2013 Guidelines: Dues:   $300.00 - club dues go to the following causes:

 (1)   MGA handicap.

 (2)   SIGA dues.

 (3)   Esquire Club subsidies: ex. ALL rounds (game money for Official Season [April 6th - September 28), picnic (presidents), tournaments (prize money), awards dinner (food and trophies), and any other club expense that might occur during the year.

Schedule:  The President, following the previous season starting in DECEMBER, makes up the golf schedule. Poor course conditions such as (aerations, burnt out fairways, etc.), that we play throughout the year are not the president’s fault. Please refrain from complaining about the conditions, as it is beyond our control.  Please keep in mind that LaTourette is this clubs home course, so we must be careful in canceling rounds at that venue. The courses that are chosen are basically done through word of mouth or preference.

Game Closed / Tee Times: On the schedule there is a game closed time and a tee time. The games closed time is the latest a member can show up at the scheduled course. The tee time is the time that the club is scheduled to have the 1^st tee. In the event a player misses the closed game time, the club will try to accommodate the player to play golf or get in scats and skins. Under no circumstances will the committee re-do the game once it’s closed.

Tournaments and Away rounds: All Tournaments and Away rounds require a sign up can be done by contacting any of the 5 Board Officers by phone, email or text as well as emailing the clubs website found below. The sign up often times is required so that we may prepare for the tournaments in advance at our Committee meeting. Also, we are obligated to notify the Away courses of our total number of members that will be attending so they can block out the correct amount of tee-times to accommodate our club. The deadline for signing up for Tournaments and Away rounds is Wednesday night of the week before the tournament or away round.

Cancellation Policy for Tournaments and Away rounds: To cancel after you have signed up for a Tournament or Away round, you must contact any of the 5 Board Officers by phone, email or text by No later than Wednesday 8:00 pm of the week before the tournament or away round, unless otherwise posted. Under no circumstances will a member be allowed to cancel after this deadline. Any cancellation past the deadline will result in the member being penalized the amount of the greens fee for that particular week, NO EXCEPTIONS! (One other option for canceling after the deadline is that the member trying to cancel may contact another member that is not on the sign up list to take their spot. In this scenario, it is the responsibility of the member who is canceling to contact one of the officers with the name of the member that is replacing him. Should either member not show, the canceling member will be responsible for the penalty).

Requesting Early Tee Times: The club does not have a policy on how many times a member goes out early. However, it will be recorded how many requests the member makes. In the event that a member requests to go out early and other members also request early that same day, the committee will work out the tee times. Please keep in mind that a member who hasn’t made the request as much will get preference. In the event a member does request to go out early, (for legitimate reasons other than preference, e.g. Work, Party, Engagement, etc.), that member should play the round and then leave. If by any chance a member requests to go out early and doesn’t leave, he will forfeit his right to request the rest of the year. No exceptions.

The Game: every week captains pick teams. In the event we are playing an individual tournament, the committee may select teams off the sheet, (based on handicap). This team event is known as “THE GAME”.  The Secretaries along with the Vice-President selects the team game format with the following in mind:(1)  How many members are in the game(2) What is the quality of captains (strong, weak or close in talent)Once the above two questions are answered, they will select a game. Ex – best ball, 2 best balls, 2 ball 3 ball, quota, handicap game or anything else they think will be competitive keeping fairness in mind. The game is played in a front, back and overall format. If 2 or more teams tie a particular side then the teams in question will split the prize money.The teams are selected by the members with the lowest handicaps in the club. These players are known as "Captains". Once the number of captains needed is determined, the picking of the team process begins. If the spread between the lowest handicap captain and the highest handicap captain is 3 or lower, we will draw cards for the 1^st pick. If the spread is 4 or higher, then the 1^st pick will be made in handicap order, from highest to lowest. Once the 1^st picks are chosen, we will add up the team handicaps to determine the selection order for remaining picks, (from highest to lowest).                                                                                                                                                     

Scats: A scat is when a player records the lowest score on any hole for the day. When 28 or more players show up, the club plays class "A" & class "B" scats. This is worked out by cutting the players in half. The first half is "A"; the second half is "B". The way it works is the number of scats divides the scat prize money. If there is $160 dollars in the scat pool and if there are 3 "A" scats & "5" B scats, that would be $160 divided by 8 scats equaling $20 per scat. When team scats are played we do not play "A" & "B" scats. If 2 teammates make a birdie on the same hole, it will not be knocked off. In the event that there are no scats, then the scat pool money would go into the team game.

Skins: The club usually runs the skins game, but it is not a club function, so it’s an optional part of the game. The cost is $10 which makes a player eligible to win skins and/or closest to pin prize. Your $10 equates to $0.50 per hole ($9) and $1 to the closest to pin(s). If 24 players get in skins that would make each hole worth $12 and the closest to the pin pool would be $24. The skins game is run like the scat pool. However, if a hole gets knocked off the prize money will go to the next hole. We call these carryovers. If a player gets a skin on the 1^st hole and no player gets a skin on the 18^th and 17^th hole, the player who received the skin for the 1^st hole would get 3 skins, (for holes 1,18, & 17). If a player is not in the skins game he is not eligible to win a closest to the pin in the skins game, so do not write your name down on the Closest to the Pin card. In the event that a player forgets to write his name on the card for closest to the pin, that’s rub of the green and he is NOT ENTITLED to the pin based on verbal confirmation of his Foursome. There will be no discussions on how a player hit it 3 feet and forgot to write his name down. Whichever name is on the card when the last group of the day comes in is declared the winner. If the skins game has 2 closest to the pin holes and there is 1 hole that doesn’t have a winner than that pin prize money will go to the second pin winner. If they both have no winners, than the total pin money will go into the skin pool.  In the event that there are no skins, then the skin money would go to the skins closest to the pin winners.

Closest to Pins: Each week there will be a closest to pin competition on ALL par 3 holes, unless otherwise stated on the daily rules. Every player is eligible to win the prize. The prize is $10 unless otherwise specified. If there is a hole that does not have a winner, the prize money for that hole will go back in the Esquire Treasury.

Rules of the Game: Each week we will have a committee member check the golf course out to decide if any local rules are to be played. The committee will decide how we play the ball. Until further notice the only options on how to play the ball are: down all over, up in your own fairway (1 club length), up all over (1 club length). The bunkers are played as Place Only (1 grip length) unless otherwise noted. Any local changes will be decided before the round starts, for example… "We will play the ball down all over except on hole # 10 where we will play up in your own fairway". The rules committee will respond to any ruling that needs a decision, which might have occurred during the round. 

Tournaments: throughout the season the club will run various tournaments with different formats. 

Spring Championship: 2 rounds full handicap medal (stroke) play.  

2 Man MGA: this is played 90% handicap. 2 man team’s best ball format - (handicap limitation provided by the MGA annually).

 2 Man Memorial: this is played at a 90% handicap. 2 man team’s best ball format.

 Presidents Tournament: the committee will make the teams as fair as possible. The format for this event is 2 weeks quota. The quota point system is: 1 point for bogey, 2 for par, 4 for birdie, 6 for eagle and 8 for double eagle. Every year, there will be a barbecue following the second round. This is probably one of most successful events through the years so please make every effort to try and play. 

Club Championship: this tournament is the most important tournament of the year. The format for this event is "Medal Play".  The flights will be broken out by dividing into equal amounts of players. In the event that we do not have an equal number of flights, then we will work from the highest handicaps up. Every member is eligible to win the club championship regardless of the flight that they are in.
The Club Champion will get an automatic exemption into the Staten Island Amateur Richmond County qualifier provided he is an Esquire representative. If the Club Champion is not an Esquire representative, the runner-up will get the exemption provided that he is an Esquire representative. If neither is a representative of the Esquire Golf Club, the exemption will be forfeited. You must participate in 25% of the available rounds to be eligible to play in the club championship.

2 Man Ringer Tournament: this tournament is the most fun. The event is played 2-man team’s full handicap. The team records the lowest score on each hole for the 2 weeks.

***** Please note that on the 2 week tournaments you will be required to pay week 1 green fee, week 1 game money, and week 2 game money. For all of the 2 week events we will assign tee times for the 2^nd week.***** 

THERE WILL BE NO EARLY OR LATE REQUESTS ACCEPTED FOR ANY TOURNAMENTS. 

THE 5 OFFICERS WILL HAVE A MEETING BEFORE ALL OF THE ABOVE TOURNAMENTS AND CONFER WITH THE RULES CHAIRMAN TO DOCUMENT ANY RULES THAT MUST BE POSTED PRIOR TO THE START OF THE EVENT.

 CLUB GUEST POLICY:  All members may invite any guest (2) times during the official season. If a non-member is asked by the club to help meet an attendance requirement, these rounds WILL NOT count against the 2 round maximum. A guest will be able to play in the game if he has a USGA handicap. There will be no guessing. If you bring a guest without a handicap, please note that the player will only be allowed in "A" scats, skins, and pins.

ETIQUETTE: The Esquire Golf Club is a social gathering between friends and acquaintances on a weekly basis. We play golf because we love the game, the competition and friendships we made on and off the course. Please try to remember that we should be considerate to the feelings of others in our club. Under no circumstances will the club allow an individual to ruin the reputation of our club. If another member lodges a complaint due to conduct within our club, the officers will have a meeting to discuss the situation. At that time it will be discussed what should be done, Suspension, probation, expulsion or nothing at all. Some matters might be made an SIGA issue. Please do not put yourself in a position to embarrass yourself or the club.  

Morning Game Scores: We are requiring members to put in their morning games scores from the white tees this year. If you hit a ball out of bounds you should add a stroke to your score for that hole for adjustment purposes. 

 Handicap Posting: All scorecards should be handed to handicap chairman within 2 weeks of playing that round. All delayed scorecards will not be posted. When posting these scores you should use slope 71.0, and course rating of 119, please note "morning game' on any scorecards handed in to the club.

 Suspensions: All issues regarding a member of the Esquire club will be handled by the 5 officers. In the event that a suspension is deemed warranted by the officers after meeting on the issue, we will follow precedence set forth from past incidents. The 1^st offense will result in a suspension lasting up to and including the 1^st round of the next tournament. Any 2^nd offense will be met with a board to discuss the length of the suspension. The 2^nd offense penalty must be longer than the 1^st offense in length of weeks. A 3^rd offense will result in an immediate lifetime ban from the club. Any suspension or ban is open to an appeal by the member to the board, and possibly the entire membership.    

INTERCLUB- There is an SIGA Interclub tournament that allows the 5 clubs to compete in a Ryder Cup format. The interclub has 2 divisions A and B. All Esquire members in good standing are eligible for this event. The teams are selected by a point system. Members accumulate points based on their performance throughout the year. The "A" team is based on Total Points and the "B" team is based on Quota. Members will receive points on a weekly basis from 1 to however many players show up that week. For example, if 27 players show up then the Most points will get 27 points and the Least points will get 1 point. The same goes for the "B" team only we use the Quota figures. The club champion will get an automatic bid in the "A" Division, so that leaves 7 spots available. The Highest 6 point total members, (excluding the Club champion), will make the team. The officers will select the 8^th pick. In the event the top 6 can’t make the rounds for any reason, or if a non- representing member finishes in the top 6, these spots will automatically go to the officers to choose. The officers may use the opinions of the members that are already on the team to help decipher the picks. The same system will be applied for the "B" team, with the exception of any of the top 7 that are on the "A" team. In this case, we will go to the next member on the list.  

 2013 COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Rules: Tom Gitto (Chairman), and the 5 Board Officers.--They will make all rulings that are needed on the golf course. They will be responsible for letting the officers know how we are playing the ball that day and any local rules that need to be posted.

Tournament Committee: Chris Panza (Chairman) ~ John Pirrone, Vin Pontieri, Bobby Wags--They will run all of the club tournaments. They are responsible for getting together with the rules committee on any rules that need to be posted.

Handicap: Vin DiCrescento (Chairman)

Membership: The (5) Board Officers.-- They are responsible for playing with any prospective members keeping the following rules in mind.1. Did the player break 95 and has he shown the ability to break 95 on a consistent basis?2. Does the player show that he could get along with other members in the club?3. Does the player display proper golf etiquette?4. Does the player have some knowledge of the Rules of Golf?