The game

Draft · Season settings and remaining rule decisions are listed at the end.

1. Objective

Be the first team to make a gross birdie or better on all 18 holes of Naval Academy Golf Course.

• Team progress carries across declared rounds throughout the season.
• Teammates may play on different days and in different groups.
• Each hole counts once per team.
• Every player must contribute at least one unique hole.
• All round, contribution, witness, and reporting requirements must be met to win.

2. Teams and captains

• Each team has four players: one captain and three other players.
• Captains are selected based on handicap, game experience, and team leadership.
• Teams are selected by snake draft. The picking order reverses each round of the draft.
• Trades are allowed until the roster lock.
• No substitutes are allowed. A team with an inactive player plays short-handed.
• The captain decides which birdies the team will claim.

3. Declare before playing

• Declare your round in the official group chat before teeing off.
• A teammate may post the declaration on your behalf. The declaration must identify you.
• Each player may declare up to six rounds per calendar month.
• Each player may declare no more than one round per day.
• The monthly allowance resets on the first of each month.
• A declared round uses an allowance even if no birdies are claimed.
• Birdies from an undeclared round do not count.

4. Play a qualifying round

• Play at Naval Academy Golf Course.
• Start on hole 1, 5, or 10 and play the course in order.
• Play with a partner who can witness your birdies.
• Use White standard tees. Players 58 and older may use the designated forward tees; the forward tee name remains to be confirmed. The Gold reference scorecard does not establish that designation.
• Use gross scores. Handicap strokes do not count.
• Play the ball as it lies unless a local rule permits relief.
• Putt everything out. No gimmes.
• One breakfast ball—a replay of your opening tee shot—is allowed on your starting tee only.
• Lift, clean, and place is allowed when in effect.
• Standard USGA rules otherwise apply, subject to these house rules.

Complete all 18 holes

You must finish a full 18-hole declared round for any birdies from that round to count.

• A nine-hole round does not count.
• Voluntarily stopping before completing 18 holes voids every birdie from that round, including birdies already reported.
• Making the team's final needed birdie does not let you stop early.
• Exception: if the Golf Shop suspends play, birdies already made still count if you stop.

5. Claim a birdie

• A gross birdie or better qualifies. Eagles and albatrosses count as one hole each.
• The captain decides whether to claim the birdie for the team.
• Post the claim in the official group chat by the end of the day it was made.
• The golfer, a playing partner, or the captain may post the claim.
• Identify the golfer, the hole, and the witness.
• Once accepted, the claim completes that hole for the team.
• Additional birdies on a completed hole give no extra team credit.
• Reporting a birdie does not waive the requirement to finish the round.

6. Player contributions

A contribution is credit for completing a previously uncompleted hole for your team.

• Contribution limits apply across the entire season.
• A player may contribute more than one hole in a round.
• A birdie on an already-completed hole does not count toward a player's minimum.
• A team cannot win with a player at zero contributions or with any player above their maximum.

7. Witnesses

Every claimed birdie must have an eligible witness.

• The final six are the six holes the team still needs, regardless of their hole numbers.
• Club membership alone does not satisfy the final-six requirement. The witness must be enrolled in the game.
• You cannot witness your own birdie.

8. Winning

The first team to complete all 18 holes and satisfy every rule wins.

• Every player must meet the contribution minimum.
• No player may exceed their contribution maximum.
• Every credited birdie must satisfy the round, witness, and reporting rules.
• The winning birdie must be recorded on video and posted to the official group chat.
• The winning birdie can occur on any numbered hole.
• The golfer must finish the full 18-hole round, unless the Golf Shop suspension exception applies.
• The commissioner confirms the final result.

9. Entry fees and prizes

• Every player pays the season's entry fee into the main pot.
• Players may pay an additional entry fee to join the optional side pot.
• The winning team receives the main pot.
• The side pot is split equally among side-pot participants on the winning team.
• If no player on the winning team entered the side pot, each side-pot contributor receives their additional entry fee back.
• The commissioner collects entry fees and distributes prizes.

10. Official record and disputes

• The official group chat is the record of declarations and claims.
• A declaration or claim that is not posted in that chat does not count.
• An administrator maintains the standings from the official record.
• The commissioner rules on disputes and corrections.
• The commissioner may call a captains' vote on a disputed interpretation. Majority rules; the commissioner breaks ties.

Before the season starts

Season settings

Rules to finalize

• Forward tees: confirm the tee name for players 58 and older. This is a fixed game rule maintained with the rulebook and scorecard in source.
• Finish: which timestamp determines a close result, how ties are broken, and what happens if nobody completes all 18 by any season deadline.
• Winning video: required footage and posting deadline.
• Claims: whether accepted credits can be reassigned or replaced, whether a captain can hold a claim for later, and deadlines for captain selection and witness confirmation.
• Final-six witnesses: how completion order is determined for simultaneous or grouped claims, whether a teammate may witness, and whether the witness must declare a round.
• Declarations: required details, permitted amendments, local time boundaries, and treatment of late reports.
• Interrupted rounds: allowance refunds for cancellations, resuming suspended rounds, and treatment of injury or emergency withdrawals.
• Playing conditions: tournament-round eligibility, whether a breakfast ball must replace the original ball, and the date used to determine age-based tee eligibility.
• Inactive players: treatment of a team whose inactive player has no contribution.
• Prizes: individual shares of the main pot, the side-pot election deadline, withdrawals, nonpayment, and refunds.