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27 | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | September 2015 | From the President – Gerry Edmonds: As you read this, Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, is fast approaching. Footballs (fully inflated?) have begun to fill the air as high schools, colleges, and professional teams ready for the start to their seasons. However, for professional golfers, the FedEx Cup playoff, which marks the end of their season, is just beginning. Two important professional golf team events are also quickly approaching. For the women, the Solheim Cup will be contested Sept. 18 – 20 in Germany. For the men, the Presidents Cup will be contested Oct. 5 – 11 in Korea. For the Golf Club, two notable events, which lead up to our end of the year, are also fast approaching. The Founders Cup, which begins play on Sept. 8, is first up. It is a head-to-head match play event contested on each Tuesday in September. Sixteen players in each of our four flights will make up the field. These players will have survived an 18-hole qualifier held the last Tuesday in August. The Club Championship will be contested on the first three Tuesdays in October. Champions for each flight will be determined by using the best two-round scores from a total of three rounds played. The low gross and low net winners with handicaps of 24.4 or below are eligible to compete at Southern California Golf Association tournaments held in December in the Palm Springs area. The final lunch get together on the Plaza will be held on Sept. 8 immediately after the opening round of the Founders Cup. Pulled pork and chicken, side dishes, and beverages will be served. Hope to see the membership at this gathering as well as the Tuesday golf outings. From the Handicap Chair – Lynn Smith: A player must earn a Handicap Index. No player has an inherent right to a Handicap Index without providing full evidence of ability to the golf club's handicap committee. A Handicap Index must be changed only as warranted by the USGA Handicap System. Only the Handicap Committee where a player maintains a Handicap Index can adjust that player's Handicap Index. There must be no automatic increases at the beginning of a playing season or year. A handicap index is continuous from one playing season or year to the next. From the Tournament Chair – Dave Balser: September is the annual Founders Cup Tournament to be played Sept. 1, 8, 15 and 22. This event is a Match Play tournament and the 16 players in each flight were determined in a qualifying event on Aug. 25. Any player not participating in the Match Play can still have fun by playing individual golf on the dates mentioned. There will be a same flight Partners Scramble on Sept. 29 Hope to see you out there. From the Membership Chair – Debbie James: The Hemet 4 Seasons Golf Club welcomes Bonnie Moore and Bernie Sebzda, our most recent additions, bringing the Club to 165 members. I encourage everyone to stop sitting around! Come out and get a little exercise, whether it's walking on the golf course or 12 oz. curls on number 19! We hope to see you soon! Information to join the club is at the Lodge front desk, or call Debbie James (562) 706.1077 or email dndjames@hotmail.com. From the Rules Chair – Melody Lewis: This month I will discuss more rules issues that have come up during the year. There have been quite a few instances that needed attention. Remember, the rules are in place to protect the interests of every player and to level the playing field. The following were addressed and clarified with the member(s) involved. Ruling on accidentally moving your ball with your putter while lining up a putt. Accident or not it is a one-stroke penalty and you must put it back and putt again from the original spot under penalty of one stroke. If you don't replace it prior to putting you would incur an additional one-stroke penalty for playing from the wrong place, for a total of two. A question arose whether you could call the accident an actual stroke and continue to play from that spot; my online source states that you cannot. You must take the one stroke penalty and replace and replay the ball from the original spot. If you tap or touch the ball with your club and it does not move from its original position, just oscillates and then returns to its original position, there is no penalty. A member had a question regarding being assessed a two stroke penalty while playing with another club. The member was being nice and rounded out the edge of the cup after they themselves, and only themselves, had holed out but prior to the entire group finishing the hole. Unfortunately, fixing the hole is a two-stroke penalty in stroke play or loss of the hole in match play. Rule 16-1c lets you repair the hole only if it was damaged by a ball mark. The penalty results from touching the line of the putt (Rule 16-1a). Once your group has completed the hole, you can fix the damage for the next group. The reason for this is that if smoothing of any ragged edge of the hole is in any way intended to influence the movement (good or bad) of an opponent's, fellow-competitor's or partner's ball, the player incurs a penalty of two strokes for breaching Rule 1-2. Relief from burrowing animal hole (abnormal ground conditions) in bunker. You would get free relief and would have continued on the next page

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