The Terms of Competition – Women’s Metro Major Pennant are to be read in conjunction with the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant
- Definitions
- General
- Entry into the Pennant
- Player Eligibility
- Dates & Times of Play
- Format of Play
- Section winners, finals and Pennant winners
- Promotion & Relegation
- Seedings for finals (and relegation) contests
- Transportation
- Miscellaneous
- Host Club Responsibilities
1. Definitions
- Club – a club competing in the Women’s Major Pennant.
- Contest – the competition between two Clubs.
- Finals Contest – a match between two clubs in the Finals Series of a Pennant.
- Final Draw – the draw first published on the Golf NSW Website as notified to participating Clubs. If an amendment is necessary to the Final Draw, any amendment(s) will be noted on the Final Draw with the date of the change.
- Golf NSW – Golf NSW Limited as the governing body for amateur golf in NSW and the ACT.
- Golf NSW Golf Committee – the Golf Committee of Golf NSW established by the Board of Golf NSW.
- Host Club – the Club nominated in the Final Draw to host the Contest, whether at that Club or another venue.
- Individual Match – the individual competition between two players.
- Match Committee of the Host Club – the Match Committee of the Host Club in charge of a Contest during a preliminary round of the Pennant competition.
- Women’s Major Pennant or Pennant – the Women’s Major Pennant.
- Professional Golfer – one who is not an amateur golfer. Professional Golfers include members of a professional golfer’s association and players who have made application to regain amateur status.
- Rules of Golf and Rules and Rule – the Rules of Golf and Rules of Amateur Status and related Interpretations published and approved by the R&A Rules Limited current at the time of the Pennant competition including any Local Rules published by the Host Club.
- Standard Terms of Competition for Pennant Play – the primary terms of competition for all Pennant Play under the control of Golf NSW, available from www.golfnsw.org.
- Team Manager – the person appointed or nominated under term 9 of these Terms of Competition.
- Terms of Competition or Term – This document and the Standard Terms of Competition for Pennant Play and the terms contained within.
2. General
2.1. The Women’s Major Pennant competition is a club scratch match play competition played annually between Metropolitan Clubs who are members of Golf NSW. The Pennant is usually played in the months of February to April.
2.2. The Clubs participating in the Pennant are generally divided into Divisions and Sections.
2.3. The Pennant competition consists of preliminary round (Contests), followed by Semi-Finals between the winners of each Section within each Division and a Final to determine the Winner of each Divisional Pennant.
2.4. The preliminary rounds are played as “Home and Away” Contests unless otherwise agreed to by the Golf NSW Golf Committee to accommodate special circumstances (e.g. major course renovations) or where the number of Clubs participating warrant an alternative format.
2.5. The winner of each Divisional Pennant Final is presented with the Divisional Pennant Flag.
3. Entry into the Pennant
3.1. The Pennant is open to all Sydney Metropolitan Golf Clubs who are members of Golf NSW, where positions in the Final Draw are available.
4. Player Eligibility
4.1. A player is eligible for the Women’s Major Pennant if she is:
a. A female amateur golfer; and
b. Complies with the Golf NSW Gender Policy as outlined in the General Conditions for Golf NSW State Events (effective 1 January 2019); and
c. Is a financial member of the club they are representing in a category of membership that allows them to maintain a Golf Australia handicap for the club.
4.2. A player may not play in Women’s Grade or Women’s Pennant for more than one club in any one season, unless they are an eligible member of two clubs in which case they may play in each of the different Pennant Competitions but only for one club per competition. Under these circumstances Term 4.3 of these Terms of Competition does not apply
4.3. A player is unable to play in the Women’s Metropolitan Pennant once they have played twice in Friday Grade and similarly is unable to play in Friday Grade once they have participated twice in Women’s Major Pennant. Exception- A player or players may ‘fill in’ such that they do not strengthen the team, i.e. their exact handicap is higher than all the other players in the team and they play at No. 5. Should two players be substituted then they must both have exact handicaps higher than the remainder of the team and play at No. 4 & 5. A maximum of two player in any one Contest allowed who have previously played twice in the alternative event.
NOTE: Penalty – ineligible player
The Penalty for an ineligible player competing in a Contest is forfeit of the specific Individual Match to the opposing Club. If it is considered that a player is in breach it is up to the affected Club to lodge a protest to Golf NSW (olivia.wilson@golfnsw.org.au) as outlined in Term 30 of the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant
5. Date & Times of Play
5.1. Contests will be played on Sundays unless prior permission has been granted by the Golf NSW Golf Committee to play on Saturdays. Clubs granted permission to play on Saturdays will be noted as such in the Final Draw.
5.2. The starting time for each preliminary round Contest must be prior to 12 noon (during daylight savings) or 11:30 am (during non-daylight savings times of the year).
5.3. All teams entered in Metropolitan Major Pennant competition must provide one hour of tee times on the designated date of the Semi Finals and Relegation Contests. If a team is in a Semi Final or Relegation Contest, that hour of tee times will be utilised on the designated date. Golf NSW will contact teams in Semi Finals and Relegation Contests the next day following the final preliminary round to confirm tee times.
6. Format of Play
6.1. The Women’s Major Pennant, a Contest consists of five (5) Individual Matches.
6.2. Individual Matches must be played as one match per time slot.
6.3. All Individual Matches will be played over 18 holes of match play without the benefit of handicap.
7. Section Winners, Finals & Pennant Winners
7.1. At the conclusion of the preliminary rounds the Club which secures the greatest number of Contest Points will be the winner of its Section.
7.2. In the event of two or more Clubs having an equal number of Contest Points then the Countback Procedures outlined in Term 17 of the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant will apply to determine the higher, or lower, placed Club.
7.3. The winners of each Section will play in the Semi-Final Contests for their Division as per Term 9.1 of these Terms of Competition. The seedings for the Semi-Final Contests are determined in accordance with Term 18 of the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant
7.4. The winners of the Semi-Final Contests in each Division will play in their Divisional Final to determine the winner their Divisions Pennant.
7.5. If a Semi-Final or Final has not started or where resumption of play is not possible on the designated day, the Golf NSW Golf Committee will determine the action to be taken.
8. Promotion & Relegation
8.1. At the conclusion of the preliminary rounds the Club which secures the least number of Contest Points will be the last place in its Section.
8.2. The last placed teams in each of the two (2) Sections in Division 1 will play a Relegation Contest for their Division. The losing club will be relegated to Division 2 for the following season
8.3. The Club that wins the Division 2 Finals Contest will be promoted to Division 1 for the following season.
8.4. The seedings for the Relegation Contests are determined in accordance with Condition 18 of the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant
8.5. In determining the Clubs that will play in the Finals / Relegation Contests, if two of more Clubs are tied on Contest points, the Countback Procedures outlined in Term 17 of the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant will apply.
8.6. If a Finals / Relegation Contest has not started or where resumption of play is not possible on the designated day, the Golf NSW Golf Committee will determine the action to be taken.
9. Seedings for Finals & Relegations
9.1. At the completion of the preliminary rounds, the Section winners and Last Placed (Relegation team) in each Division will be seeded as follows for the Semi-Finals or Relegation Contests.
- Seed 1 Section 1 v Seed 2 Section 2
- Seed 1 Section 2 v Seed 2 Section 1
NOTE: Where a Sectional Winner is in a Draw which consisted of 3 Clubs at the commencement of the season (i.e. the Draw only provides for a possible 4 Contests) their Contest Points and Individual Match Points will be multiplied by 1.5 to determine their respective seeding for the relevant Finals Contest.
Where a Division was reduced to less than 3 Clubs after the commencement of the season due to the withdrawal of Clubs, the matter shall be referred to the Golf NSW Golf Committee for a decision.
10. Transportation
10.1. Refer to the Golf NSW Hard Card.
11. Miscellaneous
11.1. Undefeated Player Award. To be eligible to receive an undefeated player award a player must have competed in ALL preliminary rounds and have won or squared all of the respective individual matches.
12. Host Club Responsibilities
12.1. Refer to Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant for additional information.
12.2. When hosting, the preferred time is Sunday morning.
12.3. Buffer Zones
a. The host club must ensure that a minimum buffer zone of 30 minutes exists before the first group of Pennant Play is scheduled to commence.
12.4. Course presentation
a. The course set-up should be no harder than that used for club medal day competition.