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Terms of Competition – Eric Apperly Shield

2018 ERIC APPERLY SHIELD FINAL
Published: April 30, 2021
Last Update: January 20, 2026

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

  1. Definitions
  2. General
  3. Entry into Pennant
  4. Player eligibility
  5. Dates and times of Play
  6. Format of Play
  7. Section winners, finals and Pennant winner
  8. Promotion & Relegation
  9. Seedings for finals (and relegation) contests
  10. Transportation
  11. Host Club Responsibilities
  12. Country District Preliminary Rounds

1. 1.  Definitions

  • Club – a club competing in The Eric Apperly Shield
  • 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.
  • The Eric Apperly Shield or Pennant – The Eric Apperly Shield,
  • Professional Golfer – one who is not an amateur golfer. Professional Golfers include members of a professional golfer’s association, players who have made application to regain amateur status, and players who have breached the Amateur Status Rules of R&A Rules Limited.
  • 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 Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant.
  • Terms of Competition or Term – This document and the Golf NSW Terms of Competition –  Pennant and the terms contained within.

2. General

2.1The 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.

  1. Golf NSW will seek expressions of interest from DGA and regional teams to join the Eric Apperly Regional Play Off. Once the number of interested teams is known, exact details (date, venue, format) can be determined. It is anticipated that this will occur in August. 
  1. The Clubs participating in the Pennant will be divided into divisions or sections depending on the number of clubs that have entered.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. The four (4) semi-finalists will compete at a neutral venues to determine the winner of the Pennant.

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

  • 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

  • A player is eligible for the Eric Apperly Shield if they are:
    • A male or female; and
    • Players who have Amateur Status in accordance with the current Amateur Status Rules of R&A Rules Limited; and
    • 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; and
    • They are aged under 22 as at the first date of the Metropolitan Preliminary Rounds as published in the Final Draw
    • 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. Date & Times of Play

  • 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.
    • 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).
    • The responsibility for hosting a semi-final or relegation match will be determined based on a roster with club expected to be required to host perhaps every 3 or 4 years. Teams required to host will be notified at the time invitations to participate are sent out.

6. Format

  • The Eric Apperly Shield Contest consists of six (6) Individual Matches.
    • All Individual Matches will be played over 18 holes of match play without the benefit of handicap.
    • If an Individual Match in a Finals Contest is tied after 18 holes, play must cease, and the Individual Match shall be declared tied.
    • Should the result of the final be 3-all then then each team will nominate a player for a sudden-death play-off.
    • Refer Term 8.3 of the Terms of Competition – Pennant for Finals Contests.

7. When the Result of a Contest is Final

  • The result of the contest is considered final once the result sheet has been completed and both team managers have signed the result sheet.

8. Section Winners, Finals & Pennant Winners

9. Promotion & Relegation

  • 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.

10. Seedings for Finals & Relegations

  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.

11.Transportation

  1. Refer to the Golf NSW Hard Card.

12. Host Club Responsibilities

  1. Refer to Terms of Competition – Pennant for additional information.
    1. When hosting, the preferred time is Sunday morning. 
  1. Buffer Zones
    1. There is no buffer zone required for this competition.
    1. Course presentation
      1. The course set-up should be no harder than that used for club medal day competition.
      1. Where males and females may play against each other
        1. The overall length of the female course must be 80-85% of the overall length of the male course; and
        1. Where possible each hole used by the females should be 80-85% of the length of the same hole for the males; and
        1. The pars for each hole must be the same

13.Country District Preliminary Rounds

  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.
    1. Eligibility for players participating in Country District Teams as outlined in Term 7 of the Terms of Competition – Pennant and Term 4 of these Terms of Competition.
    1. Country DGAs will be invited by Golf NSW to compete in a Regional Play Off, with the winner having the opportunity to play off against the Metropolitan Division 1 winner. Exact details of this will be determined by Golf NSW once the number of DGA teams involved are known.