The Sand Trap Tour is a rapidly growing amateur tour based in Sanford, North Carolina that is generating a lot of interest due our handicapped tournaments that allow players to compete on a level playing field. Our hallmarks is that we try to keep competitive golf affordable; we call ourselves Central North Carolina's affordable way to play competitive golf. We began in April of 2007 with 6 players, and finished the season with 14 registered members. Since the beginning of January, we have increased to 47 members, and we fully expect to add more players.
The Sand Trap Tour is not a money making venture. The modest registration fee of $20.00 per year goes directly to tour management. Of the $20.00, approximately half goes towards the purchase of an embroidered gift for each player, leaving us with approximately $10.00 per player per year to manage the tour. Tournament fees collected on the day of a tournament are paid out 100% that very day. Our affordable motto, we believe, is what makes us attractive to most golfers.
Our goal is promote golf, not exploit it. Our emphasis is placed on having fun with the game, and the competition is secondary. We have a great group of guys that love the game. As a matter of fact, 2 of our members were not regular golfers until they were convinced to play in a Sand Trap Tour event. We were able to do this because our handicapped format tournaments make it easy for a beginner to have fun as well.
The Sand Trap Tour is based on individual, handicapped, stroke play events where participants will be competing based on their net sores for the round, much like a golf league. In our format, a handicap will be calculated for each golfer. Net scores for each tournament will be determined by subtracting a player's handicap index for that particular course from their gross score. For example, Joe Golfer carries a 19.3 handicap index for the Tour. Taking into account that Sanford Golf Course has a slope rating on 119, Joe's handicap for that course is 20. If Joe shoots a 92 in the tournament, his net score will be 72, or par. In this format, his net score would be lower than that of an 8 handicapper that shoots 81, resulting in a net score of 73.
In the beginning, handicaps will be determined for each player based on an official USGA handicap that they may already have, or by calculations done using 3 recent scores that they provide when they register for the tour. After that, handicaps will be maintained using Sand Trap Tour event scores only, ensuring that the tournament handicaps are fair.
If this is run so much like a league, why is it called a tour?? First, and foremost, because this is a traveling league. If you look at our schedule, each tournament is held at a different course. This not only gives us the opportunity to play at different courses, but makes sure that no one has a home course advantage.
If you have not had a chance to do so, take a look at our Rules and Guidelines. They will explain everything there is about the tour. You will notice, we have incorporated a few rules that most tours don't have in order to make the game more enjoyable. If you have any further questions, feel free to email me directly at mitch@sandtraptour.com.
