Cash prizes for 2's

[Cliomorgan]

I am aware that under the rules of golf, players cannot win cash prizes whilst playing in handicap competitions but what about for 2's?
Our club has a competition entry fee which includes £1 for a ball sweep. If I am reading the rules correctly, you can't 'mix' a scratch & hcp competition therefore you cannot pay out for a 2 in cash.
Can anybody confirm one way or another please.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I am aware that under the rules of golf, players cannot win cash prizes whilst playing in handicap competitions but what about for 2's?
Our club has a competition entry fee which includes £1 for a ball sweep. If I am reading the rules correctly, you can't 'mix' a scratch & hcp competition therefore you cannot pay out for a 2 in cash.
Can anybody confirm one way or another please.

You can play for cash prizes up to a certain amount

And you can play scratch and hcp at the same time

 

[Cliomorgan]

You can play for cash prizes up to a certain amount

And you can play scratch and hcp at the same time

Not according to the rules

 

[Steven Rules]

Rules of Amateur Status
Rule 3 - Prizes

3a Scratch Competitions

An amateur playing in a scratch competition is allowed to accept any prize, including prize money, up to a limit of £700 or US$1000 in value, per competition, unless the national governing body has set a lower limit.

For the purposes of these Rules, a scratch competition is a competition that does not have a net score element in any part of the competition and handicaps must not be used to separate players into different scratch categories. Any competition that is not a scratch competition is a handicap competition.

3b Handicap Competitions

An amateur playing in a handicap competition is not allowed to accept prize money, but may accept any other prize up to a limit of £700 or US$1000 in value, per competition, unless the national governing body has set a lower limit.

 

[Neilds]

I can’t find the exact ruling but the 2s pot is a side sweep and therefore doesn’t count as a cash prize.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Not according to the rules

Not according to the rules

Prize money up to £700

 

[Steven Rules]

You can play for cash prizes up to a certain amount

And you can play scratch and hcp at the same time

Both these individual statements are correct in isolation from each other but, according to the Rules of Amateur Status, you cannot play for cash prizes in a handicap competition.

 

[Cliomorgan]

I can’t find the exact ruling but the 2s pot is a side sweep and therefore doesn’t count as a cash prize.

 

[Cliomorgan]

That's what I thought until I looked at the rules......big mistake, lol.

 

[Cliomorgan]

Prize money up to £700

That's for a scratch competition.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

That's for a scratch competition.

And the 2s sweep is scratch


But it’s also a separate sweep from the competition

 

[Steven Rules]

I am aware that under the rules of golf,

For those playing along at home, note that it is the Rules of Amateur Status not the Rules of Golf.

 

[Cliomorgan]

And the 2s sweep is scratch


But it’s also a separate sweep from the competition

But as the rules of amateur status says: you cannot mix scratch and hcp at the same time.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

But as the rules of amateur status says: you cannot mix scratch and hcp at the same time.

Think you maybe thinking too much about it

 

[Steven Rules]

I think the question turns on an interpretation of whether this sort of side competition for cash prizes is actually considered to be gambling or wagering among individual golfers or teams of golfers, which is permitted under the Rules of Amateur Status where:

• The players generally know each other.
• Participation in the gambling or wagering is not required.
• All money won is contributed by the participants..

 

[Cliomorgan]

I think the question turns on an interpretation of whether this sort of side competition for cash prizes is actually considered to be gambling or wagering among individual golfers or teams of golfers, which is permitted under the Rules of Amateur Status where:

• The players generally know each other.
• Participation in the gambling or wagering is not required.
• All money won is contributed by the participants..

So we can carry on paying out cash for 2's in this case

 

[Neilds]

So we can carry on paying out cash for 2's in this case

As I said about a dozen posts ago

 

[Cliomorgan]

As I said about a dozen posts ago

Its all very well saying it but you couldn't find the exact ruling.
As a club who doesn't want to fall foul of the rules and potentially lose our affiliation, unfortunately "he says, she says" doesn't work.

 

[apj0524]

Sorry to highlight this Post about 2s, but my question is that for most of our Men's handicap competitions we have prize money (paid to their Pro Shop account) for the best scratch score of the day. If I have read this post correctly we can not do that ie mixing a scratch and hcp prozes in the same comp?

 

[Billysboots]

Sorry to highlight this Post about 2s, but my question is that for most of our Men's handicap competitions we have prize money (paid to their Pro Shop account) for the best scratch score of the day. If I have read this post correctly we can not do that ie mixing a scratch and hcp prozes in the same comp?

I’ve never been at a club where this doesn’t happen. Pretty much every handicap competition I play in also pays a prize for lowest gross (to keep the low handicap golfers interested), along with a 2’s sweep.

I don’t see that as mixing handicap and scratch prizes. It’s just an additional prize or sweep as part of a larger competition. There seems to be some deep over thinking going on.