The event will have a registration table setup near the pavilion near the practice range. Each golfer must register or sign-in at the table before the afternoon practice round.

This is not an optional, but a required for everyone. The most senior members of the Carl Spackler Open are not excluded from this requirement.

The registration table will be signing-in golfers along with distributing gifts, participant option purchases, pairing sheets, and personalized bag tag. There are thousands of items to distribute.

Practice balls are included in the golf trip fee. There should be plenty of golf balls available on the practice range on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Balls will be available 45 to 60 minutes before your tee time.

The Carl Spackler family wishes to make sure that all of our members, be them rookies or veterans, fully understand a few simple rules in dealing with personal behavior and our treatment of others.

Our gathering is a group of FRIENDS that get together to golf. Not a group of golfers that get together to make friends.  As part of our many friendships the members of Carl Spackler has made over the years, we have learned to treat each and every member with respect.  We have also learned to love and respect all the beautiful golf courses and towns we have visited through the years.  

In order to continue our reputation of fun guys of good character, who respect the game of golf, we ask you to remember a few particular items.

1. Treat the staff at the course, the hotel, the bars, restaurants or any other types of locals you may encounter, with utmost respect.  What if these people were your daughters?  Smile, say THANK YOU, and for God™s sake TIP them well.

2. Do not touch people. They are not toys and we do not own them! They are people with feelings and should be treated as equals.

3. Do not wreck the course. Understand we are all responsible enough to know what not to do on a golf course. Have fun, but do not be an asshole.

4. Do not liter. Lost balls do not count as liter.

5. Clean up your mess. Clean up your friends mess.

6. Watch your language. There is always a place and time, but we share the course with many locals, and a little discretion goes a long way.

7. You break it, you buy it. Carl Spackler is not responsible for fixing your temper issues.

8. Personally threatening and/or physically harming another member of our group is grounds for expulsion.

9. Do not drink and drive a vehicle. Too many sober golfers and many times a bus you already paid for. See a Captains Club member early and a ride will be found.

The following is a copy of the registration rules and policies agreed upon at registration.

GENERAL EXPECTATIONS

1.  He can shoot 139 strokes or less per round on average.

2.  He can financially commit to a 4-day golf trip 6 months in advance.

3.  He is not annoyed by alcohol consumption around him.

4.  He likes to play golf and meeting new people.

5.  He reads. He visits carlspackleropen.com at least monthly for updates.

6.  He understands hotel discounts are not given to local participants.

7.  He realizes the tournament encourages local police to place drunken golfers driving vehicles in jail.

8.  He respects all members and vendors.

9. Rookies must post 4+ scorecards by June 5, 2016.
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MONEY HANDLING

1.  Deposits are $120 and non-refundable non-transferable.

2.  Deposits ($120) must be paid and postmarked prior to February 14, 2016.

3.  Outstanding balances must be paid or postmarked prior to April 15, 2016.

4.  Payments will be logged to the website and processed based on the postmarked date.

5.  Event will not discount for partial attendance.  Please do not ask today or in May.

6.  Golf refunds due to weather are not guaranteed.  We play when the course is open.

7.  Golfer is responsible for post office errors and lost mail.  Send early and check website.

8.  Participants with a balance on April 15 will be replaced on April 18 with late-entries.

9.  Optional activities or services (replay, practice round, etc.) are non-refundable in June.

10.  Bounced check fees are approximately $25 and remains private until the fee is not addressed.

11.  Hotel distributes room keys after submitting a personal credit or debit card.

12.  Non-refundable non-transferable deposits postmarked after February 14 will be held until April 18.
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CANCELLATION POLICY

1.  Cancellations will be credited $60 towards 2017 after their 2017 non-refundable non-transferable deposit ($120) is received.

2.  Cancellation credits ($60) from 2016 become non-refundable/transferable after January 2017.

3.  Non-refundable and Non-transferable. Please DO NOT PAY DEPOSIT unless you are committed to full onsite attendance. If you decide to cancel regardless of reason, do not ask for your deposit back regardless of relationship, seniority, funeral, accident, doctor excuse, or unexpected surgery.

4.  A cancellation committee inside the Captains Club will contact all cancellers and referrals after the golf trip with a cancellation form. Cancellers (or their buddy or referral) with special circumstances should provide and return special circumstance form to cancellation committee. The Captains Club would be glad to refund participants with special situations. The primary purpose for the initial deposit is to acquire an accurate attendance list that participants can count on and increase efficiency surrounding golf trip administration. There has been 66 cancellations, 6 full refunds, and 6 partial refunds in the previous 12 years.

5.  Cancellations in May or June will increase the percentage of player tournament fee loss by 3 percent per day starting May 1. For example, if you cancel on May 15, you lose the entire non-refundable non-transferable deposit ($120) and 45% of the remaining tournament fee.  Money will be held until July to fund outstanding bills and then processed through the cancellation committee.
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LATE ENTRIES

1.  Non-refundable non-transferable deposits postmarked after February 14 will be held until April 18.

2.  Late-entries must be paid in full prior to April 15.

3.  Decisions on late-entries are completed on April 18 to achieve a participant count divisible by 4. The participant count will use total paid participants minus cancellations plus late-entries.

4.  Checks from late-entries will be torn up on May 31 if not accepted.

5.  Participant Options for late-entries will be collected immediately after registration acceptance.

6.  Personal contact information inside the website must be accurate.
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ROOMMATE & PLAYING PARTNER POLICIES

Roommate assignments and foursome preferences are collected online in March and reviewed in April. Referrals attending with a single "rookie" (first year participant) will be roomed together. All rookies will be paired for golf with their referral on Wednesday or Thursday. There are no other guarantees.

The 54-hole tournament has experienced completely dry conditions once in history. The tournament will be played in rain, but not in a heavy downpour. The tournament could be adjusted to 36 holes on a particular day to address bad weather. The Skills Challenge and replay round in this order will be activities removed from the itinerary as needed. The tournament can also be adjusted for 27 holes on two days if heavy rain is expected.

Very wet conditions prior to the tournament can attract an obscene amount of mosquitos. It is recommended that players obtain plenty of insect repellent for MULTIPLE golfers if the golf course receives lots of rain prior to arrival. Absorbine Jr. works well.

The cooler morning temperatures could require a pullover jacket. Umbrellas, drizzle sticks, rain suits and towels should be packed.  

The Carl Spackler Open expects all payments (including small amounts) to be paid prior to the event to eliminate accounting while on vacation. The event does collect money during the event for various unexpected purchases. Exchanging money is embraced; however every cent must be tracked in the accounting books.

There is no way a sober person will remember 20 different purchases by 20 different golfers two weeks after the event. Our financial officer, Rick Dosky, and Captains Club member Greg Long have small envelopes in their golf bags. Do not hand money to Greg Long and do not hand Rick Dosky money without an envelope. Golfers are expected to write their name, amount, and description of purchase on the envelope.

The Carl Spackler Open tee will be played from approximately 6,450 yards. Participants older than 50 years of age AND +15 or more stroke handicap have a modified shorter yardage.

WATER HAZARDS: Ponds, marsh, wetlands, creeks, lakes, and rivers are normally indicated by yellow or red stakes (or lines). The Carl Spackler Open has simplified the rules and handles both colors (yellow and red) exactly the same way. When no stakes or lines are found near an obvious water hazard, the hazard is expanded to include balls in water or places within 20 yards of the water. A green, its fringe, and fairway cannot be declared a hazard. Relief Option 1: Play the ball as it lies with no penalty. Relief Option 2: Take one penalty stroke, designate the spot where the ball crossed into the hazard, and drop a ball (from shoulder high) outside the hazard no closer to the hole. Relief Option 3: Play USGA Rules of Golf. Summary: A golfer who hits his tee shot into a pond, accepts penalty of one-stroke, and drops a ball (from shoulder high) outside the hazard, would be hitting his 3rd shot.

WHITE STAKES: Out of Bounds is normally indicated by white stakes (or lines). Out of bounds is generally found when balls cross a road or leave golf course property. Relief Option 1: Take two penalty strokes, designates the spot where the ball crossed the white stakes, and drop another ball (from shoulder high) in-bounds. Relief Option 2: Play USGA Rules of Golf.

LOST BALL: Relief Option 1: Take two penalty strokes, designates the spot where you last saw the ball, and drop another ball (from shoulder high). Relief Option 2: Play USGA Rules of Golf. A golfer who loses a ball, accepts penalty of two strokes, and drops shoulder high would be hitting his 4th shot.

UNPLAYABLE LIES: A player may take an unplayable lie anywhere on the course including the middle of the fairway. By penalty of 1 stroke, a golfer must drop two club lengths no closer to the hole from the unplayable lie. Unplayable lies normally prohibit the free swing of the golf club.

FREE DROPS: A player may obtain free relief or drop from a fairway divot or a cart path. All man-made objects such as stakes, fences and signs receive a free drop with no penalty. Your partner should assist. Drops are no closer to the hole.

LONG PUTT: The longest putt made on each hole receives long putt points. Mark your distance proactively and putt when partners are not standing on the green or ready to play. (1) Fringe putts and short chips do not count. (2) The putter must fit between the ball and the hole to be valid. The shortest putter in the group is not able to be used for measurement. (3) Long putts cannot be longer than its previous putt. (4) Golfers cannot three-putt or worse and receive long putt points.

GIMME: The Captains Club proudly supports two forms of gimme. (1) Golfers may take a gimme (one stroke) if scoring zero points on the hole. (2) If already taking a zero points on a hole, a golfer may drop with no penalty at the 100 yard red disc in the middle of the fairway. The gimme rule speeds up pace of play while still allowing for long putt points. All other forms of gimme are prohibited.

PAR 3's: Golfers can receive points for triple-bogey. Golfers cannot use drop zones regardless of 'golf course' rules. Golfers who hit a ball into the water can move up a single tee or use hazard rules (red or yellow) described above. Eventually a golfer can take a 'gimme' as defined above.

DO NOT TOUCH YOUR BALL UNLESS IT IS LYING MOTIONLESS ON THE GREEN. NO FLUFFING.

It takes about one hour to play 18 holes of golf. The other 2.5 to 4.5 hours is "logistical positioning" -- getting to the next shots with the right equipment. Any golf tournament including the PGA Tour played by the rules (no gimmies, no fluffing, etc.) is not going to be completed in under 4 3/4 hours. Add hackers and add time.

The slowest group dictates the pace of play for everyone behind them. Any group that gets out of position -- especially early in the day -- will affect many groups after it.

The pairings are designed with "fun" as top priority and "pace of play" as a close second.

Skilled golfers should educate and lead by example. Everyone needs to enjoy their round, but allow low handicappers to help move things along.

Raking bunkers for others, fixing divots for others, replacing divots for others, and carrying a pocket full of XL Top-Flites is being someone's caddy. It also is speeding up pace of play.

Hitting your own ball first, putting out on occasion, and even putting out of turn while someone is raking a greenside bunker can do wonders for pace of play.

None of the above requires a fellow golfer to play faster between pulling a club from the bag and swinging it. It does imply as a foursome we will work together to play faster.

Your foursome is playing slow if you cannot see the foursome in front of you.

The following is an explanation regarding roommates and golf pairings for the Carl Spackler Open. Participant preferences are collected from the participant option process in March and reviewed.

PAIRINGS
The daily golf pairings are not finalized until 60 minutes prior to each round. There are rounds of golf on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, Friday morning, Friday afternoon, and Saturday. All pairings for all rounds are built starting with the rookies and their top preference. A mobile scorer per pairing is a second priority. The rest of the pairings are based on the thousands of preferences collected and then moved around for pace of play reasons.

Pairings for the final round on Saturday are set based on reverse leaderboard order through Round 2. Exactly like the PGA Tour with four exceptions. There are no guaranteed pairings for anyone attending with one exception. All rookies will play with their referral at least once.

ROOMS, BEDS, & ROOMMATES
Rookies are assigned to their top preference. All other roommates are paired up using Tuesday night reservations, best interests of the collective group, and suggestions provided by the participants.

 

To some degree, the term "sandbagging" always finds its way into any handicapped event.

"Sandbagging" by definition is proactively posting higher scores than real, to gain an advantage in a golf tournament. Participants who use the term sandbagging in casual conversation are implying factual knowledge that a fellow golfer is a cheater.

Sandbagging does not occur at the Carl Spackler Open, but prior to the event. A participant who accuses a golfer of sandbagging or circulates rumors of sandbagging is implying he watched or experienced cheating prior to the event and ignored it.

The Carl Spackler Open is not designed to reward a golfer who plays better than his statistical averages. It is designed to recognize a single golfer who has played better than everyone else who are all playing against their statistical averages. To win this event, a golfer would almost certainly post scores that are not believable to anyone including himself. THESE UNBELIEVABLE SCORES BY DEFINITION WILL RESEMBLE SANDBAGGING.

The following is a list that you might want to bring along on the trip. These items will not be provided.

1. Shampoo
2. Golf Clubs
3. Cigars & Cigarettes
4. Sunglasses
5. Ball Retriever
6. Medical Tape, Bandaids, Sunscreen, Chapstick
7. Cash
8. Umbrella
10. Bug Spray or Absorbine Jr.
11. Golf Shoes (soft spikes)
12. Golf Clothes (the course requires proper golf attire. Please review dress code note)
13. Golf Gloves (extra for potential rain)
14. Phone Charger
15. Golf Towels, plenty in case it is wet.
16. Golf Balls
17. Belt
18. Evening Clothes
19. Swimsuit.
20. Mow your lawn.
21. Koozie to keep your drink cool.
22. Phone numbers of your ride to/from airport.
23. Powder or Boxer Briefs to guard against chaffing.
24. Watch, bracelet, or chain.
25. Print this entire notebook for the airplane.
26. Toothpaste & Toothbrush.
27. Weigh Travel Bag for 50lb Airport limit.
28. Carl Spackler Open baseball hats.
29. Golden Jacket.
30. Mobile Phone Charger
31. Music Speaker

Golf shirts along with bermuda shorts. T-shirts, jogging apparel or denim of any kind is prohibited. Only soft spike golf shoes are allowed on the golf course, practice green, and driving range.

The tournament handicapping uses Poststats Points. These points are completely independent of Virtual Tournament handicaps. They will be set and printed a few days prior to the event.

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The handicap system is based on posted scorecards to the website, USGA Slope Rating, and yardage played. The USGA Slope Rating is a number (between 55 and 155) given to each tee box in America by the USGA. The number represents the difficulty to the average bogey golfer. The average USGA Slope Rating in America is 115.

Poststats.com uses total yardage played and USGA Slope Rating to apply a "course bonus" to each tee box in America. These bonus points are used to level the course difficulty and handicap each golfer participating in the Carl Spackler Open. The course bonus is not used at the Carl Spackler Open since all participants are playing the same course.

Each golfer is required to post 4+ scorecards to participate in the Carl Spackler Open. The handicap system and computer will use the last 15 posted scorecards regardless of year to determine a golfer handicap. The handicap system will omit the best scorecard and four worst scorecards from the previous 15 posted scorecards. It will tally the average number of birdies, pars, bogeys, double-bogeys, and triple-bogeys for each golfer. (Eagles are converted to birdies.)

The "personal profile" for each golfer has a date field for health setbacks. This field is used for heart attacks, strokes, broken legs, surgeries, and anytime past scorecards are not a representation of a golfer's skill level. The computer does not use scorecards prior to the date entered.

The goal of the handicap system is for each participant to score 60 points per round with their course bonus. For each golfer, the computer will use averages per round (birdie, par, bogey, double-bogey, triple-bogey) described above and cross check the database of 250 different "sets of points" for a set of points that will position each golfer to score 60 points. (Remember course bonus is not used at the Carl Spackler Open.)

The chances of one unknown high handicapped golfer dropping 30% of their strokes per hole over a 54-hole period is more than probable.

Poststats.com added "target points" to the handicapping system in the winter of 2007. The computer started raising point targets for the best golfers while still rewarding the high handicappers. The lower the stroke handicap, the more target points a golfer will receive. Golfers with a stroke handicap of +8 to +11 receive an elevated target to 62 points per round. Participants with a handicap +6 to +8 strokes are bumped to 63 points per round. Handicaps of +6 strokes have target of 64 points and +5 strokes get 65 points. Golfers with a handicap of +2 are targeted at 65 points per round. Jason Ridgeway presently has a negative stroke handicap and receives 67 points.

In addition to golf skill, golfers who play the same course 70 percent of the time will be given an elevated target of 1 point. This change also came in 2007. These "home course" participants will be given 2 points if they play the same course 90 percent of the time. These golfers statistically slip when leaving their home course. The point upgrade allows the entire tournament field to handicapped equally and remove scoring based on extensive course knowledge.

Poststats.com added another target increase in the winter of 2009 as a step to decrease Top 10 volatility and reward participants for posting scorecards. They modified the same target increase in the spring of 2011. Golfers who post scorecards per year (365 days) including past events registered with Poststats.com will receive an additional target point. Point targets will elevate by 1 point for every 4 scorecards posted with a maximum of 5 target points added. Jason Ridgeway's point target jumps to 71 points (A player) and Rick Dosky's (D player) point target jumps to 62 points.

The statisical handicapping detail for each golfer is available online. Golfers can visit the homepage and click "HANDICAPS" in the lower menu. Then click on their name.

The Carl Spackler Open is scored live, however they do allow both paper scorecard and mobile device. The mobile scoring website does not require access rights, however mobile scoring input requires access rights. Brian Long and Greg Long can provide access rights to score the tournament.

Greg Garrett, Brian Long, and Greg Long will be managing 8,000 scores. PLEASE CONSIDER THE SCORING TEAM ON YOUR VACATION. Scorecards with Mike, Jay, or J.D. are the opposite of clarity. Both golf carts must score the entire foursome.  Do not chicken scratch or circle birdies. Track points on your arm and personal stats on your leg.

We are looking for a clear unique name, 18 clearly written numbers, and circled scores to indicate holes with long putt made. Turn in both scorecards when totals are identical.

Mobile live scoring changes 50-year old golf behavior. Unless you plan to strap your cell phone to the golf cart steering wheel, the routine behavior to score has or will change.

1. Comfort. Carry small cell phones in your pocket or find a traditional space in the golf cart.

2. Battery Charge. Come to the golf course with full charge and your Spackler battery charger.

3. Share. Multiple golfers in your foursome can share the job and battery lives.

4. Integrity. Do not score birdies with plans to change it later. Long-term integrity is paramount.

The Clarion Inn Willow River will provide a deluxe continental breakfast served in the continental room. Enjoy your breakfast inside, or take in the fresh mountain air on our balcony overlooking the pool & lawn area.

Hot Biscuits & Gravy, Eggs,bacon, sausage, 3 types of cold cereals, 2 types of hot cereals, White & Wheat bread for toast, Bagels, Muffins, Donuts, Fresh Fruit Cocktail, 2% & Skim Milk, Orange Juice, Apple Juice & Coffee.

CLARION INN WILLOW RIVER
1990 Winfield Dunn Pkwy, Sevierville, TN 37862

Enjoy southern hospitality at its finest during your Tennessee adventure in Sevierville by staying at the Clarion Inn Willow River hotel near Dollywood Amusement Park, Smokey Mountains, and Sevierville Golf Club.

Our Sevierville hotel is less than 2 miles away from the golf course. The amenties include:
Free breakfast
Free WiFi
Fitness center
Indoor heated pool
Lazy River
All guest rooms include microwaves, refrigerators, coffee makers and private balconies with mountain or river views.

BOOGALOOS
815 Parkway Sevieville TN 37862

Boogaloos is a sports bar, tiki bar, and restaurant. The menu features: appetizers, wings, fresh salads, seafood dishes, Black Angus burgers, sandwiches and wraps, pizza, steak dishes, and desserts. Enjoy a little bit of the beach while vacationing or staying in the Smoky Mountains.  

includes daily food specials, full bar service, 15 HDTVs and an 8' TV for all your favoirte sporting action, happy hour from 3 pm until 7 pm, an outdoor sand pit with chairs, umbrellas and cornhole, pool tables, DJ's, Karaoke, open mic night, and live music entertainment every Friday night.

There is trivia on Thursday night. The number of tables available after 5:30PM get smaller by the minute.

THE ROAMING GNOME PUB & EATERY

This is an Irish bar and restaurant a few miles further than Boogaloos. The Roaming Gnome Pub & Eatery or "The Gnome" as locals refer, is located at 202 Collier Dr. Sevierville, TN in Govenor's Crossing.

It is a laidback informal pub, a great place to hang out and have a frosty cold beer. They do have a wide assortment of beverages including tea, coke products as well as over 75 beers to choose from and a multitude of spirits.

The bar opened spring of 2007 and always looking to make people feel at home. They offer a full menu from open till 2am everyday, including the "greatest" mouth watering cheeseburger in the country. We're known for having the largest food portions but not the largest price.

The golf course will store golf bags in the cart garage between your first round and last round of play. A personalized Carl Spackler Open bagtag will be distributed at the registration table before the afternoon practice round.

The biggest problem with golf course bag storage happens when 'mentally spaced out' golfers leave their wallet or keys in their golf bag. Please do not leave expensive watches or equivalent in golf bags. Please do not leave your $1,000 driver or your $300 putter with the golf course.

Golf bags will remain on the carts after golf each day and cart personnel will store them and likely stage carts for the next day of play.

GOLF COURSE
The event requested $2 beers at the golf course. We were told that $2 would be available inside the clubhouse only. That was written down by the golf course as "draft beers" inside the clubhouse only. Expect to pay $3.00 on golf course property.

HOTEL/BREAKFAST
The only beverages provided as part of the golf trip fee will occur during breakfast by the hotel and Saturday nights Awards Dinner. There will not be any other beverages purchased with golf trip funds.

The original request to Sevierville Golf Club was to play River (Wed), River (Thur), River (Fri), and River (Sat). The original request was to play Highlands (scramble) on Friday afternoon.

Sevierville immediately asked that we play Highlands twice on Friday to make things easier. Agreed.

At some point, Sevierville decided to put our event on the Highlands course for Thursday. There is an outing of more importance playing River on Thursday.

We are playing Highlands, Highlands, and River as tournament rounds.

There is a mobile scorer for 52 of the 55 pairings. There are 3 pairings in Round 1 without a mobile scorer. Let an event organizer know if you want access to score the tournament real-time.

Dosky, Rick
Boland, Matthew
Feazel, Todd
Jastrzebski, Bob Sr

Owens, Shane
Turner, Marty
Bean, Shawn
Saxe, Bruce

Sumner, Ken
Casey, Jake
Murray, Bill
Juanarena, Greg