All About the Boards Golf Society, Joining information and Rules

History

The Boards.ie Golf Society was founded in 2011 by a few keen boardsie golfers with the aim of putting a few faces to names and bringing golfers from all corners of Ireland (and further afield) together to play on some of the great golf courses Ireland has to offer.  After a number of discussion threads and a few failed attempts to arrange a game, @Keano & @ssbob didn’t give up and the society was finally born with the first outing being held on Friday 22nd July 2011 at Dundrum Golf Club in Tipperary.

On the day 19 strangers from all over Ireland met up for the very first time and it was very fitting that our main sponsor over the subsequent years @Golfgraffix was crowned the inaugural winner with a superb back 9 of 22 points to post a total score of 36.  @Beaulieu was second with 32 points and @Freemount09 came third with a score of 31 points.  @Anatom and @gerire won the front and back nine respectively with @denisoc16  and @alxmorgan closing out the prize winners with the nearest the pin and long drive honours.

However the real winner of the day was the Boards.ie Golf Society.  Since then we have had over 250 different boardsie’s take part in almost 100 outings.  Between us we have more than 2,000 rounds of golf at over 50 different golf courses around Ireland.  Friendships have been made for life with weekend golfing trips taken at home and abroad.  Indeed the only thing you will hear a boardsie golfer saying is that they regret not joining sooner!

Since that momentous day, the society has grown from strength to strength and with thanks to some very generous sponsors over the years, we now not only play for fun and the opportunity to visit new courses, but there is also a fierce competition in the battle to win the perpetual trophies for Captains Prize, Golfer of the Year and Past Captains Prize.  The most treasured of all prizes though is without doubt a place on the season closing Ryder Jug team.  In 2012 the Reps Society (who claim to be the oldest golf society in Ireland) approached us as their regular opposition was unable to field a team and the annual Ryder Jug match was born.

Boards.ie Golf Forum

An important part of the Boards Golf Society is to contribute to the society related threads.  As we are not like a standard society who might have a regular meeting place at work or a local pub or social club, our meeting place is the golf forum on boards.  We therefore must value the forum aspect significantly.

Members are expected to make a significant effort to post in the relevant threads.  These contributions do not need to be long, but sharing your stories of the outings, your course feedback and general thoughts and experience plays a very important part in the overall society development and helps to build and improve it going forward.

Committee

The committee was formed to implement the rules of the society and to organise and run the outings as smoothly and as efficiently as possible.  All members are free to make suggestions to the committee with ideas which they feel may benefit the society.  The committee will discuss all suggestions received and implement changes as deemed appropriate.  All decisions made by the committee are final.  The committee is predominantly made up of past captains whose experience in the hot seat provides a valuable source of knowledge for the continued success of the society.  If any member wish to join the committee, please express your interest.

Joining the Society

The society was created in such a way to be as fair as possible to golfers of all abilities.  It is a chance for everyone to play the game we love in a more relaxed environment.  Everybody from a beginner having never hit a ball to a scratch golfer is welcome to play.  The main aims and objectives are for everybody to get out and have fun, meet new people, get to play some great golf courses and hopefully during the year be in with a chance of winning something for your efforts should you happen to play well.  Official handicaps are not essential as the society can provide one for you.  Remember everyone is welcome.

To join you just need to download the ClubNet App (details below) and sign up to the Boards Golf Society on it.  NB;when you are signing up to the ClubNet App, so that we know who you are, it is important you use your Boards Handle as your “First Name” and your full real name as your “Surname”.

Then drop a PM to any of the committee members with the following information;

Ø  Name

Ø  Mobile no

Ø  Email

Ø  Home Club (if applicable)

Ø  GUI Number (if applicable)

You will receive an email once your account has been set up and activated.

Fees

An annual subscription of €35 will apply.  Invoices will be issued through ClubNet.  This entitles you to play and compete for the main prizes in every qualifying event.  Depending on the course played, the green fee may fluctuate, but it will be balanced out across the year as best possible.  Other costs may arise throughout the year but these will be advised in the various threads we start regarding each outing.

Outings & Prizes

Outings are organised at locations throughout the country generally in close proximity to the motorway network and are primarily played on Saturdays.  There will generally be 8 official outings each year, one each month from February through to September.  Other non-official outings may be organised ad hoc during the year, but will not be counting events.

All outings will be scored in Stableford points. For each outing there will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd places, longest drive and nearest the pin.  Where the budget provides, there may be extra prizes on offer such as extra places, front 9, Back 9, most golf or picky outs.

Two’s comp

At each outing we shall run an optional 2’s comp with an entry fee of €2.00.  Any entrant who has a score of 2 on any hole at the event shall win or share in the spoils.  A hole in one claims half the pot.  If there are multiple winners the pot shall be divided equally. If nobody has a two the pot shall carry over to the next event.  If the pot carries over anybody wishing to enter the 2’s club who had not entered the previous event may be asked to pay for previous event also.

Pace of play

Golf can be a long day out, especially with the amount of traveling the Boards Society does. Each player should recognize that his or her pace of play is likely to affect how long it will take other players to play their rounds, including both those in the player’s own group and those in following groups.  Remember, your place on the course is behind the group in front, not ahead of the group behind.  The Society plays "Ready Golf" so you don't need to observe who has the honour and if you're ready to hit, get up & do so. It keeps things flowing.

Captains Prize

The Captains prize will normally be the last event of the year.  To win the Captains prize you must have already returned at least 3 cards in the given year and have your subscription paid in full.  The winner will be awarded the perpetual Boards.ie Captains Prize Claret Jug Trophy for the period of 1 year, which can be engraved with the winners’ details.  In addition, there will be a better than usual selection of prizes on offer.

The current years captain may participate in the event and may win the Claret Jug and collect the Golfer of the Year points, but may not collect the main prize.  It shall be passed down to second position.

Golfer of the Year

Each main event from February to September will have order of merit points awarded on a sliding scale.  To make it fair to all, as not everyone will be able to attend all 8 events, it will be the best 5 points tally for each player which will count towards the order of merit rankings.  The Golfer of the Year will be the player who tops the order of merit after all events for the year have concluded.   They will be awarded the perpetual SeveOB trophy for the period of 1 year, which can be engraved with the winners’ details. A separate prize will also be awarded to the Golfer of the Year.

Ryder Jug

The Ryder Jug is an annual team match play event played between the Boards.ie Golf Society and the Reps Golf Society (who claim to be the oldest society in Ireland).  The Boards.ie Golf Society team shall be made up of the top ten players from the Order of Merit plus 2 Captains picks.  To qualify for the Ryder Jug team, each player should have competed in at least 4 qualifying events during the year.  A qualifying event is any Boards event deemed qualifying by the committee and may not be limited to society outings. The Captain is entitled to alter the qualification process.  The Ryder Jug is competed for in a one day event of 6 Four-Ball head to head matches, played generally in early to mid-October.

Handicaps

In line with WHS, we will apply a Course Handicap (CH) for each golfer who has a Golf Ireland (GI) membership.  For golfers who are not members of GI a society Handicap Index (HI) shall be awarded.  This will be calculated on the basis of any previous GI handicap, ability and experience playing the game, recent scores etc. to try and obtain a fair handicap.  New members shall receive an initial HI of no more than 18 which will be reviewed.  Please note this society is about having fun.  Honesty and etiquette are valued much more than prizes so it’s up to all golfers to be honest about their abilities when being reviewed.

Playing Handicap Adjustments

While we will use our CH for each event, prize winners will have their Playing Handicap (PH) adjusted in the following manner

1st place -3

2nd place -2

3rd place -1

4th place -0.5 (if prize awarded)

The average score of the next 5 positions will then be calculated and for any player who has recorded a score above the average, an increase of 0.5 will be applied to their PH.

Golfers will be asked to verify their current Handicap Index (HI) with the committee ahead of each event.

Handicap adjustments will only apply to relevant year and will be reset ahead of the new season.  The committee reserves the right to amend handicaps as they see fit.  All decisions will be made in the best interest of the whole society and not any individual.

Visitors

You must be a fully paid up member to compete for the main prizes at each outing.  However visitors are welcome where space on the timesheet is available and will be charged at the course rate of the day plus €10.  Visitors are entitled to compete for a visitor’s prize, nearest the pin, longest drive, 2's club but if victorious they must collect their prize on the day or at the following outing otherwise it will be forfeited and added back into the prize fund.  Visitors are not entitled to enter the Golfer of the Year or Captains Prize and are not eligible for selection to the Ryder Jug.  A visitor may join the society during the year by paying the annual subscription fee.

General Rules & Regulations

·      Members of the society must have a Boards.ie account and it is expected that you keep an eye on the relevant society threads for up to date information and contribute to same threads.

·      Golfers of all ages young and old, and of all abilities from pro to hacker and beginners are welcome to join the society.

·      A general thread for each year of the society will be updated during the year and a specific thread for each outing will provide all the necessary information for the members.

·      The ClubNet app is used to manage the society membership and timesheets.

·      It is expected that if you are unable to attend an event at short notice, the player should remove themselves from the timesheet on ClubNet and post to the relevant thread ASAP.

·      No shows are not appreciated as they cause organisational headaches for the committee and can expose a cost to society.  

·      The use of Distance Measuring Devices is permissible at all outings, with the exception of devices capable of measuring wind speed and direction.

·      Golf Buggies are permitted if required.

·      The rules of golf apply for all outings.  Local rules will apply at each outing.  The society reserves the right to implement our own local rules as necessary.  It is the player’s responsibility to know and understand the rules of golf.  Any breech in the rules of golf will be dealt with by a committee disciplinary hearing, up to and including expulsion from the society.

·      Users who have been banned from the Boards.ie golf forum and Boards.ie website in general are not entitled to join the golf society.