MISSION HILLS COUNTRY CLUB

MISSION HILLS MENS GOLF ASSOCIATION
2026 TEAMPLAY QUALIFYING, ELIGIBILITY AND STRUCTURE GUIDELINES

 

SCGA Team

 

Within the Southern California Golf Association, Team play began in 1900 and has grown to include more than 230 clubs and 8,000 participants. Participating clubs are arranged in divisions of 4 clubs and compete as a 16-player team in a series of 3 home and 3 away matches against other teams in the division. All competitions will be Four-Ball Nassau format. Division winners meet in a single elimination play-off, culminating in an 18-hole championship.

 

Mission Hills Country Club has a rich history in SCGA Team Play. Since joining the League, we have reached the playoffs 8 times, winning the SCGA Championship in 2004 and 2007.

 

Purpose of Guidelines Both MHCC and the MHMGA encourage team play participation and transparency within the qualifying process. These guidelines provide structure to the team qualifying and selection process both to quantify member participation and to provide the team captain with the needed flexibility to effectively compete.

 

Please note that these guidelines are subject to change by the SCGA.

 

Current Team and Division

        Mission Hills is currently in the Division with teams from PGA West Country Club, Heritage Palms Country Club, and Redlands Country Club.

        The 2026 SCGA Team Captain is Gary Gonsalves, Assistant Captain is Bob DePalma and special advisor Fred Strook

Player Eligibility and Requirements

        Qualifiers must be a member in good standing of MHCC and the MHMGA.

        Players must be listed on MHCC active GHIN roster at the time of our first match.

        Players must be 21 years of age or older as of the date of the match they participate in and must have a Low Handicap Index (LHI) of 18.4 or lower. Individuals with a LHI greater than 18.4 may play but will be lowered to an index of 18.4 for qualification and any match he participates.

        Per SCGA Requirements, each player must have 10 scores posted by December 31, 2025, representing rounds of golf played in the year 2025.

        For the 2026 season players must be in the Premier Golf Member category since we will be playing our home matches on the Tournament course.

 

Team Requirements

        Qualifiers must commit to play in a minimum of 4 of the 6 league matches. DO NOT attempt to qualify if you cannot meet this requirement. If you do qualify and fail to make yourself available as a player or an alternate for 4 of the matches, you will not be allowed to qualify and participate with the SCGA Team the following year.  

        Should a player quit a team for reasons other than medical reasons, that player will not be eligible for team play the subsequent year.

 

Qualifying Dates for 2026 Season

       We have open Qualifying Dates from November 3 December 9, 2025. Qualifying rounds can be made on any day and at any time on any of the 3 MHCC courses.

 

 

Qualifying Process

        You must submit at least 2 qualifying rounds and no more than 3 qualifying rounds. The best 2 qualifying scores will be counted as your qualifying point total. When you decide which days to qualify, you will need to submit immediately after your round a separate completed scorecard to the pro shop - signed, dated, attested AND stating which team (Desert or SCGA) you are qualifying for.

        You must submit 2 qualifying rounds, but you have the option of submitting a 3^rd qualifying round.

 

Qualifying Scoring and Ranking

        Scoring will be in the net par points or Stableford format. The combined two best qualifying rounds points will be your qualifying total points for ranking purposes.

        All qualification rounds shall be played from the White tees. Your qualifying scores will be calculated based on your current index. The maximum index that may be used for qualifying is 18.4.

        Qualifying results can be found by visiting the Team Play section of the MHMGA portal.

 

Team Selection: Team will be limited to a 28-man roster.

        16 qualifying spots - will be available under the qualifying process.

        12 awarded spots - will be exempt from qualifying based upon the following:

o   Team Positions - captain, assistant captain, previous year MVP, immediate past captain, and 2 Captain s picks are exempt from qualifying. This totals 6 individuals. Those individuals are Gary Gonsalves - Captain, Bob DePalma Assistant Captain, Mitch Frecko MVP, Arne Helmersen Past Captain, and 2 Captains picks; Gary Sherrell and Jeff Renken

o   Previous Year Rankings previous year team members who played in a minimum of 3 matches points will be calculated as a win percentage and ranked. The highest ranking 6 players will not have to qualify. The individuals who are exempt under these criteria are: Michael Sharp, Bob Schulte, Tim Riley, Mike Manuche, Pete Oberto and Ron Himelman.

 

SCGA format

Exciting changes are coming for the 2026 Team Play season:

 

1. Format Change: All matches will use a Four-Ball Nassau format -  Replacing the previous individual concurrent four-ball match formats to improve the overall pace of play.  That means Better Ball of partners, competing for 2 points on the Front, Back and Overall, for a total of 6 points. Ties earn each team 1 point

 

2. Handicap Usage: All matches will be conducted with players playing to 90% of their Course Handicap (previous allocation was 100%). Players will now be set in weekly lineups for the regular season based on their Playing Handicap (low to high), previously based on Handicap Index order.   Team Player Responsibility         Costs. o   Team Uniforms - are approximately $75 and cover the cost of a team embroidered shirt and an MHMGA-subsidized hat. You will be responsible for furnishing appropriately colored shorts / pants and belt. The uniform cost will be charged to your Mission Hills Member number. o   After-Match Meal - will be handled differently this year. Our cost to provide meals and drinks for our hosted guests is approximately $70 per person per match. This cost is for you and our playing opponents for food and 2 drinks per person. This year we will not distinguish between Home and Away matches as all participants are able to enjoy the meal and drinks in either case. To be fair our total home cost (around $6500) will be divided by the number of matches you play in Home or Away. At the end of the season, the costs will be charged to your Mission Hills Member number. Details will be provided and for the vast majority of Players the cost will be consistent with prior years. For each match you play in you are expected to attend the post-match meal. o   Match Competition at each match $40 will be collected in cash from each player.   Each team member will receive $5 for every point his team wins. For example, win all 6 points and get $30. Win 3 points and get $15. Alternates do not participate in this cost.   $10 is for our year end team party. Alternates do not participate in this cost.

Official Matches

        Matches will be played on Thursday s and Tuesday starting Jan 15^th, with our last match played on Tue Feb 24^th. This year our home matches will be tee times starting at 11am to accommodate the new format and keep the nine holes complete. Schedule dates are:

        Team Meeting Monday December 15^th Mens Locker room 4-5:30pm (pending)

o   Thu Jan 15^th Redlands @ MHCC

o   Thu Jan 22^nd MHCC @ Heritage Palms

o   Thu Jan 29^th Heritage Palms @ MHCC

o   Thu Feb 5^th MHCC @ Redlands

o   Thu Feb 12^th bye

o   Thu Feb 19^th MHCC @ PGA West

o   Tue Feb 24^th PGA West @ MHCC

        The team captain will select 18 players for each match. 16 of which will play in the official matches, and 2 which will be considered alternates and will play against 2 alternates from the opposing team in league format rules. The 18 players selected will be posted the Monday before that week s match.

        48 hours before the match, the Captain will post the lineup, including alternates. Alternates are expected to play, which counts towards the 4-match minimum commitment. Your current Handicap Index (typically 3 to 4 days before the actual Match) at the time of your match will be used for handicap purposes. The maximum allowed index is 18.4. Individuals with an index greater than 18.4 may play but will be lowered to an index of 18.4 for any match in which he participates.

 

Other Matches and Practice Rounds

        Away Practice Rounds - a practice round at the away team course is made available to us the week of the match. There are no green fees or cart charges for practice rounds. It is highly encouraged that we participate in practice rounds.

        Home Practice at Mission Hills - several weeks prior to the beginning of league play, practice rounds will be organized for play at Mission Hills. It is highly encouraged that we participate in practice rounds. This year we are playing on the DST course, and I will be working with the ProShop to create hole locations which will be used for all our home Matches. My goal is to host several internal events prior to our first Match to allow for practice with these hole locations.

        Ryder Cup on December 11^th (away) and 12^th (home), the Mission Hills SCGA and Desert team will play in an annual Ryder Cup event against PGA West. Played over two consecutive days at home and away , this typically fields players from the prior year and is highly competitive. Invitations for this event will be sent in late October.