Val Halla Men's League 2026
Entry Fee - $120/player ($240/team)
Non-Member Additional Fees - $450 ($400 for Greens Fees, $50 for GHIN Handicap)
Time - 5:00pm shotgun start, Tuesday evenings
Schedule - May 5th to August 18th (or later if rainouts occur); No League July 21st
NEW FOR 2026
Participation - At least one player on each team must be either a Val Halla Birdie or Eagle Member OR a resident of the Town of Cumberland. After registrations fill, teams will be checked to ensure that this new rule is met.
Action - Weekly Action is included in the entry fee for 2026.
Handicap Allowance - Handicaps will be set at 90%, then off the lowest in the group for all matches, regular season and playoffs. Because of this change, we will not be removing strokes on Par 3's during the playoffs in 2026.
Playoff Tiebreaker - Due to the inability to play extra holes in the event a playoff match ends in a tie, we have developed a new method for determining which team will win the match. In 2026, this tiebreaker will be determined by the match play scores of the three hardest holes played in the match. We will be using the Blue/Black Tee Handicap Holes to determine this. So the holes will be 1,2,6 if the match was played on the front 9, and 12,16,17 if the match was played on the back 9.
I have set the registration limit to 128 golfers. If we get to 16 on the waitlist, those golfers will be added to the league and we will play with 144 players. If you get waitlisted at registration, because of this, you may still end up with a spot in league without needing someone to back out.
BYE WEEK - If we get to 144 players, we will be building in a bye week for each team at some point during the regular season. This will ensure that during the regular season, we only have 128 golfers on the golf course at a time to help speed up play.
League Overview
Over the course of the Men's League regular season, each team will participate in 7 matches against teams within their flight (8 matches if we get to 144 players). The format of each match will be 2v2 best ball and it will be scored using Match Play rules. This is an all net league and the number of strokes you receive in each match will be based on the lowest handicap in each foursome. Each hole won will give a team 1 point, each hole that is halved will give a team 0.5 points, and each hole lost will give a team 0 points. Each match is worth up to 9 points.
Teams will be flighted based on the overall combined handicap for the team. The max Playing Handicap will be set at 32 for all golfers.
Subs
If you or your partner are unable to make a week, it is your responsibility to find a sub. If you are having difficulties finding a sub, then the Pro Shop may be able to assist you in your search, but we should not be the first place that you look. I will be posting a sub list on this event page prior to the start of league. It is our hope that you can find a sub that is a member of Val Halla. However, given the limited number of member subs in previous years, we will also allow non-member subs as a last resort. If you are having a non-member sub for either yourself or your partner, they will still be expected to pay a greens fee before playing in their match and they must have an active GHIN # through a Maine Golf Member Club.
Playoffs
At the conclusion of the regular season we will begin a 6-week, single elimination, playoff. The top 8 teams from each flight after the regular season will make it into the playoffs. The team that comes in last place in each flight will be placed into a 6-week round robin called the Cess Pool (if we get to 144 golfers). Any ties within flights will be broken based on the head-to-head match that the teams played during the regular season. If the point totals from that match are equal, then the second tiebreaker will be going from hole 9 back to 1 using the hole-by-hole scores from the match.
Weekly Action
The action format will be 2-Ball Best Ball Gross and Net, Gross and Net Skins, and Closest to the Pins.
Online Scoring
All groups will be expected to use Golf Genius during the round to input their groups scores. There will be scorecards handed out in the Pro Shop prior to the round, however, the online scores will be considered the official scores. My recommendation is that one team keeps the online score and the other keeps a physical scorecard. Then at the end of the round, compare the two to make sure that the scores are the same. All online scores will be considered agreed upon and will not be changed after the round has completed. So please make sure to double-check them!
The Pro Shop will be posting all scores to GHIN each week. Please do not post your scores as well.
Cess Pool (Only if we get to 144 players)
The 8 teams that miss the playoffs will compete in a 6 week best ball tournament. The team with the lowest combined scores over the 6 weeks will win the Cess Pool.
Consolation Brackets
There will be 3 consolation brackets for the playoffs. The teams eliminated in the round of 64 will partake in Consolation Bracket 1, the teams eliminated in the round of 32 will compete in Consolation Bracket 2, and the teams eliminated in the sweet 16 will be placed into Consolation Bracket 3. Each consolation bracket will compete in a best ball tournament within their consolation bracket for end of season payouts.
Elite Eight Playoffs
The 8 teams that make it into the elite eight are guaranteed prize money at the conclusion of league, however, we will play matches to determine which teams finish 1-8. The losers of the elite eight round will play a play-in match to have a chance to compete in the 5th/6th match. The losers of the play-in will play in the 7th/8th match. The losers of the final four will compete in the 3rd/4th match and the top 2 teams will compete for the championship.
LEAGUE WILL LAST 14 WEEKS FOR EVERY TEAM. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY.