The Terms of Competition – 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 Men’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 anamendment is necessary to the Final Draw, any amendment(s) will be noted on the Final Draw with thedate 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 anothervenue.
- 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.
- Men’s Major Pennant or Pennant – the Men’s Major Pennant.
- Professional Golfer – one who is not an amateur golfer. Professional Golfers include members of aprofessional 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 relatedInterpretations published and approved by the R&A Rules Limited current at the time of the Pennantcompetition including any Local Rules published by the Host Club.
- Standard Terms of Competition for Pennant Play – the primary terms of competition for all Pennant Playunder the control of Golf NSW, available from www.golfnsw.org.au
- 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 Men’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 five (5) Divisions with four (4) Sections in each Division.
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. The winner of Division 1 is also presented with the Hunters Hill Challenge Cup.
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 Men’s Major Pennant if he is:
a. A male amateur golfer; and
b. 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.
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. In the Men’s Major Pennant, a Contest consists of seven (7) 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. The seedings for the Semi-Final Contests are determined in accordance with Term 18 of the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant
7.4. Where any division only has 3 sections, the winner of each section, plus the highest ranked second place team will advance to semi-finals. The highest ranked second placed team will be Seed 4 in semi-finals.
7.5. The winners of the Semi-Final Contests in each Division will play in their Divisional Final to determine the winner their Divisions Pennant.
7.6. 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 four (4) Sections in Division 1, 2, 3 and 4 will play a Relegation Contest for their Division. If two or more Clubs are tied on Contest points, the Countback Procedures outlined in Condition 17 of the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennantwill apply.
8.3. The seedings for the Relegation Contests are determined in accordance with Condition 18 of the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant
8.4. The two (2) losing teams in Division 1, 2, 3 and 4 Relegation Contests will be relegated to the Division below for the following season.
8.5. If a 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.
8.6. The two (2) finalists in Divisions 2, 3, 4 and 5 are promoted to the Division immediately above for the following season.
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 v Seed 4
- Seed 2 v Seed 3
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.