Competitive Golf

Hi, i'm relatively new to the golf scene, been playing for over a year now. Me and my friend are looking to play a little more competitively but don't know where to look. We have found a few different places but they require a Congu handicap, we are not members of a golf club so we don't have one of these, are there any competitions that don't require this type of recognised handicap?

Thanks Glenn

I was about to recommend the Matchplay Championship - they used to run a Mens Singles non-Congu comp but it looks like this year this is only available for the mixed pairs event.

Other than that, all the public comps I've seen require CONGU (club) handicaps. I'm not surprised on this - at least with CONGU handicaps you have some degree of confidence in a handicap being "true". I'm afraid, much as I love GolfShake, that web based handicaps are open to abuse (register, enter 3 scores and you have a hcp).

Having said that - have a look round your local clubs. There are some excellent, low-cost membership schemes around these days. If you are in the right area I would highly recommend the flexible memberships on offer at Reigate Hill and East Brighton. A great low-cost introduction to club membership for players (like me) who cannot commit the time required to justify full membership. This will give you an introduction to competitive golf and give you a CONGU handicap for use in public comps.

As Darren stated in the other post, get on the G Tour. It's fun, competitive and you'll meet some decent players and they'll drag you along and your game will get better. They accept both CONGU and Golfshake handicaps and police it pretty efficiently. In fact, I've come across more bandits with CONGU handicaps on the G Tour than on-line ones, it's all too easy (and quite common) for people to maintain a club handicap that isn't necessarily 'accurate' when it comes to competitions where there are prizes on offer. The advantage (or not) with a Golfshake handicap is that if you have a blinder of a round it will be tracked and you will get a cut, sometimes severe, which is not always the case with a legitimate club handicap.

Copied over and I've deleted the dup post now

Check out the Gtour open to all golfers regardless of handicap status. Individual comps plus compete in 3 for Order of Merit points.

www.gtour.co.uk

Tim, the club golfers ultimately get their handicap maintained by Gtour for future Gtour events and will get cuts. There are also many honest club golfers who do go along to the Gtour events after their first 1 or 2 and bring a new club handicap if they have been cut.

Hi Glenn ask around your local area and i am sure you will find a golf society who play different courses normally around once a month.

Ken