LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE IN NSAA RULES AND REGULATIONS
Title:

NSAA Boys & Girls Golf Class C Schedule Entry Proposal

Author:Jenny Wagner
School:Centennial
NSAA District:1
 
Proposal for:Activities Manual
 
Classes Affected:Class C
Activities Affected:Boys Golf
Girls Golf
This proposal:WILL increase costs to the school
WILL NOT increase costs to the NSAA
WILL increase travel for participating schools
WILL decrease a student's or coach's instruction time
Implementation date:2027-08-01
Sections affected in Activities Manual:Page
11
13
15
17
Article

Section
Mandatory Input for Varsity Schedules
Girls Golf Districts, Class C
Boys Golf Districts, Class C & D
Qualifying for NSAA Championships
Summary:Class C boys & girls’ golf will be added to Class A & B boys & girls’ golf in terms of the requirement to enter varsity schedules to help ensure that the most deserving teams & individuals based on their scoring average differential, have the best opportunity to qualify for the state tournament.

MANDATORY INPUT FOR VARSITY SCHEDULES (CLASSES A, B & C ONLY) (PREVIOUSLY – CLASSES A & B ONLY)
1. All Class A, B & C Varsity golf teams will be required to enter their complete regular season schedule by the respective deadline: (PREVIOUSLY – All Class A & B)
  a. Girls Classes A, B & C Varsity Golf Schedules – Due: Thursday of Week 6 (August 12, 2027) (PREVIOUSLY – Girls Classes A & B)
  b. Boys Classes A, B & C Varsity Golf Schedules – Due: Tuesday of Week 36 (March 7, 2028) (PREVIOUSLY – Boys Classes A & B)
2. Once the golf season has begun, schools CANNOT add contests to their regular season schedules.
3. All varsity contests shall be played with a varsity team. Postponed contests shall be rescheduled by all participating schools if possible. Only 18-hole events should be entered.
4. If your varsity team does not compete in an event on your schedule due to reasons other than weather postponements or cancelation, the respective school will be required to provide reasoning for non-participation.
5. Contest results for ALL contests on your varsity schedule are to be entered through the NSAA website in a timely fashion. Only events played on courses with official Nebraska Golf Association course ratings will be considered in the differential program.

GIRLS GOLF DISTRICTS, CLASS C:
1. Class C is made up of the remaining schools playing girls’ golf.
2. The listed enrollments for Class C were used except for schools in a cooperative, which resulted in their enrollments being combined.
3. Class C schools will be assigned to 5 districts using both geography and a serpentine method using regular season team scoring average differentials based on competing in a minimum of three VARSITY 18-hole stroke play events. Team average differentials are team score (four lowest players’ combined scores) minus (course rating from tees used x four players) = differential). 1 of the 5 districts will consist of the westernmost approximately 1/5 of schools in Class C needed to make a district. The remaining 4 districts will be divided into 2 geographic regions, each with 2 districts that will be created using a serpentine method. For the districts created using the serpentine method, the school with the lowest differential is placed in District 1, the next lowest in District 2, the next lowest in District 2, the next lowest in District 1, etc., until all schools in each geographic region are assigned to a district. Teams that do not have a differential to seed with will be assigned to a district in a serpentine method using alphabetical order. Assignments will be released two Tuesdays before the district tournaments. (PREVIOUSLY – Class C schools were assigned to five districts on a geographic basis, varying from a west-to-east pattern with north & south considered to reduce travel.)
  a. Any ties will be broken using the average score from all events. If a tie still exists, a coin flip will determine the seed.
4. Class C schools hosting regular season meets shall *report to the NSAA office the following results within 48 hours of the competition:
  a. the name of the golf course played,
  b. the names of each team including individual team members with individual and team scores,
  c. the course rating (for holes on the correct side) played from the tee box used for the competition.
*Reports are submitted on-line from the AD’s or golf coaches’ personal page at www.nsaahome.org. Note: Some teams that play junior varsity (JV) teams in varsity events will lower their placement as far as district ranking if those teams are listed as varsity teams. To avoid this, coaches should list these teams as JV teams when entering a varsity tournament. Only varsity team scores should be reported to the NSAA office for seasonal differential team tracking.
5. All season meets hosted on or prior to the Friday of Week 12 (September 24, 2027), are to be reported to the NSAA office by the meet’s host director, or by the participating team’s coach or AD if the varsity meet is out of state or not hosted by a Class A, Class B or Class C school.
6. Any schools not competing in at least three VARSITY 18-hole stroke-play competitions will be placed at the bottom of the seeding list in the order of their AVERAGE DIFFERENTIALS, lowest above highest on the list and placed in the appropriate district.
7. District tournament host schools and specific golf courses will be selected before the season begins in order to secure hosts and golf courses for the events. After post-season seeding, the host schools will be assigned to one of the four districts so there is one host-school per district. The NSAA Director of Golf will make the simplest one-team trades between districts so that host teams with the closest average differentials to a team in another district are switched.
  a. The differentials of all schools available to the NSAA on the date of seeding shall be used to seed, even if an error is discovered after the districts have been released.

BOYS GOLF DISTRICTS, CLASS C & D:
1. Classes C & D are made up of the remaining schools playing boys’ golf equally divided between C & D.
2. Class C schools will be assigned to 5 districts using both geography and a serpentine method using regular season team scoring average differentials based on competing in a minimum of four VARSITY 18-hole stroke play. Team average differentials are team score (four lowest players’ combined scores) minus (course rating from tees used x four players) = differential). 1 of the 5 districts will consist of the westernmost approximately 1/5 of schools in Class C needed to make a district. The remaining 4 districts will be divided into 2 geographic regions, each with 2 districts that will be created using a serpentine method. For the districts created using the serpentine method, the school with the lowest differential is placed in District 1, the next lowest in District 2, the next lowest in District 2, the next lowest in District 1, etc., until all schools in each geographic region are assigned to a district. Teams that do not have a differential to seed with will be assigned to a district in a serpentine method using alphabetical order. Assignments will be released two Tuesdays before the district tournaments. (PREVIOUSLY – Class C schools were assigned to five districts on a geographic basis, varying from a west-to-east pattern with north & south considered to reduce travel.)
3. The listed enrollments for Classes C & D are used except for schools that are in a cooperative, which results in their enrollments being combined.
4. Class C schools hosting regular season meets shall *report to the NSAA office the following results within 48 hours of the competition:
  a. the name of the golf course played,
  b. the names of each team including individual team members with individual and team scores,
  c. the course rating (for holes on the correct side) played from the tee box used for the competition.
*Reports are submitted on-line from the AD’s or golf coaches’ personal page at www.nsaahome.org. Note: Some teams that play junior varsity (JV) teams in varsity events will lower their placement as far as district ranking if those teams are listed as varsity teams. To avoid this, coaches should list these teams as JV teams when entering a varsity tournament. Only varsity team scores should be reported to the NSAA office for seasonal differential team tracking.
5. All season meets hosted on or prior to the Friday of Week 44 (May 5, 2028), are to be reported to the NSAA office by the meet’s host director, or by the participating team’s coach or AD if the varsity meet is out of state or not hosted by a Class A, Class B or Class C school.
6. Any schools not competing in at least four VARSITY 18-hole stroke-play competitions will be placed at the bottom of the seeding list in the order of their AVERAGE DIFFERENTIALS, lowest above highest on the list and placed in the appropriate district.
7. District tournament host schools and specific golf courses will be selected before the season begins in order to secure hosts and golf courses for the events. After post-season seeding, the host schools will be assigned to one of the five districts so there is one host-school per district. The NSAA Director of Golf will make the simplest one-team trades between districts so that host teams with the closest average differentials to a team in another district are switched.
  a. The differentials of all schools available to the NSAA on the date of seeding shall be used to seed, even if an error is discovered after the districts have been released.

QUALIFYING FOR NSAA CHAMPIONSHIP (CLASSES A, B & C)
1. The first three teams and the first ten individual places plus ties in each district will qualify for the NSAA Championship, using medal play. After districts are completed the NSAA will take as many individuals as needed so that there is a total of 15 individuals competing at the state golf tournament. Individuals will be selected according to individual differential for the season including districts. To be eligible a player must compete in at least five 18-hole competitions for the year and districts. (NSAA will keep track of all Class A, B and C player’s individual differential for the season.) If an individual additional qualifier declines their spot or is unable to participate that spot will not be filled.
2. Playoffs will be used in case of ties for the NSAA Championship ‘TEAM’ qualifying spots.
3. Schools that do not finish as one of the top three teams in the District cannot qualify for team honors at the NSAA Championship, even though that school may have qualified at least four individual golfers through individual placement at Districts.
4. A school which qualifies for the NSAA Championship may play any five eligible players at the championship. They do not have to be the same people who played at the district tournament. Any roster changes to the State Championship team should be communicated to the NSAA office to reflect such changes and ensure scorecards, scoreboards and tee times will be accurate.
Any substituted player will be assigned the same tee time of the player being replaced.
Rationale:This proposal will take a system that has already worked well for Class A & Class B and apply it to Class C as well. This will create a stronger Class C state tournament field.

Based on the fall 2025 district results, the team & individual state qualifying scores for Class C girls are as follows:
District 1 – Team 422 or better, Individual 104 or better
District 2 – Team 445 or better, Individual 99 or better
District 3 – Team 402 or better, Individual 97 or better
District 4 – Team 380 or better, Individual 96 or better
District 5 – Team 462 or better, Individual 105 or better

Based on the spring 2026 district results, the team & individual state qualifying scores for Class C boys are as follows:
District 1 – Team 346 or better, Individual 81 or better
District 2 – Team 360 or better, Individual 86 or better
District 3 – Team 333 or better, Individual 81 or better
District 4 – Team 327 or better, Individual 80 or better
District 5 – Team 334 or better, Individual 81 or better
Pros:This will create a model where the district tournaments will be much more balanced in terms of the team scoring average differentials, which will give the teams with the better scoring average differentials based on their body of work from the season, a better chance to qualify for state.
Cons:Small potential for increased travel, but the geographic element of the proposal should minimize that.