Tournament Information

The Championship tournament alternates between stroke play (even years) and match play (odd years). While everyone can compete for prizes, in order to be eligible to WIN the Championship, a member must have played in 5 play days and attended one business meeting/luncheon (Opening Day, Christmas, or Anniversary) prior to the start of this tournament.

Championship Tournament – Stroke Play

• The Championship Tournament will be 54 holes stroke play.
• Participants will be placed in flights of eight according to index. If a tie for eighth place exists after this procedure, it will be decided by a blind draw.
• Medalist: Low gross first day. In the event of a tie for Medalist, it will be decided the second day. If still tied, duplicate prizes will be awarded.
• In the event of a tie, Championship winner will be determined by a hole-by-hole play-off.
• All other ties shall be decided in accordance with item 6 – General Policies and Procedures.
• Prizes will be awarded as follows: Overall Winner, and First and Second Place in each flight.
• Once a player has played in any round of the tournament, she will be ineligible to compete for NIT points in any rounds that may be played throughout the duration of the tournament.

Championship Tournament – Match Play

• The Championship Tournament will be three days of match play preceded by a Qualifier.
• The Championship Flight may have one additional day of match play.
• Qualifying: One day at stroke play (18 holes) to be played immediately preceding the designated week of the Championship. The eight or sixteen players with the lowest scores in qualifying shall comprise the Championship Flight. This will be determined by the number of entries and the match play chairmen. All other players shall be flighted by
• Handicap Index with their gross score determining their position in that flight. A tie for the last place in the Championship Flight shall be decided by match of cards using gross scores in accordance with item 6 – General Policies and Procedures. Ties in other flights shall be decided in the same manner.
• Medalist: Low gross first day. In the event of a tie for Medalist, duplicate prizes will be awarded.
• A player who defaults in a match may be obliged, at the discretion of the Golf Committee, to forfeit any prize won in the qualifying round. If a player defaults in the first round, the Committee must determine whether she is eligible to compete in consolation. If she has no acceptable reason for defaulting, she should be considered to have eliminated herself from further competition. In case of a default in the finals, the Golf Committee, after considering the circumstances, may award the runner-up prize.
• A player with a BYE may compete as NIT during the BYE round.
• A match which ends all square should be played off hole-by-hole until one side wins a hole. The play-off should start on the hole where the match began.
• Two matches must be won to be eligible for a prize. A default or bye is considered a win. The winner, runner-up and consolation winners of each flight are recognized.

Awards: A large silver champagne cooler and flowers are presented to the overall winner of this three round competition.

THE 2023 HANDICAP TOURNAMENT

The Handicap Tournament is a singles match play competition where a player and an opponent compete head-to-head in a match. (Rule 3.2) Handicaps are applied where the lowest handicap player plays to 0 and their opponent receives 100% of the difference in handicaps. Handicap strokes are allocated based on the degree of difficulty of the hole, and the lower net score wins the hole.

Winning a Match. A player wins a match when:

• The player leads the opponent by more holes than remain to be played,
• The opponent concedes the match, or
• The opponent is disqualified.

The competition takes place over 3 consecutive weeks.

Format: Individual Match Play, flighted by indexes. Players in all flights are competing for the Overall Handicap Championship Title and awards. At the conclusion of play on week 3 the winners of each Flight shall move into a Shoot Out to determine the 2023 Handicap Tournament Champion.

Handicap indexes for each match will be based on the indexes as of the Friday prior to each of the Wednesday matches.

Eligibility Requirement: Players who forfeit or default or are otherwise unable to play any of the 3 matches, regular flights or Consolation flights, are automatically disqualified from the tournament.

Flights: All players shall be ranked by indexes, lowest to highest and consecutively placed in Flights of 8. Each flight shall be seeded with the lowest index as the #1 seed and the highest index as the #8 seed.  If players have the same index, a blind draw will determine seeding

Byes: In case the number of entries does not allow balanced flights of 8, byes will be assigned by a random draw of the Flights. Example: If 37 players sign up, the tournament will have 5 flights called Flights 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 37 players requires that 3 flights have byes. (Why: because it is necessary to balance 5 flights of 8 players for a total of 40. 40-37 = 3) In this example, the random draw picks Flights 2,3 and 5. Flights 2, 3 and 5 will have Byes as their #8 seed.

New in 2023 Multi-Hole Shoot Out: To determine the overall Champion, the Flight Winners will compete in a Shoot Out following the conclusion of Match 3. The number of holes played varies depending on number of players. The player(s) making the highest score(s) on the hole is eliminated. See formula below. Players shall receive their full handicap strokes allocated based on the degree of difficulty of each hole. Ties for the highest score are broken by a chip off. Play continues on subsequent holes until only a survivor (Handicap Champion) remains.

Elimination Formula: 4 flights, eliminate 1 per hole – total of 3 holes 5 flights, eliminate 2 on first hole, than 1 per hole – total of 3 holes 6 flights, eliminate 2 on first hole, than 1 per hole – total of 4 holes 7 flights – eliminate 2 on first, 2 on second, than 1 per hole – total of 4 holes 8 flights – eliminate 3 first hole, 2 second hole, than 1 – total 4 holes

NEW in 2023 – Consolation Matches: Players who lose in Round 2 in their respective flight move into the Consolation Bracket within their flight. Players who lose in Round 1 are eliminated from the tournament. Pay Outs In each flight, The Flight Winner, Runner Up and Consolation Winner will be awarded prize money. The Overall Champion is awarded additional prize money.

Tournament will be played over three rounds with each round to be played in a different format, Better Ball of partners, Modified Pinehurst, and Captain’s Choice. In Better Ball of partners, each player receives 85% of handicap. In Captain’s Choice, the team handicap will be 35% of the lower handicap plus 15% of the higher handicap and there is no limit as to the number of drives for each partner. In Pinehurst, the handicap will be 60% of the lower handicap plus 40% of the higher handicap. Each player hits a tee shot, then each player hits her partner’s drive. The best shot is selected and alternate shots are played until the ball is holed out.

Awards: A silver bowl on a wooden base and a marble pillar are presented to the two-some with the lowest cumulative score for the three rounds. This tournament is named in honor of a former JWGA member who was an outstanding area golfer, winning multiple championships in Jacksonville and in Florida.

Anniversary – The low gross winner and low net winner are recognized.

Mary Burnside – The low gross winner and low net winner are recognized. This tournament is named in honor of a former JWGA member who was a dedicated leader and worker within the association.

Mixed Couples – Low gross and low net winning teams are recognized.

Past President – The JWGA Past President with the lowest net score is recognized. In conjunction with this tournament, we incorporate Club Rep and Board Member competitions.  There is one low net winner for each category.  No player is eligible for more than one category.

If a player is a member of more than one category, she will be assigned to a category according to the following priority:

The Past President category is all Past Presidents.  (Not the current President.  She competes in the Board category.)

The Board Member category is current board members (including current President).  Board Members who are also Past Presidents, compete in the Past President category.  

The Club Rep category is current club reps unless they are also past presidents in which case, they participate in
the Past President category.  If someone is both a Board member and a Club Rep, they compete in the Board member category.

Priority is Past President, Board Member and Club Rep.

President’s Cup – The President’s Cup is a one day tournament played under match play rules. The teams which were established at the 2008 inaugural event will remain the same and new players will be added to teams according to handicaps (to be determined by the Club Rep organizing the event.)

Senior-SuperSenior -This tournament consists of the best 2 out of 3 rounds. The low gross super senior (68 years or older) wins the Mary Burnside Trophy – a crystal vase — while the low net super senior receives a silver ice bucket. The low gross senior (50 – 67 years) receives a crystal bowl, while the low net senior wins a silver ice cup.