Men's Matchplay 2019

The Men's Matchplay competitions Paddy Gormley Cup (Doubles, fourball-better ball), Kevin McDonnell Cup (Singles, handicap limit 18) and Fleetwood Cup (singles handicap 18+) will commence in May 2019.

  • It is planned to host all three finals on the same day, in September 2019 (subject to no players qualifying for more than one final)

  • Play-by dates will be strictly enforced with adequate notice being given to ensure the smooth running of the competitions.

  • For all three competitions there will be an open draw for opponents following the completion of the previous round.

  • Entry fee for all three competitions is €10 per player, payable on or before first match.

Men's Spring League 2019

The Virginia Golf Club Men's Spring League will commence on the weekend of 2nd/3rd February and will run for 8 weeks (weather permitting).

The format will be the same as 2018.

Teams will be formed from the entrants with the top 5 players' scores (best of Front or Back 9) to count each week. The final total for each team will be the accumulated scores through the League with the lowest 2 scores discarded. (e.g. for 8 weeks competition the top 6 weeks scores will count). In the event of a tie between any teams at the finish the next highest weekly score (from the discarded scores) will count.


The following prizes will be awarded

  • The top team in the League

  • A prize for the best individual in each team, over the entire League.

  • A prize for the top individual (18 hole) score each week. (Players not participating in the League may play for this prize, each week, with an entry fee of €6 per week)


Entry fee of €35 per player, payable on first week.


The weekly €2 2s competition will continue to run.

Entry Sheet for the 2019 Men’s Spring League will be up in the clubhouse over the weekend.

Rules of Golf 2019

As from 1st January 2019 there will be a new set of rules in operation for all Golf Clubs. A full description of the Rules is available on www.randa.org and a “Players Guide” is available for all players Free of Charge, from the Clubhouse. It is the player’s responsibility to be fully up to date on the Rule of Golf and a comprehensive study of the changes is encouraged.

The basic premise behind the Rules revamp is to speed up the game and to reduce the complexity behind many of the situations. A major change, for example, is the reduction is time to look for a lost ball from the 5 minutes previously to a new time limit of 3 minutes.

Another point emphasised by the R&A is the encouragement for players to play “Ready Golf”, i.e. play when one is ready, not delaying for the “honour” to decide the order in which to play (*Match-play excepted) and the time limit of 40 seconds per shot recommended as the maximum a player should take.

Bothe the Google PlayStore and the Apple App Store have Apps with the full Rules of Golf 2019.

Rules updates 2019

2019 Rules of Golf

Golf’s new Rules have been published by The R&A and the USGA ahead of coming into effect on 1 January 2019.

 

For the first time, a new Player’s Edition of the Rules of Golf is being introduced to provide a shorter, more user-friendly version of the Rules for golfers at all levels of the sport.  Printed copies of The Player’s Edition should be available from your local golf club and the Player’s Edition , the Rules of Golf and Official Guide are all available now on The R&A’s website and on The R&A’s new 2019 Rules of Golf App (iOS and Android). Print versions of the Official Guide will be available from November.

 

Various other resources, including a Visual Search and an updated Rules quiz, are also available to help golfers, Committees and Referees to familiarise themselves with the new Rules of Golf, both on The R&A’s website and on the App. Additional resources, including an updated Rules Academy and a Committee Toolkit, will be added in the coming months.

For more information on the new Rules of Golf and the resources that are available, follow the link below.

https://www.randa.org/en/rog/2019/pages/the-rules-of-golf

Relief Situation, finding the Nearest Point of Relief.

Relief may be taken from a ball coming to rest on the path through the Golf Course. (It is not mandatory)

When taking relief, the player must mark the nearest point, not nearer the hole, from which the ball must be dropped within ONE club-length. If the ball moves closer to the hole, it must be re-dropped under the same procedure.

Note: The ball, if being dropped, must be dropped on the side of the path which is the nearest point of relief. The nearest point of relief is determined by the point at which relief is being taken relative to the position of the ball on the path, NOT necessarily the edge of the path closest to the ball. (It may differ for Right-handed and Left-handed players).

When taking relief from an obstruction, like a path, the player may not stand on the obstruction when taking his/her shot.

Rule 20-2 covers this scenario.

This video clearly explains the process for determining the nearest point of relief

Men's Four-ball Better-ball Turkey

Winners of the Men’s Four-ball Better-ball competition on 11th November were

James Fitzpatrick & Lenny Rooney with 47pts, including an Eagle 2 for Lenny on the 11th.


Runners up were Brendan Fox & Michael Coleman with 45 pts

Next weekend is Singles Stableford (Turkey)

As per previous years there will be a 2 shot handicap applied to all Singles winners (1 shot deduction to runners up) of Turkeys competitions in the lead up to Christmas