Juniors in Men’s comps

[Deleted member 1147]

When I was a junior the rules were:
For the midweek medal they had to be 19 handicap & below, for the weekend comp's they had to be 10 and below. These were to stop rapidly improving juniors taking all the wins.

Our club championship was once won by a 12 year old, he shot sub-par for 2 rounds, on the same day, (18 GIR for the 2nd round), so I reckon he deserved the win as he played the best golf.

 

[IanM]

Seniors' comps are for the old gits, and are age bracketed to stop younger better players winning! (I am 54 on Monday!) So, that's why the Section Exists... those Seniors are not excluded from the other mens' comps.

Hence the earlier "argument" about Juniors having their own section doesn't work in my view.

We had Jordon Smith at Bowood when I was there- he played me and a mate in the final of the summer scratch foursomes... he was about 11 or 12 at the time!! ... we won on the 17th. (his partner of similar age had a meltdown!)

Why would you stop young talent playing? Cos their victory speech might not be delivered with sufficient "gravitas?" Heck, folk will be in the bar without a cravat at this rate!

 

[Jates12]

. Juniors do not pay the same subs as full members and (usually) play considerably more golf than full members as they have much more disposable time.

Does that mean I am not allowed to win comps because im 25 and pay an intermediate rate? ridiculous argument.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

If your Club Championship is named exactly that, then juniors can enter and potentially win. If you have a "Mens Championship" then no they can't. As Al Murray would say, "the clue is in the title".

Unless you're a member of my old club when the former captain's son got down to a low handicap and overnight the championship rules were changed by the captain and a couple of his cronies.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Our juniors can play in any Comp unless it’s “no juniors” in the rules of that Comp.

They have to have a HC of 28 and only one junior per three ball

We have found over the last 3 years that juniors playing alongside “adults” has not only improved their golf but also the way they act around a golf course - three juniors have gone from playing off 18-20 to now two cat 1 and one of 6 - all down to playing with adults in comps and indeed swindles

Th ladies however were not happy that their scratch champs was won by a 14 year old off 3 - so have brought restrictions in that means she won’t be able to play in it next year

 

[tincup]

I do not want to say that juniors cant play in mens comps but there should be some restrictions such as handicap limit.
At my old club they have a charity day every year with lots of donated prizes with a lot of money raised and all men, women and juniors were entered together. This was generally held at the beginning of September after all the juniors had been playing nearly every day for the school holidays and because they were a bit slack on juniors at that time there were not many comps for them to be cut.
I remember one year that the top 10 places went to juniors with handicaps ranging from 36 to 54 and playing off red tees. If I can remember correctly 10th place scored something like 44 points!
So I would like to see juniors in mens comps but i think they need to have a maximum handicap of 28 and adhere to the same regulations as the men in that they need to have played so many medals before eligible for the board comps

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'm pleased to say any junior with a handicap, max 28, can play and win a comp at our club. They are treated as equals.

My son and I left a previous club when my son was 14 as he had a h/c of 18, mine was 23 at the time, and they would not allow him to play comps. He and I, plus a number of other juniors just reaching that same ceiling left for another club which welcomed them with open arms and gave them equal standing with adults.

If they have an adult h/c then they should be able to play in adult comps. I'm staggered by the dated attitude of so many people and clubs still.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We allow them in with a handicap of 18 and have to play with adults. We only have one that plays regularly and is turning into a decent little golfer at the age of 13. He'll has the makings of a very competent single figure player

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I do not want to say that juniors cant play in mens comps but there should be some restrictions such as handicap limit.
At my old club they have a charity day every year with lots of donated prizes with a lot of money raised and all men, women and juniors were entered together. This was generally held at the beginning of September after all the juniors had been playing nearly every day for the school holidays and because they were a bit slack on juniors at that time there were not many comps for them to be cut.
I remember one year that the top 10 places went to juniors with handicaps ranging from 36 to 54 and playing off red tees. If I can remember correctly 10th place scored something like 44 points!
So I would like to see juniors in mens comps but i think they need to have a maximum handicap of 28 and adhere to the same regulations as the men in that they need to have played so many medals before eligible for the board comps

The fault there is allowing them to play off junior tees and junior h/c. If they play in an adult comp then they should play off the whites and have an adult h/c.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

Th ladies however were not happy that their scratch champs was won by a 14 year old off 3 - so have brought restrictions in that means she won’t be able to play in it next year

Blimely that a forward looking golf club. How did the poor lass feel ?

Why were they not happy, especially as it was a scratch event ?

 

[C&R]

You'll win nothing with kids in this game.....oops, sorry wrong sport.

😂😂😂

 

[IanM]

Bit of a spin on the OP..... I used to play at a Proprietary Club, where the ladies section was fairly active, 40 or 50 in Comps regularly... most were Seniors and double digit handicap... the Owner's daughter played at another club and was in the County Squad....

(by now you've guessed it!!) Once a year, she'd turn up and win the Ladies Club Champs at a canter.... mass walk out by year 3! Poor girl wasn't keen on it, but the old bloke was a bit of a megalomaniac! They argued she wasn't a member and hadn't paid subs. Dad said this is my course, like it or lump it! Most lumped it!

 

[El Diablo]

Quite shocked by the level of negative opinion about juniors playing in adult competitions and my experience at several golf clubs has been somewhat variable in terms of when they can play and what they can play in and who they can play with.

Hands down the best club approach was the one that allowed any junior with a proper handicap to play any time of day and in any competition that they wanted provided the card was marked by an adult.

They do not win that many competitions and like any new player they improve quickly so it all evens out - how many adults have you seen go on a run and win a few before the handicap catches up ?

My son developed his game and the love for the game in this environment and has gone close in the club champs as well as a junior (joint leader after round 1).

Any restrictions should simply not happen if we want to encourage and develop youngsters into a game which teaches so many positive life skills.

 

[hovis]

i couldn't care less who they are. if they're playing off the same tee's as me then thats fine. i think some on this thread just dont want the embarrassment of a 13 year old handing them their ass in a comp

 

[KenL]

At my club if males are under a certain handicap (18 I think) they can enter. They don't pay to enter and can't win cash.
Over the winter we have medals open to all and they calculate men's, women's and junior's CSS.

Clubs that exclude juniors need to take a look at what they are doing for the future of the game.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Quite shocked by the level of negative opinion about juniors playing in adult competitions and my experience at several golf clubs has been somewhat variable in terms of when they can play and what they can play in and who they can play with.

Hands down the best club approach was the one that allowed any junior with a proper handicap to play any time of day and in any competition that they wanted provided the card was marked by an adult.

They do not win that many competitions and like any new player they improve quickly so it all evens out - how many adults have you seen go on a run and win a few before the handicap catches up ?

My son developed his game and the love for the game in this environment and has gone close in the club champs as well as a junior (joint leader after round 1).

Any restrictions should simply not happen if we want to encourage and develop youngsters into a game which teaches so many positive life skills.

I have to agree. Back in the late 70's and early 80's when I was a junior, it was a real struggle to be allowed to play in adult competitions and juniors were treated contempt and we were forced to hang out in the locker room or snooker room. In the end we were allowed to play with a handicap of 18 but it wasn't met with universal joy from the adult members. We were lucky that myself and a crop of other juniors were pretty decent and anything from 14-2 and so could usually hold our own. It seems that at some clubs time hasn't moved on

 

[IanM]

i think some on this thread just don't want the embarrassment of a 13 year old handing them their ass in a comp

....yep. That's it. Thread closed!

 

[backwoodsman]

Just looked it up. Juniors can enter comps at our place - great! They have to have at least one adult in the group. Fine! But they (generally) have to have a handicap of 12 or less. Going to be asking why?

Ok, l can see some sort of argument around those juniors who have very high handicaps and are improving rapidly. So, they may scoop a couple of prizes in quick succession? But the h/c secretary's scissors will be snipping their handicap quite quickly, so they won't be doing it for long. Unless they are getting very good, in which case they deserve the prizes & titles.

 

[shortgame]

Juniors can enter adult comps but must have an adult marking or in the group

There are other restrictions though:

For run of the mill comps they have to be off 12 or less

For the 'majors' they have to be off 5 or less

If there is a junior comp on the same day they have to enter that unless they are off 5 or less

This is not necessarily as bad as it sounds as it givez them something to aim for, and there are plenty of junior members & comps

At other clubs I've been at juniors can enter any adult comp and are eligible to win them all

The main reasons I've heard from members are:

- they only pay 1/10th the membership.fee so why should they win adult comps? (personally don't agree with this)

- juniors improve too fast, especially at half term (and grow) so they have an unfair advantage (fair play to them I say)

 

[IanG]

Juniors at our place have handicaps off the same tees as adults and can play in nearly all the competitions. They have their own Club Championships and so cannot enter the adult one. Never occurred to me any of that was an issue - seems to work fine.

Only wish we had more juniors members !