Club championships , what's the score

fundy

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If someone wants to play on days 6 and 7 of the week then they need to join on the appropriate membership. If you only pay for 5 day membership, saving a decent amount of money, then there has to be a consequence as otherwise it is unfair on those who pay the full fee.


why does the consequence have to be not playing in the club championships?

is not playing every other saturday/sunday and not being able to enter 95% of weekend comps not enough "consequence"
 

fundy

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We have two very good Cat 1 players who play the majority of their golf elsewhere. They play their three Club Championship qualifying comps, the CC itself, and also play Winter League every year, as they know our place is perhaps the only course in the county which can virtually guarantee year round golf. Outside of that, we never see them.

There was an attempt to involve them in the scratch team a few years ago which caused an absolute stink. There were some very good golfers, fully committed and integrated into club life, who missed out to accommodate these two. Whilst involving them would doubtless have improved the quality of golf on offer, it had a hugely detrimental impact on the team itself, so their involvement was short lived.

In a similar vein, having a Club Champion who is not a fully integrated member of the club can have a similar impact. The situation you cite is a classic example.

I genuinely do feel that the option to play in the CC is a privilege which should be restricted to full members and, as such, it is a privilege to be your club’s champion.


A privilege to be club champion? Is it still 1983 at your club?

Club champion should be the member who plays best on club champs weekend!
 

Siolag

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We have two very good Cat 1 players who play the majority of their golf elsewhere. They play their three Club Championship qualifying comps, the CC itself, and also play Winter League every year, as they know our place is perhaps the only course in the county which can virtually guarantee year round golf. Outside of that, we never see them.

There was an attempt to involve them in the scratch team a few years ago which caused an absolute stink. There were some very good golfers, fully committed and integrated into club life, who missed out to accommodate these two. Whilst involving them would doubtless have improved the quality of golf on offer, it had a hugely detrimental impact on the team itself, so their involvement was short lived.

In a similar vein, having a Club Champion who is not a fully integrated member of the club can have a similar impact. The situation you cite is a classic example.

I genuinely do feel that the option to play in the CC is a privilege which should be restricted to full members and, as such, it is a privilege to be your club’s champion.

So two of the best golfers at your club don’t get picked for the team because it knocked out two others that were doubtless pals of those on the team? That sounds crazy to me. Clearly the team don’t want to win things, just go on jolly’s.
 

Lord Tyrion

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why does the consequence have to be not playing in the club championships?

is not playing every other saturday/sunday and not being able to enter 95% of weekend comps not enough "consequence"
If you are a 5 day member then that is what you can play. You can't play 5 days and then the odd weekend because you fancy it. If you want to play in a competition that you know happens at a weekend then you have to stump up to pay full fees.

At a previous club I was on a special membership, Police / Fire / Amulance. I paid £120 a year, an absolute steal. I was not allowed to pay in comps however, not even paying a greater entry fee. I had no problem with this, if I wanted the full service then I had to pay the full membership. That is only fair on those members who do pay the full 7 day fees. This is the same for me.
 

Billysboots

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A privilege to be club champion? Is it still 1983 at your club?

Club champion should be the member who plays best on club champs weekend!

Well, I still listen to lots of 80’s music, so perhaps I am stuck in the past ?.

Whilst our club is a very progressive proprietary club, they are very strict on this one. If you want to be in with a shout of being the club champion, you have to be a full fee paying member - hence my use of the word privilege.

It prevents the once in a blue moon interloper rocking up and walking off with the club’s biggest prize. That may seem harsh on 5-day members, but the question which will always be asked is, if those members can find the time to play on CC weekend, why not other weekends as well?
 

GB72

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I guess I look at this from the point of view of someone who will never make any dent in the club championship and, due to other commitments, think that I have only entered one. In any event, as it is a competition to be champion golfer of the club, I feel that it should be open to all members equally, for one event, I am not sure that I would even charge a green fee. At my old club there were more members than places and so the people were entered in lowest handicap order with the highest handicappers missing out. Again, nothing wrong with that as a high handicapper is unlikely to win the club championship off scratch. There are people who are five day members for a reason but the point of the club champioship is to find the best golfer in the club for the year and so every golfer should be able to take part. After all, what is the alternative, hold it in the week so that everyone can take part. Not sure that would go down well.
 

Billysboots

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So two of the best golfers at your club don’t get picked for the team because it knocked out two others that were doubtless pals of those on the team? That sounds crazy to me. Clearly the team don’t want to win things, just go on jolly’s.

I’m not quite sure from your response whether you entirely grasp the team ethic!

Surely a team performs better if there is harmony within that team? Ditching a regular 4-handicap golfer to accommodate an occasional 2-handicap golfer is madness. It causes friction and cliques within the team.

Sir Alex Ferguson made a career of ditching some of the best players in the world if they upset the apple cart. All teams are bigger than any individual who is part of them.
 

Orikoru

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I don't think our Club Champs will even happen this year. Normally it's over two days, Saturday and Sunday, but with members struggling to even get tee times now I just can't see it working.
 

Siolag

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I’m not quite sure from your response whether you entirely grasp the team ethic!

Surely a team performs better if there is harmony within that team? Ditching a regular 4-handicap golfer to accommodate an occasional 2-handicap golfer is madness. It causes friction and cliques within the team.

Why is the 2 handicap per occasional but the 4 regular? Surely both are playing pretty regularly to keep such a handicap?

If the point of the team is to win as many golf matches as you can, then you have the best players you can on that team.

If it’s about “team ethic” see my previous post.
 

Siolag

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I’m not quite sure from your response whether you entirely grasp the team ethic!

Surely a team performs better if there is harmony within that team? Ditching a regular 4-handicap golfer to accommodate an occasional 2-handicap golfer is madness. It causes friction and cliques within the team.

Sir Alex Ferguson made a career of ditching some of the best players in the world if they upset the apple cart. All teams are bigger than any individual who is part of them.


And furthermore, why didn’t the faces fit? Is it, as I said, because people previously in the team weren’t in there? If so, it sounds like the team is the clique and having 2 guys in there didn’t sit well with them, so they binned them.
 

Pathetic Shark

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A club I was a member at in 1998 had a really flexible attitude to players being eligible for the Club Championship. A guy joined on a month's trial membership, played one comp and then won the Club Championship and left. They had a hell of a job getting the trophy back off him as he had taken it away that day.

Pyrford have 5-day members but they are not eligible for the major board competitions. They can pay a green fee to play a weekend qualifier but this like other clubs, playing in majors is a benefit enjoyed by full members.
 

garyinderry

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5 day member would still be a member of the club for me.

We have enough mid week comps where they can play a full season.

Couldn't care less if they had to pay a green fee to enter weekend comps that they had free time to play in.

Keeping such a player out of the club champs just seems like very odd behaviour to me.

If you are the best player then it is what it is.
 

patricks148

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A club I was a member at in 1998 had a really flexible attitude to players being eligible for the Club Championship. A guy joined on a month's trial membership, played one comp and then won the Club Championship and left. They had a hell of a job getting the trophy back off him as he had taken it away that day.

Pyrford have 5-day members but they are not eligible for the major board competitions. They can pay a green fee to play a weekend qualifier but this like other clubs, playing in majors is a benefit enjoyed by full members.
i think we had something similar, ours is a scratch comp, though there is a handicap one as well, but the scratch is the main, TBH, you don't stand a chance unless you are scratch and lower. we have a waiting list, but if you are 0 or lower you can skip that, a guy joined off +2, played no comps and romped the CC, never to be seen again, didn't take the cup though as its presented at Club Prize Giving Dinner. now you have to play in X number of comps to be able to play in the CC
 

Billysboots

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Why is the 2 handicap per occasional but the 4 regular? Surely both are playing pretty regularly to keep such a handicap?

The 2-handicap played at the club once in a blue moon (occasionally) and the 4-handicap, who made way for him, was a club regular.
 

Billysboots

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And furthermore, why didn’t the faces fit? Is it, as I said, because people previously in the team weren’t in there? If so, it sounds like the team is the clique and having 2 guys in there didn’t sit well with them, so they binned them.

Who said faces didn’t fit? They’re your words, not mine.

It was the fact that two integral members of the team, themselves good golfers, were jettisoned to accommodate two others who MIGHT have performed better, but who hardly ever showed their faces at the club, that caused the issue.
 

Orikoru

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Surely when you sign up for 5 day membership they would make it very clear to you which comps you are allowed to enter with your membership. You can't sign up to a membership that clearly excludes you from certain competitions and then moan that you can't enter those competitions. I looked into some 'social' memberships near me (cheaper memberships where you get a top-up card to play X number of times) but they all clearly stated you weren't allowed to enter the major comps, which was one of the reasons I didn't take any of them up.

If you're taking a reduced membership and then moaning about what you can't do, you're on a par with those people who buy houses next to popular nightclubs and then complain about the noise. :LOL:
 
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SteveW86

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I can see both sides of this, but if the name is "Club Championship", then that should be inclusive of all the membership to decide the best player within the club. Have restrictions on handicap by all means, or a criteria on number of mid-week comps played but to decide the best player in the club everybody should have the opportinuty to enter.

I would see the CC as an exception though and wouldn't expect to play any other weekend comps, its a reduced membership for a reason.
 

Siolag

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Who said faces didn’t fit? They’re your words, not mine.

It was the fact that two integral members of the team, themselves good golfers, were jettisoned to accommodate two others who MIGHT have performed better, but who hardly ever showed their faces at the club, that caused the issue.

Well what was 'the issue' then? Teams change. Is there a set way for how a team is picked? If there is, then anyone falling short can have a little grumble, but if they don't meet the criteria then tough. If there isn't a distinct procedure, then sounds like the guy off 4 just expected to be in the team ahead of a better golfer because he plays at the club more often/was pals with everyone else on the team.
 

Paperboy

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At my club all the major comps apart from CC, are played over Friday to Sunday. This allows the 5 day members to enter, not too sure about the CC as it's normally balloted out at 10, possibly 12 handicap. But no idea if 5 day memebers can enter or not.

5 day members can play on captains day, which is always all day on a Saturday.
 

Pathetic Shark

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I know of a club where a few years back, the committee was taken over by 5-day members and they changed their club championships to Friday and Saturday meaning the weekend players had to take a day off work to play the first round. I will leave you to guess what level of handicap the midweek player who pushed this forward was ….

He didn't win.
 
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