Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour Rules

When Can I Join?

Age Divisions and Yardage

Any boy or girl 12-19 years old who has not yet begun college is eligible to play on the Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour. Graduating high school seniors are encouraged to compete throughout the summer after their senior year in high school.  All tournament participants must be AJGT members.

Age Divisions and Yardages are as follows:

Boys 15-19 6500-7100 Yards Blue Tees

Boys 12-14 6200-6600 Yards (Mixture of Blue/White Tees:  Holes on scorecard which players are to play white tees are circled.  Play blue tees on all other holes.  Pro shop has same information for practice rounds before tournaments.

Girls 15-19 5650-5850 Yards White Tees

Girls 12-14 5650-5850 Yards White Tees

Boys 15-19 and 12-14 will be awarded engraved silver oval plates for first through fourth place. The Boys 15-19 will also compete for the Boys Overall Championship Award, a gold resin trophy, at each event. Girls 15-19 and 12-14 will be awarded engraved silver oval plates for first through third place and will also compete for the Girls Overall Championship Award, a gold resign trophy, at each event.

Double Hitting:  The AJGT will often double hit groups, especially on par threes.  If two groups are waiting to hit on the teebox of a par three, the AJGT will request that both groups hit and that both pairings move to the green.  The second pairing should mark their balls, while the first group plays out.  This keeps players from getting cold waiting to take a full swing.  Occasionally the AJGT will also double hit on par fours and par fives if two groups are waiting to hit.  Again, both pairings will tee off together.  On par fours and par fives, however, the AJGT will request that the first group move toward their second shot and hold the second group on the teebox until the first group has reached the landing area. 

If AJGT Tournament Administrators request that you double hit on a teebox, this is what is taking place.  No one is playing through your group and you are not losing your place.  It is simply a tour policy implemented to avoid having players getting cold and waiting to hit on a teebox.

Ready Golf On All Teeboxes:  The AJGT plays ready golf on all teeboxes and honors golf in the fairway and on greens.  Any player who is ready to play on any teebox should go ahead and hit, regardless of their score on the previous hole.

College Golf and the AJGT

The Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour believes strongly that it is part of our mission to promote qualified tour members to the nation’s collegiate golf programs. The AJGT has been very successful in this regard.

These are just some of the colleges where Arrowhead Tour members are currently competing or have competed in the last several years:

*LSU	*St. Thomas (Georgia)	*Millsaps College
*University of Alabama	*Montevallo in Alabama	*Emory (Georgia)
*University of Mississippi	*University of West Florida	*Springhill College
*Mississippi State University	*Louisiana Tech University	*Louisiana College
*Princeton University	*Belhaven College	*Centenary College
*University of Mobile	*Tennessee State University	*Belmont University
*St. John’s University	*University of Arkansas Little Rock	*St. Louis University
*Southern Mississippi	*Miss. Gulf Coast Comm. College	*University of Houston
*Birmingham Southern	*University of Southern Arkansas	*McNeese State University
*Samford University	*University of Alabama-Birmingham	*Faulkner State in Alabama
*Tyler Community College	*University of Louisiana-Lafayette	*University of North Alabama
*University of New Orleans	*University of South Alabama	*St. Edwards of Austin, Texas
	*University of Georgia

Over seventy-eight percent of the graduating class of 2007 received collegiate golf scholarships.  College coaches are watching the Arrowhead Tour website carefully, both for tournaments scores and points standings, and are often checking with us for recommendations on players and inquiring about grades, test scores, coachability, and character.  Naturally, the AJGT cooperates with all of these inquiries.

The Arrowhead Tour has compiled a mass email list of every collegiate golf program in the nation.  Several times a year the tour sends the results of events to college coaches by mass email. One such tournament is the Kelly Love Showcase Classic in Destin, Florida, held annually the weekend before Thanksgiving.  College coaches are invited to attend this tournament and coaches packets with player contact information and graduation dates area provided for all coaches in attendance.  The Showcase Classic is the only “open” event on the AJGT schedule, where non-members are allowed to compete.

Points Race and Year-Round Calander

The Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour is a year-round tour. All tournaments are two-day, 36 hole events, and all are ranked by the National Junior Golf Scoreboard. The AJGT Championship is a three-day, 54-hole event, to be held July 27th-29th, 2006 at Beaver Creek Golf Club near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The championship tournament is open to all AJGT members. AJGT players and points leaders are honored at the year-end banquet on Friday night, July 28th, in Grand Ballroom of the Embassy Suites Hotel in Baton Rouge after the second round of the AJGT Championship. Graduating seniors are eligible to play the Arrowhead Tour through the summer after their senior year and are honored with other AJGT players at this event, which signals the end of the 2004-'05 Points and Tour Season.

New memberships and renewals for Arrowhead Tour members can be purchased beginning in November each year for the following calendar year. AJGT members are eligible to play throughout the next calendar year. This year's AJGT membership kit includes an engraved AJGT logo combo divot tool/ball marker, a personalized AJGT logo bag tag, an AJGT license plate, an AJGT bumper sticker, two AJGT logo Sharpies for marking tournament balls and the new Rules of Golf Handbook.

Points will be awarded to players based on their finishes in each tournament within their respective age groups. Point values are as follows:

1st Place - 1000 points 6th Place - 500 points

2nd Place - 900 points 7th Place - 400 points

3rd Place - 800 points 8th Place - 300 points

4th Place - 700 points 9th Place - 200 points

5th Place - 600 points 10th Place - 100 points

In addition, players who win the Overall Boys and Girls Championship at an individual tournament receive 500 bonus points added to their tournament total.  Some tournaments are designated as "Double Points" tournaments, where participants receive twice as many points the total listed above.

At the end of the season, awards will be presented to the point leaders in each age group. If a player has to move up to a higher age group during the season due to his/her birthday, the points that he/she has earned in one age group will be carried into the older age group. If a talented player wants to play in a higher age group for more competition, his/her points will still be awarded in the age group that his/her birthday lies.

Scorecards/Awards/Website Photos

Players are asked to gather as a pairing at the Official's Scorer's Table and wait to sign their scorecard until they have reviewed the card carefully. A signed card cannot be altered, so players should wait to sign their card until all members of their pairing are together a the Official Scorer's Table. Only players are allowed at the Official Scorer's Table and only players can discuss scorecards, scores and rulings with the tournament officials and one another. Players who have played two balls on a hole and recorded two scores or who have a ruling question should wait until their pairing is gathered in its entireity and discuss the ruling with their pairing and tournament officials.

Players are also asked to wait to stay to participate in the Award Ceremony for their Age Division and to receive appropriate plates and trophies at that time. Awards cannot be shipped or brought back to future tournaments for early departures.

The Boys and Girls Overall Champions will have a photo taken onsite for the AJGT website. If you are mentioned in the story and your photo is not displayed, please email us a good colored digital headshot at info@arrowheadjgt.com.

Behaviorial Expectations

Thank you in advance for your excellent on-course behavior.  A vast majority of our AJGT members accept that golf is a difficult game and handle adversity with equanimity and grace.

Please remember that it is part of the spirit of the game to accept good bounces and bad and good breaks and bad without disturbing the concentration of other players or poisoning the atmosphere in a pairing.

College coaches are interested in good players and good young people. When coaches contact the AJGT regarding a player, they have already seen his or her scores.  Most often what they want to know is, “What kind of person is he/she?  Does he/she get along with other players? Is he/she coachable?  Is this young person someone that we can trust to represent our program?  All of these questions relate to on-course behavior, which is just as important as your scoring average.  Proper behavior on the course is vital to your successful future in golf.

Warnings, stroke penalties and/or disqualification from an event may ensue if a player engages in repeated acts of club throwing, ball throwing, swearing or other unsportsmanlike behaviors.

Caddying

The Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour is one of the few year-round junior tours in America that allows the participation of adult caddies. Participation is entirely voluntary. At any AJGT event, about half the field will be using a caddy and half won't. It is not mandatory that a player use a caddy.

The opportunity to caddy in an AJGT event is a unique one. It is a bonding experience unlike anything available in other competitive sports. The AJGT has established strict guidelines for caddies to follow in hopes that we will be able to continue to offer this wonderful experience. Caddies must read the following guidelines and willingly abide by them. Unlike spectators, caddies are allowed on teeboxes, in fairways and on greens, but must abide by AJGT Caddy guidelines. Specators must remain on cart paths and must remain separate from players and caddies.

AJGT CADDY RULES -Players can compete with or without a caddy. At any AJGT event, about half the field will be using a caddy and half won’t. It is entirely optional.  Bibs or coveralls are required and can be ordered from Fred's Golf at 1-800-874-7395 or purchased onsite at any AJGT event.

-You must pack the bag at all times (player cannot carry the bag) with your AJGT bib showing.  If you wish to withdraw and become a spectator, please remove your AJGT bib and watch the match from the cart path.  There is no player penalty for a caddy’s withdrawal, but you cannot return to the bag again during that round.  No alcohol intake or smoking from first ball struck to last ball holed.  If a tournament approved shuttle is provided, please hop on and move to the next shot with the pairing.  Caddies must be 21 years of age to participate.

 -Like a PGA Caddy, you are to give yardage and hand a requested club to the player.  You are not allowed to impart lessons.  Do not tell the player, “Keep your head down”, or “Watch your alignment”.  You are not allowed to touch a club during the round except to transfer it immediately from the bag to the player.  You are not allowed to point, with finger or flagstick or putter, to a spot on the green where the player should putt the ball.

-Pre-shot comments or pre-putt reads must be one sentence recommendations, as in “You’ve got 150 yards to the bunker”, or “This putt is left edge.”  Either the player or the caddy are allowed to operate distance measuring devices, but the player still must play within 40 seconds.  Your advice and participation is part of that time allotment.  Lengthy pre-shot and pre-putt rituals can cause slow play and result in pace of play warnings and slow play penalties.  After you hand the club to the player, no further verbal interaction is allowed.  Once you hand the club to the player, caddies are not allowed to
speak to the player until the shot is struck.  Caddies are not allowed to assist with grip, stance or alignment. 

 -After the player takes the club in the fairway or on the green, move away and let the player hit the shot.  Caddies should avoid standing on teebox with player after player has been given club.

-The player must keep his/her own scorecard.  You are not allowed to hold or keep your player’s official scorecard or to tell your player what they had on a hole or what a member of the pairing had.  Do not ask a member of your pairing what they had on a hole.  Caddies are prohibited from entering into any part of the scoring process, during and after the round.  Caddies are not allowed in the area near the scorer’s table.

 -Do not provide a ruling to your player or any player, even if asked.  The player must make his/her own ruling and confer with other players on rulings. 

 -Caddies and spectators alike are allowed & encouraged to look for all lost balls.  The player must mark his/her own ball, then give it to the caddy to clean, which is within the rules.  Caddies are asked to rake bunkers and tend flagsticks to assist with place of play.