The Golfers League — Rules and Format

• The Golfers League is a travelling amateur golf society.
• Events are played at different golf courses, normally on weekends.
• The principal competition format is individual Stableford.
• Members earn event results and overall league points.
• The league is intended to provide fair competition, regular social golf and transparent scoring.
• Event-specific information such as course, tee, handicap allowance, booking deadline, capacity, price and local rules is published before each event.

• Players must have an active account and membership status before entering an event.
• Players must provide accurate identity, contact and handicap information.
• Members must select their correct handicap source: England Golf, iGolf or Society Handicap.
• A member must not knowingly provide an outdated or inaccurate Handicap Index.
• Members remain responsible for notifying the committee of any handicap change that is not yet reflected on the platform.
• A player serving a qualifying Society Handicap period may play events but is clearly labelled Provisional until qualification is complete.
• Event entry remains subject to capacity, booking deadlines, payment status and any published eligibility conditions.

• Events are normally individual 18-hole Stableford competitions.
• The committee publishes the course, tee, Course Rating, Slope Rating, par and handicap allowance for each event.
• Players are placed into groups or fourballs by the committee.
• Players must play from their assigned tee unless the committee approves a correction before the round.

The event result and the overall league standings are separate. The event leaderboard ranks performance in that individual event; the overall league table applies the season's published league-points and counting-score rules.

Season dates, the number of events and league-point values are published from the active season configuration. No season is currently marked as active.

• Stableford points are calculated from the player's net score on each hole.
• Handicap strokes are allocated according to the published stroke index.
• A player who cannot score a Stableford point on a hole should pick up to support pace of play.
• A picked-up or incomplete hole records zero points, not a guessed gross score.
• The player with the highest valid Stableford total wins the event, subject to verification and any disqualification.

Official handicap holders

• Players with an England Golf or iGolf Handicap Index must register that official Handicap Index with The Golfers League.
• The most recently verified Handicap Index available at the event's published handicap cut-off is used.
• The event record stores an immutable snapshot of the index and the calculated handicap used for that round.
• Later handicap changes do not retrospectively alter a completed event unless the original value was entered incorrectly or misconduct is established.

Course and Playing Handicap

1. Start with the player's verified Handicap Index.
2. Apply the course's Slope Rating and Course Rating/par adjustment using the platform's World Handicap System (WHS) compatible calculation.
3. Apply the event's published handicap allowance.
4. Apply the society's maximum Playing Handicap cap.

• If the calculated Playing Handicap is 24, the player receives 24.
• If the calculated Playing Handicap is 28, the player receives 28.
• If the calculated Playing Handicap is 31, it is capped at 28 for The Golfers League event.

The calculation and the handicap snapshot used are shown on the player's event scorecard.

A player without a current England Golf or iGolf Handicap Index must complete Society Handicap Qualification:

• Declare that they do not hold an official current Handicap Index.
• Complete 3 qualifying The Golfers League events.
• Return a complete, properly marked and verified scorecard in each event.
• Play from the tee assigned by the committee.
• Remain marked as Provisional — Society Handicap Qualification until all three cards are verified.
• Have their Society Handicap approved by the committee before it becomes active.

Mandatory inclusion of qualifying cards

• At least 2 of the player's 3 qualifying event cards must count towards their overall league standing.
• Where the season standings count a number of best results, the required qualifying cards must be among them.
• Those qualifying cards cannot be discarded merely because they produce fewer league points than later results.
• The counting selection uses the qualifying cards that produce the greatest legitimate overall standing, unless the committee's published season rules specify a stricter method.
• If the season contains fewer counting events than the published best-of figure, the required qualifying cards must still be included.
• A player who has not completed enough qualifying cards is shown as not yet eligible for a final overall league position.

This is enforced by the platform's standings calculation and covered by automated tests; it does not rely on an administrator applying it manually.

• All eligible The Golfers League event scores must be submitted to the player's England Golf or iGolf record in accordance with the applicable WHS score-submission process.
• The player is responsible for correctly registering or pre-registering the round where required and submitting it within the permitted timeframe.
• Players must not selectively submit only good or bad scores.
• Where a round is not eligible for official handicap submission, the platform records the reason instead of claiming it was submitted.
• The Golfers League scorecard and the official handicap submission must match.
• The committee may request evidence that the score was submitted correctly.
• Repeated failure to submit eligible scores may lead to the score being excluded from the league, suspension from prizes or a committee handicap review.

England Golf states that acceptable scores can include rounds played with friends, colleagues and societies, subject to the applicable submission requirements. Not every round is automatically acceptable for WHS purposes. Official information: England Golf — World Handicap System.

• Event Stableford points determine event finishing positions.
• Published league points are then awarded according to the season configuration.
• The overall table aggregates the permitted counting results.
• Only finalised and published event results update official standings.
• Reopened results make affected snapshots stale until recalculation completes.
• Provisional players are visibly labelled and cannot take a final overall position.

The standings show events played, counting results, mandatory Society Handicap qualifying results, discarded results, total league points, position and tie-break status.

No tie-break order is currently configured for an active season. Unless a season configuration says otherwise, individual Stableford ties are separated by countback over the final 9, 6 and 3 holes, then the final hole, then the lowest Playing Handicap, and are otherwise shared.

The interface shows which tie-break decided a position.

• Players or their appointed marker enter scores hole by hole.
• The player and marker must review the card before submission.
• Submitted cards may be returned for correction with an audit reason.
• Verified and locked cards cannot be changed without authorised reopening.
• Reopening requires a reason and makes affected results and standings stale until recalculated.
• No Return, disqualification, withdrawal and incomplete-card states remain distinct.
• Alterations are visible in the audit history.

• Booking opens and closes at the times shown on each event.
• Places are subject to capacity.
• Once capacity is reached, members join a numbered waitlist.
• Withdrawals must be made through the platform or reported to the committee.
• Card payments are handled by Paddle as Merchant of Record, with a 30-day money-back guarantee set out in the refund policy.
• A booking is not paid unless confirmed by a signed payment-provider event or an authorised administrative record.
• The committee may publish groups and tee times after booking closes.

• Respect the host club, its staff, members and other players.
• Comply with the Rules of Golf and the host course's local rules.
• Wear appropriate golf attire where required by the venue.
• Care for the course: repair pitch marks and replace divots.
• Play ready golf where safe and permitted.
• Pick up when no Stableford point can be scored.
• No abusive, discriminatory, threatening or dishonest conduct.
• Behave safely and comply with course instructions.

• Prize categories and values are announced before the relevant event or season.
• A player must hold the required verified or qualified handicap status to receive handicap-based prizes.
• Provisional players may participate but remain ineligible for handicap-based prizes until their Society Handicap is approved, unless an event explicitly provides a separate provisional-player prize.
• The committee may withhold a prize while a score or handicap review is active.
• Any prize decision has a recorded audit reason.

A review may be triggered by:

• Repeated scores substantially better than the registered handicap suggests.
• A pattern of exceptional society results not reflected in the official record.
• Missing or selectively submitted England Golf or iGolf scores.
• Incorrect handicap information.
• A material difference between society performance and the player's official scoring record.
• Evidence that the wrong tee, index or handicap was used.

The review process is fair and auditable:

1. Flag the case for review.
2. Record the reason and supporting event data.
3. Notify the player.
4. Allow the player to provide an explanation or correction.
5. Require a committee decision and written reason.
6. Record the decision in the audit log.
7. Apply any adjustment prospectively unless correcting a factual error or resolving proven misconduct.

Possible outcomes:

• No action
• Information correction
• Monitoring period
• Temporary Society Playing Handicap adjustment
• Prize ineligibility for specified events
• Score exclusion
• Suspension, in serious or repeated cases

No member is automatically accused or penalised on the basis of one exceptional round.

• Each published rulebook has a version number, publication date, effective date and change summary.
• Previous versions are archived; publishing a new version does not rewrite the rules that governed completed events.
• Each event stores the rule-version ID that applied when booking closed.
• Members acknowledge the current rules when first joining, when booking after a material rule change, and when a handicap or score-submission rule changes. The acknowledgement date and rule-version ID are stored.