Rules
Everything you need to know about how Cut Line Club works.
Overview
Cut Line Club is a fantasy golf pool. You draft 5 golfers for a PGA Tour event and compete against your friends. Lowest combined score wins.
Drafting
Pick exactly 5 golfers before the lock deadline. Tier limits keep things competitive:
- Top 5 in the world (Elite) — max 1 per team
- Top 6–15 (Mid tier) — combined with Elite, max 3 from the Top 15
- Everyone else (Field) — no limit
Rankings are based on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) at the time of the draft.
Each player can submit up to 2 entries per club. Picks lock at the time set by the club admin — usually the first tee time of the relevant round.
Scoring
Your team score is the combined strokes of all 5 golfers across the rounds included in your game format. Lowest total wins.
During the tournament, the leaderboard shows live to-par scores using each golfer's current round progress. After the tournament, final standings use total strokes.
Cut Penalty
If one of your golfers misses the cut (or withdraws/is disqualified), they receive 80 strokes for each round they miss. This applies in the Full Tournament and Long Weekend formats where pre-cut rounds are in play.
For example, in a Full Tournament game on a par-72 course: a golfer who misses the cut after R2 scores their actual R1 and R2 strokes, then 80 + 80 = 160 for R3 and R4. That's a steep penalty — choose wisely.
Skip the Cut and Final Stretch formats only count post-cut rounds, so the cut penalty doesn't apply.
Game Formats
Cut Line Club currently runs one draft format — the Pick-5 tier draft described above. On top of that single draft, the club admin picks one of four game modes, which decides which rounds count and how the cut penalty applies. We don't offer snake draft, salary cap, calcutta, or other draft styles yet.
The four game modes:
Full Tournament
R1 + R2 + R3 + R4
The classic. All 4 rounds count. Cut golfers get 80 per missed round.
Long Weekend
R2 + R3 + R4
Starts Friday. Still affected by the cut — golfers who miss it get 80 for R3 and R4.
Skip the Cut
R3 + R4
Weekend only. Only golfers who made the cut play these rounds, so no cut penalty.
Final Stretch
R4
Sunday only. One round, no cut penalty. Pure Sunday drama.
Tiebreakers
If two entries have the same total score, ties are broken in this order:
- Lowest individual score. Look at each entry's best-scoring single golfer. Whichever entry has the lower individual score wins.
- Deepest longshot wins. If still tied, look at each entry's worst-ranked drafted golfer — the player on the team with the highest OWGR number (the one furthest from world #1). The entry whose worst pick is further from world #1 wins. The reasoning: tying the same total with a deeper longshot in your roster means you took the bigger risk to get there. Cut Line Club rewards the dart throw, not the chalk pick.
If both entries are still tied after both tiebreakers, they share the same rank.
Worked example
Two entries in a 2026 Masters pool. Both rosters are legal under the tier caps:
Team A
- Scottie Scheffler (#1)
- Xander Schauffele (#6)
- Russell Henley (#10)
- Jason Day (#41)
- Brian Harman (#50)
Team B
- Scottie Scheffler (#1)
- Collin Morikawa (#8)
- Sepp Straka (#12)
- Andrew Novak (#47)
- Mike Weir (#4937)
Both teams finish at −18 (same total → tiebreaker #1 needed). Both teams' lowest-scoring single golfer is Scheffler at −12 (same player, same score → tiebreaker #1 ties → tiebreaker #2 decides).
Team A's worst-ranked pick is Brian Harman at #50. Team B's worst-ranked pick is Mike Weir at #4937 — a past Masters champion playing on his lifetime invite. Weir is a far deeper longshot than Harman.
Team B wins.
Withdrawals & Disqualifications
Golfers who withdraw (WD) or are disqualified (DQ) are treated the same as a missed cut — they receive 80 strokes for each round they don't complete.
FAQ
How does drafting work in a Cut Line Club golf pool?
Each player picks exactly 5 golfers before the lock deadline. Tier limits keep things competitive: max 1 from the world top 5, max 3 from the top 15 combined, no limit on the rest of the field. Rankings are based on the Official World Golf Ranking at the time of the draft.
How is a fantasy golf pool scored?
Your team score is the combined strokes of all 5 golfers across the rounds in your game format. Lowest combined score wins. During the tournament the leaderboard shows live to-par scores; final standings use total strokes.
What is the cut penalty?
If one of your golfers misses the cut, withdraws, or is disqualified, they receive 80 strokes for each round they don't complete. The cut penalty applies in Full Tournament and Long Weekend formats. Skip the Cut and Final Stretch only count post-cut rounds, so the penalty doesn't apply.
What game formats are available?
Four formats. Full Tournament (all 4 rounds, 80-stroke cut penalty). Long Weekend (rounds 2 through 4, 80-stroke cut penalty). Skip the Cut (rounds 3 and 4 only, no cut penalty). Final Stretch (round 4 only, no cut penalty). The club admin picks one format when creating the club.
How are tiebreakers handled in a golf pool?
If two entries have the same total score, ties are broken in order: (1) the entry whose best-scoring single golfer had the lower individual score wins; (2) if still tied, the entry whose WORST-ranked drafted golfer (highest OWGR number on the roster, furthest from world #1) wins. The second rule is the longshot rule — tying the same total with a deeper longshot in your roster means you took the bigger risk to get there. If still tied after both, entries share the same rank.
What happens if a golfer withdraws or is disqualified?
Golfers who withdraw or are disqualified are treated the same as a missed cut — they receive 80 strokes for each round they don't complete.