Rules & FAQ

The Georgia Cup is an Atlanta-wide two-man handicap four-ball match play championship. Sixty-four teams are divided into four 16-team region brackets. Each region champion advances to the Final Four, and the last team standing wins the Cup.

Entry is open to two-player teams of amateur golfers in the Atlanta metro area. Both players need an active GHIN number and a current Handicap Index.

Tournament policy to be finalized.

Two. Each team names a captain who registers the team and serves as the point of contact.

The Season Opener is March 20, 2027. Early registration is open now and free. Teams are confirmed for the 2027 field in the order their registrations are approved, and every team pays its entry fee by March 1, 2027. Sign up for updates on the homepage to get bracket and scheduling news.

$100 per player ($200 per team), paid online any time before March 1, 2027. Registering is free. The team pays for both players. Teams still unpaid 3 days after the deadline are removed, and each open spot is offered to the next waitlisted team, which has 24 hours to pay or is dropped from the waitlist. Green fees for individual matches are arranged separately.

The purse is $10,000. Each of the four region champions wins $1,000. In the Championship match, the winner also wins the $5,000 championship prize, so the champion team takes home $6,000 in all. The runner-up also wins $1,000, for $2,000 in all.

Prizes are paid per team and split evenly between the two players, after the Championship is complete.

The full $10,000 is for a full field of 64 paid teams. If fewer teams pay, every prize is reduced in proportion. The entry fee is $100 per player either way.

Winners provide the tax information needed to pay them. A player paid $600 or more in a year receives a tax form, as the law requires.

Yes. Both players submit a GHIN number and current Handicap Index during registration. Handicaps may be verified before play begins.

Regions are assigned by the ZIP codes of the two players. When both players live in the same region, placement is automatic. When they do not, the tournament committee reviews the team and places it in the most sensible region.

You can state a preference when you register, and the committee considers it. Final placement is based on ZIP code so that each regional bracket reflects where its teams live.

Each region seeds its 16 teams into its Championship Bracket. Seeds set the Round of 16 matchups.

Seeds are based on each team's Official Team Round results in Pin & Paper. To improve your seed, play and post Official Team Rounds with your partner in Pin & Paper before seeding is set. Stronger results earn a higher seed. Connect your Pin & Paper account and team from your dashboard so your rounds count toward your Georgia Cup team.

The exact seeding formula and cutoff date: Tournament policy to be finalized.

Two-person teams compete hole by hole. Each player plays their own ball, and the better score of the two partners counts as the team score on each hole. Handicap strokes are applied so that teams of different abilities compete on equal footing. The team that wins more holes wins the match.

Your first loss doesn't end your run. Every team starts in its region's Championship Bracket. After a first loss you can enter the Second Chance Bracket for $50 per player ($100 per team). Pay from your dashboard within 72 hours of the loss being recorded. If you don't, your team is out and your next opponent advances on a bye.

A loss in the Second Chance Bracket is your second loss and ends your run. You can only enter the Second Chance Bracket once.

A loss by forfeit counts as a first loss, so the Second Chance offer applies to it too.

The $100 Second Chance fee is non-refundable, unless the committee overturns the loss that led to it and restores your team to the Championship Bracket.

The Region Final pits the unbeaten Championship Bracket winner against the Second Chance winner, who already has one loss. If the unbeaten team wins, it's the region champion. If the Second Chance winner wins, both teams have one loss and they play a reset match in the next round; the winner is region champion. The reset carries no extra fee. Double elimination to win your region. Single elimination to win The Georgia Cup.

No. Once a team wins its region, the Second Chance is over. The Final Four and the Championship are single elimination, with no buy-backs and no reset match.

The Georgia Cup books every match. Each round runs across two weekends, giving four play dates: both Saturdays and both Sundays. When your opponent is set, you have 48 hours to tell us which dates work best, and we assign the date, course, and tee time, trying to suit both teams. You get at least 72 hours' notice (7 days for Round 1). See the full schedule.

Paying your entry fee means both players agree to be available on every play date. A match you can't play at its assigned time is a forfeit, and the entry fee is not refunded. Only one of your two players needs to be there to play.

Tell the committee at least 72 hours before your tee time. We'll move the match once if another date in the round works for both teams and the course. If no date works, the assigned time stands, and a team that can't play it forfeits.

A team with neither player at the first tee 15 minutes after its tee time forfeits. A second forfeit ends a team's season.

Each player pays their own green fees and cart fees at the course. The Georgia Cup books the tee time but doesn't pay any course fees. If a course charges a no-show or late-cancellation fee because of your team, your team pays it.

Each region holds 16 teams, and spots open in waves. When a region has no open spots, new teams can join its waitlist or choose a region that still has room. Waitlisted teams are offered spots in order as they open.

Weather is never a forfeit. The committee decides when a match is called off, based on the course closing or suspending play, or unsafe conditions. If the course is open and we haven't called it off, the match is on.

A match called off before it starts moves to another date in the round, or to the makeup window: Monday to Thursday after the round's last Sunday. A match stopped partway resumes from the hole where it stopped, with the same score. If it can't be finished in time and at least 9 holes were played, the side ahead wins. The Championship's rain date is October 9–10, 2027.

Matches must produce a winner to advance the bracket.

A match that is all square after 18 holes is decided by playoff holes on site. If the club won't allow playoff holes, the match is rescheduled.

Matches are scored in Pin & Paper. Once both teams confirm the score there, it is the final result and the bracket updates automatically.

If a score is disputed, the tournament committee decides. Its decision is final and can replace the reported score, and Pin & Paper is corrected to match. See the terms for details.

See the refund policy for details.

Tournament policy to be finalized.

Questions go to info@thegeorgiacup.com. See the contact page for what to include.