2025 Policies & Procedures

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Players will play to their low of the calendar year (1/1/24-12/31/24) Handicap Index for all Team Matches. Each Club will be responsible for running their own Handicap Index reports. Reports must clearly show the low-of-the-year date range used. 

It is the responsibility of the Team Captains and their players to verify their playing handicaps for each match. If you are given a handicap higher than allowed, and it is not corrected before you begin the match, you will be disqualified. If you are given a lower handicap than allowed, and it is not corrected before you begin the match, you must play to it. (See USGA Rule 3.2c.)  Once the match has begun, the scorecard is signed, attested and turned in, the match results are final. 

It is recommended the Pro Shop provide an extra set of scorecards for the Captains to verify handicaps before play begins. 

Each Team may have 40 players on their Roster. The maximum handicap index is 29.4. Players with an index higher than 29.4 can be on the Roster but must play down to a 29.4 index. 

To be eligible, a player must have a current GHIN handicap and be a member in good standing of their Club's Women's Golf Auxiliary/Association. 

A player may play on only one Team in the Charter League per season. 

Substitutions may be made to your Roster if a player must drop out due to illness, injury, moves away, no longer a Club member, etc. In addition, should a Team not begin with the maximum of 40 players, then additional players may be added during the season. 

Should there be any substitutions/additions to a Roster, the Team Captain must notify all other Captains and Chairman in advance of the upcoming match(es) to be played. 

Rosters should include your Team's 1/1/24-12/31/24 low Index for the season, their Home course handicap and their Away match handicaps only. 

Captains shall exchange alphabetical and numerical Rosters (including GHIN #’s) and Information Sheets by January 20, 2025. 

Copies of Rosters and any subsequent revisions are to be sent to Virginia Maas and Jennifer Chuang.

Team Captains will include ALL fees associated with matches played at their Club on their Information Sheets.  Information Sheets will also be posted on the CharterLeagueLA.com web site.  

Information Sheets are located under Captains Downloads. 

The format for play is four-ball match play.  All matches will be played under the USGA Rules of Golf, modified by local rules.

For 2024, there will be 9 Teams playing all other Teams in a Home or Away format.  Teams will have 4 Home and 4 Away matches.  There will be no playoffs.

Each Team will field seven (7) sides, fourteen (14) players, and should provide an Alternate Team.  It is left to the discretion of each Club how many Alternates the visiting Team may bring.

If a Team has less than 14 players it is the Captain's discretion which side plays short.  Only two sides may play short and they may be positioned anywhere in the lineup.

Playing short is discouraged and should not be perceived as an acceptable option.  Playing short must be out of necessity vs. a rotation strategy. A Team cannot forfeit a side. 

If a Team knows before the match date that they have fewer than 12 players the match should be rescheduled. 

On the morning of the match, if there's an unexpected illness, travel delay or other reason, the following procedure will be implemented:

In any situation that occurs the morning of the match, with players from both Teams in place to compete, both Captains must do everything they can to complete the match rather than send everyone home and reschedule.

Captains with a full Team lineup may not reshuffle all of their players at the last minute to gain an advantage.

The proposed format for the 2025 team season is four-ball match play.  Each team shall field three (3) sides with six (6) players and should provide an alternate team. 

If a Team cannot field six (6) players then the match must be rescheduled.  If no date can be agreed on, then all matches against Riviera, completed or not, will not count towards the season totals.  Any remaining matches scheduled against Riviera may be played as friendly matches at the discretion of the Home Club. 

Hole points will be used. One (1) Gross match point and one (1) Net match point for sides winning their match on each hole.  One-half Gross or Net point for a tie.

The total number of Gross or Net points available per side is 18.  Seven-side matches can earn up to 126 points for Gross and for Net.  The matches against Riviera will be trued-up to equal 126 points for Gross and 126 points for Net.

Both sides must agree on the hole-by-hole scores, points, and total points, Gross and Net, before signing their cards and turning them in to the Pro Shop (Home Team) or to their Captain (Visiting Team).  

Results sheets are filled out by both Captains, signed and a copy emailed or texted to Suzanne Whitman, Chairman, by 4 p.m. the day of the match. 

Results will be posted to the CharterLeagueLA.com website. 

Visiting Captains are first to send their lineup with course handicaps at the Away course to the Away Team Captains.  We suggest sending a week before the match, but no less that 72 hours before the match. 

Host Captains will then add their players with course handicaps and send it back to the Visiting Captains 24 hours prior to match date, along with their Information Sheet. 

Visiting Captains are to share their Information Sheet with all the Team members playing that match. 

Further changes to the lineup may be made up to 8 pm the night before the match, due to illnesses or player availability, but not as a lineup strategy.

Players must be positioned in the lineup by course handicap in ascending order.

Both Captains should verify the playing handicaps of both Team's lineup from the Team's Roster when submitting and receiving lineup sheets. 

Alternates may be moved into the lineup prior to the match starting but must be placed in accordance to her handicap.

In the event a substitution is required after any match has begun, an eligible Alternate may take the place of the withdrawn player if they have the equivalent or higher course Handicap. If the Alternate has a higher course handicap, she will play down to the course handicap of the withdrawn player.

You may not put in a substitute player who has a lower handicap than the one withdrawing. 

Alternate guest Hostesses are allowed.  This is a member of the Home club who is not a member of the Team but is available to play as a courtesy to the Visiting Team.  She may not be moved into the lineup or compete.  

The Team with the highest Gross points will be the Gross Winner and the Team with the highest Net points will be the Net Winner.  Should a Team have the most Gross & Net points of all other Teams, that Team will be the winner of the category in which they have the most total points, be it Gross or Net.

The next highest points will become the Runners Up, for both Gross or Net.

In the case of a tie at the end of the Season, to break the tie, we will use the "Back 9 Method" from all season matches played by the two (or more) tied Teams.  Team Captains must keep all match scorecards, listing each Team's "Best Ball" scores on each hole until the Regular Season has been completed and the winners have been announced. 

Slow play should not be tolerated, and Team Captains are responsible for their players and their pace-of-play.

The time in which the match should be played (i.e., 4 hrs. 45 min) is to be determined by the Club’s Team Captains in consultation with the Club’s Head Professional. This time should include an additional 30 minutes for Team match play and an additional 10 minutes for B Teams on starting holes.

The time limit will be included on the Club’s Information Sheet and will also be announced at the beginning of each match and noted on the scorecards. (Captains can advise their players when signing and attesting their scorecards to add the time they finished the round. This will help in evaluating the pace of play for the entire field.)

Each Club’s Pro Shop should utilize the “timeline” method on the scorecards. This can be done through Golf Genius. Players will then be able to see if they are on time or falling behind.

To help Teams’ pace-of-play, the Charter League strongly recommends utilizing a Marshal to issue warnings to slow players. The Marshal may also ask your group to step aside and allow other groups to play through, but you may not be told to skip or halve a hole.

Captains should educate their players on the following Slow Play guidelines:

USGA Rule 6.4, regarding Order of Play, Rule 5.6: If your group is falling behind, i.e., the group ahead of you is on the green (Par 4 or 5) or an entire hole is open ahead of you, you and your opponents may agree that one of you will play out of turn to save time. (Revert to honors when on the green.)