Contents
- Definitions
- General
- Entry into the Pennant
- Player Eligibility
- Dates & Times of Play
- Format of Play
- Section Winners, Finals and Pennant Winner
- Promotion & Relegation
- Seedings for Finals & Relegations
- Transportation
- Host Club Responsibilities
1. Definitions
- Club – a club competing in the Master 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.
- Master Pennant or Pennant – the Master Pennant.
- Professional Golfer – one who is not an amateur golfer. Professional Golfers include members of a professional golfers 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 clause 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 Master Pennant competition is a club scratch match play competition played annually between Clubs that are affiliated members of Golf NSW. The Pennant is usually played between May and July.
2.2. The Clubs participating in the Pennant are generally divided into Sections within Divisions depending on the number of clubs entered.
2.3. The Pennant competition consists of preliminary round (Contests), followed by a finals series contested by 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 Metropolitan and Regional Golf Clubs who are members of Golf NSW, where positions in the Final Draw are available.
3.2. All Golf Clubs that participated in 2022 will be invited to take part in the 2023 competition.
4. Player Eligibility
4.1 A player is eligible for the Master Pennant if they are:
a. A male or female amateur golfer;
b. 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; and
c. They are aged 50 years or above as at the date of the first Preliminary Round of the Pennant of the Division / Section in which the club is drawn.
5. Date 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 a Saturday. 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 The Master 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 Master Pennant consists of eight (8) Individual Matches.
6.2. Individual Matches will 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. Teams will hit-off in order beginning with the No. 8 players and concluding with the No. 1 players hitting off last. When playing in groups of four (4) the order of play will be 8 & 7, 6 & 5, 4 & 3, 2 & 1. When playing in groups of two (2) the order of play will be 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.
6.5. If an Individual Match in a Finals Contest is tied after 18 holes, play must cease, and the Individual Match shall be declared tied.
6.6. For the finals Contests only, should the result of the Finals be 4-all then then each team will nominate a player for a sudden-death playoff.
7. Section Winners, Finals and Pennant Winner
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 clause 17 of the Standard 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 Condition 18 of the Standard 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. A system of promotion / relegation will only apply to the metropolitan clubs.
8.2. 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.
8.3. The last placed teams in each of the three (3) Sections in Division 1, 2, and 3 will play in 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 – Pennant will apply.
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. The two (2) losing teams in Division 1, 2, and 3 Relegation Contests will be relegated to the Division below for the following season.
8.6. 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.
8.7. The two (2) finalists in Divisions 2, 3, and 4 are promoted to the Division immediately above for the following season.
9. Seedings for finals (and relegation) contests
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:
a. Seed 1 v Seed 4
b. 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. Motorised Transport may be used for matches. Golf NSW takes no responsibility for the availability of golf carts.
11. Host Club Responsibilities
11.1. Refer to the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant 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 normal club (non-medal day) competition.
b. The total length of the course should not exceed 6000m for men or 5100m for women.
c. Where males and females may play against each other:
- The overall length of the female course should be approximately 85% of the overall length of the male course; and
- Where possible each hole used by the females should be 80-90% of the length of the same hole for the males; and
- The pars for each hole must be the same.
