Juniors in club matchplay

PhilipMarlowe

Just wondering what other clubs do regarding juniors playing in their club matchplay competition.... are they allowed? Is there a handicap limit set?
You know the way that Captain's and President's Prizes are considered "Majors" and juniors aren't usually allowed to enter. Is it the same for the club matchplay?

Our club matchplay is Full Difference in handicaps based on current handicaps.
I guess it also depends on whether the matchplay is entered by a qualification round or not also. We have done a singles competition previously to get the entrants to the club matchplay but this year dropped that in favour of allowing people to enter that wanted to be in the competition. Got more entrants that way and had to run preliminary rounds to even out the draw but at least everyone that entered the competition wanted to be in it. With the singles and qualification route, some of those who qualified weren't that interested in the matchplay and some who would have loved to play the matchplay didn't qualify due to bad early-season golf *cough*

But back to the juniors... as usual, there is sometimes grumblings about a junior doing well in a competition (shock horror) and I just wanted to know how this "issue" is handled elsewhere.

PhilipMarlowe

Also, small club with not a heap of juniors but some handy golfers among them... not much in the line of dedicated junior competitions so they like to play the weekly open singles and stuff and I personally think it's better for them to be competing against all-comers rather than just each other, though I think the matchplay may need to be handled differently like perhaps setting an upper handicap limit so that a junior off 22 could only play off 18 max?

ozymandias10

juniors are allowed enter the matchplay which I think is great as it gives them a grounding for interclub golf.....the major competitions are limited for them.....they cant win first prize in the ones they are allowed into
thats how our club does it anyway

Daithio9

If the junior has a full mens handicap, then I see no reason why they should be prevented from playing any club competitions.

irishtoffee

Juniors who make it on the computer 16 hcp or less in Wexford are allowed play in mens singles but not any of the majors ie Captains,Presidents,free sub,Howlin cup (matchplay) or Golfer of the year these are all just for full members.They run 2 singles comps a week for all the juniors and they also have their own matchplay.

DH2K9

Juniors are generally looked down at by other members of the club.

Niall09

Juniors with a handicap of 18 or under are allowed to play in all mens singles comps (apart from presidents prize etc).

I qualified last year as a junior in 32nd place off 5, was playing the leading qualifier and had to give him 16 shots and this guy was a bandit, could've easily played to about a 12 handicap. Needless to say I lost, 3&2 only so it wasn't too bad.

Benicetomonty

If they get off 9 or less they can play matchplay qualifiers in Lucan. A junior must be off 6 or less to play the majors and they cannot win 1st prize, nor can they do so in any singles comps. They can win 4balls if they're with a full member.

ShriekingSheet

Yeah, our juniors can play regardless of handicap. It's tough because you do get ones milling down from 24 to 14 in a few weeks, and if you come across them in match play, pack your bags! Thinking about it, we should have an 18 limit, meaning higher guys could play off 18. Men of course can play off any h'cap, but it's fait to say that in general, a junior off 24 getting into the game and a man off 24 for some years are entirely different animals.

At the same time, it's rare enough to see a youngster on his way down actually close out match after match. Invariably, a seasoned match player off 9 or 5 or 12 or whatever puts it up to them and it becomes an entirely new test for the kid.

thelongfellow

I see no problem with having juniors allowed in mens competitions or with them winning. There should be no upper limit handicap for these juniors and the idea that they should not be allowed win the Captain's, club matchplay, etc is not in the spirit of the game.

If you get beaten by some young lad ripping the course apart whats the problem? He's just another golfer no matter what his age.

Arn't juniors supposed to be the lifeblood and future of any golf club? How about instead of tying them up in stupid club politics (seeing as most men don't want some kid running off with the club "majors") we actually let them go out and play and have a chance of winning. In the long run it will be in the interests of all clubs to have quality juniors coming through.

getoffthepot

Our juniors or students can't play in any matchplay other than inter club no matter what handicap!