Competitive Golf

[BigPhil14]

Hi All,

Following on from the very useful responses I got last time in relation to joining a club, I thought I'd ask for some more advice/opinions! It turns out that it is still incredibly hard to join somewhere sensible in London as pretty much all courses within about an hour of me have massive waiting lists. I have been on a waiting list somewhere since December, and it seems unlikely I will get in before next April.

The question I had is if anyone knows any ways to play competitive golf without being a member somewhere? As I am not a member, I don't think I am able to get an official handicap to enter opens at clubs, however might be wrong? I have the Golf England IGolf app but I have read that not many places accept that as an official handicap for competitions. I also only have 11 scores entered into the app as the players that I used to play with that have handicaps and were able to sign off my cards have now moved away, so my handicap is probably lower than it sensibly should be as it's only taking my best 3 rounds from those 11 at the moment.

I feel like I'm stuck at the moment where I want to try and enter tournaments and try and take golf a bit more seriously, but can't join a club due to the wait lists, therefore can't get a recognised handicap as I am not a member, can't get cards signed off as the people I play with also don't have a handicap (and don't want to sign up to the app) and therefore can't play competition golf, which leads back to not being able to use those rounds to help validate a handicap. It seems like a circle that is hard to get out of. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would happily enter a tournament with a scratch handicap if I could so there's no concerns over the validity of my handicap, but not sure if that's possible. I don't really care about the net score, I just want to try and test myself playing in more tournament style conditions than just playing at the weekend with friends.

Any ideas would be much appreciated!

 

[LincolnShep]

I've never done this myself, it's just an idea, but could you contact some open organisers and ask to play off scratch and be ineligible for any prizes? I don't see why they wouldn't want your entry fee under those conditions. You can find opens on the Golf Empire website. BTW, some opens accept iGolf handicaps.

 

[Bdill93]

Hi All,

Following on from the very useful responses I got last time in relation to joining a club, I thought I'd ask for some more advice/opinions! It turns out that it is still incredibly hard to join somewhere sensible in London as pretty much all courses within about an hour of me have massive waiting lists. I have been on a waiting list somewhere since December, and it seems unlikely I will get in before next April.

The question I had is if anyone knows any ways to play competitive golf without being a member somewhere? As I am not a member, I don't think I am able to get an official handicap to enter opens at clubs, however might be wrong? I have the Golf England IGolf app but I have read that not many places accept that as an official handicap for competitions. I also only have 11 scores entered into the app as the players that I used to play with that have handicaps and were able to sign off my cards have now moved away, so my handicap is probably lower than it sensibly should be as it's only taking my best 3 rounds from those 11 at the moment.

I feel like I'm stuck at the moment where I want to try and enter tournaments and try and take golf a bit more seriously, but can't join a club due to the wait lists, therefore can't get a recognised handicap as I am not a member, can't get cards signed off as the people I play with also don't have a handicap (and don't want to sign up to the app) and therefore can't play competition golf, which leads back to not being able to use those rounds to help validate a handicap. It seems like a circle that is hard to get out of. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would happily enter a tournament with a scratch handicap if I could so there's no concerns over the validity of my handicap, but not sure if that's possible. I don't really care about the net score, I just want to try and test myself playing in more tournament style conditions than just playing at the weekend with friends.

Any ideas would be much appreciated!

Honestly at this point id be looking further afield for a golf club! Doesnt sound ideal at all though, there really arent these barriers in the midlands! You can pretty much join where you like at the drop of a hat!

What does the England golf app have your handicap as out of curiosity?

 

[rulefan]

Have you looked at this?

As a non-club member, you can now join iGolf for just £40 per year!

https://englandigolf.co.uk/

 

[Bdill93]

Have you looked at this?

As a non-club member, you can now join iGolf for just £40 per year!

https://englandigolf.co.uk/

He says he has it!

 

[wjemather]

Hi All,

Following on from the very useful responses I got last time in relation to joining a club, I thought I'd ask for some more advice/opinions! It turns out that it is still incredibly hard to join somewhere sensible in London as pretty much all courses within about an hour of me have massive waiting lists. I have been on a waiting list somewhere since December, and it seems unlikely I will get in before next April.

The question I had is if anyone knows any ways to play competitive golf without being a member somewhere? As I am not a member, I don't think I am able to get an official handicap to enter opens at clubs, however might be wrong? I have the Golf England IGolf app but I have read that not many places accept that as an official handicap for competitions. I also only have 11 scores entered into the app as the players that I used to play with that have handicaps and were able to sign off my cards have now moved away, so my handicap is probably lower than it sensibly should be as it's only taking my best 3 rounds from those 11 at the moment.

I feel like I'm stuck at the moment where I want to try and enter tournaments and try and take golf a bit more seriously, but can't join a club due to the wait lists, therefore can't get a recognised handicap as I am not a member, can't get cards signed off as the people I play with also don't have a handicap (and don't want to sign up to the app) and therefore can't play competition golf, which leads back to not being able to use those rounds to help validate a handicap. It seems like a circle that is hard to get out of. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would happily enter a tournament with a scratch handicap if I could so there's no concerns over the validity of my handicap, but not sure if that's possible. I don't really care about the net score, I just want to try and test myself playing in more tournament style conditions than just playing at the weekend with friends.

Any ideas would be much appreciated!

Sadly, despite your WHS Handicap through iGolf being 100% official and recognised, fear and distrust is rife within the club member/committee community. The myth perpetuates that the vast majority of people who would manipulate their handicap (or otherwise cheat) are non-club members (and club members would never do such things), so their opens have remained a closed shop. Thankfully there are many clubs that welcome all golfers to participate in their opens - hopefully you are able to find one or two locally.

Failing that, you should be able to find third-party organised events that would accept your entry, e.g. Mizuno Singles Series. They would also be more tournament-like but may need to travel a bit.

Scratch competitions tend to have limits and ballots, so unless you are low single figures, entry into them may not be possible.

 

[jim8flog]

Have you looked at this?

As a non-club member, you can now join iGolf for just £40 per year!

https://englandigolf.co.uk/

I was going to say that but have rumours that some clubs are only accepting entries from players from recognized clubs.

 

[jim8flog]

Hi All,

Following on from the very useful responses I got last time in relation to joining a club, I thought I'd ask for some more advice/opinions! It turns out that it is still incredibly hard to join somewhere sensible in London as pretty much all courses within about an hour of me have massive waiting lists. I have been on a waiting list somewhere since December, and it seems unlikely I will get in before next April.

The question I had is if anyone knows any ways to play competitive golf without being a member somewhere? As I am not a member, I don't think I am able to get an official handicap to enter opens at clubs, however might be wrong? I have the Golf England IGolf app but I have read that not many places accept that as an official handicap for competitions. I also only have 11 scores entered into the app as the players that I used to play with that have handicaps and were able to sign off my cards have now moved away, so my handicap is probably lower than it sensibly should be as it's only taking my best 3 rounds from those 11 at the moment.

I feel like I'm stuck at the moment where I want to try and enter tournaments and try and take golf a bit more seriously, but can't join a club due to the wait lists, therefore can't get a recognised handicap as I am not a member, can't get cards signed off as the people I play with also don't have a handicap (and don't want to sign up to the app) and therefore can't play competition golf, which leads back to not being able to use those rounds to help validate a handicap. It seems like a circle that is hard to get out of. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would happily enter a tournament with a scratch handicap if I could so there's no concerns over the validity of my handicap, but not sure if that's possible. I don't really care about the net score, I just want to try and test myself playing in more tournament style conditions than just playing at the weekend with friends.

Any ideas would be much appreciated!

Joining I golf has the advantage in that you will have a recognized handicap when you join a club and will not have to put in cards to get one.

 

[wjemather]

Joining I golf has the advantage in that you will have a recognized handicap when you join a club and will not have to put in cards to get one.

However, related to your previous comment, I am aware of at least a small number of clubs that are requiring their new, former iGolf members to submit further scores before allowing them to enter (some) club competitions.

 

[BubbaP]

Do any of the clubs offer the points type memberships, or anything suitable on playmoregolf or similar?
Are you on facebook - there are region based groups on there, & things like golfers connect.

 

[Rlburnside]

One of my brothers is a member of Shoreham in Kent they play at Darenth not sure what he pays now but it was £400 when he joined a few years ago I think they pay green fees as well but not sure about that.

They have plenty of competitions at weekends, it’s not one of the better courses around that area but I always enjoyed playing there.

Might suit you if you want to play competitively and keep track of your handicap until you can get a membership elsewhere.

 

[PJ87]

Where in London are you? I believe we don't have a waiting list

 

[BigPhil14]

Thanks everyone for your responses so far, been really helpful!

I've never done this myself, it's just an idea, but could you contact some open organisers and ask to play off scratch and be ineligible for any prizes? I don't see why they wouldn't want your entry fee under those conditions. You can find opens on the Golf Empire website. BTW, some opens accept iGolf handicaps.

Thank you, I'd not heard of Golf Empire so checked that out and Faleigh seem to run a monthly open competition for exactly my kind of situation where it's for people who do not have official clubs and they accept the igolf handicap, so I'll try and give those a go.

Honestly at this point id be looking further afield for a golf club! Doesnt sound ideal at all though, there really arent these barriers in the midlands! You can pretty much join where you like at the drop of a hat!

What does the England golf app have your handicap as out of curiosity?

I've genuinely considered moving further out of London just to be closer to more clubs, but that seems quite extreme at this stage! Igolf has me at 5.4 at the moment as I've had a 4.8, 5.8 and 5.7. I think I'll most likely end up around a 7-8ish once it factors in 8 rounds as I can definitely still chuck in some much higher rounds!

Do any of the clubs offer the points type memberships, or anything suitable on playmoregolf or similar?
Are you on facebook - there are region based groups on there, & things like golfers connect.

Yeah, I used Playmoregolf last year and it worked pretty well, however the club that I was at have stopped offering it, and quite a few other ones around here seem to be pulling out of it (which I guess is understandable as it was working out at around £10.50 for some rounds so I'm not sure how the clubs made much out of it). The one that I was at didn't allow entry into comps for pmg members, it was more just a pre-pay/discount system than a proper membership, at least in my experience.

 

[BigPhil14]

Where in London are you? I believe we don't have a waiting list

Greenwich, where abouts are you a member?

 

[PJ87]

Greenwich, where abouts are you a member?

Ingrebourne links golf and country club, new Ish course 2017 build

18 holes ATM 9 more being built

£137.50 a month 7 day £110 5 day

7 day gym membership attached

Just off the A13 in rainham

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I’m a member of the club attached to my local council run course (poult wood, tonbridge).

It’s £50 per year to be a member and then you pay a green fee to play. Competitive golf every Saturday and Sunday morning (if you want it).

Are there any council run places near to you that might operate in a similar way?

 

[BigPhil14]

Ingrebourne links golf and country club, new Ish course 2017 build

18 holes ATM 9 more being built

£137.50 a month 7 day £110 5 day

7 day gym membership attached

Just off the A13 in rainham

Ah nice, I was actually looking at there the other day and said to my friend I want to play it. It gets really good reviews online and sounds like it could have a good future! Will look into it and travel times. Thanks!

 

[PJ87]

Ah nice, I was actually looking at there the other day and said to my friend I want to play it. It gets really good reviews online and sounds like it could have a good future! Will look into it and travel times. Thanks!

It's very nice. Didn't think I'd like it when I tried but joined straight after My first round (when it was just 13 holes)

It's had lots of work and drains well now..playable most of the year only when monsoon rain do they close it for protection

Plenty of wind off the Thames aswell giving it a feel of a coastal course

 

[Pants]

Just a thought. High Elms Golf Club just south of Bromley is a public course but has a membership section with qualifying comps. The course itself is a great layout but obviously it is well used so won't always match the condition of a private members club. There is I believe a mini Forum meet there next Monday so I'm sure that you will get feedback from attendees if you ask.


Club Membership

https://www.hegc.org/membership#h.nka75cidi2kw
The annual membership fee for High Elms Golf Club is £37. This includes your affiliation fees to England Golf and Kent Golf Limited, which allows you to obtain an official World Handicap.


https://www.hegc.org/membership#h.tmey2anlxr2x
Green fees are payable separately and information regarding fees may be obtained directly from the course facilitator Mytime Active.


https://www.hegc.org/membership#h.crjab72xr58t
To apply, and for further details, please fill out and submit the online application form below. Alternatively, please download the application form here and email to membership.HEGC@gmail.com.