Frequently Asked Questions

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of
Harbour Pointe

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is the Mulligan Tour?
The Mulligan Tour is a recreational golf league designed to look like the pro tour. It is open to men, women, juniors, and seniors. The Mulligan Tour stresses "recreation" over "competition". Rule #1 is "to have fun".

2. When are tournaments played?
Each tournament is an 18-hole event played on Saturdays and Sundays (and a couple of Fridays) from April through September.

3. Which golf courses does the Tour visit?
The Mulligan Tour visits several courses regularly each year (Pine View, Blackheath, Huntmore, Salem Hills, Cherry Creek, St.John's, Whispering Willows, Fox Creek, Fieldstone, and Twin Lakes) and also mixes in some new courses for variety each season.

4. What is the cost to join?
Players pay a membership fee each year to cover the costs of the tournament purses. Then, each player registers for each tournament separately. You can click on Tournaments to see what each Tournament entry fee is. In this way, a player can skip tournaments and not lose money.

5. Are the players handicapped?
All players acquire a Mulligan Tour Handicap Index (MTHI). A player is in "Q-School" for the first 3 events and then acquires a temporary MTHI for the 4th thru 10th events. After playing in 10 events, the player has a mature MTHI, which is equal to the average of the 5 lowest handicap differentials from the last 10 events played, multiplied by 0.85. (A handicap differential is attained each time a player completes a gross score for 18 holes) Click here for more on the current handicap software.

6. What if I have a USGA handicap index?
Because the Mulligan Tour plays by more relaxed rules, USGA handicap indexes are not used. Every new player must go through Q-School and acquire a Mulligan Tour Handicap Index. The MTHI is only adjusted by scoring in Mulligan Tour tournaments. Play outside of the tour is considered practice for Tour events.

7. What are the rules differences between the USGA and the Mulligan Tour?
The significant rules differences are:
* optional mulligan on first tee only
* no loss of distance for O.B. or lost ball
* lift, clean , and replace ball in fairway or rough (within 6" of spot)
* move ball 6" in any direction to improve lie (except on the green)
* 3 putts maximum
* Quadruple Bogey Max score per hole

8. Are all of the tournaments stroke play?
Not all of the Mulligan Tour events are individual stroke play. Some events use different playing formats:
* British Stableford Scoring method - Crazy Brit
* 2-man scramble - Memorial tournament
* string & scissors handicap - Strokes on a Rope
* team with the pros - Quad-Tour Challenge and Big Dog Pro-Am
* 2-clubs only - Two-Stick Classic
* Alternate tees - Red, White & Blue

9. What if a buddy and I want to join and play together?
The Mulligan Tour allows "buddies" to play together whenever they are both registered to play in the same tournament. Then, players will be paired with different playing partners throughout the season. Threesomes (3 buddies) will not be allowed to continually play together. It is important for players to play with many different members for "peer review". Foursomes (four buddies) can split into different combination of pairs and play with other members.

10. What tees do the players use? The men typically play tees that range from 5,900 yards to 6,300 yards for non-majors. Major championships may see an increase into the 6,400 to 6,600 yard range. Ladies typically play forward tees with yardage ranging from 4,800 to 5,200 yards for non-majors and increasing up to 5,300 to 5,500 for majors. Senior Men aged 57 or older can opt to play Senior Tees for the season.

11. When can one join? What if I missed the "Q-School" events in April?
You can join the Mulligan Tour at any time. New members are "in Q-School" for their first 3 tournaments - but it is not mandatory to participate in the Q-School events in April. Even later in the season, one could join with the limited membership and start building his/her handicap for the following season.

Click here for more details about how the Tour works