REGULATIONS & RULES OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY LADIES' GOLF ASSOCIATION
REGULATIONS
1 The name of the Association shall be the Nottinghamshire County Ladies' Golf Association.
2 The County shall have control of its finances & constitution providing there is no conflict with the England Golf Rules & Regulations. Finance to be raised by a mandatory per capita levy from every playing member of a golf club affiliated to England Golf. Payment of a per capita levy will entitle members to be Full or Associate members of the County as defined by England Golf County Golf Regulations, effective November 2016. All subscriptions payable by member clubs shall become due and payable 2 months following the club's annual membership renewal date. A member club that has not paid the subscription 3 months after the due date will cease to be a member of The Association. A mid-year payment will be due eight months after the membership renewal date to account for any new members who have joined part way through the year. Junior members do not pay a levy and will be entitled to be Full or Associate members of the county as defined by England Golf County Golf Regulations if they are members of a Nottinghamshire affiliated club.
In accordance with the decision taken at the AGM of the Association, held on November 20th 2017, the following was decided: from November 2020, an annual increase in affiliation fees to be applied, based upon the amount the Nottinghamshire Union of Golf Clubs impose upon their members. Such increase to be reviewed annually by the NCLGA Executive Committee.
3 The governing body shall be styled the Council and the entire management shall be vested in it.
4 (a) The Officers of the Association shall consist of the President, the County Captain, the Senior Vice-Captain, the Assistant Vice-Captain, the General Secretary, the Assistant General Secretary, theTreasurer, the Competition Secretary, the Assistant Competition Secretary, the Junior Coordinator and the Senior Organiser.
(b) The Officers of the Association shall be empowered to appoint a Vice-President, if necessary.
(c) There shall be a Selection Committee to choose the County Teams consisting of The Captain, The Senior Vice-Captain, the Assistant Vice-Captain, the County Champion and the Immediate Past Captain. If necessary a further selector may be appointed.
5 The Council shall consist of a representative from each club in the Association, and the Officers detailed in Rule 4(a). In attendance, the Midland Representative, the County Handicap Adviser, the Website Manger and the Lead Course Assessment Officer.
6 (a) The Officers shall be elected yearly at the Annual General Meeting of the Association, and at such a meeting, an auditor shall be appointed.
(b) The President shall not hold Office for more than 3 consecutive years. The Captain shall not hold Office for more than 1 year except in exceptional circumstances.
7 The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held in the month of November each year and at least 10days notice of such meeting shall be given.
8 Conditions for Membership of the County
(a) Payment of a per capita levy the sum of which shall be decided at an Annual General meeting, entitles players to County Membership as either :–
Or –
ii) Associate Members who are Full Members of another County Association. Associate members are entitled to play in all County Competitions including inter-club matches, but are not entitled to play in the County Amateur Golf Championship and the County Team in the Inter County Matches.
(b) General: Notification of Associate membership must be made to the County Secretary in writing (e-mail is acceptable) by 31st March of the membership year. If no notification is received players will be deemed to be Full members of the Association.
Full members of NCLGA who are members of clubs in other counties must notify their other counties of their Associate Membership of those counties.
(c) A Member wishing to resign from the Association must do so in writing to the General Secretary before 31st December. She shall not be eligible to join another Association until the beginning of the next county year.
(d) On the unanimous vote of the Council, a player may be made an Honorary Member
9 The General Secretary shall keep in a book, correct minutes of proceedings of the Association and shall produce the book at all meetings thereof. She shall summon the meetings of the Association and the Council. She shall enrol clubs in membership and give notices required by the Rules for the time being. The Treasurer shall submit to the duly appointed auditor, County financial statements, copies of which audited accounts are to be available at the Annual General Meeting. She shall also receive and dispose of according to the instructions of the Council, all monies to be received and paid by the Association and shall act generally in accordance with the instructions of the Association.
10 A Special Meeting of the Association may be convened at any time by the General Secretary, or by written request to her from the Representatives of any club in the Association. At least 10 days notice of such meetings and of the business to be transacted thereat shall be given to the Secretary of each club in the Association and only business of which notice has been given shall be considered.
11 No Regulations of the Association shall be repealed or altered and no Regulation shall be made save by a majority of two-thirds of the members present and voting at any meeting of the Association. At least 10 days notice of any such proposed alteration or addition shall be given to the Secretary of each club in the Association who shall post such notice on her noticeboard.
NCLGA INTER-CLUB & LEAGUE COMPETITION RULES
GENERAL RULES
1 All players must be current members of the County Association
2 All matches shall be governed by the Rules of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, and the Local Rules of the course over which the match is played.
3 The entry fee shall be determined at an Annual General Meeting, the money so received being used to contribute towards the expenses incurred by the running of the leagues and to provide prizes for the Inter-Club finalists.
4 It is not necessary that a club be represented by the same players throughout the course of the competition.
5 Competitors may only represent 1 club in each competition in a calendar year. The 4 competitions NCLGA members compete in are: Mixed Interclub, Ladies Interclub, League Competitions and Scratch League.
6 All competitors must be female at birth or have the female gender assigned.
7 Notice of the results of each match must be sent to the Competitions Secretary by the winning club. In the case of the Inter-Club within 48 hours. In the case of the Scratch League, to the Scratch League Organiser.
8 Disputes shall normally be settled by the Captains of the teams concerned. In cases where this method proves unacceptable, the disputes shall be referred to the Council, whose decision shall be final.
9 Entry fees must be paid before the first round of the competition.
INTER-CLUB
1. This is a Foursomes Matchplay Competition. A random draw is carried out (usually at the NCLGA AGM) to decide which clubs will play each other.
2. The Ladies' Secretary / Match Secretary of the club drawn top in each match will be responsible for making arrangements for the match with host club and must inform their opponents of those arrangements.
3. All rounds must be played on the date stipulated on the draw sheet. If there is any difficulty in fixing a time for a match, it will be played in the afternoon.
4. Each club is represented by 2 pairs. Each representative pair will play one round of 18 holes.
5. Each competitor’s Handicap Index limit is 24.4. Please note that on conversion of a player’s Handicap Index to their Course Handicap, using the Slope Charts of the course being played, their Course Handicap may be in excess of 24.4; this is permissible.
6. Handicap Allowance – half of the difference between the combined Course Handicaps.
7. The match is won by the club that has the most holes to their credit on the aggregated results of the two pairs and that club will progress to the next round.
8. In the event of a tie in any round, both pairs shall play three more holes. If still a tie, both pairs shall play sudden death until a result is obtained.
9. In the event of play becoming impossible, the match shall be replayed. If the team captains fail to agree on this, the representative of the host club shall decide whether play is impossible. If the clubs cannot agree on a date, this shall be fixed by the Executive. If the course is not available for the replay, a new course shall be decided by the Executive.
LEAGUE – SILVER, BRONZE & SCRATCH
1. All league matches will be played between April 1st and September 30th.
2. All rounds must be played by the final stipulated date. If not played by this date, no points will be awarded to either side. One point is awarded for each match that is won and half a point for each halved match. Clubs failing to provide a full team will forfeit non-contended games.
3. Matches are to be played in strict order of Handicap Index.
4. On completion of all matches, the winning club in each division will be promoted and bottom club go down a division.
SILVER & BRONZE LEAGUE
1. Each league match will consist of seven games of singles match play (or such other number of games as the Executive shall determine). Any such amendments to the number of games to be clearly specified on the League Competition page of the NCLGA website.
2. The Handicap Index limits for competition: Silver – up to 19.5; Bronze – 16.0 to 36.0. Players should not be asked to play off a lower Handicap Index but they may volunteer to do so.
3. The Handicap allowance – full difference between Course Handicaps.
4. Matches will be played on both home and away courses. If no agreement is reached on a start time, matches are to be played in the afternoon.
SCRATCH LEAGUE
1. Each league match will consist of three games of singles match play to be played off scratch and in Handicap Index order.
2. Clubs may enter more than one team. However, players may only play for one team in a season.
3. Matches will be played on both home and away courses. At least one weekend date or one weekday evening start time (after 4pm) to be offered by the Home Club.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROCEDURES IN CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER
These apply to both League Matches and the Ladies Inter-club Matches:
1. If a course is closed or unplayable then the match should be re-arranged as soon as possible and in good time before the deadline/next round. (e.g. end of September for scratch, silver and bronze leagues and before the next round of the inter-club).
2. In extremely inclement conditions, the two team captains may agree to play the match over fewer holes provided that both are in agreement and it is decided before the match commences.
3. If conditions worsen once play has commenced, and the match is suspended, it should resume from where it was suspended either on the same day or on another day. The result of completed matches should stand as played and uncompleted matches should be continued at a later time or date. With the exception of the Inter-club any matches that cannot be completed as scheduled should be considered tied.
4. If any matches have to be played on another day each team is free to alter its original team.
NCLGA COUNTY COMPETITION RULES
1. All competitions are run under the R&A Rules of Golf, the NCLGA General Conditions of Competitions and NCLGA Local Rules.
2. Players shall, in all of the Competitions, and additionally in NCLGA league matches, walk the course at all times, unless prior permission has been granted by the Committee to use a buggy. An exception applies to those competitors aged 80 years or over participating in the Summer Meeting and Veterans Trophy.
3. No Player shall take more than one prize (excluding cups)
4. Ties will be decided on last 18, 9, 6 or 3 holes (dependent on the Competition).
5. Competitors must be female at birth or have the female gender assigned
6. All competitors must be a member of the Association. (Associate Members may play in all NCLGA Competitions except the County Championship and County Matches).
7. Handicap Index Limit at date of entry. If a player's Handicap Index exceeds the limit for the competition on the day of the competition, she will be allowed to play but cannot win.
8. In case of withdrawal, entry fees will not be returned once the draw has been made.
9. A player takes the vouchers (however many) if they win Cups and Trophies. They cannot take a voucher if there is no Cup/Trophy and they have already won a voucher.
CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE CONSTITUTION OF COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS
1 COUNTY YEAR: The County year shall be from the 1st day of January to the following 31st day of December in every year
2 MEMBERSHIP: No County Association may limit its membership
3 STATUS: All County Members must be amateur golfers (Honorary members excepted)
4 COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS: Shall be open only to Full Members of the County Association, provided they do not or have not played for another County in Representative matches, including friendly matches, during the same calendar year.
5 RESIGNATIONS & TRANSFERS: A Full Member wishing to resign from her county Association or transfer to another, must always give notice according to the rules of the County Association concerned. The player is ineligible to join another county association until the start of the next county year
SANCTION FROM ENGLAND GOLF
The Executive Committee of the County Golf Union is charged with ensuring that all rules contained both in the Constitution and the regulations governing Championships and matches are complied with.
The Executive Committee is authorised to deal with any breach of rule, or discipline, and to impose sanctions upon any club, player or person deemed to have breached any rule.
In such cases the Executive Committee will adopt the Disciplinary & Grievance procedures as set down by England Golf (available to view through England Golf website www.englandgolf.org ).
November 2020
