Juniors in men's comps ??

[bobmac]

i have seen both sides of this argument.
Some clubs let the juniors under 12 h/cap play. How about the adults who are 13 h/cap and above, should they be allowed to play?

Also, not all members want to spend their only game of golf they get that week playing with juniors.
They want to play with their mates. I can also say the same for some of the juniors.
It's not easy getting a balance

 

[Whee]

first off all juniors are not KIDS!!!! i am 17 and i have not been called a kid in a long time. secondly being a junior i think they should have a min handicap for juniors to play in mens maybe 15 however in my club we do have weekly comps on saturday and coaching with the pro once a week so each club is different. and considering my fees last year were 470 euro if i wasnt allowed win competitions i would be pissed!

Alright kiddo, settle down...

 

[User20205]

let them play. They are members of the club. If I got beaten by a junior in a comp who shot 10 under his handicap so what. As Imurg says I don't play for a tin pot or a pro shop voucher, but to lower my handicap.

Clubs can't complain about lack of younger membership if they aren't encouraged to be part of them club. The comparision with women members doesn't stack up as they play off different tees. But if the juniors are good enough to play off the medal tees. let them in !

 

[arnieboy]

Our monthly stableford was won by a junior playing off 28 with 43 points, getting cut by 4 shots to 24. So what, he obviously played very well and earned himself £40 in the pro shop. As others have said it is not about trophies and a bit of cash it is about improving your game and doing your best. I won £150 in total last year but probably won't win a bean this time around.

 

[DCB]

The important thing is that the clubs need to run plenty of Junior Competitions, especially during the summer holiday period where some of the Juniors seem to live at the club. If there are not enough Comps for the Juniors then there is a good chance their handicaps may not actually reflect their playing ability. Last year we saw several young guys drop 10-12 shots during the summer holiday period, purely because they were playing all hours and playing in as many comps as they could. We have several additional midweek strokeplay events for them over the summer to give them the chance to play competitively and get the handicap down.

 

[jplkorea83]

When I was growing up there weren't many juniors in my club, in fact, I was in our junior team on a high handicap just to make up numbers. I had to play in competitions as a junior and I'd say it did me a lot of good and I learnt a lot about the game and how to act on the course. Not once was I looked down on by other members and I got to know a lot of senior members very well.
I don't think there should be an issue with juniors playing in competitions as it's the same in the rest of the sporting world. If youngsters can mix it with the seniors in football, athletics, etc then they are welcomed in.

 

[Dodger]

I read some of the replies on here and I despair.

Why on earth let kids play yet state that they cannot win??

Crazy,get them in,let them play and let them win.....these kids are the future of clubs and will be hopefully be the lifeblood of the club for years to come.............the price they pay for membership should never ever come into it.

 

[Hobbit]

This sort of thread boils my.......... Managed properly juniors will have a handicap that reflects their ability. So they don't pay the same money. Perhaps all those in their early 20's, or seniors, on reduced fees should also be barred from comps...

Members are quick to brag about good juniors, and how progressive the club is, when talking to members from other clubs.

Do you want the next Open Champion to be from your club or not?

 

[Split_Fairway]

personally i can see the need for a handicap limit, there are far too many juniors at my club who dont know the etiquette and rules of the game and usually go around dropping their ball where they want and shouting their heads off to each other. lower handicap juniors are less likely to have this problem and can be considered trustworthy in the respect of not ruining the round for everybody else. If the juniors were playing with an older, more experienced relative to keep them in line, I dont see a problem.

 

[fundy]

Strange how different clubs (and people) have different attitudes. We have a smallish junior section but have 3 or 4 who are very good, are now down to cat 1 handicaps or close to and if ever any of them win a weekend comp there is not a more popular winner in the club, they get the full prize on offer and rightly so

 

[ScienceBoy]

personally i can see the need for a handicap limit

It there is one it should be 28, the max adult mens handicap. That's probably the only fair way to do it IMO

I learnt a lot by playing golf with seniors when I took the game up properly (ie joined a club) in 2010. Learnt etiquette, things like where to stand, how to behave and to call everyone "sir"

 

[jplkorea83]

personally i can see the need for a handicap limit, there are far too many juniors at my club who dont know the etiquette and rules of the game and usually go around dropping their ball where they want and shouting their heads off to each other. lower handicap juniors are less likely to have this problem and can be considered trustworthy in the respect of not ruining the round for everybody else. If the juniors were playing with an older, more experienced relative to keep them in line, I dont see a problem.

I've seen adults twice juniors' age do exactly the same, it's not just juniors who sometimes don't know etiquette (I'm not a junior in case you think I'm defending myself!).
If you propose handicap limits for juniors, should we also place handicap limits on regular members and seniors in medal competitions? Most juniors I've met live for the competition and take it seriously.

 

[MadAdey]

You have got to encourage junior members. You need to keep young players coming through to make sure there are full paying members in the future.

If a junior has got an official mens handicap then let them join in the comps. But it is up to the junior committee at a club to get of their arses and arrange junior comps so that they have plenty of opportunity to get their handicap down.

The only thing that would annoy me is if some young kid put his name down against mine and my mates in a comp. We are men and the chat that we have at times would not be suitable for young children, I am not there to babysit a 10 year old kid.

 

[fundy]

so you want to keep them coming through but dont actually want to help them yourselves by playing with them? I'll happily play with any of our juniors, they dont need babysitting and are often better company than some of the old farts lol

 

[jammag]

If they have a mens handicap of 28 which is the highest I think you can go then I dont see why they shouldnt play no matter how old they are. You cant say a kid who can knock it round level par is barred yet you have the 28 handicapper who is 50 is allowed to play its just wrong. If they pay an entry fee then of course they should be allowed to win the prize as well just because they pay less than you doesnt mean they have less rights. You wouldnt say only those that place £10 or more on the lottery are allowed to win as they have paid more.

If you play a competition then its mainly about the golf and if you cant fill your group up then you should expect anyone to take that spot rather than start another group later on. If you really want to talk like that amongst your mates during a round then play a social round or just leave the talk to the end of the round in the bar. i am sure these young guns that have played have seen/heard more than you think so it shouldnt be a problem and they wont be expected to be looked after as they are in a competition. Plus a kid of 10 might think hes babysitting the oaps so he may feel the same anyway.

Juniors attitudes wont always reflect there handicap, you could have the most polite junior in the world but he could be rubbish and vice versa so to say things like that is abit out of order to tar most juniors with that.

 

[FairwayDodger]

Well, maybe my answer doesn't count as a lady member..... but I think golf clubs should be doing all they can to encourage their juniors.

But playing in the men's comps isn't going to be right for them all. The junior section should be well organised and with enough comps and then I'd encourage the boys to play in the men's comps once they reach a certain level. Best of both worlds - enough opportunity for them while developing their game and something to aspire to as they progress.

And I'd be quite happy for girls to play in the ladies comps!

 

[Region3]

I don't see the problem with letting them play OR letting them win prizes.

If you're going to set a handicap limit then it can't be lower than 28 imo. How is saying a 24hc junior shouldn't be in a comp because he'd struggle when there's 28hc men in it fair?

Also, your membership fees are paid to give you access to the course and facilities for the year, not as entry fees to the competitions.

We pay £3 or £4 competition entry fee. If a junior stumps up the same amount then they're in the pot as far as I'm concerned.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Its a double edged sword. The club need to be doing enough to make sure there are enough suitable competitions being run solely for the juniors during the school holidays to give them ample chance to play competitive golf and get ther handicap down.

However, there is also a need to make sure they don't feel isolated or a minority and I'm firmly in favour of letting them play in senior events. I think there needs to perhaps be an age limit of say 14 and possible a handicap limit of 18. I don't think they should be allowed to enter for the pre-bookable times unless there are spaces left and there shouldn't be more than one junior per group.

From a personal experience I really enjoyed it once I was allowed to play in the senior events when I was a junior. Myself and my fellow juniors were always properly behaved and even though we knew we couldn't win the sweep money we were allowed to claim the first prize if we won. Why not. We were the best on the day and I can't understand why a club would prevent anyone from winning based on age or the amount of subs they paid

 

[beggsy]

Who cares what they pay a year if they are willing to pay the £3 or whatever every comp let them play off any hcp

 

[TobyRich1928]

As i junior at my club, i have to admit that we get treated very well and generally we get a lot of good press around the club, which is maybe thanks to our two team wins last season and one of us being club champion and scrath player of the year! but i feel that our system is good. If you have a handicap of less then 15, you caan enter all male comps as normal. Above that and you have to play with an adult member to keep an eye on you. If you win, you win the money and the prizes, and soo far i havent heard of any complaints at all