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| Presidents Message
Last Updated: 05/05/17 |
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Dear Rancho Park Senior Golf Club Member,
RanchoPark Senior Golf Club (RPSGC) is the FIRST senior golf club among all of the Los Angeles municipal golf courses. We are thankful for the vision of five of members, Paul Baker, Mike Cervenak, Derek D’Sa, Bob Lenzie, and Cliff Marcus. They had the vision and spent countless hours working with many government agencies to accomplish their goal.
The Rancho Park Senior Golf Club is open to amateur senior men and women (50 and over) interested in playing the game of golf. We enjoy competitive tournaments, but also value the social aspects of golf. We have a diverse group of golfers, some with low indexes and others with higher indexes.
I’d like to welcome you to the Rancho Park Senior Golf Club. This letter provides you with information you and your fellow members will find useful to enjoy the season.
RPSGC Communications
The primary means for communication between the Rancho Park Senior Golf Club and its members is via its web page at www.rpsgc.com or www.ranchosenior.com .
This web site has all of the most recent information you will need to stay informed as to upcoming events and the results of past events. It provides important news for members and information about the officers of the club and the members. In addition, it provides links to other important web sites, such as that of the Southern California Golf Association , our parent organization.
For those members who do not have access to the web, we will use the US Mail to communicate with those members. All we need to know is who needs this service. any Board Member can help.
If a member receives communication strictly via US Mail, they will receive a Newsletter once every two months. This Newsletter will provide them with results of past events, changes to the future schedule of events and any other information that is important enough to include.
Tournament Sign Up Upcoming tournaments and Tee Times can be accessed through the “Tournament” link on the home page of the club's website. Please be aware of and adhere to the tournament cutoff date listed for each tournament. This date is usually the date by which we need to commit to the total number of players and pay the golf course. We need to have a final commitment from the membership by that date. Once we have paid, it is usually not possible to get a refund from the golf course for members who do not show.
Beginning in 2008, players will be expected to pay prior to the cut-off date for any event in which he/she has entered. Payment can be made on-line by credit card (which is the preferred method) or by sending a check to the tournament chairman. Members are strongly urged to pay by credit card on-line or by check. Players who do not pay for an event prior to the day of the event will be charged a $ 3 surcharge for home events and a $ 5 surcharge for away events when paying by cash at the course.
The RPSGC policy is that any member who has committed to play in an event on the cut-off date is responsible for payment for his/her tee time. In the event the member must cancel after the cut-off date, the RPSGC tournament chairman will make all possible efforts to fill that position. But, if the position cannot be filled and we cannot get a refund from the course, the player is responsible for payment for the tee time.
If the member does not show and has not paid for the tournament, he/she must pay the entry fee prior to playing in another event. If he/she doesn’t, the member will be placed in an inactive status and will not be allowed to enter any future events until the entry for the previous event has been paid.
Home & Away Schedule
In the “Tournament” section on the web site, is where you will find the next upcoming 8 tournaments. This area is where you can sign up or view Tee Times for upcoming events.
To locate this years projected Home Schedule open the “News” link on the clubs home page, look to the left menu bar and open “Home Tournament Schedule – Projected”
Tournament Contacts
If you are interested in playing any of the scheduled events with Rancho Park Senior Golf Club, please sign up on-line or send a check made out to the Rancho Park Senior Golf Club to Bob Lenzie, 3276 Mountain View Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90066 (310-398-5344). For away events, you can send the check to Larry Hunt our Away Tournament Chairman at 7480 McConnell Avenue, Westchester, CA, 90045 (310) 338-9394.
Important Communications
The following are items that the RPSGC Board would like to be sure all members are aware of.
Exchanging Distance Information
The following is reprinted from the USGA web page without permission:
“Information regarding the distance between two objects is public information and not advice. It is therefore permissible for players to exchange information relating to the distance between two objects. For example, a player may ask anyone, including his opponent, fellow-competitor or either of their caddies, the distance between his ball and the hole. (Revised)”
The RPSGC Board suggests that, if you use a distance measuring device, that you make the yardage information from the device available to all members of your group.
Slow Play
Slow play will not be tolerated by the RPSGC. The target time for 18 holes is 4 ½ hours. No group should finish more than a hole behind the group in front of them or take more than 5 hours to play Rancho Park. If necessary, the RPSGC Board will take disciplinary action to include, but not be limited to: 1) moving slow players to the end of the tee times; 2) breaking up groups who normally play together, if it is deemed that this would speed up play; 3) assessing penalty strokes for all members of a group; 4) not accepting entries from identified slow players until the end of the sign up period, potentially resulting in the player being left out of the event.
It’s easy to speed up play. Be ready to hit when it is your turn to play. Play “ready golf” when it is feasible. Don’t wait until you’re away. If you can hit safely, without disturbing others in your group, do so. If you’re sharing a cart, don’t sit in the cart while your cart partner hits. Grab a couple of clubs and start to your ball. (You’d be surprised how much easier it is to get a feel for a shot when you walk up to it, rather than hopping out of the cart right by your ball.) Be ready to hit when he/she finishes the shot.
Understand and use provisional balls. If there is a chance that your ball may be lost or out of bounds, please play a provisional ball. There is no penalty for playing a provisional ball up to the place your original ball is likely to lie, even if you find the original ball in a playable position. You simply abandon the provisional ball and continue with the original one. (Also, there are few things more embarrassing than having to drive back to the tee or from where you hit your previous shot and having the group behind you stare at you as you do!)
Note, however, that you cannot play a provisional ball for a ball that may be in a hazard. You must determine whether or not it is in the hazard first. Then, if you choose to use the option to return to the previous spot and play the shot, you must go back and do so.
Be ready to putt when it is your turn. Looking at your putt from all four directions, from four feet, from 20 feet, etc. won’t change the break and speed. Begin looking at your putt as you approach the green. Watch other players’ putts. If you can look at your putt without interfering with the player getting ready to play, do so.
Winter Rules
Occasionally, because of the conditions of the golf course, we may declare that we will be playing under Winter Rules. The Rancho Park Senior Golf Club uses the following as the definition of Winter Rules:
Through the Green the player may mark, lift and clean his/her golf ball and place it within 6 inches of the original spot, not nearer the hole and in similar conditions. “Through the Green” is defined as all of the golf course, not including water hazards or sand bunkers. Please note that this rule requires you to place the ball in the rough if the original lie was in the rough.
Posting of Scores
Posting adjusted scores immediately following the round is the preferred procedure. Posting using one of the on-line methods is acceptable provided it is accomplished within two days of the event. Members failing to do so will be subject to a Penalty round consisting of either the lowest or highest differential on the current posting record..
Unless otherwise indicated at the sign-in table, all low net/low gross home and away events should be posted as tournament rounds if you play in the low net/low gross event. For other types of events, the type of posting (tournament or non-tournament) will be identified at the sign-in table. If there are any questions, please ask a Board member.
Handicaping
Should anyone have questions on how the handicap system works, please contact the Handicap Chairman located under “Officers” on the clubs website.
Use of Handicap Flags
Inasmuch as we are a senior group, there are occasions when a member may need special consideration in the use of power carts. In these conditions, the cart is identified with a special flag that allows the driver to proceed without consideration to the signs directing cart traffic on the course. However, the Handicapped flag does not authorize the driver to ignore common sense and consideration on the golf course.
Carts must still be kept at least 30 feet from all greens and sand traps. This means that you may not drive the cart, for example, between the green and the bunker behind the 12th green. Violation of these rules will result in the forfeiture of the player’s use of the Handicapped flag. In extreme cases, the player will no longer be allowed to use a power cart when playing and/or may be dropped from the RPSGC membership.
Please remember that the primary purpose of the Rancho Park Senior Golf Club is to provide an opportunity for people to meet new players, have fun and enjoy their rounds of golf. Your adhering to the rules and policies above will contribute to these goals.
Hoping to see all of you at Rancho Park and the away events in the coming years,
Robert Lenzie
President
Rancho Park Senior Golf Club
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