Swing the changes
Major adjustments to GUI Championships introduced.
THE East of Ireland Championship will revert to its traditional three-day schedule at County Louth this year as part of a wide array of changes introduced by the GUI for its 2018 championships.
A four-day “East” was trailed last year but having surveyed the players – many who work were unhappy at having to take an extra day off – the Leinster Provincial Council has decided to revert to the traditional three-day format for a maximum field of 132, starting on Saturday, June 2 and finishing with 36 holes on Monday, June 4.
The change is one of many recently published in the 2018 GUI Tournament Conditions book which is available online at www.golfnet. ie.
They include the decision - due to light restrictions - to use a card countback in the West of Ireland, rather than a playoff, to decide ties for 64th place after the second round of stroke play qualifying.
The most notable differences are the new handicap bands in the AIG Cups and Shields and eligibility criteria for championships.
A new points system has been adopted for the Willie Gill Order of Merit whereby only eight domestic events will count – the Irish Amateur Open and Close Championships, the
North, South, East and
West of Ireland Championships and the Munster and Connacht Stroke Play Championships.
In another new departure, the leading four players on the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the leading two players on the Willie Gill Order of Merit will make the Home Internationals team.
From 2019 the eight events on the Willie Gill Order of Merit will include an automatic exemption for anyone scoring 100 or more points on that Order of Merit in a calendar year.
This year, providing a player has entered, performance-related exemptions into the eight events will be offered based on 2017 performances that would have gained entry under the new format.
Measures to combat slow play have also been addressed and while timing schedules will continue to be used to guide referees, a group will be considered out of position if they are more than one starting interval behind the group in front.
In other changes, a new inter-club competition for Under-18 Boys will be introduced for players that did not hold a handicap of below 5.5 on 1 January in the year of the event with the maximum playing handicap of 24. The GUI and its Branches will also apply the new Local Rule recently announced jointly by The R&A and USGA for introduction in 2018 eliminating additional penalties for signing for an incorrect score due to the golfer failing to include a penalty he did not know he had incurred.
In Students Championships, college teams must consist of players who have individually entered and while the team (two scores to count) must consist of at least two players, there is no upper limit to the number of players who may represent the college team.
Due to operational and scheduling issues arising from Ireland’s hosting of the World Amateur Team Championships in August, a number of Irish events have been rescheduled on a one-off basis in 2018.
They include the Irish Under-16 Boys Amateur Open Championship while will, for one year only, take place in Castle Dargan from June 20-22.
As this may affect students taking state examinations, it has been decided to create an additional competitive opportunity for Under 16s at the following week’s Irish Boys Amateur Open Championship in Belvoir Park from June 26-29.
For one year only, there will be at least 30 places for Under-16 entries and an Under-16 medal for the leading player in that category.
New handicap bands have also been introduced for the AIG Cups and Shields with caddies now banned in the AIG Jimmy Bruen and AIG Pierce Purcell Shields.
New handicap bands in the AIG Cups and Shields:
AIG Junior Cup – Lower limit reduced from 5 to 4
AIG Jimmy Bruen – Lower limit reduced from 6 to 5; Combined limit reduced from 17 to 15
AIG Pierce Purcell – Lower limit reduced from 12 to 11; Combined limit reduced from 27 to 25
GUI Four-Ball – Lower limit reduced from 16 to 15; Combined limit reduced from 36 to 34.