GOLFTEC Support and Gift certificates for NIMAGA Members

Every regular Monthly NIMAGA Tournament, within each division, GOLFTEC has offered a free 1 hour evaluation gift certificate to a golfer selected at random from our tournament: To be eligible, you must register to play and complete the round. Prior winners throughout the year are no longer eligible for the remainder of the calendar year.

Congratulations to April’s Spring Thaw Golftec gift certificate winners:

Palmer/ Joe Nagy
Player/ John Cassin
Trevino/ Steve Leiber

Next Monthly Tournament  ERROR in Date!

Schedule Cards Application blanks and other areas show the July Tournament as being Saturday July 12 this is wrong! July’s Freedom Open is in fact on SUNDAY July 13^th  Please make note of this change. Please also make a note on your calendar to show up on Sunday, not Saturday. Sorry for this error.

Last Mid-week Tournament

Tuesday July 22 is the next and last mid-week tournament of the year. Please make plans to enter this event at Big Run. Big Run has hosted this event for several years and many find this to be one of the most challenging courses of the year. Applications are due on July 5, so get them in as soon as possible.

NIMAGA Tournament of Winners August 16^th and 17^th

Only a few more tournaments left to qualify for NIMAGA’s most prestigious events. This is a qualification event which is not open to first year members. Qualification begins in September of previous year. Players who place in the top 3 net and all gross winners qualify for regular monthly tournaments. October 2nd man gross winner and all ties for first place net qualify. All gross winners and first two places in each division for the mid-weeks and Sr. Tournament qualify. Low Gross and first five places (trophy winners) from last years tournament qualify. We will be posting those who have qualified (so far) shortly along with applications. Check to see if you’re eligible for this outstanding event to be held at Blackberry Oaks. The field for this 2 day event is cut to the top 50% and ties of day one scores.
 

Thank you to all who played in Salvation Army event

Thanks to all my NIMAGA pals who were able to play in the Salvation Army Golf Day event. I believe everyone enjoyed the day and we raised over $5500. It would not have been possible without the 40 NIMAGA players and their friends. Thanks again!!  Roger Scott

Turning Scores In

Peer review is what the in USGA requires of any golf association. What that means is that you can see if your pal turned in that really low round that will lower their handicap. NIMAGA requires that all scores be turned in within the handicap period that there are recorded. So if you are a 10 handicap and you shoot a 75 it should be turned by the next reporting period. If a NIMAGA member fails to turn in a low score that has been reported to us we will consider lowering your handicap. Our dual handicap system has made it fair for all our players but ONLY if they turn in all their scores.

Not TOO Early to plan for the September Match Play Event against Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Challenge Match is quickly coming up on its 30^th year! Each fall NIMAGA members face off with their Milwaukee counterparts in a match play tournament in Evergreen Wisconsin. Shown as an invitational event, this event is now open to the first 40 golfers that apply. Applications will be posted shortly, so get your application in early to enjoy this fabulous event, followed by a Wisconsin steak diner. Many choose to arrive on Friday for a practice round and local fish diner. If you have applied to enter this event in the past and did not get invited, please don’t give up; send your application in early to reserve your spot.

FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
There is a new FAQ link on the menu. Check it out and hopefully it will help with those common questions that come before the board.

We received the below question on the rules this past month:
Question:  During the last tournament this situation came up:

We are on the green putting, one golfer requested the other golfer to move their ball, so player went directly to the ball to move it and did not mark the ball, then move it, the player told him this was not allowed and a penalty will be enforced.

But per Rule 20-1 the procedure for moving the ball or marker is allowed to use the ball and move it right or left. So the rule allows you to by-pass marking the ball then moving.

I mentioned this rule but he stated that I was wrong

Look at us/20-1/100 decision.

Answer:

This writer is not exactly sure of the issue as listed above as being the moving of the ball without marking it and could not find this 20-1/100 decision. As can be seen below, rule 20 clearly points out that the ball “Must” be marked before it is lifted. As for the method of marking (and then moving at the request of a competitor), this writer was taught to mark the ball, using the club head of the putter pointed at a distinct object and then move the mark to the end of the putter. It could also be conceivable that a player marks his ball, then places the ball based on the mark, moves the ball to the end of the putter head and then marks the balls position based on the new ball location. Certainly under either method, the point is to bring the ball back to it’s original position after the competitor has played and before putting the ball that was moved.

As a note to this rule (see below) is made that advises the use of a ball marker, coin or similar object immediately behind the ball, we would advise that this is our preferred method and would avoid any complaints or concerns.

As to the question above, it is not expected that everyone in amateur golf have a strong knowledge of the rules of golf. We wonder why, under these circumstances that this question was not asked when the golfers returned to the scoring area and before any score cards are signed or turned in. If you think a penalty has been made, we ask that you advise your fellow competitor that you believe a rule might have been broken by their action. Should they not agree or question your advice, they can always play two balls out on that hole (one which would account for the penalty) and another that does not and then ask for a ruling from the committee. It is every golfer’s role during a tournament to protect the field by making sure fellow competitors follow all the rules.

Rule 20

A ball to be lifted under the Rules may be lifted by the player,
his partner or another person authorized by the player. In any
such case, the player is responsible for any breach of the Rules.

The position of the ball must be marked before it is lifted
under a Rule that requires it to be replaced. If it is not marked,
the player incurs a penalty of one stroke and the ball must be
replaced. If it is not replaced, the player incurs the general penalty for breach of this Rule, but there is no additional penalty
under Rule 20-1.

Note: The position of a ball to be lifted should be marked by
placing a ball-marker, a small coin or other similar object
immediately behind the ball. If the ball-marker interferes with
the play, stance or stroke of another player, it should be placed
one or more club head-lengths to one side.

New Rule Change:
Many golfers have heard stories about amateur golfers getting a hole-in-one during a golf event where there was a cash/car or other such prize for a hole-in-one. Such acceptance of the prize was a cause to lose your amateur status if the value exceeded $750. Not to worry, you can now go for the gusto on the prize holes without worrying? (well I guess some worried) about accepting all that cash/car and losing your amateur status. See rule below…

3-2. Prize Limits
a. General
An amateur golfer must not accept a prize (other than a
symbolic prize) or prize voucher of retail value in excess of
$750 or the equivalent, or such a lesser figure as may be
decided by the USGA. This limit applies to the total prizes or prize vouchers received by an amateur golfer in any one competition or series of competitions.

Exception: A prize, including a cash prize, for a hole-in-one
made while playing golf may exceed the above prize limit.

Have a question about a rule? Send us an email.

For further info on this rule and others go to the USGA website www.usga.org

Members News

Membership

Check out the web site regularly! Many will notice some changes to our web site. A big thanks go out to Shawn Pipes, our tournament director and web guru! In a n effort to go green! And to lower costs (and a bit of work) we have eliminated much of the paper you would receive in the mail. Make a weekly habit of visiting our web site to check out the latest news and information. We still have a few members who either have difficulty in accessing the internet, and we are doing everything we can to assist them. If you know of someone who has this problem let us know and we’ll try and find them an internet friend who can keep them up to date! You will also note that we will be sending out regular email notes to advise members of upcoming events and special news.

 Check periodically over the winter months and check out any new items on the web site. www.nimaga.org

Speaking of special news? Any good stories or information that your friends at NIMAGA should know about? Send us photo’s and articles about what’s going on in the off season or up coming special dates. Any new holes-in-one?

Send them to admin@nimaga.org and we will include them in a future NIMAGA notes.