Club Golf Competitions??

fearruanua

Hi folks. i'm just after joining a club for the first time and i would love to play inter club golf competitions. haven't a clue if i'm eligable or if members would accept a new member on teams. just wondering how the picking of club teams works? do you have to have a certain handicap? is there trials? any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Mister Sifter

For most you will need to have submitted a certain number of competition cards in the previous season. I think for my club it's four cards.

As long as you've done that (some clubs will also put a sheet up in the clubhosue asking for interested names) you should be in with a shout, regardless. Although, unfortunatley, as with most clubs, the old 'does your face fit' rule will apply! :rolleyes:

No trials at my own club. Just think your previous year's scores would be the substitute for that.

fearruanua

do open days count for those score cards? and i'm presuming there is alot of club politics getting on such club teams. is it the same everywhere???

Mister Sifter

I'm not definite, but i think it's 4 cards from our club for our teams. Maybe someone else on here can confirm / deny that though.

Some clubs will be worse that others with regards to the in-club politics. Only in my second year in my new club, but seems ok so far. My club back in Scotland was always really bad for it though.

Sandwich

The four cards thing is a GUI thing for their competitions. They must be in a qualifying competition during the previous year, and can be from another club. You must also have help a vilid GUI handicap to have those qualifying scores of course. There are competitions to suit all handicap ranges. Most clubs will have a Teams or Competition secretary how handles such topics.

eagle eye

The four card rule applies to nearly all inter club competitions, with the exception of the Senior Cup and maybe the Barton Shield where the only requirement is that you are a member of the club you play for. You do not even require a handicap in these are far as I am aware.
I have been a Team Captain, vice-Captain and have played for my club on a number of occasions. I have also spent a couple of years on committees for my club.
The problem in a lot of clubs is that you have the regular golfers who expect to be picked regardless of form, and then there is the old guard in a lot of clubs who want to keep the picking of teams to themselves and seem to pick the teams with the help of the old guard. I was asked to be vice captain on one particular team, the first one I was ever involved in and I told the Captain at that time that I would only be involved with a properly picked team. He agreed and we won our province. There were several retractors among the old guard right up until we won the provincial which was only our second win in eighteen years.
I then was captain of a team and picked it on merit, but unfortunately we ran into a better team in the provincial semi-finals, and the old guard were happy to point out to anyone who would listen that I had picked the wrong players and that we were just lucky to win the previous year in the other competition. Its unbelievable sometimes.
I was involved in picking another team as part of a selection committee and we had a meeting and picked a team, some of the old guard were again not happy with some of the selections and somewhere between our meeting and the actual event, the team got changed without the consent of two of the three man selection committee, needless to say we lost the match.
I was also selected to play for my club and won a first round match on the 17th hole against a pairing who had won the all-Ireland title the year before and was inexplicably dropped for the second round.
I have been selected play for my club on twelve occasions, and I have won eleven matches and was called in on the other occasion when leading by one hole as the match had been won before i got finished. Still I am not selected very often, even though I have won competitions regularly and improved my handicap in every one of the last five years.
This is what you are up against in some clubs, other clubs are very forward thinking and everyone gets a fair chance to show what they can do.
If you are only new on the scene, don't expect to be picked right away, and really if you are new to golf, you have to learn a lot before you should be considered.
The important thing to do is concentrate on bringing your handicap down and that should get the attention of those selecting teams.
Good luck to you in your new club and I hope you enjoy the game.

fearruanua

thanks for the lowdown eagle eye. its hard to keep going after all you've been through. its such a pity that this crap seems to be present in most golf clubs around the country. i know some very fine golfers who will never even try to get on their club teams due to the politics involved and those involved. its the clubs loss. going to try and reduce my handicap this and see how i get on. there's hardly a special inter club comp for new members?