Junior Rules & Constitution
The ‘Junior League’ will be known as The North Northumberland Junior Golf League, and shall be operated under the Auspices of The North Northumberland Golf League.
Membership
The Junior League shall comprise of teams representing clubs in The North Northumberland Golf League.
Management Committee
The Junior League Management Committee will consist of :-
- The current Executive Committee of The North Northumberland Golf League, plus
- The current Secretary of The Junior League.
Junior League Council
The Junior League Council will be responsible to The Management Committee for the operation of The Junior League, and will comprise of:-
- The current Chairman of The North Northumberland Golf League.
- The current Secretary Of The Junior League.
- Liaison Officers from all clubs in The Junior League.
The Junior League Council have the power to co-opt additional temporary members to Council by majority decision.
Each member of The Junior League Council, or Nominated Deputy, shall have one vote at any Council Meeting.
Liaison Officers
Each club in The Junior League shall appoint their own representative to The Junior League Council. This representative shall be The Liaison Officer for that club. The Liaison Officer is responsible for :-
- Organising their team affairs.
- Liaising with other Liaison Officers in arranging Matches.
- Reporting Match Results to the Junior League Secretary.
- Liaising with The Junior League Secretary on team selection for Representative Matches.
- Representing his or her club’s position on any proposal brought to a Council Meeting.
Junior League Secretary
The Junior League Secretary shall be appointed annually by ballot at The Junior League Council Autumn Meeting. Such ballot may be by show of hands or secret ballot, at the discretion of The Junior League Council. The Junior League Secretary will be responsible for the day to day operation of The Junior League.
General Meetings
There shall be two General Meetings per annum of the Junior League Council to conduct the business of The League, one in early spring and the other in Autumn as soon as possible after the end of season. Additional General Meetings may be called by The Junior League Secretary if so requested by a majority of The Junior League Council.
Written notice of any proposal to be discussed at a General Meeting must be sent to all member clubs and Junior League Council Members at least two weeks prior to any General Meeting.
Competitions
Teams
There shall be only one team per club.
Each team in The League shall consist of four players (male or female) who shall all be playing members of the club they represent.
No player may play for more than one team in any one season.
Player eligibility
Players must be under 19 years of age at January 1st.
League Matches
Each team shall play all other teams in the league once each year on the dates agreed at the preceding Spring Meeting.
Matches will be played before the end of the week stated in the official fixture. In the event of this not happening the matter must be referred to The Junior League Secretary.
Actual dates and Tee Times will be agreed between Liaison Officers concerned.
Thursday is the expected day for playing matches. If this is not possible, the home team must communicate the new date to the away team by the Spring Meeting.
Mens’ Medal Tees will be used for boys, Ladies Medal Tees will be used for girls.
Rules of Golf and Local Rules of the home club will apply.
Hospitality
Home clubs are expected to provide a hot meal/snack for all team members, including reserves, and liaison officers or their deputies after each match. Home clubs are not expected to cater for more than six persons from the away team.
Handicaps
Games will be played off official club handicaps with a maximum of 18, plus any courtesy shots given.
Girls will receive courtesy shots equivalent to the difference between the mens and ladies standard scratch score of the home course.
The handicap allowance between players will be full difference. Example:
girl handicap 21, playing boy handicap 11, ladies sss 70, mens sss 69. girls handicap is reduced to maximum 18 and then courtesy shot added =19.
The girl will receive (19-11) = 8.
Girls will take any shots received from the ladies card.
Boys will take any shots received from the mens’ card.
Individual games will be arranged in handicap order, ie lowest handicap player from the home team will play the lowest handicap player from the away team.
Caddies
Adults cannot caddy for juniors(other than with approval from the league due to medical issues etc). Only Junior team members or junior club members will be allowed to caddy. Relatives and junior organisers or helpers must not be employed as caddies.
Players may have one caddie at any given time during the round.
Caddies may be changed during the round.
Any caddie used must not be a close family member of the player.
Yardage measuring devices
Yardage measuring devices that give no indication of inclination or wind speed are allowed.
Scoring
Each winner of an individual game shall earn two points for his/her team, a halved match shall earn one point for each team.
In the event of a club failing to field a full team for any match, it shall forfeit the appropriate points to the opposing team.
If adverse weather conditions arise during a match, both liaison officers or their deputies must agree on abandonment. Any match so abandoned must be played in its entirety before the end of the following week.
A match may be cancelled before starting by agreement between liaison officers, but only for sound reasons, ie adverse weather conditions. Inability to field a full team is not a sound reason for cancellation. Any match so cancelled must be played before the next match in the fixture is played.
It is the home teams responsibility to rearrange a cancelled or abandoned match. If the match is not played by the next league fixture the Junior League Secretary will nominate a date for the match to be played and both teams must turn up. If there is not a full complement of players in either team then the league rule concerning this will be applied.
League winner
The team with the highest number of points after all matches have been played is the winner of the League. In the event of a tie on points there shall be a play off at a neutral course on a date and time fixed by The Junior League Secretary. Should that tie result in a draw then the lowest handicap player from each team shall play a hole by hole play off with strokes given according to the handicap rules to decide the League Championship.
Knockout competition
There shall be a Knock-out Competition.
A draw shall be made at the Spring General Meeting.
The first team drawn will be the home team.
In the event of a tie, the winner shall be decided on an immediate “sudden death” play-off between the top player of each side, strokes taken accordingly.
The first round will be completed by the end of May,
The semi-final will be completed by the end of June.
The FINAL shall be played on a neutral course on a day and time to be fixed by the Junior League Match Secretary. (a non Junior League Course is preferred)
Field Day
There will be an annual Field Day at which all players who have played at least one League or Cup match for their team shall be eligible to play. The Junior League Secretary may invite clubs to nominate other players to participate in this event.
The event will take place at a different venue each year around the middle of September.
It will be a stroke-play competition off full handicap.
A trophy is presented for the best gross score – restricted to 12 handicap and under.
A trophy is presented for the best stableford score – unrestricted and played off full handicap.
A team trophy (Colin Harris Trophy – first awarded in 1999) for the club with the best aggregate of any 3 of their player’s stableford scores. If there is a tie the trophy will be shared
Girls will play off the ladies’ medal tees and will receive courtesy shots as determined by the difference between the men’s standard scratch and the ladies standard scratch for the course being played.
For the gross competition, these shots will be used to amend each girl’s gross score to provide a comparative gross score for determining the result of the gross competition.
No player may win more than one prize.
Disputes on the rules
Any disputes regarding the interpretation of these rules or otherwise in connection with the playing or organisation of League, Cup and Field Day events shall, if not governed by the Rules of Golf, be adjudicated upon by the Junior League Secretary in liaison with the Junior League Council where necessary. Such disputes to be notified in writing to the Junior League Secretary within three (3) days of occurrence.
Protection of children
- The league recognizes the need for children protection and its duty of care to all children playing in League organized competitions.
- It is a condition of membership of the League that all Clubs recognize their duties towards children in golf and have systems in place, along with documentary evidence to support such systems.
- In League matches, Representative Matches and Field Day Competitions, the Host Club must provide a risk assessment appertaining to the Golf Course Facility in use on that date. Liaison Officers must provide documentation for each player, recording medication taken, current illnesses or allergies, together with emergency contact names and telephone numbers along with parental consent forms.
- The North Northumberland Junior League will not use any Golf Course Facility that does not have adequate systems in place for the protection of children in golf.