The Victorian Social Golf Club Championships

The Victorian Social Golf Club Championships

This event is a chance for teams representing social golf clubs to compete for an official Victorian golf Championship and over $15,000 in prizes. Teams of four players contest the separate regional qualifiers and the top seven teams from each qualifier meet in the final to contest the Victorian Social Golf Club Championships. With the support of The Victorian Golf Association, Women's Golf Victoria and  Golf Australia, Social Golf Australia has partnered with five of Victoria's premier public access golf courses to develop a state championship  for golfers who are members of social golf clubs that is officially sanctioned by the games governing amateur bodies. The five foundation courses are:

The Dunes Golf Links 13th Beach Golf Links Waterford Valley Golf Course Growling Frog Golf Course Eynesbury Golf Course

Each year, one of the foundation courses will host the final and the other four will each host one qualifying round. The venue for the final will rotate annually among the foundation courses and additional courses may host qualifying rounds in the future. The VSGCC schedule is below.

2009 VSGCC Schedule 

Event	Day	Date	Time	Venue	Status	Vacancies
09 VSGCC Qualifier 1	Saturday	May 23	8:30am	Eynesbury	Booked	0
09 VSGCC Qualifier 2	Sunday	August 2	12:00pm	13th Beach	Booked	0
09 VSGCC Qualifier 3	Friday	September 4	12:30pm	The Dunes	Booked	0
09 VSGCC Qualifier 4	Saturday	October 10	8:30am	Growling Frog	Booked	0
2009 VSGCC Final	Saturday	November 21	12:00pm	Waterford Valley	Booked	0

Entry in the 2009 VSGCC

To enter, go to the VSGCC website and visit the How to Enter page or see the details below.

VSGCC Entry Bonus

Our friends at Inside Golf, the magazine written for Australian social golfers, have offered a free subscription to all social golf clubs that enter the Victorian Social Golf Championships. Every club that has a team or teams enter the VSGCC are eligible to receive a free ongoing subscription of 25 copies per month.

To receive this offer, simply tick the box on the VSGCC entry form and supply the address where you want your copies sent. Inside Golf (IG) is a monthly publication distributed nationally to over 420 pro-shops and driving ranges and is available in more than 70 Victorian golf clubs every month. Ask in your pro-shop for a copy next time you are having a round. 

The 2008 VSGCC event schedule

Event	Day	Date	Time	Venue	Status	Vacancies
08 VSGCC Qualifier 1	Sunday	July 13	8:45am	Growling Frog	Results	0
08 VSGCC Qualifier 2	Saturday	August 16	10:30am	Waterford Valley	Results	0
08 VSGCC Qualifier 3	Friday	September 12	11:30am	The Dunes	Results	0
08 VSGCC Qualifier 4	Sunday	October 12	10:40am	13th Beach	Results	0
2008 VSGCC Final	Saturday	November 22	8:30am	Eynesbury	Results	0

The VSGCC event format

The format is stableford with a team aggregate system. The three best scores from each team of four are totalled to determine the team score and the best team total wins. The fourth best score from each team will be used to break ties. In the qualifying rounds, teams will be ranked and the top seven teams in each qualifying round will qualify to compete the final on November 22 at Eynesbury.

In the qualifying rounds and the final, each social golf club team of four will split into pairs and play with a pair from another club. Cards will be marked by the players from the other team in the group. All VSGCC scores will be entered on GOLF Link and count towards player's official handicaps.

The 2008 Prize Pool

The prize pool for the inaugural VSGCC in 2008 featured over $11,000 worth of prizes. The Golf Clearance Outlet, Vision golf balls powered by Fantom, The Hawthorn Suites, the 13th Beach Golf Links, Heathcote Winery and major media partner, Inside Social Golf, all generously contributed to the prize pool and each qualifier featured more than $1600 worth of prizes. An even bigger prize pool was on the line in the final plus the juicy bonus that the 2008 State Champions won for their clubmates a weekend stay-and-play package for 12 people at the Hawthorn Suites at 13th Beach Golf Links valued at over $3000.

Each qualifier is played as a stand-alone stableford golf event with results entered on Golf Link and both team and individual prizes are awarded. As such, individuals or pairs can also enter to play in these events and compete for the individual prizes. To be eligible for the team event, you must have at least three players from the same social club registered as a team before the event. Below is the prize pool for each of the 2008 qualifying rounds:

Place	Team event prizes for each team member	Place	Individual event prizes
1st	A $30 Golf Clearance Outlet Voucher One dozen Fantom golf balls Bottle of Heathcote Winery 2006 Cravens Place Shiraz A weekday round of golf at Eynesbury  Invitation to play in the final in November	1st	A $25 Golf Clearance Outlet Voucher Six Fantom golf balls Bottle of Heathcote Winery 2006 Cravens Place Shiraz
2nd	A $20 Golf Clearance Outlet Voucher Six Fantom golf balls Bottle of Heathcote Winery 2006 MCV White Invitation to play in the final in November	2nd	A $20 Golf Clearance Outlet Voucher Three Fantom golf balls Bottle of Heathcote Winery 2006 MCV White
3rd	A $15 Clearance Outlet Voucher Three Fantom golf balls Bottle of 2007 Heathcote Bushranger Shiraz Invitation to play in the final in November	3rd	A $15 Clearance Outlet Voucher Three Fantom golf balls Bottle of 2007 Heathcote Bushranger Shiraz
4th - 7th	A $10 Clearance Outlet Voucher Three Fantom golf balls Invitation to play in the final in November	NTP & LD	A $10 Clearance Outlet Voucher Three Fantom golf balls

2008 VSGCC Acknowledgements

Thanks to event sponsors The Golf Clearance Outlet, Vision golf balls powered by Fantom, The Hawthorn Suites, the 13th Beach Golf Links and Heathcote Winery who have all generously contributed to the prize pool. Thanks also to BRG partners Golf Development Performance Services (GDPS) and bwired online solutions for their assistance in developing a business grade website for the championships. The site is currently under construction but should be live very soon. Until then, the event domain, www.socialgolfcc.com.au will redirect to Bushranger Golf. Special thanks go to Bushranger Golf member Roger Brown (aka Arbeige) for his contribution to the development of the event concept and to media partners Inside Social Golf magazine and Hacker golf magazine for their support of the championships. Keep an eye on the news items at Bushranger Golf for your opportunity to compete in this exciting new event.

The VSGCC Terms & Conditions

Go to the VSGCC Terms & Conditions page for all the conditions of entry in the Championships.

Some of the playing requirements include:

• Entrants must be a member of the social golf club they represent.
• The Championship is between teams of four players.
• Each club can have multiple teams enter in the Championship.
• Each entrant must hold a current official Australian golf handicap and rounds in the Championship will be entered on GOLF Link. Players without a handicap who are interested in entering can gain a GAA Handicap through Bushranger Golf.
• To keep the costs down for competitors, the cost of the final will not be included in the initial entry fees. Competitors pay a fee to compete in a qualifying round and the teams that make the final will pay an separate fee to compete in the final.
• Teams that fail to qualify may attempt to qualify again in later rounds, however they will be required to pay the entry fee for participation in each qualifying event.
• Each qualifying round will be an event in itself with trophies, prizes and fun for all involved.