jay Burnham 8 7
Bruce Hansberry 12 10
Alyssa Haywood 25 25
DONE FOR THE YEAR
Jason Zachariasen 10 9 Resignation
Irv Downes 8 7 Maternity (tbd)
John Kladouris 9 7 Medical (tbd)
Dick Harden 7 6 Medical (tbd)
Mike Navarre 10 9 Medical (tbd)
Dale Smith 16 15 Medical (tbd)
Eric Burnham 15 14 Out 2nd half
Corey Callaway 7 6 Out 2nd half
Cory Haywood 18 17 Out 2nd half
Pat Bertrand 4 3 Medical (tbd)
Mark Dahlhauser 8 7
Lane Green 9 8
Jack Sargent 17 16
Merlin Windels 18 17


CHANGES FOR 2026 777 GOLF LEAGUE AT AUBURN:

    There have been multiple instances of "tee ball OB ???" at #15. After the shot, if the ball is not seen at rest, shot status seems to depend on individual perspective. Therefore the league will procede as follows:

     If your ball at rest is not seen / or is obviously OB from the tee, you have these options:

    1. Retee, declare "playing a provisional" and play on under Rule 18
    2. Declare the ball OB, and procede to the forward tee area at the bottom of the hill, drop within the teeing area ( this becomes your "drop area" - do NOT re-tee!) and procede hitting 3.
    3.     If you happen to push your third shot from the forward tee area right OB, you may drop and try again (hitting 5), or procede to the spot where the ball passed the OB line and apply Local Rule E-5.

The illustrated local rule below for OB and Lost Ball shall be in effect for league play AND league tournaments. During the "Winter Rules" period, we will use the Kladouris corollary: "If you are reasonably certain that your ball became lost underground due to extremely soggy conditions, drop another ball with no penalty as near as possible to where you believe the ball was lost and play on."



USGA's explanation for the local rule E-5 above: LINK


THESE QUESTIONS HAVE COME UP NUMEROUS TIMES - HERE ARE THE DEFINITIVE ANSWERS:

  • What is the "Lost Ball rule" and how does it work? Answer - If we were playing in a USGA - sponsored tournament, we would proceed under Rule 18 .  As you can see, this works great for plus-handicappers with forecaddies and spectators, not so good for high handicappers who may ‘spray’ the ball   Effective immediately, we will proceed as follows: If you believe your ball may be lost always play a ‘provisional’.  A provisional is a ball that is introduced into play temporarily. The provisional is hit from the spot you last played. If your ball is found (within 3 minutes) then no penalty has occurred and you play the original ball. If the original ball becomes lost then you play the provisional ball. The provisional ball takes care of the distance element of the rule and now you add a 1 stroke penalty.  If you do not play a provisional and the group fails to find your ball within 3 minutes, drop a ball where the group agrees the original ball should have been and add a 1 stroke penalty. Exception: "Winter Rules" period described above the illustration.
  • What is "Pace of Play" and how do I know if I (and my partners) are complying? Answer - The USGA defines pace of play under Rule 5-6b.  Simply stated, this means "It is a group's responsibility to keep up with the group in front. If it loses (falls behind) a clear hole and it is delaying the group behind, it should invite the group behind to play through, irrespective of the number of players in that group. Where a group has not lost a clear hole, but it is apparent that the group behind can play faster, it should invite the faster moving group to play through."

Even among professional golfers, there are differences regarding the speed with which they play.  Other than skill/talent/age and so on, we are no different EXCEPT THAT they are wealthy independent contractors who are being paid to perform, and are being monitored by a cadre of rules enforcers.  We obviously are not!

Speed of play IS NOT related to skill or handicap - it is an individual characteristic.  Some of us are more deliberate than others.  Some of our better players are the slowest in the group.  That being said, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD REASON FOR A 9-HOLE ROUND AT AUBURN TO TAKE 3 HOURS!!

Read and comply with the two bulleted items above, slower AND faster players look in the mirror, recognize each other exist and exercise courtesy and tolerance!  

 


Rule 8 - Course Played as It Is Found (AKA the Craig Stadler rule)

13-2. Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play

A player must not improve or allow to be improved:

  • the position or lie of his ball,
  • the area of his intended stance or swing,
  • his line of play, or a reasonable extension of that line beyond the hole, or
  • the area in which he is to drop or place a ball,

by any of the following actions:

  • pressing a club on the ground,
  • moving, bending or breaking anything growing or fixed (including immovable obstructions and objects defining out of bounds)
  • creating or eliminating irregularities of surface,
  • removing or pressing down sand, loose soil, replaced divots or other cut turf placed in position, or
  • removing dew, frost or water.

However, the player incurs no penalty if the action occurs:

  • in grounding the club lightly when addressing the ball,
  • in fairly taking his stance,
  • in making a stroke or the backward movement of his club for a stroke and the stroke is made,
  • in creating or eliminating irregularities of surface within the teeing ground or in removing dew, frost or water from the teeing ground, or
  • on the putting green in removing sand and loose soil or in repairing damage (Rule 13).

Exception: Ball in penalty area - see Rule 17


When the rules of golf substantially changed in 2019, the term “water hazard” disappeared and was replaced with “penalty area”.  There are two main types of penalty areas, yellow or red. 

If your ball goes into a yellow-staked penalty area, your options are as follows:

Play it as it lies, which of course doesn’t cost you a penalty stroke and would be ideal. And as of  January of 2019 you are permitted to ground your club or even take a practice swing in the penalty area (pretty cool considering both of these were no-no’s previously) 

Your other options with a yellow penalty area are:

17.1d(1) Stroke-and-distance relief, which means going back to the location of  your last shot and taking a drop at knee height from there. This will cost you one stroke. 

17.1d(2) Back-on-the-line relief, which means you may drop a ball on a reference line going straight back from the hole through the estimated point where the ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area. This also costs you a one-stroke penalty and additional details on this can be found here. 

Those are your only options if the penalty area is marked with yellow lines or stakes. 

If the penalty area is marked with red lines or stakes, then you’ll have one additional option, which is referred to as lateral relief. 

17.1d(3) Lateral relief is when the player may drop a ball within two club-lengths of where their ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area, not nearer the hole. Your drop can be in any area of the course except inside the same penalty area. 

The good news is that more and more penalty areas are being changed from yellow to red to speed up pace-of-play, so when you see a red line or stake you know you’ll get this additional option.