Rules of the Central Sevens Golf League 2010  

1.         Format

1.1       Teams of seven playing singles match play.  One member of the team may be from category one (playing handicap less than 6) with the remaining members from categories two or three (handicaps 6 to 20).

1.2       Players may be selected from category four but will play off a maximum handicap of 20.

1.3       Playing pairs will be matched by their exact handicaps with the lowest pairing teeing off first.  The stroke allowance will the three quarters of the handicap difference.

1.4       Regardless of any local rules electronic or optical distance measuring devices are allowed to be used by players.    

1.5       At the end of the match the home team will provide a hot meal for both teams.  Dress for the meal will be informal.

1.6       Only players with active handicaps will be eligible to play.

2.         Match Dates

2.1       The season will run from March 15th to October 31^st inclusive.   All matches must be played within the season

2.2       All fixture dates will be arranged by January 31st each year. Any subsequent changes after this date will only be accepted after both clubs have emailed confirmation to the secretary.

2.3       After fixtures have been submitted to the Secretary clubs will not cancel or attempt to rearrange a fixture accept through adverse weather or course conditions. 

2.4       If any teams fail to fulfil a fixture within the season then both teams will forfeit three league points to be carried forward to the next season.

2.5       In the event of adverse weather or course conditions, the match captains must agree to suspend or abandon the match. If play resumes it will be from the point at which play was suspended.  If the fixture is rearranged then the match will be re-started from the 1^st tee.

2.6      If a match has been abandoned a rearranged date must be agreed and played before the end of the season.             

3.         Tee Times

3.1       All matches will tee off at 13:30 unless otherwise pre-arranged.

3.2       The home club is responsible for pre-booking tee times. If on arrival the away club finds this is not the case the visiting captain will have the right to claim the match 7-0.

3.3       All members of the team must be available and ready to play at the agreed time of the first match.  If, due to unforeseen circumstances, a member of the team is unavailable at the arranged tee time he must be present no later than 30 minutes after the first tee time or his match may be claimed by the opposing team.  If a match is claimed under this rule the score will be 1 up.  If any player is likely to be late his team captain must immediately notify the opposition captain.  Failure to inform the opposition captain that a team member may be late will give the opposition the right to claim his match.  

3.4       If any team fails to turn up for a match at the time and date agreed and published on the website the match will be forfeited 7 – 0.

4.         Match Results

4.1       Match results along with the individual players results and handicaps will be submitted through the club online results form by Sunday midnight of the weekend of the fixture being played by both captains or their appointed representatives using the online form.  Persistent failure to submit results by this deadline will result in disciplinary procedure potentially leading to the deduction of league points. 

4.2       If any match is forfeited for whatever reason the opponent will be declared to have won the match 1 up for the purposes of the match result and the individual order of merit. 

5.         Points System

5.1       Each player will play up to 18 holes of match play golf ending in either a win or a halved game. The seven scores will be totalled to determine the winners of the match.   Three points will be awarded for a win.  In the event of a drawn match the home team will receive 1 point and the away team will receive 2 points.

5.2       The team with the highest points total will be declared champions. If two teams share the same points total then the team with the best match difference will be placed higher.

6.         Players

6.1       The league is open to Males with a current handicap certificate who are at least 18 years old.

6.2       Handicap certificates can be requested by the league secretary at anytime

6.3       At any time throughout the season a player can request the interrogation of his opponents handicap.

6.4       Clubs that are found to have played an ineligible player will be subject to disciplinary procedures potentially leading to the deduction of league points.  The individual fixture for any ineligible player will automatically become a 1 up win for his opponent.

6.6       A club that enters more than one team will be permitted to transfer players from one team to the other.  The transferred player will not be able to represent the original team again for the rest of the current playing season.

6.7       A Club fielding two teams in the same division shall play their fixtures against each other before all others.

6.8       Buggies will only be permitted in matches if the player has a medical condition that means he is unable to walk around the course.  Any player wishing to use a buggy must, at the request of the league committee, be able to produce a Doctors certificate regarding the medical condition. 

7.         Local Rules

7.1       The rules of golf shall be observed at all times.

7.2       The home team will inform the visiting team of any local rules in force on the day of the match. a copy of any local rules will be posted clearly and your opponents are to be made aware of them.

7.3       The wearing of formal dress is not required but clubs are requested to arrive and welcome teams smartly dressed.  

8.         Promotion 

8.1       Promotion will be awarded to the top two teams in Division 2, Division 3 and Division 4 - they will replace the bottom two teams in Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3.  

8.2       Should new teams join the league then division 1 will be the first division to have a maximum of 7 teams, followed by divisions 2, 3 and 4.  Promotion and relegation will be adjusted accordingly.  Variance to this rule can only be achieved by the Annual General Meeting. 

9.         New Clubs  

9.1       New clubs wishing to enter the Central Sevens must submit a written request and be able to conform to the above conditions.  New teams will join the league in the lowest division.  

10.       Governance

10.1     An Annual General Meeting will be held each year in December.

10.2     The league committee will be responsible for all day to day decisions affecting the running of the league.  The committee will also act as the disciplinary committee should the need arise and will have the discretion to ban individual players, change match results or deduct league points as considered appropriate.

10.3     The committee shall be comprised of the Chairman, the Secretary, the Treasurer and one independent member.  10.4     The committee members will be elected on an annual basis at the Annual General Meeting.

Committee

The elected members at the 2010 AGM

Chairman: Russel Matthews - Hinksey Heights
Secretary: Keith Fisher - Chipping Norton
Treasurer: Andy Day - Banbury
Independent Member: Graeme Fullagar - Kirtlington

CENTRAL SEVENS AGM - HINKSEY HEIGHTS GOLF CLUB

9^th DECEMBER 2009 

The chairman opened the meeting at 7.30 p.m. 

1.                  Apologies for absence

Barrie Seaman – West BerksDavid Needs – Waterstock 1 

2.         Minutes of the 2008 AGM

The minutes were agreed as a true record and signed and dated by the Chairman and Secretary. 

3.         Chairman’s Report

Despite the odd setback I believe that this has been a good year for the league.  We have had three leagues of 6 teams in each league – sadly we lost West Berks halfway through the year (more of that later) and  competition within the leagues and for the individual Orders of Merit has been intense.  Financially we have made a slight profit on the year but I will leave the treasurer to tell that story. In Division 1 only 5 points separated 1^st from 4th – but Shrivenham were clear winners by three points from Bicester 2.  The order of merit was also close with a Shrivenham player winning by a points from two players on 24 points.  A special mention to Richard Upton of Bicester who played 8 matches winning them all. In Division 2 11 points separated 1^st from 5^th but Hinksey Heights were the clear winners from Drayton 1.  A special word for Banbury who lost 8 of their ten games – seven of them by a 4-3 margin – also winning one of their games by the same scoreline.  The order of merit was very close with a Waterstock 2 player winning by 1 point from Michael Linsley of Hinksey Heights Division 3 was much more clear cut with Carswell having an 8 point margin over second placed Silverstone.  Carswell were also the only team to go through the year undefeated.  Not surprisingly Carswell players occupied three of the four top spots in the Order of Merit so a special mention to John Hayden of Drayton 2 who came second I thought that the website worked much better this year than last.  I will try and get some amendments made by Richard Parkes during the winter.  Most will focus on making it easier to enter the data into the league tables and order of merit but I am also going to try and have one user name and password for all result entries. I would at this point like to welcome four new teams who are wishing to join the league in 2010 – a warm welcome to Buckingham, the Wychwood, Brailes and a second team from Shrivenham.  West Berks have also applied to rejoin which potentially gives us 22 teams for next year. I believe the league is in good health and looks set to grow and become the pre-eminent competition for those of us who still dream of category 1 handicaps.  The Chairman presented the prizes as follows: Individual Trophies for the winner in each divisionOrder of Merit winner – Division 3 – Kevin Howe of CarswellOrder of Merit winner – Division 2 – Malcolm Young of Waterstock 2Order of Merit winner – Division 1 – Ady Prestoe of Shrivenham The perpetual trophy to keep for one year plus a replica to keep for good plus individual trophies and embroidered shirts for each member of the team.  Runners up in Division 3 – SilverstoneWinners in Division 3 – CarswellRunners up in Division 2 – Drayton 1Winners in Division 2 – Hinksey HeightsRunners up in Division 1 – Bicester 2Winners in Division 1 –Shrivenham 

4.         Treasurers Report.

The accounts for the year indicate that a small profit of £116.42 and that the leagues balance now stood at £744.48.  After some discussion it was considered unnecessary to seek any increase in the league fee for 2010.  The extra number of teams and the small profit made in 2009 were considered sufficient to fund the expansion from three leagues to four. 

5.         Secretary’s report

The Secretary reported on data entry issues associated with the order of merit on the website and provided further details on the winners of the order of merit in the three divisions 

6.         Proposed Amendments to the Rules

The committee had reviewed the rules and several proposed changes were put to the meeting as follows: 

Replace Rule 3.3 

‘Any player not present and ready to play within 40 minutes of the first tee time will be deemed to have forfeited his match.’

With:

All members of the team must be available and ready to play at the agreed time of the first match.  If, due to unforeseen circumstances, a member of the team is unavailable at the arranged tee time he must be present no later than 30 minutes after the first tee time or his match may be claimed by the opposing team.  If a match is claimed under this rule the score will be 1 up.  If any player is likely to be late his team captain must immediately notify the opposition captain.  Failure to inform the opposition captain that a team member may be late will give the opposition the right to claim his match.  

This change was passed by the meeting 

Rule 1.3

The committee recommends to the AGM that matches should be played using a full handicap difference rather than the three quarters difference used at present.   

This proposed change was defeated by the meeting – 13 votes to 7 

Add new rule 1.6 

Only players with active handicaps will be eligible to play. 

This new rule was approved by the meeting 

Add Rule 3.4

If any team fails to turn up for a match at the time and date agreed and published on the website the match will be forfeited 7 – 0. 

This new rule was approved by the meeting 

Add new Rule 6.8

Buggies will only be permitted in matches if the player has a medical condition that means he is unable to walk around the course.  Any player wishing to use a buggy must, at the request of the league committee, be able to produce a Doctors certificate regarding the medical condition. 

This new rule was approved by the meeting 

The committee recommends to the AGM that the current scoring system remains in use.  Central Sevens is a competition between two teams and not seven individuals. Following an interesting debate where it was suggested that the match scores should equate to the points awarded the meeting decided to continue with the existing system of three points for a win, two points for an away draw and one point for a home draw. 

7.   New Members, Promotion, Relegation and Format of Leagues for 2010

The league currently stands at 17 teams.  With four new teams and West Berks re-applying there is a potential for 22 teams.  The first issue to be considered was the re-admission of West Berks.  The chairman reported that the new Captain was taking a personal interest and that availability of tree times by the club management had now been resolved but that 11.00 a.m. on Saturday mornings were the only times available for home fixtures.  After some debate the meeting wished to support West Berks and agreed that they should be re-admitted to the league but the meeting also resolved that any further problems would lead to a permanent exclusion. The four new teams that had applied to join the league were admitted. Given that the league now consisted of 22 teams the various league configurations explored by the committee were presented to the meeting.  After some discussion it was agreed that the league would operate in four divisions with six teams in Divisions 1 and 2 and five teams in Divisions 3 and 4.  The make up of the four divisions for 2010 will be as follows: 

Div 1	Div 2	Div 3	Div 4
Shrivenham 1	Kirtlington 1	Bicester 1	Buckingham
Bicester 2	Witney Lakes	Banbury	Brailes
Chipping Norton	Waterstock 2	Radley	Wychwood
Waterstock 1	Rye Hill	Drayton 2	Shrivenham 2
Hinksey Heights	Carswell	Kirtlington 2	West Berks
Drayton 1	Silverstone
6 teams	6 teams	5 teams	5 teams

 8. Central Sevens Knockout Cup

The Secretary presented the proposal to run a knock out cup for all teams in all four leagues.  Several teams expressed concerns regarding availability of tee times from their club management whilst others were concerned regarding fixture congestion.  The idea of a knock out cup received general support from the meeting providing entry was not compulsory.  Some concern was expressed that a home draw gives an undue advatgae and it was suggested that four players from each team would play at the ‘home’ club with three players from each team playing at the ‘away’ club.  It was left to the secretary to consider the response of the meeting and to propose a format on the website and invite teams to enter. 

9. Website

The general feeling of the meeting was that the website had been significantly improved with the chairman and secretary entering information.  The ‘news’ page was helpful but a members forum for the exchange of news, ideas etc was still requested.  The chairman and secretary both reported difficulties in entering data and the chairman was mandated to have further discussions with Richard Parkes regarding improvements. 

10.       Election of Officers

The existing committee of:Chairman – Russel Matthews Treasurer – Andy Day Secretary – Keith Fisher Independent Member – Graeme Fullagar  Were re-elected unopposed for a further year. 

11.       Fixtures for 2009 All fixtures to be agreed by 31/01/10 and sent by email to the chairman.  

There being no further business, the Chairman thanked the representatives of the clubs for their attendance and wished everyone a successful 2010.