Administration
1. The League shall be known as The Leicestershire & Rutland B Team Golf League.
2. Membership shall be open to all clubs who are affiliated to the L&RGU.
3. Any applications from Clubs to join The League must be received before September 30th if that Club is to be permitted to take part in the following season. Any Club wishing to resign from The League must submit its resignation before September 30th if this is to be effective in the following year.
4. An annual League registration fee will be agreed by the Council at its October meeting and will be used by the host club to cover the costs of the “Finals Day”. The host club shall submit an invoice to each club for the entry fee and this must be paid to the host club prior to commencement of the season.
5. The League will be administered by the League Administrator, who shall be appointed by the League Council at its October meeting.
6. The Council shall be made up of one representative (usually the Team Captain) from each member club and the League Administrator.
7. Council meetings shall normally be held 3 times a year (April, July and October). Dates for the following year to be agreed at the October meeting. The League Administrator will supply an agenda at least 7 days prior to meetings.
8. A minimum of 50% of clubs must be represented at meetings to form a quorum.
9. Extraordinary council meetings must be held at the request of a minimum of 25% of member clubs.
10.This constitution can only be amended by a majority show of hands at a council meeting.
Competition Rules
1. The League will compete in 4 Divisions (from 2025 Season) with a home and away format. The winners of each Division shall play-off in a semi-final and final on neutral courses usually on the Wednesday or Sunday following the final fixtures to determine the season’s League Champions. In the event of a play-off finishing in a tie, the individual scores in the matches will be calculated to give an overall aggregate of ‘games won’ to determine the winning side. If this still doesn’t show a winner, the final playing fourball shall play extra holes on a sudden death basis to determine the winning side.
2. Matches will comprise pairs playing 5 games of four-ball better ball match play.
3. All league matches shall be played from WHITE tees. If teams include Ladies, they shall play from the RED tees. Ladies shall play to the Men’s stroke index for all holes.
4. Handicap Allowance. All players must have a WHS index. The maximum WHS index of golfers playing in the L&R B Team Golf League will be capped at 18 with effect from the start of 2023 season.
Golfers will use their WHS index to calculate their course handicap at each course that they visit. Their shots will be the full difference between their course handicap and the lowest course handicap minus 10% of the difference within their match four-ball. The maximum number of shots for any golfer shall be 18.
(See appendix 1 below for example of WHS calculation).
5. PlayMoreGolf and Flexible Members (or similar categories) at League Clubs can be eligible for team selection as long as their Club’s Rules permit this and they have a CDH number and WHS Index. In the case of PMG members, they must have selected the League Club as their ‘home club’.
6. No player may represent more than one Club during a season and all players must be playing members of the club they represent.
7. The matches shall be played on the dates fixed by The League. Starting times should be agreed between participating captains at least 2 weeks prior to the fixture.
8. If a match cannot be played on the fixed date due to exceptional circumstances**, the match may be re-arranged but must be completed before the final round of matches.
**Note –
inability to raise a full team is not an exceptional circumstance. In such a case, the fixture must be played on the specified date irrespective of how many players are available. It is up to the Team Captain to split his playing resources as he sees fit. Matches should only be postponed/re-arranged in truly exceptional circumstances (i.e. a course is “officially” closed). If after this consideration the fixture does not go ahead due to an inability to raise a full team, then the team at fault shall forfeit the match with a default score of 4-1 awarded to the innocent team.
9. Captains must have their pairs and order of play determined and the two lists exchanged before commencement of the match. Only the playing order of games may be adjusted in the event of late arrivals
10. In the event of a match not being completed on the official date, the League Administrator shall be informed as to the circumstances.
11. Matches started and subsequently abandoned – the following shall apply;
a) The result will stand ‘as is’ in all games having completed at least 12 holes
b) The result will be ‘a half’ in all games where all players have teed off at the first hole, but have not yet completed 12 holes
c) In a case where not all games have teed off the first hole (this requires only 1 player to have not teed off) and the match has to be curtailed then the Team Captains shall agree a date for the match to be rescheduled before the date of the last scheduled match of the season unless an extension is requested and granted by League Administration. If agreement cannot be reached within 7 days of the original match then the league administrator shall make a decision.
12. Two points shall be awarded to the winning Club of each match and one point shall be awarded for a drawn match. In the event of Clubs having an equal number of points at the end of the season, the number of “games won” will decide the finishing order. If, after applying “games won” there is still a tie, a play-off will take place on a neutral course.
13. The home team captain must forward match results to The League Administrator by email or text, as soon as possible after the match but no later than the Friday following a match.
14. If any club fails to fulfil its fixtures, without prior agreement, by the end of the season all that clubs matches will be declared void.
15. Winning Clubs will receive their trophies at the “Finals Day”
16. The season will normally commence 8 days prior to commencement of the L&RGU scratch league. Matches played fortnightly thereafter.
Meals/Reserves
1. All home Captains are requested to issue the proposed menu to the visiting Captain as soon as possible in advance, so that any special requests can be dealt with.
2. It is the sole responsibility of visiting Captains to inform home Captains of any special dietary requirements for their players as far as possible in advance. Unless waived by the home Captain, all visiting teams shall pay for 10 meals whether these meals are taken or not.
Finals Day
1. The venue for Finals Day shall be agreed at council’s July meeting if not earlier.
2. The host club shall be responsible for organising a 2/3 course meal, the cost of which to be included in the entry fee(s)
3. The host club shall invoice each club for the appropriate annual League registration fee (currently £70) prior to commencement of the season. The fee plus £20 per competing entrant to be paid on Finals Day is to be used to cover reasonable administration costs in hosting the day inc meals and prizes etc.
4. The host club shall present its proposed costings for the day to the council at the Finals Day Progress & Financial Review Meeting to be held in July of each year. This must include provision for the following:
Team Prize for the day League Winners Prize (guide of £200) Player of the Year (guide of £50) Individual Prizes for the Day
5. The council’s acceptance of such costings is necessary before the Finals Day can be signed off. A Financial Analysis of the Finals Day will be presented by the host club to the council at its October Meeting
6. The host club should ensure that the full income for the event (League registration fee and finals day entry fees) is used to fund all associated costs of the event ie meal, prizes, trophies and any other reasonable expense ie additional staff and printing etc. If there is a positive balance after costing is finalised, this balance can be donated to the Club’s Captains Charity but it should not exceed £35. Any amount over £35 will be transferred to the host club of the following season’s Finals Day.
Note:
Presentation of all trophies shall be made on the day.
Trophies (to be recovered by host club from current holders – current holders shall engrave trophies with new winners names prior to Finals Day); Champion Club – Big Red News Trophy
Runners-Up – Flowers Associates Trophy
Player of the Year
24th August 2022
Appendix 1 Handicap Calculation
Match play 4 Ball Betterball Steps
Follow the step by step guide before starting your 4BBB match
Step 1:
Every player starts with their own handicap index (HI) and then each player works out their own course handicap (CH) for the relevant tee being used. This can be done using the table by the first tee or pro shop (see illustration 1 above).
If you’re 10.9 HI and playing off white tees your CH will be 14, another example for a 20.2 HI will have a 24 CH.
This can also be done using a formula as follows;
HI x (Slope Rating / 113) + (Course Rating – Par) = CH
Eg 10.9 x (132 / 113 = 1.168) + (70.8 – 70) = 14 (13.53 rounded up)
Step 2:
The next step is to give the shots that each player will receive. The lowest handicap player or players (if more than one person has the same CH) become the scratch player and receives no strokes. The lowest handicap player (scratch) then gives the full amount shot difference minus 10%. See examples below;
Example 1;
Player A: 5 (CH) = 0 strokes
Player B: 11 (CH) = (11 – 5) 6 strokes, minus 10% = 5.4, rounded down to 5 strokes
Player C: 17 (CH) = (17 – 5) 12 strokes, minus 10% = 10.8, rounded up to 11 strokes
Player D: 23 (CH) = (23 – 5) 18 strokes, minus 10% = 16.2, rounded down to 16 strokes
Example 2;
Player A: 5 (CH) = 0 strokes
Player B: 6 (CH) = (6 – 5) 1 stroke, minus 10% = 0.9, rounded up to 1 stroke
Player C: 5 (CH) = (5 – 5) 0 strokes
Player D: 23 (CH) = (23 – 5) 18 strokes, minus 10% = 16.2, rounded down to 16 strokes
Note 18 strokes is the maximum number of shots allowed. Even if there is a larger gap for instance 23 strokes difference, the player will still only receive 18 shots regardless.
Updated September 2024