Lochmere Ted Bilodeau Sr Tuesday Golf League

Lochmere Ted Bilodeau Sr Tuesday Golf League

Lochmere Country Club in Tilton, New Hampshire, is one of the best golf courses in the state. It's challenging, and the course superintendent does a magnificent job maintaining it. The greens are cut short and quite fast.

I've played in the Lochmere Tuesday afternoon golf league for two years. My partner and I won the league championship in 2023.

I got off to a very rough start in 2024. My poor play resulted in us winning no matches for many weeks.

You're looking up the fairway of hole 14 at Lochmere Country Club. The ball at the bottom of the photo hit the green three inches to the left of the cup and rolled ten feet to this spot. It traveled 146 yards in the air. I choked on the birdie putt but did manage to make par.

How the Lochmere Tuesday Golf League Operates

League play begins around the middle of May. There are thirty two-man teams that play just nine holes each week for fifteen weeks.

The fifteen matches end on the second week of August. Three weeks of playoffs follow regular season play to determine the league championship team.

Two flights of fifteen teams swarm over the entire course starting at about 3 PM. One flight plays the front nine, and the other flight plays the back nine.

Each week you alternate which nine holes of the course you play. It's not a shotgun start, so if your opponents show up late, you might not get home until 7 PM. The Wednesday league is a shotgun start.

USGA Rules Apply

The league plays using the official USGA rules. The USGA lost ball and out-of-bounds rule can cause minor conflicts. Some league members are unfamiliar with the lost-ball rule and think they can just drop a ball back in play where it's thought to be lost. The rule states you must go back to where the ball was hit before it was lost.

The official USGA rule talks about a local rule for casual play. This rule states that a player who has lost a ball can drop no more than two club lengths into the fairway and no closer to the pin forward of where the ball is thought to be lost. A two-stroke penalty is applied if the player chooses to do this. Once again, the local rule must be in place; otherwise, you must go back to where you struck the ball before it was lost. Check with the Lochmere Pro to see if this local rule applies. As of 2024, this local rule did NOT apply at Lochmere.

The league played from the white tees at Lochmere during the 2024 season.

Scoring Points

Each hole counts for one point. If both team members are present to play, that team gets one point. Eleven points are up for grabs if all four players in a match are present. The most points a team can score in a round is 10, assuming the other team shows up to play. A team would have to win outright all nine holes to score ten points.

A team wins a hole outright when one team member scores a lower net score than any other player on the other team. That team gets one point, and the other team cards a zero for that hole. If a player on each team has the lowest net score, resulting in a tie, each team gets a half point for that hole.

In a typical match, one team might finish with 6.5 points and the other 4.5 points. I've seen matches end with one team scoring 8.5 points and the other 2.5 points.

Lochmere Tuesday Golf League Handicaps

Handicaps are used to try to equalize the skill level of the league members. The handicap range is tight. The lowest handicap is 8, and the highest is 14. League members are not required to maintain an official GHIN handicap.

If you have a GHIN handicap in excess of 28, you play in the Lochmere Tuesday golf league at a disadvantage. This league handicap system favors players with a low GHIN handicap, as they don't have to give away as many strokes as they should.

For example, in one match during the 2024 season, a player with a 12 handicap on the official league scorecard had seven pars in nine holes. In another match, a player with a 10 handicap on the official scorecard scored 38 in nine holes. Any math expert will tell you both outcomes, while possible, are extremely rare.

The narrow band of handicaps creates additional inequity. All players must hit from the white tee box. The league is comprised of members ranging in age from 76 to 31. The senior players can't hit the ball off the tee as far as the younger players.

At the very least, the Lochmere Tuesday golf league organizer should use the white/gold tee box option for any member who is 60 years of age or older. There are four holes on the front and back nine where the older players should be allowed to hit from the gold forward tee boxes. This would help equalize the age difference.

Hole 7 is an excellent example. This par-5 hole is 480 yards from the white tee box. It's a very narrow shot. There are wetlands and trees on the left and dense forest down the right side. If you slice, you're toast from the white tees. The gold tees on this hole are forward at least 50 or 60 yards. Look at this satellite photo. An older golfer who doesn't have power will just barely make the fairway. If a wind is blowing from the southeast, forget it. Your ball will be in the rough just over the cart path.

The white arrow points to the white tee box. The gold arrow points to the gold tee box. The distance between them is no less than 50 or 60 yards.

You can see why the white/gold tee box option should be used. Look at how far back the white tees are on those eight holes. CLICK the image above or HERE to see the LARGE SIZE scorecard at the Lochmere Country Club website.

Lack of Transparency

The league organizer offers no transparency concerning the scoring. Each week an email is sent to the league members showing the standings of each team and their total points. The league organizer doesn't share the actual scores posted by each player.

There is no transparency as to how the handicaps are tabulated.

The Lochmere Wednesday League is the exact opposite. The organizer for this league offers full transparency. Each member of the league can see the score of all the other members for each match. The handicap calculation is visible for all to see.

Summary

As of 2024, the Lochmere Tuesday golf league is weighted for players with a low handicap. There is a lack of transparency with respect to players' scores and how handicaps are tabulated. If you just want to go out and play golf on Tuesday's and don't care about scores and handicaps, then by all means consider this league. The course itself is the best one I've played on in New Hampshire. The grounds and greens are always in excellent condition.