The following course tips arrived this morning by request from Mountain Valley.

MOUNTAIN COURSE
Hole 1 - Driveable.
Hole 3 - 197 yards from CSO tee to clear marsh.
Hole 5 - The hole is as straight as you see.
Hole 7 - Stay left.
Hole 12 - Stay right near tiny pines.
Hole 13 - Largest green.
Hole 14 - Straight.
Hole 18 - Straight.

VALLEY COURSE
Hole 2 - 237 yards straight down. 274 yards to 150 yard marker.
Hole 10 - 239 yards to layup. 262 to clear water.
Hole 11 - 228 yards to layup. 250 yards to clear water.
Hole 13 - 247 yards to single mound on left.
Hole 15 - 257 yards to layup.

The player meeting will be held after the initial golf bag storage on Thursday evening. There are several organizational/logistical communications for each golfer to understand prior to the meeting.
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TRADITIONAL 2:15PM PRACTICE ROUND

Everyone must register with Jay Myers or Jay Dilks on Thursday before the 2:15PM Practice Round. Please do not collect or sign-in someone else. The red table with the Carl Spackler Open logo will be stationed near the practice range. Golfers will collect gifts, tag, purchases, and pairing sheet.

GOLF CARTS WILL NOT BE MOVED PRIOR TO THE SHOTGUN START with minor planned exceptions. Golfers can head directly from the parking lot to the practice range.

Mountain Valley has been instructed to provide a barbeque with beverages outside the clubhouse during the Practice Round. This food and beverage IS NOT INCLUDED in your golf trip fee. Please do not delay golf inside the clubhouse ordering food and beverages.

Please read your pairing sheet for scoring expectations, color of tee, course knowledge, etc. There are 8,000 scores to enter this week. Please do not use Jay, Mike, or J.D. as names on scorecards. Both carts for each foursome should complete a scorecard. Both cards should be turned in for the practice round.
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BAG STORAGE

Mountain Valley will gladly provide bag storage for everyone, but each golfer is responsible to make sure their personalized bag tag is attached to their golf bag and bag is properly stored. DO NOT DROP OFF A GOLF CART AND WALK AWAY. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR GOLF BAG STORAGE.

Place your street shoes in your golf bag before leaving your parked vehicle on Thursday. Get in the habit of switching out your street shoes with your golf shoes when acquiring and dropping off a golf cart.
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PLAYER MEETING & DINNER

DINNER IS INCLUDED as part of the golf trip fee after the initial bag storage. Cheese steaks, chicken wings, and pierogies will be served. Alcoholic beverages ARE NOT INCLUDED. The clubhouse bar will be open. A meeting will be held on the clubhouse deck after initial bag storage on Thursday.
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OPTIONAL 7:45AM PRACTICE ROUND

There will be 12 pairing sheets distributed at the golf course for the 12 golfers without a Wednesday night hotel reservation. Dave Osborne will be distributing those remaining pairing sheets.

GOLF CARTS WILL NOT BE MOVED PRIOR TO THE SHOTGUN START with minor planned exceptions. Golfers can head directly from the parking lot to the practice range. The start time is 7:35AM with shotgun start at 7:45AM.

Return all golf carts to the "cart drop off area" when finished with 18 holes. Everyone (regardless of seniority) must gather their belongings and re-cart for the Traditional 2:15PM Practice Round. There are 30 minutes scheduled between rounds if the first round takes 6 hours.

Both scorecards for each pairing must be given to Greg Garrett or Chris Philipsen.
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WEDNESDAY NIGHT HOTEL RESERVATIONS

There will be two Pairing Sheets for Thursday, June 9; one for each round. The pairing sheet for the 7:45AM optional practice round will be available in the hotel lobby for all hotel reservations. These sheets have non-golf related information and available in the hotel lobby before 5:00AM on Thursday.

The top two nightspots in Hazleton, PA (an opinion) bankrupted last fall. Timber's Lounge is located inside the Comfort Inn. There will be a social inside Timber's Lounge on Wednesday night for interested golfers.

Check-in at the hotel requires a credit card. The room charge is paid, however one credit card will be used for incidentals and damage.

Breakfast on Thursday will be served starting at 6:00AM. It takes a knowledgeable driver 23 minutes to get to the golf course.

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.

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4-MAN TEAM HANDICAPPING
The 4-man Scramble is handicapped using Poststats Points. The handicapping allows a team of five preferred partners regardless of skill to compete equally with a team of three preferred partners who experienced a last minute cancellation from their best player.

The computer handicaps a team by first determining the stroke handicap of the best player. As an example, Jason Ridgeway has a 0 handicap. The computer sets his team baseline handicap at 0. The computer then searches the team for its second best player. It uses hundreds of scramble statistics to determine the value of the 2nd best player. As an example, Mike Davis (A player) would contribute 7 strokes. The team baseline handicap is adjusted downward to -7 strokes. The computer searches the team for its third best player. As an example, Chad Long (C player) would contribute 3 strokes. The team baseline handicap adjusts downward to -10 strokes. The computer searches the team for its fourth and possibly fifth best player. It lowers the team stroke handicap to -12 strokes. Each stroke handicap from -22 to +22 have a corresponding set of Poststats Points. The points for the team are set.

The computer handicaps based on general scramble statistics and USGA Stroke Handicap Indexes. It does not handicap using driving distance per player or putting skills of each participant.

The website has been updated for event text messaging. Participants who supply their cell phone carrier and cell phone number within their personal profile will receive real-time text messages during the golf trip.

Some hypothetical examples of event text messages could include:
(1) Weather in area. Stay on course. Stop playing golf.
(2) Weather in area. Return to clubhouse immediately.
(3) Weather is clear. Resume golf tournament.
(4) Bus departure delayed to 10:15PM.
(5) Shotgun start begins in 10 minutes. Proceed to starting hole.
(6) Darkness. Return to clubhouse.
(7) Clubhouse dinner delayed to 7:30PM.
(8) Bobby Owens hit hole-in-one at 3rd hole.

There are four steps to updating your cell phone carrier.
(1) Sign-in.
(2) Click 'My Poststats.com' at the top of any page.
(3) Click on the pencil (in your profile) next to the cell phone number.
(4) Update carrier and click the save button.

The golf trip fee will include coach bus service between the hotel and golf course on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There will be two coach buses per day. There are 47 seats on each bus.

The coach buses have plenty of space in the luggage area for returning golf clubs to the hotel on Sunday night.

No alcohol is permitted in either of the buses.

Both buses will depart the hotel at the same time on Saturday to accommodate the shotgun start. The two buses will depart the hotel on Friday at different times to accommodate the Yuengling Brewery Tour. Golfers will be assigned a bus on Sunday based on tee time.

Please do not stand in the hotel lobby waiting on your buddy. Please grab a seat on the bus five minutes before departure.

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

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.

GOLF COURSE
The event has secured a fair $2 beer price at the golf course. 'Exposing' outside alcohol 'can' cause unnecessary problems. Golf carts do not have mounted coolers like 'South Padre Island' and 'Poplar Grove' in Virginia, however Mountain Valley will supply bags/coolers with plenty of ice. There is a sign near the cart loading area reminding golfers about no personal beverages.

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

HOTEL/TIMBER'S LOUNGE
The hotel has a fully stocked bar inside the hotel. The bar will be open nightly until 2:00AM.

DAMON'S BAR & GRILL
Located approximately 400 yards west of the hotel.

BOTTLENECKS SALOON
Located approximately 1/2 mile east of the hotel.
http://www.btlncks.com/

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.

Some trophies and awards won last year should be engraved where appropriate and brought back for annual distribution. Please see Jason Watson in regards to any award.

Kitchen Pass Award
Crapper Award
Skills Challenge Award
Horses Ass Trophy
Rookie of the Year
Championship Trophy
Webb Plaque
Rusty Rod Plaque
Golden Rod Plaque

Past winners should return with their Golden Jacket.

Participants can purchase existing inventory through the 'Shop Carl' process. The following items will be sold during the Thursday player meeting. Special sized envelopes will be provided for name, item purchased, and amount. Shop Carl will not provide change.

Logo Ball Markers - 4 for $3.00
Logo Baseball Cap - $10.00
Logo 2-pack Cooler - $15.00
Logo Divot Repair Tool - $8.00
Logo Caddy Towel - $20.00
One-Logo Umbrella - $10.00 (Blue, Red, Black)
Four-Logo Umbrella - $15.00 (Blue, Red, Black)

The baseball hats are sold in various colors.

The 54-hole tournament has experienced completely dry conditions once in 10 years. The tournament will be played in rain, but not in a heavy downpour. The tournament could be adjusted to 36 holes on Saturday or Sunday due to bad weather. The Skills Challenge and 4-man Scramble in this order will be activities removed from the itinerary if needed. The tournament can also be adjusted for 27 holes on Friday or Saturday if heavy rain is expected on Sunday. The Daily Pairing Sheets will be updated every night and text messages will be sent for all rain delays.

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 Comfort Inn in West Hazleton, PA is the choice lodging to host the 2011 Carl Spackler Open.

Check-in time is 3:00PM EST. If your room is ready, you may check-in very early. Early check-in's are not guaranteed and should not be expected.

The Comfort Inn includes high-speed wireless Internet. It also includes breakfast.

All attendees will not receive a key for the room without a personal credit card. Your room + taxes is paid, however all damages, phone calls, room service and pay movies are participant responsibility.

There is a 24-hour Perkins Restaurant next door to the Comfort Inn. There is a Damon's Bar & Grill approximately 400 yards west of the hotel.

The hotel is located 6 miles south of the I-81/I-80 interchange. The hotel can also be found 1/2 mile east on Route 93 of Exit 145 off I-81.

58 State Route 93
West Hazleton, PA 18202-8009

The following consists of two lists that you might want to bring along on the trip. The second list are items received at a previous Carl Spackler Open. 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. Digital Camera
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.
28. Weigh Travel Bag for 50lb Airport limit.
29. Shoes covering entire foot for brewery tour.
30. Carl Spackler Open baseball hats.
31. Golden Jacket.

Mountain Valley Golf Course has 36 different holes. The 2011 54-hole tournament will be played using 36 different holes. There will be two practice rounds this year. Both rounds are shotgun format.

EXPLANATION
Daily Pairing Sheets contain tournament pairings, tee times, starting hole, leaderboard, contest information, schedule of events, transportation schedules and procedures, tournament rules, scoring procedures, player courtesies, entertainment information, golf handicap information, etc..

Pairing Sheets include important non-golf information.

The most important thing you can do to help the event organizers is to secure your daily pairing sheet like your wallet. Secure it until you receive the next pairing sheet, which can be the following day. The large event is managed and coordinated daily from 6:00AM to 2:00AM using these pairing sheets. The sheets are tri-fold duplex designed for your back pocket and provide a well organized event.

Daily Pairing Sheets will be distributed by Brian Long and Dave Osborne. Pairings are never final until you have a pairing sheet in your hand due to last minute changes.

The Pairing Sheet distribution schedule is as follows...

(1) Optional Practice Round (Thursday AM) - Available in hotel lobby around 5:00PM on Wednesday, June 8. Dave Osborne on Thursday, June 9 for the 12 golfers without a Wednesday night hotel reservation.

(2) Traditional Practice Round (Thursday PM) - Distribution from registration table at Mountain Valley.

(3) Round 1 (Friday PM) - On Buses.

(4) Round 2 (Saturday AM) & 4-man Scramble (Saturday PM)- On Buses.

(5) Round 3 (Sunday AM) - To be announced.

www.mtvalleygolf.com

The following link provides a view of the facility.
http://wwwpoststats.virtual.vps-host.net/public/mtvalley.jpg

Mountain Valley Golf Course can be a very tight golf course with dense forest surrounding each fairway. Please make sure your golf bag is stocked accordingly.

Golf carts WILL NOT BE MOVED on Thursday and Saturday before each shotgun start. Carts will be staged each day for play. Golfers must enter the cart garage and retrieve their golf bag each morning and store it each night. Golf carts can be taken to the practice range on Friday and Sunday.

Mountain Valley will be selling food and beverages each day outside the clubhouse to speed up play. Please do not enter the clubhouse and order food.

Mountain Valley will be preparing a BBQ on Friday afternoon for consumption after Round 1. Please support Mountain Valley and Carl Spackler Open by making things efficient before the deck party.

The Carl Spackler Open will be played from the Carl Spackler Open tees. This is the first golf tournament using this tee. The total yardage for each course will be the traditional 6,450. Golfers above the age of 50 years CAN move up one color from the Carl Spackler Open tee.

The event starts on Thursday, June 9 @ 2:15PM with the practice round. The event concludes with the Awards Presentation on Sunday, June 12 @ 10:15PM.

The trip itinerary is available online by clicking CALENDAR. The evenings are entirely based on pace of play at the golf course. The pace of play target is a maximum of 5 hours. The itinerary is based on 6 hours for 18 holes. The itinerary is pushed back depending on pace of play. Text messages will be sent with itinerary modifications caused by pace of play and weather delays.

There are 90 minutes of tee times when the group dual tees. This 3-hour window (1 1/2 hours of tee times and 1 1/2 hours of finishing) of golfing time allows plenty of time for the tournament to get organized, practice, eat, take pictures, socialize, and score the tournament.

The player meeting has been moved to Thursday after the practice round.

The golf trip fee will include 6 meals.

The Comfort Inn will provide a buffet breakfast each morning. The breakfast will include eggs, waffles, sausage, pastries, toast, juice, and coffee.

There will be two dinners included in the golf trip fee. The dinners will be served at the clubhouse after golf on Thursday and Sunday.

Timbers Lounge is located inside the hotel. The cook will be keeping the kitchen open until 10:00PM for dinner and 12:00AM for appetizers.

A 24-hour Perkins Family Restaurant shares the parking lot with the Comfort Inn. It is open 24-hours.

The event will have its first ever registration table. Each golfer must register or sign-in at the table/tent 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.

The registration table will most likely be setup near the practice range at Mountain Valley Golf Course.

The table will be setup during the optional 7:45AM shotgun practice round. Golfers playing 36 holes must register with our table after their first 18 holes on Thursday.

The following is an explanation regarding roommates and golf pairings for the Carl Spackler Open. Participant preferences were collected from the option selector in March 2011 and reviewed.

PAIRINGS
The daily golf pairings are not finalized until you have a pairing sheet in your hand. There are rounds of golf on Thursday morning, Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday. All pairings for all rounds are built starting with the rookies and their top preference. The rest of the pairings are based on the thousands of preferences collected and then moved around for pace of play reasons.

Note: Playing on another team inside an eightsome is considered a match in regards to playing preferences.

Pairings for the final round on Sunday are set based on reverse leaderboard order through Round 2. Exactly like the PGA Tour with the exception of Chris Philipsen and Greg Garrett who will play first and score the tournament off the 18th green.

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 Wednesday night reservations, best interests of the collective group, and suggestions provided by the participants.

There are 30 rooms with two queen beds. There are 10 rooms with one king bed and one sofa bed. There are 10 rooms with one queen bed and one sofa bed. Beds are distributed using roommate selection and golfer signing date.

There are two holes at Mountain Valley located 30 to 50 yards from Interstate 81.

Directions from I-81/Route 54 or Exit #131 Mahanoy City are as follows.

(1) Morea Road (no road sign) is located at the bottom of the south bound exit ramp. If you are exiting northbound, you will feel like you are going under the highway, turning around, and getting back on the I-81 south. You want this road regardless. DO NOT GET BACK ON I-81.

(2) Follow this road (Morea Road) for approximately 1 mile and take the first left turn. (You will see a large sign for Mountain Valley Golf Course) This is State Route 1011.

(3) Follow this road for approximately 1 mile making left at sign and driveway for Mountain Valley.

It takes about one hour to play 18 holes of golf. The other 2 ½ to 4 ½ 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 2011 Carl Spackler Open will be played for the first time from the Carl Spackler Open tee. The yardage for both courses is set to the traditional 6,450.

Golfers above the age of 50 can move up one tee color.

Holes 3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 15, and 16 of the Mountain course will be played from the traditional blue tee yardage. Hole 13 of the Mountain course will be played from the traditional white tee yardage. Holes 2, 3, and 6 of the Valley course will be played from the traditional blue tee yardage. Hole 4 and 12 will be played from the traditional white tee yardage. The rest of the holes will be played from the traditional gold tee yardages.

VALLEY COURSE
http://golf.poststats.com/c?courseID=1306&n=scorecard
MOUNTAIN COURSE
http://golf.poststats.com/c?courseID=667&n=scorecard

Timber's Lounge is located inside the Comfort Inn. The kitchen will remain open until 10:00PM with appetizers being available until midnight. There will be a band playing Saturday night.

Mountain Valley has a large deck. There will be band playing between 6:00PM and 10:00PM on both Friday and Sunday night.

Bottlenecks Saloon is additionally available for golfers.
http://www.btlncks.com/

The Carl Spackler Open tee will be played from approximately 6,450 yards. Participants older than 50 years of age can move up one tee color with no penalty.

LOST BALL OR POSSIBILITY OF LOST BALL: The first option is to hit a provisional from the original spot. Then play the provisional ball if your first ball cannot be found. The second option is to drop in the area of where it was last seen with a two-stroke penalty. If your 1st shot is lost, taking a drop where the ball was last seen means you are hitting your 4th shot.

OUT OF BOUNDS: Balls cannot be played or fetched when they cross the white-staked hazards. They are out of bounds. Your options are identical to the lost ball rule stated above.

RED STAKES: Balls CAN BE played from inside the red-staked hazards. By penalty of one stroke, you drop within two club lengths from where the ball crossed the stakes. Another option is to hit from the original spot with 1 stroke penalty. If your first shot went into the hazard, take a drop outside the red stakes and hit your 3rd shot.

YELLOW STAKES: Balls CAN BE played from inside the yellow-staked hazards. By penalty of one stroke, you may drop anywhere in the line of the shot including the original spot. If your first shot went into the hazard, take a drop in the line of your shot and hit your 3rd 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 double-bogey and triple-bogey. Golfers cannot use drop zones regardless of 'golf course' rules. Golfers who hit a ball into the water should move up a tee and hit again. 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.

Greg Garrett and Chris Philipsen will be entering 8,000 scores this coming week. 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.

The Carl Spackler Open 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 accounting line items two weeks after the event. Our financial officer, Rick Dosky, and Greg Long have small envelopes in our golf bags. Do not hand Rick Dosky money without an envelope. Golfers are expected to write their name, amount, and description of purchase on the envelope.

CARTING

All golfers must turn in their golf cart from Round 2 and obtain a new cart for the replay.

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FORMAT

The 4-man Scramble will be played on Saturday afternoon and evening. It will be teed using a shotgun format with two four-man teams (eightsomes) on each hole. We will be using Poststats Points to determine the winner.

The eightsome format is designed for additional camaraderie and fun. It will naturally slow down pace of play. Please do what you can to keep a 4 1/2 hour round. This can involve telling your best friend to move faster for the best interests of the golf trip.

The 4-man Scramble will be played as a traditional scramble with some exceptions. This event requires scorecards to be filled for each team by each team to ensure scorecard integrity.

All teams must pickup and move to the next hole when shooting for zero points. The sun will set at 8:36PM.

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THROWS

Each participant will be granted one "throw" during the round. A "throw" is an advancement of the team ball without taking a stroke.

Teams must take a minimum of one stroke per hole. The ball must be thrown with your hand/arm and there are no running starts. Both feet must remain on the ground throughout the throw.

There are no mulligan throws and a ball advanced into the sand trap will be played from the sand trap. A ball on the green cannot be advanced using a "throw". The fringe is not the green.

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HANDICAPPING

The 4-man Scramble is handicapped using Poststats Points. The handicapping allows a team of five preferred partners regardless of skill to compete equally with a team of three preferred partners who experienced a last minute cancellation from their best player.

The computer handicaps a team by first determining the stroke handicap of the best player. As an example, Jason Ridgeway has a 0 handicap. The computer sets his team baseline handicap at 0. The computer then searches the team for its second best player. It uses hundreds of scramble statistics to determine the value of the 2nd best player. As an example, Mike Davis would contribute 7 strokes. The team baseline handicap is adjusted downward to -7 strokes. The computer searches the team for its third best player. As an example, Chad Long would contribute 3 strokes. The team baseline handicap adjusts downward to -10 strokes. The computer searches the team for its fourth and possibly fifth best player. It lowers the team stroke handicap to -12 strokes. Each stroke handicap from -22 to +22 have a corresponding set of Poststats Points. The points for the team are set.

The computer handicaps based on general scramble statistics and USGA Stroke Handicap Indexes. It does not handicap using driving distance per player or putting skills of each participant.

Mountain Valley has 36 holes. An 11-year annual outing will be playing the Mountain course on Friday, June 10. The Carl Spackler Open will be playing the Valley course. The Valley course does not return to the clubhouse until the 18th hole. The 2nd hole and 11th hole start at the exact same place. The terrain is not flat.

Friday's Dual Tee will begin at the 2nd and 11th holes.

Golfers will be supplied directions on Thursday night. The directions will include a 'no parking policy' on a cart path unless teeing. The 10th fairway will have plenty of parking with signs pointing drivers to this location.

Tents are expected to be setup in the area where golfers can purchase beer and some food. There will also be a crapper.