• Tournament Conds & Policies

Terms of Competition – Women’s Grade (2026)

golfer walks past a bunker
Published: January 1, 2021
Last Update: December 5, 2025

The Terms of Competition – Women’s Grade are to be read in conjunction with the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant

  1. Definitions
  2. General
  3. Entry into the Pennant
  4. Player Eligibility
  5. Dates and Times of Play
  6. Format of Play
  7. When Result of the Contest is Final
  8. Winner of the Division
  9. Promotion & Relegation
  10. Transportation
  11. Miscellaneous
  12. Host Club Responsibilities

1. Definitions

  • Club – a club competing in the Women’s Grade.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant – 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
  • Women’s Grade or Pennant – the Women’s Grade.
  • Terms of Competition or Term – This document and the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant and the terms contained within. 

2. General

2.1. The Women’s Grade 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 between February and April. 

2.2. The Clubs participating in the Pennant are divided into Divisions, with the final number depending on the final nominations. 

2.3. The Women’s Grade competition consists of a number of preliminary rounds (Contests) between Metropolitan Clubs in each Division. 

2.4. The preliminary rounds may be played as “Home and Away” or neutral venue Contests depending upon the number of teams entered.

2.5. The winner of each Divisional Pennant is presented with the Divisional Pennant Flag.

2.6. The Golf NSW Golf Committee retains the right to exercise discretion in the areas of promotion, relegation and entry into the Women’s Grade.

3. Entry

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. 

3.2. All Golf Clubs that participated in 2025 will automatically be included in the 2026 competition unless Golf NSW is advised otherwise by the club. Additional invitations may be sent out to fill vacancies.

3.3. The Golf NSW Golf Committee retains the right to exercise discretion in the areas of promotion, relegation, entry into the Grade Competition and allocation of new entries to a Grade and the number of players in a team. 

3.4. There is no entry fee to participate.

4. Player Eligibility

4.1 A player is eligible for the Women’s Grade if she:

i. Is a female; and

ii. Complies with the Golf NSW Gender Policy as outlined in the General Terms of Competition for Golf NSW State Events; and

iii. Players who have Amateur Status in accordance with the current Amateur Status Rules of R&A Rules Limited; and

iv. 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

v. A player may not play in Women’s Grade or Women’s Major 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.

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. Dates & Times of Play

5.1. The Starting Times for each Contest shall be between 7.30am to 9.30am on Fridays. 

5.2. 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 of Play

6.1. Scratch Match Play over 18 holes without the benefit of handicap

6.2. Each Contest consists of five (5) Individual Matches. 

6.3. Individual Matches may be played as one or two matches per time slot at the discretion of the host club. 

6.4. Teams will hit-off in order beginning with the No. 5 players and concluding with the No. 1 players hitting off last. When playing in groups of four (4) the order of play will be 5, 4 & 3, 2 & 1. When playing in groups of two (2) the order of play will be 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

6.5. Order of play. It is expected that teams will play in order of strength with the strongest player at #1, the next strongest at #2 and so on.

6.6. In a preliminary round contest, if an Individual Match is tied after 18 holes the Individual Match will end in a tie.

6.7. For the finals Contests only, should the result of the Finals be tied then then each team will nominate a player for a sudden-death playoff.

7. When the Result of a Contest is Final

7.1. 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. Division Winners & Pennant Winners

8.1. At the conclusion of the preliminary rounds the Club in each Division of Grade that secures the greatest number of Contest Points is the winner of that Pennant.

8.2 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.

9. Promotion & Relegation

9.1. Promotion: The winning Team in Grades 2, 3, and 4 shall be promoted to the higher Grade for the following year’s competition. 

9.2. Relegation: In Grades 1, 2, and 3 the Team with the lowest number of Contest points shall be relegated to the next lower Grade for the following year’s competition. 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. 

9.3. The Golf NSW Golf Committee reserve the right to promote or relegate fewer or more teams than prescribed above depending upon circumstances.

10. Transportation

10.1. Refer to the Golf NSW Hard Card

11. Miscellaneous

10.1. 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

11.1. Refer to the Golf NSW Terms of Competition – Pennant for additional information. 

11.2. When hosting, the Starting Times for each Contest shall be between 7.30am to 9.30am on Fridays. 

11.3. Buffer Zones – Buffer Zones – 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.

11.4. Course presentation – The course set-up should be no harder than that used for club medal day competition.