Frequently Asked Questions
League Info
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The TVSGL was created as a vehicle for fellowship and fun for people in recovery. The mission is to help others in recovery get and stay connected with others on the same path!
Golf is just a fun way to do that, all skill levels are welcome.
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The TVSGL was started in 2021 for those in recovery here in the Treasure Valley. The league was originally created in 2015 as a sober golf league in WA state before the founder moved to ID. The league has evolved over the years and will continue to develop to be a place of fellowship and fun for years to come!
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Guys and gals in recovery are welcome to sign up and play. We have all golf skill levels represented, and all levels of league involvement. We have a lot of events, payouts, tracking, etc for those golf nuts that want to improve their game, beat their buddies and win prizes. We also have folks that just want to show up on the months they want and play a few times with their friends. All are welcome!
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The TVSGL is for people in recovery connecting with other people in recovery. It is not just a league where we do not drink while we play golf(although that is required :)), it is for people that are living sober, getting sober, or are just pursing recovery. We have people in their first couple months of sobriety to guys with 40+ years in recovery. Please shoot us an email if you have questions about this at: tvsgl208@gmail.com
The Basics
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We play different golf courses across the valley during our regular rounds, and even outside of the TV for our Majors. This year we are scheduled to play 11 different courses!
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We have a few different events throughout the year. Our regular rounds are played at a designated course within a 2 week period. You can play any day in that 2 week period to have your round count.
For our Majors and the Berbena Cup-our League Championship, we all play at the same course on the same day.
Our season long Match Play Tournament rounds are played at the same courses and time period as our regular rounds.
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For our regular season rounds, you can play with any league member or members you want! You can schedule and make your own tee time and coordinate with other league members.
Make a tee time and text your league buddy to join, make a tee time and post on the league forum with available spots for anyone in the league to join, or post the best days/times for you to play on the forum to connect with others-its up to you.
For our Majors and the Berbena Cup, tee times will be assigned based on skill level so you play with other league members around your ability.
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No, just enter the number of strokes for each hole, and we do the rest. Part of the fun is our monthly and season long scoring and prizes! To be eligible for those, and make it more fun for the whole league, please log your scores.
New to 2025 is our league app called Squabbit Golf. Instead of writing your score on a scorecard and logging it later, you just enter your score as you go in the app, and everything is updated behind the scenes.
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No, our regular rounds are scored on playing 9 holes. You don’t have to play a full 18 holes, you can play 9 holes and be in and out in a couple hours. Many members make a tee time for 18 holes and play the full 18, but many just play 9. Do what works for you, we just score the front 9 holes.
Scoring
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No, we use Stableford scoring for our regular and majors rounds. Stableford awards points AFTER your handicap adjustment for that hole. There are no “blow up holes” that can ruin your round, as the worst score you can get for a hole is zero.
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The Match Play Tourney is an optional add on to our season long points race, and runs along side our regular rounds, majors, and The Berbena Cup. You must elect to enter the Match Play Tournament seperately and pay the extra entry fee, you are not automatically enrolled in the tourney.
Match play is a head to head format where one of two golfers play together at the same time, and against each other. Each hole is worth one point, and whoever wins the most holes wins the round.
Match play is 9 holes like our regular rounds. It is a tournament bracket where players are eliminated each round with an ultimate winner at the end. Match play results do not effect the season long standings.
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The Majors are scored similar to the regular rounds with Stableford scoring and 9 holes, BUT all points scored are worth DOUBLE towards the season long race!
Tee times will be made for 18 holes, but just like the regular rounds, only the front 9 holes are scored for monthly prizes and season long standings.
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Our league championship-The Berbena Cup is scored straight up in teams of 3-4 depending on how many league members we have.
There is no handicap adjustment, the team score is the average of the teams 18 hole score.
Example:
Team 1
Player A shoots an 88
Player B shoots a 97
Player C shoots a 79
Player D shoots a 115
Team 1’s score is: 94.75(total of 4 scores divided by 4)
Team 2
Player A shoots 90
Player B shoots 88
Player C shoots 105
Team 2’s score is: 94.34(total of the 3 scores divided by 3)
The teams are picked by the team captains in a snake draft. Even though there are no handicap adjustments, the team scores are always close as the teams are picked with a range of skill levels.
We score on the average as there are usually an odd number of players due to league membership, injuries, etc. If a team picks a player in the draft, and that player drops out due to injury or something else, that team will take that players score based on that player’s handicap included in their team score.
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Yes! We take your BEST score in the date range. You can play as many times as you want in that available period and use the best score as long as you play with another league member.
Winnings
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There are prizes for winners of each round for both best gross score(no handicap adjustment) and net scores(with handicap adjustment).
Depending on the amount of members this year and ability, we might have payouts for different flights. Flights are tiers of handicaps. More to come as we get closer to the start of the season.
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The final tally of value in prizes, payouts, and awards will be finalized after we register all golfers, and announced before the start of the season.
Right now we are projecting to have about 50 golfers this year, and through reducing our overhead with our old website, and through sponsorships adding funds, we are projecting to be giving away around $2500in prizes, payouts and awards this year!
This year will set our all time record for payouts, prizes, and awards!
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This year we will have a mix of cash payouts, gift cards to golf stores and golf courses, awards, and golf swag.
There will be payouts for each round played, for the Player of the Year, the Match Play winners, the winning group of the Berbena Cup, and more!
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Points for the Majors are DOUBLE the points for the regular rounds. The impact of the Majors results will be large for the season long standings.
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The top season long points leaders will be the Captains for The Berbena Cup. The amount of league members playing will determine how many Captains we have. Most years we have 5+ captains, this year we are expecting to have 8+.
The Captains get to pick their players in a snake draft after the regular season ends.
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The player with the most points scored at the end of the season will win the Player of the Year trophy and $100!
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The top 4 spots will get paid out in the below percentages of the final pot of entry fees:
1st Place-34%
2nd Place-28%
3rd Place-22%
4th Place-16%
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The winning group of the Berbena Cup will split $300!
Handicaps
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A golf handicap(a GHIN) is a number that measures a golfer's playing ability. It's calculated using a golfer's previous scores and is used to level the playing field so that golfers of different skill levels can compete fairly.
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The best way to get started is to have an established USGA handicap called a GHIN . USGA handicaps are part of the World Handicap System and are recognized as the standard handicap for most leagues and tournaments.
The steps are:
1-Join an authorized golf club. Most public and private golf courses are authorized.
2-Play and post scores from 54 holes. This can be a combination of 9 or 18-hole rounds.
3-The next day, you will have a Handicap Index.
An online club to get started is the IGA:
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If you want to get started in the TVSGL and don’t think you can get a GHIN in time, please send us an email and we will give the steps to get started.
You can get started playing in the TVSGL without a GHIN, but will be required to post your league scores in order to establish a GHIN during the season.
All players without an official GHIN are only eligible to win gross score prizes, and can win net prizes once their handicap is established.
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If you have a current handicap that you think is too low or high, please email us at tvsgl208@gmail.com and we will review.
Our League Handicap Committee reserves the right to adjust any non GHIN handicap to protect the field.
Miscellaneous
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Yes! You can join at any point in the season. Send us a message on the contact form and we will get you set up.
Your membership fee will be prorated to when you join.
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The best way to fill tee times if you don’t already know other league members is through the forum. Make a tee time that works for you, and then post available spots in the “Available Tee Times” section. Members will jump on those spots.
You can also look through that section for available spots for tee times already made.