2008 Howell Park Thursday Flight
the nastiest hole at howell... good thing we never play it...

Welcome to the 2008 Howell Park Thursday flight! For those of you who haven't played Howell yet this year, there are a few (at least two) pleasant surprises. This package contains most of the information that you'll need to get started, including your release form, schedule, and the first week's pairings. Here are some other important details:

• Schedule: The first night of play will be May 1st, at Howell, unless the course is closed. The first match parings are here. You can click on the value in your handicap column to see your handicap sheet. I have not yet decided whether or not to schedule an off-week July 3rd. The Hominy Hill-Thursday vs Howell Park-Thursday match is not yet scheduled.
• Web-Site: The League's official web-site is http://www.hogolf.net - feel free to drop by and look around. Weekly match results, and statistics, will get posted at the flight's web-site. I've patched up most of the previous years' pages so that results, stats, etc, are accessible, but do report dead links if you encounter them. The webmaster is enforcing more new style guidelines, so get used to the new look and feel.... Note: The Holmdel Golf League website has moved from a privately hosted web server to a professional hosting service (FutureQuest). If you see anything broken, let me know.
• League Fees/Prizes: I'm open to doing the whole thing without prizes, if it makes folks happier. Less work for me. This option is so attractive to me that I'll pay the webserver fee all by myself!

  Otherwise, if we keep prizes:

  League fees are $10. Failure to pay dues by our May 29th match will result in a suspension of your right to sign up next year. The fee supports our flight's $10 contribution for the privately hosted web server (see above), plus the prize pool.

  We're still playing for cash, not Top-Flites. Distribution will be as follows:

  First Half - 1st Place (per player)	$15
  First Half - 2nd Place (per player)	$10
  First Half - 3rd Place (per player)	$5
  Second Half - 1st Place (per player)	$15
  Second Half - 2nd Place (per player)	$10
  Second Half - 3rd Place (per player)	$5
  Flight Champions (per player)	$10
  Most Improved (individual)	$10
  Total Prizes	$150
  Web Server Fee	$10
  Total Collected	$160

  We'll also continue the $2 weekly low-net pool. This pool is optional - but once you're in you can't leave and rejoin later. If you want to be in the low-net pool for the first match, I need to know before noon of the day that you play. All funds are collected and distributed at the bar on the night of play. New folks with estimated handicaps aren't eligible until their 3rd match. Substitutes (with established handicaps) can participate if they want. The pool is only open for regularly scheduled matches over the nine holes the majority of us are assigned to play. Any additional wagering is up to you.

• 2007 Flight Championship: The 2007 Flight Championship was won by Randy Thomas and Ken Yale, who beat Bruce and Adam Gundaker in the final. Adam Gundaker won the Most Improved award. We took a year off in the post-season grudge match series with the much more talented Hominy Hill-Thursday flight.... A few groups played an informal match against the much less talented Suneagles-Wednesday flight, and we lost that anyway. A small flight history is available. This includes links to previous years' pages.
• Release Forms: Release forms are still downloadable, but I just throw them out, so why bother???
• League Rules: The rules package will be e-mailed to any flight members who request it. It is also available at the League's web-site. Golf within the flight is governed by the USGA Rules of Golf, except as amended by our local rules. We observe 3 additional local rules:
  • we play all the wooded perimeter areas as lateral hazards.
  • we give putts! (within reason... don't make a mockery of the handicap system!!!)
  • we don't take handicaps down to decimal points to determine A & B players - the team with identical (rounded) handicaps gets to choose, or flip a tee!

  Remember, decisions on who the A & B players are, as determined on the 1st tee, are final - even if a subsequent review of handicaps suggests otherwise!

  Please Note: The rules regarding attendance and it's impact on flight selection are being strictly enforced this year!!!

• Handicaps: The maximum 9-hole handicap this year is still 19.
• Match Results: All I need from you is the score card after your match. You can give me the card at the course, at the bar (see below), or give me the hole-by-hole scores via e-mail (in plain text, not a spreadsheet) the morning following play. If there's any doubt, make sure you indicate who played against whom!!!
• Match Rescheduling: We all lead complicated lives, and occaisionally need to miss a match. Here are your options, roughly in the order you should consider them:
  • Get a substitute.
  • Reschedule. For all practical purposes, the window for this is 6 days before the original match date to 6 days after. Plan to play early, so you've still got options if the first date doesn't work out.
  • Partner doubles.
  • Available team plays as scheduled, unavailable team plays on a different night.
  • Available team plays as scheduled, unavailable team matches cards with next scheduled match.
  • Both teams match cards with next scheduled match.
• Soft Spikes: The county courses still have a mandatory soft spikes policy. Please replace your worn out plastic spikes with more useless plastic spikes now!
• Tee Times: The county courses are now using yet another new internal park system Tee-Time Reservation System to reserve tee-times. The number is (732) 758-8383. You will need to be in possession of a vaild (unexpired) county golf I.D. card (or equivalent non-resident golf I.D. card) to use the service. It is my understanding that reservation service rules infractions (failure to show up, show up with fewer golfers than reserved, etc) will be strictly enforced this year, and will result in loss of reservation privileges. Use the service responsibly! Fines for a no-show group are $48 ($12/person), payment required in order to play again - been there, done that!
• Watering Holes: For the time being, Mulligans is the unofficial watering hole for the HP-Thursday flight, at least until we get tired of it, or they throw us out. See you there after the matches!

Well, that's about it for now. Let me know if there's anything else you need to get started. See you all at Howell.