GOLDEN RACQUETS
Tennis and Pickleball  Club 

OPERATING PROCEDURES 2026

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1. Venue Captains are appointed -- from among members volunteering -- by the Chairs of Operations and Planning with the approval of the President. To assist them in their duties, captains may recruit other venue members to be co-captains or assistant captains.

 
2. Venue Captains are authorized to cancel scheduled play because of inclement weather or extreme heat. Captains will inform their rosters of weather-related "no play" days. In such a situation individual members can play at their own discretion.

3.  In conducting tennis and pickleball matches, for non-ladder venues, Venue Captains have sole responsibility for selecting the type of pairing system to be used and for assigning players to courts. At venues with rosters containing considerable player disparities (rating differences of two or more levels), Venue Captains can, at their own discretion, try to accommodate a player's wish to avoid playing with/against players not at their same rating.

 

4.  New tennis balls are provided for each playing day. New pickleballs are provided as needed.

5.  Members contemplating a change of plans to play should transmit such information to the Venue Captains as far in advance of the affected date as possible. Members who cannot play on a particular day are responsible for getting their own member substitutes and advising the Venue Captain of the member's name as far in advance as possible.

 

6.  Venue Captains can invite non-GR members in an emergency where GR subs are not available.

7. Unless otherwise announced, privileges at indoor venues are limited to use of the courts, lounge areas and dressing rooms.

8.  Any tennis-playing member found to be in repeated violation of the Code of Conduct of the U.S. Tennis Association – or pickleball-playing member found to be in repeated violation of usapickleball.org sportsmanship guide – or who continually exhibits unsportsmanlike conduct, or who continually disrupts scheduled play shall be restricted from playing at all venues.

 

9.  If a player is a no-show without getting a substitute or is tardy by 10 minutes or more twice or more during a playing season, he or she shall be warned by the Venue Captain, who shall keep a record. If either conduct just noted is repeated during the season, and the conduct is considered by the captain to be unjustified by the circumstances, the Operations and Planning Chair shall be notified. The Operations and Planning Chair, after consultation with the Vice President and/or President, shall take appropriate action, which may include: a warning; exclusion from the roster for that venue and/or from all Golden Racquets venues for the season; or, in severe cases, exclusion from membership in Golden Racquets. Depending upon the circumstances of the particular situation, a member’s playing fees may not be returned.  

 

10. With the concurrence of the Vice President and/or President and the Operations and Planning Chair, a Captain may refuse to accept and/or keep a player, either as a weekly player or as a substitute, who cannot be satisfactorily paired within the Captain's venue. In the event of a disagreement between the Captain, the Vice President and/or President or the Operations and Planning Chair, the President shall decide the issue. If a player is presently playing in that venue, his or her money shall be refunded on a pro-rata basis for the rest of the season if another venue cannot be provided.

 

11.  Pursuant to the preceding point 10, Venue Captains will make a reasonable effort to monitor the level of play of all players at their venues. To help in the monitoring, Captains can poll players at that venue for their views on fellow players’ level of play.  With this information, Venue Captains can at any time (including outside the regular 3-year review process) recommend a player be upgraded or downgraded.

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These Operating Procedures are subject to revision by the Board at any time in accordance with ARTICLE IV Section 4 of the Constitution.