LEAGUE RULES AND INFORMATION

Greetings All

I would like to begin by extending a welcome to Helpmekaar, Sacred Heart, Linden and St Peter's who have joined us this year. There are 5 "GROUPS", with four of them being chosen on basic geography.

I have introduced a WEST GROUP, which will be the "relegation" group, owing to interested schools putting forward more than 2 sides. The team out of EAST, CENTRAL, NORTH and SOUTH, with the least points (we will have a play-off if need be) will be relegated in 2011, and the team with the most points in the WEST GROUP will be promoted. I hope that this will encourage ALL sides to participate as competitively as possible. Only sides from Groups East, North, South and Central can compete for the Finals.

The first match for most schools needs to be played on the 15th January. There ARE NO fixtures over the half-term. Remember you do not have to play on a Friday, if you can arrange to play earlier in that week, that is fine - a lot of courses are open on a Monday and tend to be empty!

Please make sure that the HOME side books the course and informs the visiting side. Remember all home fixtures are paid for by the hosting school, and all fixtures against Central Gauteng Invitational Team (CGIT) will be HOME fixtures.

Cost of entry is R600 per side to be paid into the following account, using your school as a reference.

The format has not changed from last year:

• There are four groups - North, Central, South and East will play for the finals, West will be the relegation group.
• Quarterfinals must be played by Friday 12th March.
  These matches will be played between the winners of groups vs. second place teams in other groups as follows:
  • Winner North vs. Second Central ……… Game A
  • Winner Central vs. Second East ……… Game B
  • Winner South vs. Second North ……… Game C
  • Winner East vs. Second South ……... Game D
• Hopefully the semifinals can be played on the 17th March. These will be played between the winners of each of the quarterfinals:
  • Winner A vs. Winner C
  • Winner B vs. Winner D
• Finals - The two finalists will have to liaise about the date (Sunday 20th March). The final will be played over 18 holes, at as neutral a venue as possible.

GENERAL

Teams will still be made up of 6 boys - 3 pairs.
All boys play matchplay off scratch.
Any girls representing their schools in this league will have to play of the men's tees of scratch.
Any disputes must be sorted out between the two schools involved before sending in results - I am not a decision making body.

Each game - pair vs. pair - is worth 1 POINT
If a game is halved then each school gets HALF A POINT
A school gets a bonus point if it wins the MATCH

E.g. 1 Match: School A vs. School B

Game 1 A Wins 4 & 3
Game 2 halved
Game 3 A wins 1 & 0

Result A wins 2 - 0

Points A - 3.5 B - 0.5

E.g. 2 Match: School A vs. School B

Game 1 B Wins 2 & 1
Game 2 A Wins 1 & 0
Game 3 halved

Result Match halved
Points A - 1.5 B - 1.5
If a game is abandoned due to weather (and can not be made up) each school will get 1 point
If one school fails to fulfill a fixture, they get 0 and the other school gets 2 points

THE SUCCESS OF THE LEAGUE DEPENDS ON EVERY GAME BEING PLAYED - PLEASE DO ALL YOU CAN TO MAKE UP MISSED GAMES
"Count-outs"
B - In order to facilitate a count-out in a round robin tie I am going to need the winning margin of each game. From now on please complete the results sheet shown below and send it to me (fax 645 3001 or email golf@stjohnscollege.co.za) by Monday 10:00 am after the week in which the game was played. This was not done well last year, and had there been a tie it would have been very difficult to work out the finalists.

• If two teams are tie for first or second places in their group, then the team that won the league match between the two of them will go through
• If they halved their league game, then the team that won the most number of matches will go through i.e. the team with the most number of games in the 'W' column in the league table
• If that is the same, then the team which lost the least number of games will go through i.e. the team with the least number of games in the 'L' column of the league table
• If that is the same then the team that won by the largest margin in the match between the two schools will go through i.e. a 5 & 4 win will be better that a 1 & 0 win
• If that is the same then the team that won by the largest margin in all the round robin games will go through
• If that is the same then I have no other ideas other than the flip of a coin!

Count-outs in the Finals
Although it is very unusual to do this when playing matchplay, there is no time to have rematches, so to ensure a result, the quaterfinals, semi-finals and finals will have the following count-out procedure:

• The team that won it's games by the largest margin in the match will go through

E.g. 1 Match: School A vs. School B

Game 1 A Wins 4 & 3
Game 2 halved
Game 3 B wins 1 & 0

Result: School A goes through as the game it won, was by a larger margin

• If there is no difference in the winning margins or if all three games are halved, then each school can select any two boys to play in a sudden death matchplay playoff. If this cannot be completed, for example due to bad light, then the playoff must be played before the Wednesday of the following week.
• However in the final, if there is a draw, the fourball that drew will continue to play until there is a winning side, as time will not allow another day of play. This must be agreed upon by both coaches on the day.
• Green fees must be paid by the host school, except for the FINAL where each school will pay for their own team, - i.e. if it is your home game you pay for all the golf
• It is the responsibility of both coaches to send me the result of the game - this way I can double check, and am more likely to get results in on time (Monday 10am) so that I can get them published in the papers and the website.

Good luck and enjoy. If there are any queries please feel free to contact me.

Yours in Golf

    Bradley Cotterell
    golf@stjohnscollege.co.za
    084 228 7000

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