US Pennants?

[Josh Stevens]

Perhaps a silly question, but do they play club pennants at the top  line US clubs?

Springs to mind as it was pennants finals these last weekend, and it occurs to me that just about every club in the land (Australia) plays pennants.  Prestige and eliteism is thrown out and the most august of clubs slugs it out with the lowest of low brow goat tracks across town.  It is true that the more elite the club the less well it tends to perform as the members are older and drunker, but they have a go regardless.  The gates are flung open and all the great unwashed are allowed in to play, to watch and in general lower the tone of the whole place.  Its all quite splendid.

I am sure most US clubs do the same, but somehow I cant imagine Augusta, Pine Valley or Cypress putting a pennants team into the local competition.

Am I wrong here?  If not I think its a pity and also something of an abrogation of duty.

[David_Tepper]

Josh -

An even sillier question, what type of competition is a "club pennant?" I have never heard the term used in any sort of golf club competition in the U.S.

DT

[Josh Stevens]

Oh sorry.  Inter-club competition.

In all of the major metropolitan cities there is a pennant competion.  The private clubs slug it out for the pennant each year.  There are levels and grades and age groups etc.  Held over two months in the golf season and hundreds if not thousands of club golfers represent their clubs.  Royal Melbourne will have to tustle with Hoi Polloi Golf Club down the road.  

[Josh Stevens]

Most of our famous pros developed and honed their games in club pennants, at least until US colleges starting pinching them at a young age.

[David_Tepper]

Josh -

The Northern California Golf Association has organized/sponsored an interclub league for well over 20 years. I am not sure how many clubs now participate. I recall there used to be 16 divisions of 4 clubs each. The 4 clubs in each division would play a home & away match against one and another, with 12-man teams on each side. The winners of the 16 divisions would then play a single elimination draw to determine the league-winning club team. It has been a very popular format, with a league that plays on Thursday and another league that played on Saturday. Many clubs field teams to compete in both the Thursday and Saturday leagues.

DT

[Josh Stevens]

Yes thats basically it.  But the question, would the likes of Olympic or SF participate, or would it be beneath them.

[BHoover]

Yes thats basically it.  But the question, would the likes of Olympic or SF participate, or would it be beneath them.

Not sure that it's a question of whether it would be beneath a certain club to participate. Some clubs either don't have members who choose to participate or they are so under the radar that they don't participate. There are a few clubs in my city that don't often take part in city-wide golf association events, but they tend to be the clubs with few local members.

[David_Tepper]

Josh S. -

To the best of my knowledge, the Olympic Club has regularly fielded teams in both the Thursday and Saturday leagues.

DT
 

[Matthew Rose]

Sounds like the Tavistock Cup, with much less famous people involved.

[Steve Kline]

Only the women in Cincinnati. I think it would be a fun thing for the men though. I can't see Camargo participating though.

[David_Tepper]

According to the current NCGA magazine, there are 215 teams competing in the Thursday and Saturday inter-club leagues. That means there are well over 100 private clubs and mens' clubs at public courses in Northern California participating.

[Carl Nichols]

In Maryland, clubs play statewide inter-club/course "A Team" matches, where courses field their 12 best players and play home-and-away fourball matches (3 teams at home, 3 teams away) in a bracket-like tournament.  I think most clubs/courses participate, so you can have matches between, say, Congressional and the Falls Road muni that's just up the road.  I'm not sure if these matches are sponsored by the MSGA.

My club also participates in "B Team" matches among a group of six local clubs.  The matches are played round-robin style, so each club plays each other club once, and then there is a final day where all six clubs play matches at one of the clubs.  It's designed to let guys who aren't good enough to play "A Team" still play inter-club matches; there are handicap minimums to be able to play.  Our group is Congressional, Columbia, Chevy Chase, Lakewood, Bethesda, and Woodmont, and I've heard that a group including Four Streams, Caves Valley, and Baltimore has formed or is forming a similar group.    

[Jason Topp]

Minneapolis has an 8 week competition that is somewhat similar although it consists of stroke play events in teams of 5 with the format varying a bit each year.  Most clubs that can field a five person team participate.  

Minneapolis and St. Paul have a senior competition that uses a similar format.  

[Carl Johnson]

Yes thats basically it.  But the question, would the likes of Olympic or SF participate, or would it be beneath them.

The Charlotte (USA) area has a senior (age 55+) private club competition that is something like this.  I believe that about 18 clubs participate, but the three local likes of Olympic, SF, etc. do not participate.  I am not sure whether it is because they feel it is "beneath them," or that there are other reasons.  One of the clubs is smaller, has more of a national oriented membership, and might not be able to consistently field a team (16 players required for each match).  Of the clubs that do participate, some are a lot more serious about it than others.

The competition has been going on for 30 years or so.  Rather than play for a pennant (if meant literally), the clubs play for a small, somewhat tacky metal trophy, which travels year to year to the winning team.  This year the governing board, in one of their more momentous decisions, voted to also provide each year a small trophy that the winner could keep permanently.

[Pete Lavallee]

Josh,

We have the same format that David described here in So. Cal.; you play the three other teams in your bracket home and away. There are generally arond 28 to 32 teams invovled. We have both Thurs. and Sat. teams. However the private clubs play other privates with the munis competing against each other. The privates also occupy the upper end of the bracket so come playoff time they are genarally competing against another private club. The finals are at a neutral site so the "unwashed" rarely venture past the pearly gates of the rich men's playgrounds.

Here in San Diego County we have a Seniors League in which around 20 Clubs particpate. In this format you play all the other Clubs home and away. Several of the lower tier privates participate, however you won't get a chance to play San Diego CC, La Jolla CC or Ranco Santa Fe CC in this League. Of the private Clubs that do particpate we have been treated quite nicely and they do have the best lunches with the members picking up the drinks tab.