HISTORY OF RWGA INTER-CLUB TEAM COMPETITION

1999-2022

 

 

The RWGA conducts inter-club team match play during each golfing season.  The format is two-person better ball match play with each team consisting of four two person teams.  Each team is comprised of members of one of twelve affiliated clubs.  The season culminates with a gross and a net champion.  Trophies are awarded to each team at the end of the season.

 

There have been numerous changes to the format of Inter-club Team Match Competition throughout the years. 

 

In 1999, there were eleven (11) clubs in the RWGA with each club having one team of ten (10) players on a team and 80% of the handicap index was used to compute course handicap. In 2001 the handicap allowance was increased from 80% to 100% which is still used today.  The team size was changed in 2005 from 10 to 8 players which also remains in effect presently.  In 2007, The Golf Club at the Highlands became an affiliated club of the RWGA, increasing the number of teams from 11 to 12.

 

Team structure was more strictly controlled in 1999 than it is today.  In 1999, the structure was four (4) lowest handicapped players in team positions 1 and 2, next four (4) in team positions 3 and 4, next two (2) in team position 5.  At present, the structure is four (4) lowest handicapped players in team positions 1 and 2 with the remaining team structure at the discretion of the team captain.

 

There have also been significant changes in the rules for the maximum handicap throughout the years.  In 1999, players with an index higher than 25.5 were allowed to play; however, the index for computing course handicap was set to a maximum of 25.5.  In 2010, the maximum index was changed to 28.5 with no more than 14 strokes to be given between teams.  The index allowance was increased once more in 2015 to 36.0.  The 14 stroke restriction between players was removed in 2017. 

 

From 1999 until 2016, a 2nd forfeit by a team disqualified them from competition.  In 2005, the point structure for team forfeits was set to 52-21 and not 72-0.  The restriction for a 2nd forfeit was removed in 2017.

 

In 2017, efforts began to reduce the number of matches played each season.  Following is a synopsis of those changes:

• 2017:  Number of matches per season was set to 8.  At the conclusion of 11 matches which crossed seasons, a winner of gross and net would be announced.  This format was only played for one season, i.e., 2017-2018.  It was unpopular among the majority of clubs and the format was modified in 2019.
• 2019:  Two Divisions, Dogwood and Cardinal, were established, with clubs being given the opportunity to have a team in each division.  Teams were randomly placed in the two divisions.  A playoff was held at the end of the season between the gross champion of each division and also between the net champion of each division.  The winners of the playoffs were crowned Gross and Net Champions.
• 2021 to present:  Two Divisions, Championship and Division 1, were established.  The winners of the Championship divisions are the RWGA Inter-club Team Match Competition gross and net champions.   The 1st and 2nd place winners in each division are also recognized at the end of the season.  Clubs are allowed to decide which division to compete in.  A club can have a team in each division.  Currently four affiliated clubs, Hermitage Country Club, Stonehenge Golf and Country Club, The Golf Club at the Highlands and Willow Oaks Country Club have two teams.  To date, the structure has been 8 teams in Championship Division and 6 teams in Division 1 which has satisfied the need to reduce the number of matches played each season while allowing more players to participate in team match competition.

 

In 2021, through the use of the Golf Genius application, the management of team match play was converted from manual to electronic.

 

Following are some interesting statistics throughout the years of 1999 to 2021:

 

• Until 2012, The Country Club of Virginia (2000-2003) held the longest running consecutive record of four gross wins.  In 2012, Hermitage Country Club broke that record with 5 consecutive gross wins.  That remains the longest running record to date.
• Hermitage Country Club holds the record for the most gross wins at eleven (11).
• Lakeside Park Club holds the record for the most net wins at five (5).
• In 2002, there was a four-way tie for the net winner.  Total individual match points for the season were used to break the tie.  Jefferson Lakeside Country Club (now Lakeside Park Club) was declared the winner with 476.5 points.
• In 2003, The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) won the title for both gross and net.  Hermitage Country Club won the gross and net titles in 2004 and 2016.  Stonehenge Golf and Country Club won both titles in 2019.  In 2020, the Executive Board made the decision to allow teams to win either gross or net, but not both.
• In 2020, inter-club team match play was cancelled for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In its place, virtual team competition was played with each team playing on their own course.