It is no secret that the 2017 Broken Joe Golf season was … complicated. With that said, I am not taken anything away from Eric’s winning the 2017 Broken Joe Golf Championship. Truth be told, he didn’t even need his handicap to kick our ass.

When I first started working on Broken Joe Golf in 2014, my goal was to create a league where all golfers, no matter their skill, were equal and follow three core values: Commitment – Competition – Comradery. During the 2015 golf season, our motto quickly became “If you want to win – Play Better Golf”.

For the last three years, I have tried to guide Broken Joe Golf to the promise land. Some changes have worked well while others have blown up in my face. It is this reason that I have turned to the Deputy Commissioner (Big Daddy) to change things up. I must say he has come up with some great ideas that will make the 2018 Broken Joe Golf season not only competitive but will also bring back the word “FUN”.

While I will still be tracking handicaps in the background it will not take center stage as it has in the past. Instead, each golfer will have a plus or minus number. You will either add strokes or subtract strokes to your scores depending on your ability and it will remain that number for the whole season.

Dave: +6

Jake: +3

Chris: 0

Joe: 0

Joe T: 0

Bryan: 0

Rock: -3

Rey: -3

Eric: -3

Dan: -3

Matty Ice: -6

John Torres: -6 (NEW & Matt T is Out)

Another interesting twist is what happens when you shoot a LOW score and when you shoot a HIGH score.

The average low score in 2017 was 92. 92 -10 = 82. If you shot an 82 or below you will move to the blue tees the following round. If you shoot over 84 that week you move back to the white tees.

The average high score in 2017 was 120. 120 -10 = 110. If you shoot a 110 or higher you move to the yellow tees the following round. If you shoot under 110 you move back to the white tees. If you don’t shoot under 110 you remain at the yellow tees for another round (insert Play Better Golf” here)

The good or bad news is that wherever you play, win or lose, you still get to keep your number.

In order to allow us all an opportunity to be “committed” to our 15 weeks schedule, we will move our golf days to Sunday. The thought being is that if you have to work on the weekend, most of the time it would be on Saturday and most social events would also be on Saturday.

Here is the 2018 Broken Joe Golf schedule.

A rule change coming to Broken Joe Golf in 2018 is about marking your golf ball. The days are gone after hitting your second ball into the wood is “I found my first ball”. You need to mark your ball and your group needs to KNOW how your golf balls are marked, what ball you are playing, and what your provisional ball is. Hint, if your first wayward ball is a Titlist 1 with your initials on it, your provisional ball should NOT be a Titlist 1 with your initials on it. No longer is the excuse “Oh yeah, I forgot I was hitting a Callaway 2” will be an acceptable excuse for not telling the group what ball you are hitting. The penalty for either of these actions will be a two-stroke penalty for not playing the correct ball.

Another addition I would like to bring to Broken Joe Golf is a “Closest to the Hole”, “Longest Drive” and a “Hole in Two” Competition. We throw $5.00 into the pot and each winner gets a third of the prize money.

I would like to ask each of you to submit more photos during the 2018 golf season. I have some great pictures from 2015, some good pictures from 2016 and barely any pictures from 2017. In fact, I am still waiting for pictures from 2017 that I have already asked for so I can create that photo array at Broken Joe Golf World Headquarters.

There will be an increase in the BJG fee this year in order to buy “perpetual” trophies. This means that instead of buying individual trophies every year we can just add a name to a plate as we do for the Winter Classic Championship. While it may seem like a lot of money initial, the cost will be decreased over the next 4 to 6 years.

This year’s fee is:

1. $80.00 if paid before March 24th.

2. $90.00 if paid between March 25th and March 31st.

3. $100.00 if paid between April 1st and April 7th.

4. $120.00 if paid the morning of April 8th before we tee off for the Misters.

5. Anyone who has not paid the fee by the first tee time will not be eligible to compete in any Broken Joe Golf Competitions.

I believe that theses changes, thanks to our Deputy Commissioner, will bring back Commitment, Competition and Comradery along with some fun. Our motto will never be truer then it will be in 2018; If you want to win, Play Better Golf, otherwise you'll be playing from the yellow tees.

Respectfully,

Broken Joe

Commissioner