Regular Events   Pennant Activities

Important Rule Changes are detailed at the end of this report

GDVGA PENNANT REPORT – 2010 

 
 
 Season Overview

 
·       The season began on Monday, 2nd February at Portarlington Golf Club
·       Sixteen teams representing twelve clubs participated in two Divisions of eight
·       After the Round Robin series, comprising seven Contests, the leading two teams in each Division competed in a Knock Out Semi Final at Clifton Springs Golf Club
·       This resulted in:
§         Barwon Valley (2nd in Div 2) defeating The Sands (1st in Div 1)
§         Portarlington 1 (2nd in Div 1) defeating Portarlington 2 (1st in Div 2) 
·       A Grand Final between the two winning teams was conducted at Torquay Golf Club on Monday, 12th April. 
 
·       Portarlington 1 emerged victors over Barwon Valley to become the 2010 GDVGA Pennant winners
·       78 players and wives celebrated the culmination of a successful pennant season later that evening at a Presentation Dinner hosted by East Geelong Golf Club.  All present appeared to enjoy the evening and the meal certainly represented very good value for money
Issues Arising
·       In general, the season ran smoothly, with Committee involvement mainly restricted to ruling on a few instances of player eligibility
·       However, one disturbing incident occurred during Round 6 when Team Captains had agreed to play other than the lowest handicap members present in a walkover situation.  As this scenario is clearly covered in Rule 14, it reinforces the need for all players and officials to be fully conversant with the Rules of Competition.  In this instance, the Committee subsequently decided that the offending team would not be penalised because incorrect instructions had been given to them 
·      A total of 124 GDVGA members participated in the 2010 Pennant Competition.  With numbers ranging from five to nine players, some teams clearly struggled to field full teams each week
·    Across the season, Walkovers occurred in Div 2 on six separate occasions; five by Torquay and one by East Geelong 
·      Less than half of the members who played pennant this year attended the Presentation Dinner.  This lack of representation was particularly evident with certain club
Lessons Learned
·        At the time of preparing this report, a sixteen Team competition is again anticipated for next year.  However, with the incidences of Walkovers occurring this year, certain clubs may need to review their level of participation in 2011
·        Clubs currently fielding two teams should reconsider their ability to do so; experience has shown that at least seven players are necessary to field a five man team across the season.  In this regard, the Committee will be taking a hard look at team nominations for 2011
·        The possibility of clubs that struggle to field a full team, combining with other like clubs, was raised at a Delegates Meeting in February.  While this may seem to be a well intentioned and logical solution, the Pennant Committee believes that it could lead to unexpected and unpopular consequences.  Further GDVGA Committee discussion is recommended before proceeding with this suggestion
·        Player eligibility continued to be a problem, especially when “progressive qualification” (in achieving five game status) had been accepted last year and was not allowed this year
Initiatives for 2011
·        Rules 4 and 5 will be amended to remove any ambiguity.  They should clearly state that all three eligibility criteria must be met prior to commencement of the first Round.  Failure to comply with any of the three criteria will result in a player being ineligible for the entire Pennant Season.
·        As a related matter, the Pennant Committee supports the paper entitled “Qualification for Veteran Pennant” presented by The Secretary at the GDVGA Committee Meeting held on February 4th.  This proposes that only GDVGA Fixture events count for pennant qualification.   
·        Accordingly, suggested replacements for Rules 4 and 5 are attached for approval by the GDVGA Committee.  (The amended rules were approved at the 6 May 10 Committee Meeting – JGE) 
  • Finally, a survey conducted during the 2010 season revealed that the vast majority of pennant players supported the current rule whereby matches square at the completion of 18 holes are halved and points shared.  (Only Queen’s Park was in favour of playing on to a conclusion and St Leonards players were split 50/50.  It is interesting to note that in 2010, thirty three individual matches were drawn after 18 holes and this resulted in drawn contests on seven separate occasions.)  Consequently, Rule 8 will continue unchanged into 2011  
Acknowledgements
  • All pennant events held this year were well run by hosting Clubs.  Our deepest thanks go to the Clubs’ management and staff for providing courses that were always in the best possible playing condition, with tasty catering and friendly hospitality.  Without the ongoing support of our clubs, a pennant competition would not be possible
  • Special thanks are due to Clifton Springs and Torquay Golf Clubs for hosting Finals Series events at short notice; also East Geelong Golf Club for holding the Presentation Dinner
  • Further thanks are due to Clifton Springs Golf Club for offering up their website for use by the GDVGA.  This service has proven to be very popular with members; not just for pennant activities, but regular events as well.  The efforts of Terry Passlow and Neil Remeeus in setting up and maintaining the GDVGA website are greatly appreciated
  
John Eddington
Chairman
6th May 2010
Attachment.  Replacements for Rules 4 and 5
 Attachment to GDVGA Pennant Report
dated 6th May 2010
REPLACEMENTS FOR RULES FOUR AND FIVE
Rule 4.  Clubs may enter one team unless approved by the Pennant Committee to enter more teams.  When a club enters more than one team, players must not be switched between teams.  No player may represent more than one club during the competition.
Rule 5.  To be eligible to play in the 2011 Pennant Competition, players must:
·      Be a financial member of the GDVGA prior to commencement of the first Round
·      Be bona fide, financial, playing members of the club they represent
·      Have played a minimum of five games from the 2010 GDVGA Fixture
To be eligible to play in the Finals Series, a player must have played in at least two pennant matches in the current season.