These are to be read in conjunction with the Golf NSW Standard Terms of Competition for Events Run by Golf NSW, the Golf NSW Code of Conduct and the Golf NSW Hard Card.
Should a conflict occur between the Terms of Competition – Pennant and Terms of Competition – Eric Apperly Shield, then the Terms of Competition – Eric Apperly Shield take precedence.
THESE TERMS OF COMPETITION ARE TO BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE STANDARD TERMS OF COMPETITION FOR PENNANT PLAY
- Definitions
- General
- Entry into Pennant
- Player eligibility
- Dates and times of Play
- Format of Play
- Section winners, finals and Pennant winner
- Promotion & Relegation
- Seedings for finals (and relegation) contests
- Transportation
- Host Club Responsibilities
- Country District Preliminary Rounds
1. Definitions
- Club – a club or Country District competing in the Eric Apperly Shield.
- Contest – the competition between two Clubs.
- Eric Apperly Shield or Apperly or Pennant – the Eric Apperly Shield.
- 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.
- 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.au
- Team Manager – the person appointed or nominated under term 9 of the Standard Terms of Competition for Pennant Play.
- 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 Eric Apperly Shield competition is a club scratch match play competition played annually between Metropolitan Clubs and Country Districts who are members of Golf NSW. The Pennant is usually played in the months of July to September.
2.2. The Clubs participating in the Pennant will be divided into divisions or sections depending on the number of clubs that have entered.
2.3. Metropolitan Clubs will compete in preliminary round Contests in Sections. The winners of each Section will advance to the Finals Series. Depending on the number of sections play-offs may be required to determine the finalists.
2.4. Country Districts will compete against each other for a place in the Eric Apperly semi-finals where the winning country district will join three (3) Metropolitan Clubs in the semi-final series.
2.5. The four (4) semi-finalists will compete at a neutral venues to determine the winner of the Pennant.
2.6. The number of clubs participating each year will determine whether the preliminary rounds are played as a “home and away” format or an alternative format at the discretion of the Golf NSW Golf Committee.
3. Entry into the Pennant
3.1. The Pennant is open to all Sydney Metropolitan Golf Clubs and Country Districts who are members of Golf NSW and where positions in the Final Draw are available.
4. Player Eligibility
4.1. A player is eligible for the Eric Apperly Shield if he/she is:
a. A male or female amateur golfer; and
b. Under 22 years of age as at the first date of the Metropolitan Preliminary Rounds as published in the Final Draw; 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. The player must remain a financial member throughout the entire competition.
4.2. A player may not play for more than one team from the same Metropolitan club should two teams be entered. Exception: When a Metropolitan Club enters two teams, for any Contest, up to two players who have competed in the ‘other team’ may ‘fill in’ such that they do not strengthen this team i.e. their exact GA Handicap (at the Friday prior to the contest) is higher than other players who a members of that team playing on that day.
5. Dates and 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.
6. Format of Play
6.1. The Eric Apperly Shield Contest consists of six (6) Individual Matches.
6.2. Individual Matches may be played as one or two matches per time slot at the discretion of the host club.
6.3. All Individual Matches will be played over 18 holes of match play without the benefit of handicap.
6.4. If an Individual Match in a Finals Contest is tied after 18 holes, play must cease, and the Individual Match shall be declared tied.
6.5. Should the result of the final be 3-all then then each team will nominate a player for a sudden-death play-off.
7. Section winners, finals and Pennant winner
7.1. At the conclusion of the Metropolitan preliminary rounds the Metropolitan 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 Standard Terms of Competition for Pennant Play will apply to determine the higher, or lower, placed Club.
7.3. Depending on the number of Metropolitan Sections, play-offs may be required to determine four (4) Metropolitan finalists. The Metropolitan Club that is seeded 4 will then play-off against the winning Country District to determine the teams that will compete in the semi-finals.
7.4. The seedings for the Finals Contests, and play-offs if required, will be determined in accordance with Term 18 of the Standard Terms of Competition for Pennant Play.
7.5. If a Finals Contests 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. Promotion & Relegation is currently not a component of the Eric Apperly Shield competition. However, results from previous years may be utilised to seed teams in future years should a Promotion and Relegation System be established.
9. Seedings for finals (and relegation) contests
9.1. At the completion of the preliminary rounds, Section winners will be seeded for the Finals Contests as per Term 7 of these Terms of Competition. Where a Country District has qualified for the Eric Apperly Finals series they will be drawn against the Metropolitan Club seeded 4 and play a preliminary final in order to determine the four (4) teams that will constitute the semi-finalists.
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. Host Club Responsibilities
11.1. Refer to Standard Terms of Competition for Pennant Play for additional information.
11.2. When hosting, the preferred time is Sunday morning.
11.3. Buffer Zones
a. There is no buffer zone required for this competition.
11.4. Course presentation
a. The course set-up should be no harder than that used for club medal day competition.
b. Where males and females may play against each other
11.4.b.2. The overall length of the female course should be approximately 85% of the overall length of the male course; and
11.4.b.3. Where possible each hole used by the females should be 80-90% of the length of the same hole for the males; and
11.4.b.3. The pars for each hole must be the same.
12. Country District Preliminary Rounds
12.1. Based on the number of entries, Country Districts will compete in Preliminary Rounds to determine the Country District that will progress through to join the three (3) Metropolitan Clubs in the semi-finals. The Country District team will be seeded number 4 for the semi-finals.
12.2. Eligibility for players participating in Country District Teams as outlined in Term 7 of the Standard Terms of Competition for Pennant Play and Term 4 of these Terms of Competition.
12.3. In 2020, Country Districts will be divided into Country Divisions and compete on a home and away basis. Venues and dates to be determined by the Districts involved and the Golf NSW Golf Committee to be advised. The last Contest must be played no later than a fortnight prior to the semi-finals as published in the Final Draw.
12.4. Should a Contest not be completed on the date agreed to by the Districts, then a mutually suitable alternative date should be determined. The Golf NSW Golf Committee is to be advised in such circumstances.
12.5. One person (not a player or Team Manager) from each District should be nominated to be on the Match Committee responsible for play on each day of each Contest.
12.6. The total number of Individual Matches won across the home and away Contests will determine the winning Country District.
12.7. After the Contests, should the number of Individual Matches won be tied then a nominated player from each team must play hole by hole scratch match play, until one player wins a hole. The starting hole and holes to be played will be at the discretion of the Match Committee of the day.
