MIDWEST DEAF GOLFERS ASSOCIATION
Annual Golf Tournament
Guidelines
Revised August 6, 2023
TOURNAMENT DATE:
The annual golf tournament of this association shall be held during the first week of August. If August 1 is on Wednesday, that is first week of August. If August 1 is on Thursday, that is not first week of August.
BIDDING:
Bids for the tournament site must be made four (4) years in advance. In order for the membership to consider a site, three (3) or more members from the bidding area must be present at the MDGA delegate meeting when a bid is made.
The host shall be required to make a deposit of $100 if a bid is successful, the deposit shall be placed in escrow and applied to proceeds from the tournament.
HOST GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
Host Chairperson and committee members:
Chairperson
Assistant Chairperson
Treasurer
Fund-raising Activities
Banquet Arrangements
Trophies
Prize Funds
Publicity Activities
Social Activities
Basic Entry Fee:
The host shall determine an entry fee, subject to the approval of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. An entry fee should include the following items: 1) membership fee, 2) registration fee, 3) prize fee, 4) green, cart, and lunch fee, and 5) banquet fee.
Prizes:
The host shall raise a minimum of $3000 for the tournament prize fund that is for Thursday prizes only.
Top 1/3 golfers will get prizes from Thursday either scratch or handicap. For instance, if a golfer’s name is on top 1/3 list on scratch and handicap. A golfer will get one prize that obtain higher prize from either scratch or handicap.
Prize fees paid by golfers that included on the entry form are based on total scores of two days tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday.
All golfers will get scratch and handicap prizes from total score of two days tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The scratch and handicap prizes fund results based on MDGA officers’ approval of prize fund splits.
The host shall collect the prize fees paid by golfers from the MDGA Treasurer.
The host shall collect the tournament prize fund raised by the member states of the MDGA ($250) from the MDGA Treasurer. The member states are listed in Article II of the By-Laws.
Work with MDGA officers to determine the prize payout to golfers. All golfers will receive no less than the amount of the prize fees paid by golfers based on total scores of two days tournament on scratch and handicap on Tuesday and Wednesday. All prizes are to be paid in cash or check. Gift certificates or merchandise will not be considered.
Work with MDGA officers to determine the prize payout to top 1/3 list on scratch and handicap on final round (Thursday) of the tournament.
Fundraising to earn minimum of $3000:
Suggestion to request donations from companies, organizations, clubs, business, fundraising such as lottery, Super Bowl, NBA, NCAA, World Series pool and more. Contact FWGAD, SEDGA, SWDGA, USDGC, state golf associations, and any other deaf golf events for sponsorship. Ask hole sponsorship for golf tournament tee signs.
Tournament Headquarters and Schedules:
Reserve a motel or hotel for the tournament headquarters. Refer to section H of the By-Laws of these guidelines.
The host shall reserve at least 40 rooms for the MDGA and MDLGA.
The motel/hotel shall provide the appropriate number of golfers for MDGA delegate meeting on Sunday at 7PM.
The motel/hotel shall provide 2 (two) general meeting rooms for appropriate number of golfers for Monday evening after the practice round (one room for the MDGA and one for the MDLGA).
Provide a platform for meetings visibility purposes.
The host shall set up a registration area in the lobby for use by the host committee and the MDGA Treasurer on Sunday and Monday evening. Set it up near the meeting rooms if possible.
The host shall ask the hotel for complimentary rooms for executive or committee use during the tournament. If not provided, then the host shall determine the best location in the hotel for such use.
The host shall hand the MDGA banner in delegate meeting, general meeting, and banquet.
The host shall plan some social activity for Tuesday and/or Wednesday evening, is possible.
The host shall provide interpreters wherever they are needed, such as at hotel check-in time, and any meetings with hotel or golf course personnel, if possible.
Draw a general map of the local area. Show the headquarters hotel and the golf courses. Include other places of interest such as restaurants, shopping malls, and sporting goods stores. For non-golfers, show sightseeing places of interest, if possible.
Spread the word of the MDGA website, www.mdga1947.org.
Place advertisements or flyers in local, state, and national publications for deaf readers, if necessary.
Contact the local newspaper about the MDGA/MDLGA tournament, if possible.
Purchase sashes for the MDGA queen and MDLGA king. MDGA President to meet with officers and host chairperson for the purpose of electing the MDGA queen. MDGA president, officers, and host chairperson should observe the personality, attitude, popularity, enthusiasm, and involvement among the ladies considered to be elected as the MDGA queen. The queen elected shall not be a previous MDGA queen and from the local area of the tournament.
Banquet dress code will be enforced for men (pants – no shorts and no jeans).
It is the host’s choice to provide the program book.
The host shall provide the financial report of income and expense for the tournament one year later and shall obtain $100 refund.
Golf Course Requirements:
Reserve the golf course(s). Refer to section G of the By-Laws of these guidelines.
The golf course shall be convenient to a nearby hotel, preferably within ten (10) miles. If this is not possible, then the golf course shall be an easy drive from the hotel by highway or freeway.
The golf course must be an official USGA slope-rated 18-hole layout. Par must be at least 70.
The golf course shall have tees for regular golfers to about 6,100 yards and tees for Senior golfers at about 5,900 yards. Super Seniors will play at women tee. This yardage guideline is based on a par 72 course.
The golf course shall have an above-average USGA slope rating. It shall be challenging for the better golfers and be fair for all golfers. It will be enjoyable for all golfers to play.
A slope rating of 130 or more is considered very difficult and is not recommended for the MDGA tournaments. If no other course is available, then the yardage of such a difficult course should be reduced to be fair to all golfers.
The golf course shall be well maintained.
The golf course shall have a practice putting green and a driving range.
The golf course shall have a sufficient number of golf carts for a shotgun start and extra carts for rangers, if needed.
The golf course shall have a clubhouse with an adequate pro shop, at least a snack bar serving food and drinks, and adequate seating capacity.
Reservation tee times about 2 hours slot around 8AM to 10AM for State Scramble Team on Monday morning (practice round).
Putting Contest on Tuesday afternoon after first round of tournament and lunch. Starts putting contest around 2PM.
Shoot out Contest on Wednesday afternoon after second round and lunch. The host shall decide if they want to host Shoot out Contest. The 10 (ten) golfers with the best scores of first two days from Open, Seniors, and Super Seniors will play 5 holes. The 2 (two) golfers with high strokes will be eliminated in each hole.
Establish contests such as closest to the pin, longest drive, and fewest putts either all three days or on last day only. On first two days, separate the Open, Seniors, and Super Seniors golfers. On the last day, hold separate contests based on each Open flights, Seniors flights, and Super Seniors flights.
The host shall purchase a polo shirt with the course logo from the pro shop for Open tournament champion and present it at the banquet.
Obtain a local volunteer photographer to capture the tournament in photographs, especially for group photographs and foursome, if possible.
Trophies:
The host shall purchase and/or solicit trophies for the tournament. Encourage to compare prices and quality of trophies from different companies. Try to obtain at wholesale prices, if possible. Order and purchase trophies and arrange for engraving. Arrange for trophies to be set up in a proper and safe place for display throughout the tournament. Arrange for distribution of trophies to winners. Trophies shall be distributed to:
Tournament Champion
Tournament Runner-Up
First Flight Champion
Second Flight Champion
Third Flight Champion
Seniors Champion
Seniors First Flight Champion
Seniors Second Flight Champion
Super Seniors Champion
Super Seniors First Flight Champion
State Team Champions (4 small trophies)
Most Improved Golfer – MDGA will pay to host.
Medalist – MDGA will pay to host.
Handicap Champion – Al Van Nevel Memorial is responsible to get the award.
Senior Handicap Champion – Dr. Frank B. Sullivan is responsible to get the award.
FLIGHTS:
The annual tournament is divided into for the final round.
Open, there are four (4) flights:
Open Championship Flight
Open First Flight
Open Second Flight
Open Third Flight
Seniors, there are three (3) flights:
Seniors Championship Flight
Seniors First Flight
Seniors Second Flight
Super Seniors, there are two (2) flights:
Super Seniors Championship Flight
Super Seniors First Flight
Super Seniors, there is one (1) 27-Hole flight:
With at least six (6) Super Senior golfers.
MDGA Responsibilities:
The association shall advertise on MDGA website (www.mdga1947.org).
The association shall collect the tournament entry forms.
The association shall collect the membership and registration fees from each entrant.
The association shall collect the prize, green, cart, lunch, and banquet fees from each entrant.
The association shall collect the MDGA prize fund from each of the member states. Each state shall raise $260 each year for this fund.
The association shall turn over the prize fees paid by golfers to the host.
The association shall turn over the green, cart, and lunch fees to the golf course.
The association shall turn over the banquet fees to the host.
The association shall turn over all prize fees and prize fund from each of the member state ($250) to the host.
The association shall collect the late fee after the deadline.
The association shall preside delegate meeting on Sunday evening and general meeting on Monday evening.
The association (Treasurer) shall pay green fees to the golf course for the tournament.
The association shall reimburse the host for the Most Improved Golfer and Medalist awards.
The association shall present the Hall of Fame awards at banquet on Thursday evening.
The three (3) trustees shall have the responsibility of keeping score and arranging foursomes for all three days of the tournament.
The association shall establish the rules of the tournament. In general, the USGA rules apply with a few exceptions as allowed by the MDGA.
- Winter rules are permitted both in the fairway and the rough.
- For out-of-bounds, the golfer will drop in the area the point where he crossed the out-of-bounds margin and hit from there with a one stroke penalty.
- For a lost ball, the golfer will drop in the area of the lost ball with a one stroke penalty.
- There is a maximum stroke limit. On a par 3, the limit is 6 strokes. The golfer enters 7 on the scorecard. On a par 4, maximum is 8. The golfer enters 9 on the scorecard. On a par 5, limit is 10. The golfer enters 11 on the scorecard. The golfer also enters 4 putts for that hole, no matter what.
The association shall mediate any disagreement among golfers within a group. A golfer may bring a compliant before the MDGA officers, provided there are other witnesses. The office may exercise their authority to remove a golfer from a tournament for his inappropriate behavior or action.