Terms of Competition – NSW Vardon Trophy

The Golf NSW Vardon Trophy is open to amateur male golfers, who are members of an affiliated Sydney metropolitan club, or a club affiliated with a NSW DGA.

Information for Clubs

For an event to be accepted by Golf NSW as a Vardon event it should satisfy the following: 

• The GA handicap limit may not be set at less than four (4.4) for Open Age events or eight (8.4) for Junior events.
• The tournament must attract a field which consists of: 
• OPEN AGE EVENTS: If a Vardon event does not attract 40 (20 in Country areas) or more players (Registered and Unregistered) on 4.4 or less, of which 16 are off 2.4 or less (8 in Country), it may not be awarded Vardon status the following year. 

a) Should a ballot be required, registered Vardon players should be included first according to handicap. In the unlikely event that the field contains only registered Vardon players and the field size is still exceeded then a ballot according to handicap will take place. 

b) ‘Teeing up’ will prohibit the event being included in the Vardon Trophy unless written approval is obtained from Golf NSW. 

c) All play in Vardon events must be from the Championship or Medal tees. 

LOCOMOTION 

Carts/Locomotion are permitted in events unless there are overriding conditions which prevent their use. A condition to prevent their use may be instigated by the host club or Golf NSW. It is at all times the player’s responsibility to check availability of locomotion at host venues. 

DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICES 

Distance measuring devices will be allowed if the Host Clubs Local rule allows. Golf NSW has no objection to their use. 

COURSE SET UP REQUIREMENTS 

Your course should be in the best condition possible. The following guidelines should be followed: 

• Play from ‘medal’ tees; 
• Pins to be in ‘reasonable’ positions;
• Green speed no more than 11. 

NOTE – Should the greens and pin positions be set up in such a way as to make scoring unreasonable, then Vardon status may be withdrawn. 

The R&A guideline for hole set up can be found on their web site: 

http://www.randa.org/en/Rules-and-Amateur-Status/Guidance-on-Running-a-Competition.aspx?chapter=4&section=2

SLOW PLAY 

To ensure speed of play is reasonable, players need to be advised the time to complete the round. This will depend on the course and the degree of difficulty. e.g. 4hrs 10 mins. 

If possible there should be an ‘official’ to monitor. 

DAILY SCRATCH RATING (DSR) 

Scores will be compared against the Club DSR on the day of play, and converted to a par of 72 for the purposes of the average. (e.g. A score of 75 recorded at course with a DSR 74 will have an adjusted gross score of 73 recorded for their scoring average). 

GENERAL 

a) ALL cards MUST be entered on Golf Link for handicapping purposes by host club for all players. 

b) The Golf NSW Golf Committee shall have the power to vary these conditions and to decide any dispute or question arising as to the qualification of any event and may, in its absolute discretion, at any time, and without assigning any reason therefore, refuse an entry or declare any event ineligible to participate. 

Information for Players 

VARDON TROPHY 

The Golf NSW Vardon Trophy is open to amateur male golfers, who are members of an affiliated Sydney metropolitan club, or a club affiliated with a NSW DGA, who have played in a minimum of 25 Vardon Trophy rounds, and hold a Golf Australia handicap of four (4.4) or less at the time of entering each event. 

Once a player has played 25 rounds, he may discard his worst round, and two rounds can be discarded after 30 rounds, three discarded after 35 rounds etc. 

JUNIOR VARDON 

Please see the separate document for Junior Vardon Conditions (see www.jnjg.com.au). Both Nominated Events and Junior Vardon events contribute to this scoring average. Clubs should return scores for Junior Vardon events to JNJG. Players should enter via Jack Newton Junior Golf. 

GENERAL 

a) Events to be included in calculating a players average will be: 

1. Vardon events displayed in the Golf NSW calendar. To view these events, CLICK HERE. 
2. Ranking events displayed in the Golf Australia calendar. To view these events, CLICK HERE. 

b) The winner of each Vardon Trophy will be the player who has the lowest scoring average for the year. 

c) A Junior (Under 18) is eligible to compete in the Vardon Trophy, using scores only from Vardon events. 

d) No score returned: 

1. A player who has entered for an event and fails to return his card will be recorded as having 16 strokes above the DSR for the round; 
2. A player who has been disqualified shall be regarded as failing to return his card; 
3. When a player has recorded a score under the above condition for one round of a multi-round tournament his scores in earlier rounds will be accepted and if he elects to play in subsequent rounds his scores will be accepted; 
4. An application, in writing, may be made to the Golf NSW Golf Committee to delete a recorded score under this condition, and in exceptional circumstances, deletion may be approved.