How are your club champs played?

It's that time of year again and it seems like there is quite a difference to how this competition is played out across the country.

Both my clubs have 2 qualifying strokeplay rounds in consecutive weeks with the 16 leading combined Scratch and 16 Handicap scores going forward to Matchplay knockout, 1st seed plays 16th seed, 2nd seed plays 15th seed etc in the first round, with the winners going through to the QF, SF culminating in a 36 hole final between the last two surviving players on a Sunday in Club Finals day when the Junior, Ladies, Seniors, Handicap and Scratch Finals are played out.

I hear some clubs just have two rounds of strokeplay and no knockout, with the Club Champ being the player with the lowest score over two rounds. Doesn't seem prestigeous enough a format for what in my club is the biggest competition in the Club year with a prized place on the board on offer.

Which format do you have, which would you like and would you change anything about the way your club runs it?

36 holes of medal over 2 days. Saturday going out in handicap order, highest first to lowest out last. Sunday we go out in leaderboard order with leaders going out last.

We changed to this a couple of years ago to attract more players, lots were put off by playing two rounds in a day. Personally, I think it should be over one day as golf is a sport and a certain level of fitness and concentration should come into it.

My club championship is played over 54 holes (18 on Saturday with a cut on Saturday evening and 36 on the Sunday.

Strokeplay with both the scratch and handicap contests combined. The Cut on Saturday is the top x gross scores for the scratch championship and the rest of the Sunday field made up of the next best y nett scores

I'm a member of two clubs - one has a straight knock out competition, the other has a 36 hole medal.

The knock out is much better.

We've got a couple of normal 36 hole Medals and one 72 hole one in addition to the club champs at one of my clubs so I'm glad they make the Club Champs that bit more special by adding a Knockout element to it. You really feel you have achieved something if you've qualified through 36 holes and won knock out matches over a potential 90 further holes. Plus there is considerable crowds watching the final. You wouldn't get that with a 36 hole medal.

36 holes strokeplay on one weekend which yields the top 20 scratch and top 20 nett scores. leading nett score is the handicap club champion (me 3 years ago, woohoo. small beans i know but i'm cr@p so it was a thrill).

top 20 scratch scores go on to play a further 36 holes the following weekend for the club championship (so a 72 hole strokeplay comp) and are also entered in the scratch matchplay championship.

top 20 nett scores go on to the nett matchplay championship.

scratch and nett matchplay finals are 36 holes and played on a designated day later in the summer.

These finals days are an interesting concept. I've seen this quite a lot in the past, where you get the finals of the singles knock outs, foursomes, mixed foursomes etc all going on on one particular day. It seems to work well except there's usually one guy who has had a good season, so would be involved in at least two events and therefore one (at least) has to be postponed.

I'm not sure there is a tremendous amount of interest in mixed foursomes and that sort of tinpot comps, certainly not at my clubs. Most are contested by duffers so unlikely they'll be in the more prestigeous finals. At my club they are played when mutually acceptable anyway and no one except for the participants care about them.

Both my clubs have 36 hole medals. At my main club it only the top 72 available on the handicap list that get to contest the 36 holes in a day (on a
Membership of over 700 that is a tad harsh). It used to be the top 66 plus the top 6 from a qualifying medal. The top 16 then contest the scratch matchplay although that is not held in as high a regard as the 36 hole medal.

My other club had it's mens championship at the weekend. This was the first yeR they moved away from the 36 in a day format. It was an 18 holer on the Sat with a cut and the top 30 gross and top 6 net contesting the 2nd 18 on the Sunday. Got to say I liked that format ( even though I played dross).

We have a 36 hole medal for the Club Championship off scratch, the top 8 then qualify for the Club Matchplay Championship, which is played over a weekend a couple of weeks later (18 Hole QF/SF on Sat, 36 Hole final on Sun, i think)...

and to answer your questions, s_r, i think the format we have is great. you've got a 72 hole strokeplay for the club champ. 36 hole strokeplay for the nett champ and 2 matchplay champs off the back of those, with 36 hole finals.

i lose count of the number of holes the scratch matchplay champ will have to play!

we have two courses so we have 36 on each course over four weekends with the best gross from each course counting aand the tp 15 qualify plus the holder. the leading qualifier wins the staleybridge salver.

the matchplay is then played over the week with the final on the friday night.

same set up for the hcap club championship played at the same time.

This would have been my first year as a participant in my new places event and our's is a slight variation of the strokeplay them that seem quite common. In that you have to qualify for the club championship much like a tour event, criteria as follows.

1.Past Champions (5 Year exemption)
2.Previous years Senior Champion
3.Top 20 Order Merit from previous season (for each Division)
4.Winners of competitions in the current playing season upto 1 month before Club championship
5.Current top 10 on each divisions order of merit.

Generally means you get a field of around 110 so i'm told. The format is 36 holes on Saturday with the cut coming once all scores are in youd need to be top 50 & ties to make final round. Then an 18 hole final round on the Sunday. Players that missed cut on saturday are then asked to fill in on course score boards to add to the pressure for those stillplaying, rules officials are sent out on course to and they get good galleries following the matches. So gives it that tour style event feel.

Was looking forward to it as my brother is defending champ and my dad is senior champ so wanted to try and add to the mav family list of winners, I qualified by virtue of a win in the Club Masters our first major of the year and was No1 on order of merit for my division before injury struck, but now I am volunteering to act as a rules official and I will get ferried around in a buggy.

That sounds great Mav, plus it guarantees that pwople enter medals in the hope of qualifying.

Think that was the point of it SR to give everyone the chance to play in it, and keep them entering general medals and other competitions too, also helps them be a part of the event after the cut and puts a little bit of pressure on the competitors

New club so not a bloody clue!

LondonJonnyO wrote:New club so not a bloody clue!

Ditto for me. All I know is it is 36 holes over one weekend off scratch; haven't got a scoobies what happens after that and off my handicap it will be pretty much academic from my personal standpoint.

I think the format can be dependant on membership numbers - the more members you have, the more diverse you can be with the format, as you will always have a big take up.

Smaller clubs will struggle with anything other than 36 holes lowest gross with a nett prize.

A club a friend of mine plays at is the most bizarre of the lot, there club champion is decided by the players with the best 5 rounds combined score taken from every competition except major comps throughout the year, so basically each monthly medal score is taken note of and the best 5 scratch are used to decide winner!!

Yet they have several competitions at his place where they have 36 holes strokeplay events that have more prestige than that of their club championship and invariably its not the best players winning the championship as they play the36 holes events (whose scores don't count towards the CC) instead of normal medals, it was this reason I chose not to join his club when I was making the switch from my old one as I want to play comps with prestige and think their club championship is cheapened by the way its done.

Mav, seems a very lazy way of doing it. Where is the prestige in that?

super_realist wrote:Mav, seems a very lazy way of doing it. Where is the prestige in that?

Totally agree with you SR thats the exact reason I didn't take my membership there even though its closer to where we live and instead went to the the club my father and brother play even though its a longer journey. The competition set up is much better.

The course my mate plays at seems to have a very lazy handicap/competition committee despite having a great course

My club doesn't really make a big deal about the club championship, it's a straight 36 hole lowest gross wins, 12 hcap limit. Usually only gets about 20 - 30 enter it, in reality only half a dozen have a chance to win due to the number of cat 1 players.

Ours is a waste of time if you are off handicap of 4-11 or 15+.

A section [h'cp up to 11] plays 18 holes. Top 32 qualify for 2nd round 18 holes. Top 16 qualify for knockout rounds.
B section [h'cap 12 and above] play 18 holes qualifying with the top 16 scratch qualifying for knockout rounds - all matches are played off scratch so its only really 12, 13 14 handicappers that are involved.

Fortunately i have another membership where they have a scratch and handicap championship. 36 holes on Saturday, with top 8 scratch and remaining top 8 handicap scores qualify for quarter finals and so on. There are not so many low boys at this club and it has not been unknown for a 6 handicapper to take the scratch spoils, though it's almost always won by someone off 2 or less. As a 6 hcpper this is a far better set up. not only do i have the outside chance of qualifying for the last 8 scratch [anything can happen in 3 rounds of matchplay!], but there's a good chance of getting into the handicap champs with a couple of decent scores.

basically the difference between the two clubs is that one caters for approximately 10-15% of the club membership, and the other is completely inclusive and gives everyone a shot at something.

At one of my old clubs they played 36 hole scratch qualifiying with the top 16
playing KO in a seeded draw.
I played in it four times and lost in the semis three years and lost at the last in the final.('')

IMVHO there should not be any handicaps involved in any club championship, it just cheapens the event and pays lip servicve to the hackers.
Just one event a year should be for the clubs top players.

Our club championship is a 36 hole event played over a weekend.

Doon the Water wrote:
IMVHO there should not be any handicaps involved in any club championship, it just cheapens the event and pays lip servicve to the hackers.
Just one event a year should be for the clubs top players.

Agree 100%

I don't think club champions are decided on a handicap basis anywhere.

But I do think it's right that there's a handicap prize on offer AS WELL in medal formats, because otherwise it's a day when 90% of the field have no hope of winning anything.

It is a very sad sight when you see 16 handicappers trying to win a scratch event and clogging up the course with thier 5 hour rounds
They should put the ego to bed for one day and let the proper golfers get on with it.
It's just one day in the year, and should be left to the single figure guys only.
I don't have a problem with a nett score for that type of event.
Its the 104-26=78 brigade that really get my goat, especially when someone asks how they got on and they reply 'not too bad I shot a 78'.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO YOU SHOT A 104.

There should be two club championships - call then what you like, but one for nett scores, one for gross scores.

We have a handicap shield in the morning, and the 20 lowest gross scores then play another 18 in the afternoon. Keeps pretty much everyone happy.

Bit boring here. Two rounds strokeplay, played on same day. Playing order dictated via lots. Might be nice to have a bit more "formality" around it but I won't care a whole lot if I win it in a few weeks time!

Smithers
That sounds like a good format.

doon,
agreed. the scratch championship is the 'real' thing. however for those of us who will never have the skill or opportunity to compete in such an event, a handicap alternative with less prestige is clearly the way to go. it is very sad watching a 12 and a 14 handicapper hack it round under the pretence of a 'gross' match. the handicap system in golf is what makes it accessible to all and one of the most democratically inclusive sports out there. in my opinion there should be space for each club to have a 'handicap' club champion, but it should be played off handicaps and include everyone - not just a few who happen to be just over an arbitary cut line of 11 or 12 hcp.

another thing to note is that clubs will have numbers of those who are capable of competing in the scratch comps. currently at my home club there are 65 cat 1 players registered. at my away club there are only 22. as a 6 handicapper i'll be entering the latter as clearly there is a better opportunity for me to qualify for the knockout stages of the scratch. if i don't make it but qualify for the handicap knockout, i'll be happy to give it a go.

Banbam,

You are absolutely right. Don't call it a 'handicap club champion' though. That sounds awful.

It would be better to term it as gold medal winner (gross winner and club champion) and silver medal (nett winner), or something like that.

I'm amazed at how clueless people are with this kind of thing. One of my neighbours won third prize at his captain's day last year. It was a very nice brandy decanter, but inscribed with Captain's Day 2010 THIRD PRIZE. I thought that was awful.

Deary me, how much better (and cheaper) it would have been just to say 'Captains' Day 2010'.

Since I knew the secretary of that club I rang him and and asked him if he'd considered that less is more, and the penny dropped so loudly you could have heard it in the next county. They won't be putting 'third prize' on anything this year I suspect.

oof, the poor handicap golfers taking a bit of a beating here. i don't think anyone of sane mind with a handicap above 5 imagines they can win the club championship once it's over 36 holes or more.

we may play together for the first 2 rounds but us hackers are just aiming to win the carstairs cup (handicap club champion - sorry if that title offends anyone) and/or get through to the handicap matchplay.

in that way, you get a far larger field which makes the first weekend more of an event for everyone. why be exclusive in the biggest event for all male members of the club?

george, its amazing how often less 'is' more. thank goodness for mies van der rohe, though i'm guessing he didn't care much for golf!
i like the ideal of a gold and silver medal. our club up north hand out beautiful silver replicas of an old medal we play for in the medal final for winning monthly medals, and a gold replica of the medal for the winner of the medal final. the gold medal is probably the most valuable prize you can win at the club. it would be great to have something similar for club champs.

A simple Div 1 (Scratch) and Div 2 (Handicap) champion would be a good way to do it, to avoid the "stigma" of being labelled "handicap" champion.

First qualifying round for me next week.

there's no stigma at crail, s_r. it actually had more people "complaining" that i was still off too high a handicap and was clearly a better golfer than i generally play to.

you play for and win the carstairs cup (but that will mean nothing to anyone outside CGS, so i called it what it is for the purpose of others' understanding) and it's an achievement for us hackers to put together 2 consecutive rounds good enough to beat everyone else.

Please don't think I was being derogatory Graeme if it came across as such.

no probs s_r, i'm proud of my handicap club championship

Ours is named similarly to the Open champiosnhip to stop any confusion.

The Champion Golfer (The club champion - receives a Crystal Tropht that stays in the club and gets a replica copy and a Gold medal)

The Silver Medallist (Handicap Champion - Receives a Silver Salver that stays in the club and an exact replica of the trophy)

Good prizes and named in such a way there can be no stigma

My previous club had 2 36 hole competitions. There is the standard medal, lowest gross score wins CC. Later in the year there is also a 'MedFord' where you play 18 medal and 18 stableford and subtract your points from your nett medal score, lowest number wins.

This is informally regarded as the handicap club championship and is often won by a higher handicapper.