The Chiltern Breakfast Golf League Rules

The Chiltern Breakfast Golf League Rules

1. Title: The "Chiltern Breakfast Golf League".
2. Subscription:  £125 p.a. payable on 1st January each year. The annual payment includes the entry fee for the Winter Knockout Competition. For clubs not in the main league, the entry fee for the Winter Knock Out only is £20 pa.
3. Management:  Management to be by a committee comprising of one representative from each Member Club, plus a Secretary, Treasurer, and a Fixtures/Results Secretary. One of the club representatives will be elected as Chairman for a calendar year.  The club selected will be determined in order of joining the League. The Committee will meet at least twice each year.
4. Format:  For matches, teams will normally meet at 08.30 on Saturdays for breakfast. Every effort should be made to ensure the first tee time is no later than 10.00am. Any changes to this will be allowed, providing both clubs agree; this may include Sunday matches and a later first tee time.
5. Draw: At the committee meeting in the Summer, the draw will be made to determine which club is in which Division for the following year.  Clubs will then be asked to arrange the fixtures in each Division accordingly. The Fixtures Secretary should be notified of the dates of these matches as soon as possible.
   
   Matches are to be played between 1st March and the third weekend in September each year.
   
   This is a four-ball-better-ball match play competition with six games of male pairs representing each club. 90% of Course Handicap for each player is calculated then rounded up or down to get Playing Handicaps. Then the lowest Playing Handicap plays off zero and the other players receive 100% of the difference between their own Playing Handicap and that of the player with the lowest Playing Handicap.

Matches are to be played off competition tees.

6. Governing Rules: The rules of golf are to be as defined by the R&A Rules Ltd.
   
   A Local Rule that allows an Alternative to Stroke and Distance for Lost Ball or Ball Out of Bounds is not allowed to be used for CBL matches.
   
   Players with a recognised medical condition are allowed to use buggies, but not their playing partners (either for transport or carrying their clubs). 
   
   In the event that a member club is unable to fulfil its obligation of playing both home and away matches against another club and where only one match is played, the club hosting that match shall be recompensed by the away team for 50% of the catering costs. Any dispute will be referred to the full league committee, whose decision will be final. Neither club involved in the dispute shall be entitled to vote on the matter.
   
   A player may represent only one club in one competition (League, Knock Out or Challenge Cup) in any given year.
7. All players must have a Fully Developed Handicap of at least 20 Score Differentials.

All players must have registered at least 15 Qualifying Scores in the previous rolling 12 months in order to play.
Following a match, after discussion between the Captains, any challenge by a team, as to whether a player in their opponents team has not met the criteria, must be made to the Secretary by email within 48 hours of the match.
If a player has not met the criteria, the pair that includes the player will be disqualified from the match.

8. Handicaps: The upper limit will be a Handicap Index of 19.6, and only two players with a Handicap Index of 4.6 or lower may play in any one team. If any member of a team is found to have been playing off a playing handicap higher than his official WHS playing handicap, then in addition to the normal penalty of disqualification of the pair under the Rules of Golf (3.2c), that member will be suspended for the next match for which he is eligible.

9. Points: 3 points will be awarded for an overall home win, 4 points for an away win, 2 points each for a halved match.  In addition, 1 point will be awarded for each winning pair, or ½ point for a half (to be known as bonus points).
   
   If matches cannot be played or completed due to inclement weather, both clubs will attempt to re-play the match during the season, advising the Fixtures Secretary of the revised date. If that is not possible both clubs will be awarded 2 points.
   
   Should for any reason other than weather, a fixture not be fulfilled, if both clubs agree, an alternative date within the calendar time scale will be arranged, and the Secretary informed. If this is not possible, or the offended club does not agree, six and one half points will be awarded to the offended club if it was the home club or seven and one half points if it was the away club. In the case of a dispute, the matter will be debated at the next full committee meeting. Neither club involved having a vote on the matter.
   
   If sides finish with equal points at the end of the year, the following criteria will be used to determine the final order of those sides in that Division. The higher placed side will be the club winning the most matches in the season. If still equal then the side with the most bonus points. If still equal, then the side with the most aggregate points in the matches played between the tied clubs. If still equal then the total aggregate winning margin of victory in all individual games in that lattermost match will decide.
10. In the event that a team fail to field a full team, then if a pair have no opponents because of this, they will be awarded that game with a win of 3&2.
11. Semi-Finals & the Final:  Once all matches in each Division have been played, the three Divisional Winners and the Runner-Up with the highest points total will play two Semi-Finals. The Divisional Winner with the highest points total will play the Runner-Up with the highest points total in one Semi-Final and the Divisional Winner with the second highest points total will play the Divisional Winner with the third highest points total in the other Semi-Final. These Semi-Finals will be played on the last weekend of September.

In order to determine the points totals, in any Division that has five teams, then the bottom team’s match scores will be removed from the top two team’s results for calculation purposes. Team results across the three Divisions can then be compared. The position for the top 2 in each Division will not be changed even if removing the last place team’s results gives the second-place team a better points total than the Divisional Winner.
If points are equal between either the three Divisional Winners or the three Divisional Runners-Up, then the following criteria will be used to determine placings. Firstly, the number of matches won during the season, then the number of bonus points. If still equal then the number of away matches won, then the number of away bonus points. If still equal, then the number of away draws. Finally, if still equal then there will be a toss of the coin by the League Secretary.
The winners of the Semi-Finals will then play in a Grand Final on the first weekend in October to decide the League Champions
For the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final the format and rules are as follows:
In each match, three pairs will play at the home course and three at the away course. The six games must be played on the same day and, as far as possible, at the same times. This is particularly important to cater fairly for a possible tie and subsequent play-off.
In the event of a tied match, each team will add together the winning holes margin for each of the games that they won (e.g. a 4 & 3 win would contribute 4 holes to that team’s total). The team with the greater total will be declared the winner.
If the totals are the same, the lowest winning margin for each team will be discarded, the winning holes margin recalculated and a winner declared, if possible. This process is repeated until a winner is determined. If this process does not produce an outright winner, then there will be a sudden death play-off. A play-off should prove to be a rare event; it will only occur if the two teams have identical winning margins for the games that they have won.
In the event that a game has been conceded early, the winning pair must assume that they have won all remaining holes until a conventional winning score has been achieved. E.g. if a pair concede their game when 5 down after 9 holes, their opponents will be deemed to have won 8 & 6.
If a sudden death play-off is required, the course where the play-off is to take place will be decided by the toss of a coin and each team captain will then nominate the pair to represent his club. The selected pair must have played together in the match at that course. The sudden death play-off must commence at the 1st hole of the course.

In the event that a sudden death playoff cannot be arranged on, or is curtailed during, the day the Semi-Final or Final takes place, then in the Semi-Finals a toss of the coin will determine the winner and in the Final the Championship will be shared between the two clubs.



12. Reporting:   Results to be reported by both sides, to the Results Secretary by e-mail. The result must be typed using the template provided, within 48 hours of the match.
    
    

    The latest league table will be made available to club representatives via the League web site after matches have been played (updated by the Results Secretary or selected representative).
    

13. Presentation:   Chairman of the year’s club (the Host club) is to organise and host the annual Challenge Cup and the awards presentation, by the end of October. These events are to be held on the same day, at the Host club, unless agreed otherwise at a full committee meeting.
14. Challenge Cup:   Each club is responsible for fielding a team for the Challenge Cup at the cost prescribed by the Chairman / Treasurer, and ratified by the committee. If a club does not field a team, they must still pay the full entrance fees for a team. The format for the Challenge Cup will be as agreed by the full committee each year.
    The winners will be the club with the highest total Stableford points score.  In the event of a tie, the trophy will be shared between the teams tied.

     

    September 2023 League Rules (version 30)
    Winter Knockout Competition Rules

    1. The entry fee for this competition is included as part of the annual CBL subscription. Participation is encouraged but is optional.
    2. The draw will take place during the CBL meeting in the Summer.
    3. This is a four-ball better ball match play competition with six games of male pairs representing each club. 90% of Course Handicap for each player is calculated then rounded up or down to get Playing Handicaps. Then the lowest Playing Handicap plays off zero and the other players receive 100% of the difference between their own Playing Handicap and that of the player with the lowest Playing Handicap. The handicap upper limit will be a Handicap Index of 18.0, and only two players with a Handicap Index of 4.6 or lower may play in any one team.
    4. Matches are to be played off competition tees.
    5. The rules of golf to be as defined by the R&A Rules Ltd.  A Local Rule that allows an Alternative to Stroke and Distance for Lost Ball or Ball Out of Bounds is not allowed to be used for CBL matches.
       In each match, three pairs will play at the home course and three at the away course. The six games must be played on the same day and, as far as possible, at the same times. This is particularly important to cater fairly for a possible tie and subsequent play-off (see Rules 8 and 9 below).
    6. In the event of a tied match, each team will add together the winning holes margin for each of the games that they won (e.g. a 4 & 3 win would contribute 4 holes to that team’s total). The team with the greater total will be declared the winner.
    7. If the totals are the same, the lowest winning margin for each team will be discarded, the winning holes margin recalculated and a winner declared, if possible. This process is repeated until a winner is determined. If this process does not produce an outright winner then there will be a sudden death play-off. A play-off should prove to be a rare event; it will only occur if the two teams have identical winning margins for the games that they have won.
    8. In the event that a game has been conceded early, the winning pair must assume that they have won all remaining holes until a conventional winning score has been achieved. E.g. if a pair concede their game when 5 down after 9 holes, their opponents will be deemed to have won 8 & 6.
    9. If a sudden death play-off is required, the course where the play-off is to take place will be decided by the toss of a coin and each team captain will then nominate the pair to represent his club. The selected pair must have played together in the match at that course. The sudden death play-off must commence at the 1st hole of the course.
    10. If a match cannot be completed due to inclement weather, the clubs involved will attempt to rearrange the match within the time limit for the completion of the appropriate round.
    11. Results must be reported by both clubs to the Winter KO organiser by email within 48 hours of the match.
    12. Each club will be responsible for covering the food cost for their home matches.
    13. The club winning the final will be presented with the Steve Baker Trophy, named in memory of one of the co-founders of the Chiltern Breakfast Golf League.

    September 2023 Winter KO Rules (version 12)