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Information for New Members Welcome to Whetstone. We hope you find us a friendly and accommodating club for players of all ages and abilities, and wish you many hours of enjoyable golf. The members, the management and the committee. ~~~~~~~~~~ Whetstone Golf Club is an affiliated club of England Golf, The Leicestershire and Rutland Golf Union and Leicestershire and Rutland Ladies County Golf Association, the governing bodies of the game in England and Leicestershire.
As a member of Whetstone, the club, on your behalf, has paid your affiliation subscription to these bodies as part of your annual fees to Whetstone Golf Club Ltd. In addition you are required to pay the Members levy, (currently £14 per season). This represents the cost of your membership to the Club and funds the organisation of competitions, social activities and handicap administration.
Your elected committee has the responsibility for organisation of the club competitions and maintenance of the member’s handicaps under the auspices of the World Handicap System (WHS)
The current committee comprises:- The Club Captain chairs the committee, officiates over club functions such as the presentation evenings.
The Club Secretary deals with day to day correspondence to and from the club and schedules and manages the club events. The President is an honorary position held by a long term member and represents the club at some functions. The Treasurer manages club funds and is responsible for correctly audited accounts. The Competition Chairman through his sub-committee organises the club competitions. The Handicap secretary is responsible for allocation and maintenance of handicaps under the R&A rules and for the competition draws and processing of results.
The Lady Captain with the Ladies Committee organises the ladies section, officiates at club functions and captains all ladies teams. The Vice-captain is the captain elect and deputises for the captain when required. The immediate Past-captain – last years Captain. ~~~~~~~~ For members who are aged 60 or over you will be welcome at events (both golf and social), organised by the Seniors Group at Whetstone. See the seniors notice board or contact a member of the Senior’s sub-committee if you wish to participate.
Similarly young members 17 years age or less qualify as Junior Members. Contact a member of the committee if you are a new member.
The Ladies Sub-committee organise events for the Ladies Section. Please contact the Lady Captain or a member of the committee for further information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In Regard to Handicaps -- Under the World Handicap System of handicapping, there are several obligations on handicap holders:- 1 To have only one handicap. 2 To notify us if you are also member at another club or have previously been a member of another club.. 3 If you are member of more than one club. You must elect one as your "home" club to administer your handicap. Your “Away” club will be automatically notified of any changes to your handicap.
4 In competitions Ensure your name is on the entry list .
Return your card whether you complete the round or not. (No Returns –NRs) Report to Home club all Qualifying Scores (inc NRs) and Stableford Reduced Score. Fill in your score card correctly.
In Regard to Golf Course Etiquette:- On the Course:- The one major issue that will guarantee to make you public enemy number one is slow play. When you start playing, it may be surprising to find how quickly you have to walk round the course. One slow match can ruin the enjoyment of 100 golfers (no exaggeration). It is best for all concerned if you can keep pace with the golfers in front. If you cannot and you lose one clear hole to the players in front you must wave the match behind through.
Course Care:- · No trolleys on the greens, green approaches, hazards or tees. · Replace all turf cut or displaced while playing · Smooth over all club and footprint marks made in bunkers i.e. use the rake. · Rakes must be returned to the bunker after use. · Repair ball pitch marks on greens. · Take care not to damage the hole when handling the flagstick. · Lay the flagstick on the green (or better still, off it). Don’t throw or drop it. · Do not leave golf bags on the green. · Be quiet when your partners are playing their shot and be aware that there are other people on the course. There you are – quite easy really, but it is amazing how many golfers who have been playing for a few years and have yet to acquire this knowledge. In Regard to Dress:- As a member your attention is drawn to the Club bye-laws :-
On the Course: “Dress standards on the course must be upheld. Players on the course must wear shirts with a collar or a polo neck shirt or pullover. Tailored shorts are allowed but must be worn in conjunction with white socks. Collar-less shirts (except branded golf tops), singlets, jeans, tracksuits and trousers which are tucked into socks are not allowed on the course. Shirts must be tucked into trousers at all times.”
In the Clubhouse: “Dress standards in the clubhouse must be upheld. Spiked shoes or waterproofs are not allowed to be worn in the lounge area.”
~ Competitions
All Official Club Competitions are listed under “Golf Calendar” on the website (www.whetstonegc.co.uk) Most of these will be Qualifying Competitions unless the conditions of the competition rule this out. Other competitions may be organised from time to time these will be non-qualifying.
Monthly Medals.
Generally two medal/stableford competitions (open to all members) and one senior medal are played per month (one on a Saturday, one on a Sunday and in the case on the senior medal on a Monday). Dates are posted on the Golf Calendar. There is no need to pre-enter for these competitions. Just turn up at any time during the day, enter your name on the list and pay your entrance fee (Currently £2) in the Pro’s Shop before playing.
Ladies:- In addition to the above, Ladies also play one medal a monthe on a Tuesday. Dates are posted on the Golf Calendar.
Main Competitions
Invitations to enter the main competitions are posted on the notice board 6 weeks prior to the event. You have choice of which time slot you want to play in. Simply enter your name. Competition dates are posted on the Golf Calendar.
In these competitions a random draw will take place and be published 1 week beforehand on the notice board and under Starting Times on the club website.
On completion of your round be sure to enter your score on the computer in the clubhouse foyer and return your card to the Competition Box correctly filled in and signed by yourself and your marker (who must be a handicap holder).
Results are posted on the website (www.whetstonegolf.co.uk) and on the clubhouse notice board within a few days.
Introduction to Handicaps World Handicap System The WHS, to be introduced in November 2020 is designed to provide a common method of handicapping world wide to enable fair competition between clubs and countries. The basis if the system is the recognition that players performance varies on courses of different difficulty. The measure of doing this is the COURSE RATING and the SLOPE assessment of courses world wide, enabling players to be handicapped on a scale dependent on the course difficulty.
In Great Britain and Ireland the rules to official handicaps are administered by England Golf.
How do I get one?
If you are new to Whetstone Golf Club you will need to have a WORLD HANDICAP recognised HANDICAP INDEX before you can play in any official club competition.
If you have joined us from another club and have previously held a valid handicap then inform us of this and we will process your handicap here. You need to do this even if you are still a member of another club and wish your handicap to be administered there. Otherwise you are requested to submit cards from 3 rounds. These can be played at any time but must be marked by current handicap holders. Most members will be pleased to oblige. Please mark the card with the colour of the tee from which you played (either white yellow or red for Men and boys and red or yellow for Ladies and girls) together with the date. Place these in the Competition Box in the Pro’s Shop.
Under the WHS we are required to provide England Golf with your date of birth and an E-Mail address. In order to comply with current data protection regulations you will need to have agreed consent on your membership application or returned the Consent Form available in the pro's shop so that we can distribute this information.
Maintaining Handicaps
Once your HANDICAP INDEX has been issued it is posted on the World Handicap System (WHS). You can address this on the computer in the foyer of the clubhouse or by registering on the England Golf App. You are advise to check this whenever you play. Maximum Handicap Index for Men and Ladies is 54.
Your handicap can change in two ways:-
--as a result of your score in Competition or
- by submission of a “Casual Round” (General Play Round) or
--by a adjustment made under a "General Play" review.
Qualifying Competitions:-
Whenever you enter a score from a round, your HANDICAP INDEX will be adjusted. This is done by taking the average of the best 8 scores from your last 20 rounds.
Don’t worry if you haven’t yet completed 20 rounds. The system will compensate and still compute a HANDICAP INDEX. (see Appendix on how this is calculated)
General Play:- At times when the handicap committee considers that your handicap does not reflect your playing ability then a General Play adjustment can be made, (your form in social play and as well as Competitions may be taken into account). General play adjustments are never less than one whole stroke.
Casual Round (General Play Round) Cards:-
At any time, except when restricted by the Committee, a player may submit the score from a round as a Casual Round, provided that the course is a Course Rated course, that your round is scored by someone who hold a current handicap, and most importantly that you commit to the round before you play. You can do this by signing in on the Club Computer before you play or by using the WHS phone app.
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