Digital Entry Form: https://forms.gle/V6EJ3CCYCqi8JTgi6
Golf Advisory Committee
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Leon Matthee for his dedicated service and invaluable contributions to The Clarens Golf & Leisure Estate over the past years. Leon has played a pivotal role in shaping the direction of our club and has been an integral part of our discussions, initiatives, and decision-making process.
Though Leon is no longer a member of the Golf Advisory Committee, his efforts and passion for the game will not be forgotten. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavors and trust that whatever comes next, he will continue to achieve great things.
We are excited to welcome Louwrens De Jager and Steve Oliver to the Golf Advisory Committee! We’re thrilled to have you both on board, and we look forward to working together to continue building on the success of The Clarens Golf & Leisure Estate.
Their experience, passion for the game, and fresh perspectives will be invaluable as we work towards making our club even better. We have no doubt that they will both play key roles in shaping the future of our club, and we are excited to see what we can achieve as a team.
The Golf Advisory Committee consists out of the following members:
- Bernie Platte (General Manager)
- Rudolph Labuschagne(Greenkeeper)
- Steve Oliver
- Louwrens De Jager
- Janice Brownlee
- Gerhard Neethling
- Petrus Du Plessis
- Heindrich Dyer (Golf Director and GAC Chairman)
Golf RSA & R&A 9 Hole Challenge
We are excited to announce that Clarens Golf & Leisure Estate has been invited to participate in the Golf RSA 9-Hole Challenge
With the opportunity for our champions to compete at regional and national levels, ultimately earning a chance to play at the prestigious Royal Portrush Golf Club in July 2025.
This is a unique and thrilling opportunity for our members, and we encourage you to participate!
Competition Details:
The competition will run from 22nd of November 2024 through to the end of February 2025, excluding the month of December.
The format is simple and designed to be fun, competitive, and inclusive:
- Fridays 9-Hole Competitions: Every Friday, members will compete in 9-hole rounds. Scores will be recorded, and at the end of the period, the two players with the highest IPS points averages will be declared the champions and will enter the regional draw.
- IPS Points System: For every Friday competition you play in, you will earn an additional half IPS point, which will contribute to your overall average.
- Your total average will be calculated from all your Friday rounds played.
- Lucky Draws: The regional and national winners will be decided based on a lucky draw, with the final draw offering the chance to compete at Royal Portrush.
- Exclusions: If we fail to meet the requirements for a Friday competition, and there is no competition, your score will still contribute to your average score.
- Please note that all rounds need to be captured on the HNA system and scorecards needs to be submitted.
We encourage all our members to support our Friday competitions, not only for a chance to qualify but also to show appreciation for our Friday sponsors who help make these events possible.
Your participation will go a long way in fostering a strong club spirit, and who knows — you could be on your way to Royal Portrush! Important Notes:
T&C's apply.
Please refer to the additional Golf RSA documents being shared within the members' group for full details.
For any questions or clarifications, feel free to reach out to Heindrich at golf@theclarens.co.za or via the landline 058 256 1270
Let's rally together, who knows, one of our very own might be teeing off at Royal Portrush in 2025! We look forward to seeing you on the course.
Weekly Competition Results
Friday 01 November 2024 (Bonus Bogey)
Puma Energy Competition
First Place: Mike van Niekerk
Second Place: Peter Bonney
Wednesday 06 November 2024 (4 Scores to Count)
18 Holes Competition
First Place: Team Reckless Drivers
Second Place: Team Gorillas
Friday 08 November 2024 (IPS)
Puma Energy Competition
- No Competition took place
Wednesday 13 November 2024 (2 Ball Better Ball Stableford)
18 Holes Competition
First Place: Kevin Jordaan & Arend Gagiano
Second Place: Louwrens De Jager & Leon Matthee
Friday 15 November 2024 (Medal)
Ciglers Meat Competition
- No Competition took place
Wednesday 20 November 2024 (Skins)
18 Holes Competition
- No Competition took place
Friday 22 November 2024 (IPS)
Ciglers Meat Competition
First Place: Steven Leech
Second Place: Heindrich Dyer
Wednesday 27 November 2024 (Medal)
KWV Thirsty Thousand
First Place: Louwrens De Jager
Second Place: Rob Silcock
Friday 29 November 2024 (2 Ball Better Ball Stableford)
Ciglers Meat Competition
First Place: Mark Horton & Mike van Niekerk
Second Place: Ralph Burls & Rob Silcock
HNA News
“Dear Golfer, This month, we’re focusing on helping you better understand the Registered Rounds Percentage (RRP) and its importance in maintaining the integrity of your Handicap Index®.
We’re also diving into the debate of golf’s greatest of all time, exploring Bobby Jones' incredible legacy and how his career continues to shape the way we evaluate golfing greatness.
Understanding Registered Rounds Percentage (RRP)
The Registered Rounds Percentage (RRP) is a measure of how many of a golfer’s last 20 scores were properly registered before play. To have a round registered, it must be opened before teeing off. Rounds that are not registered beforehand are counted as non-registered.
To register a round, you can visit the pro shop before your round, present your handicap card, and request the attendant to register your round. If this option is unavailable, you can register the round yourself using the HNA Handicaps & Tournament App or a handicap terminal at the club. The responsibility for ensuring a round is registered lies with the golfer.
The RRP is calculated at the end of each day, using your most recent 20 scores.
It is also important to note that your RRP does not affect your Handicap Index. It is simply a way of indicating how often you follow the correct process to register your rounds. Keeping a high RRP reflects adherence to the handicap system's guidelines and fair play principles.
FEATURE: THE JONES PRINCIPLE
As we approach the year’s end, many golfers’ thoughts will start to turn to the Majors ‘season’ in 2025, and with Tiger Woods’ chances of adding to his total fading with every operation, the inevitable questions about who is golf’s GOAT (greatest of all time) can be expected to surface.
Cross generation comparisons are generally ill informed, and of little real value – which is true of all sports, and in golf, Tiger Woods is currently 2nd on the all-time Majors’ list, with only Nicklaus, on 18 wins, ahead of him.
Significantly, and unless someone ‘lights up’ over the next few seasons, there are no ‘active’ players, within touching distance to Woods, who have a realistic chance of winning enough Majors, to offer any immediate threat to his position.
The most valid question might be, should Nicklaus or Woods, or indeed any player in the current top ten, be considered the ‘best’ in any respect, and if so by what criteria should their achievements be judged?
To attempt to answer this, it needs to be understood that the current system of evaluating a player’s career, at the highest level, is based upon performance in golf’s 4 ‘Majors’.
These are, in no particular order; the Open Championship, which is now often referred to as the British Open to differentiate it from its US namesake.
The Masters, which is the youngest of the Majors and originally an invitational and therefore not an ‘Open’, which is still the case, although there are automatic qualifiers of various sorts, and from various codes, tours and nations.
The United States Professional Golfers Association’s (USPGA) Championship, which is therefore also not an ‘Open’, in that amateur golfers are excluded.
This is not peculiar to the US event, and is true for all the other PGAs, whose championships are expressly for professionals.
The US Open, which is chronologically the second oldest of the Majors.
Are there any other challengers to Nicklaus’ supremacy on the lists?
Bobby Jones won 7 of the currently acknowledged professional Majors as an amateur.
As an amateur golfer, Jones could not play in the USPGA, then a match play event (it was only changed to medal scoring in 1958), which was, incidentally, a format in which he excelled.
At Jones’ career’s height, there was of course no Masters Tournament, as Jones himself would go on to create this event, and only play in a handful of them, after what is seen, by most, as his official retirement from competitive golf in 1930.
To go with his 7 ‘pro’ Majors, Jones did however win amateur Majors in the form of 6 US and British amateur titles – 13 majors?
To affect a ‘fair’ comparison with Jones’ record, let’s focus on the current top three, and their records and revise them on the ‘Jones Principle - version 1’.
With this formula, we can include wins in the US and British Amateur Championships, which were originally considered as Majors, and therefore allow into Nicklaus’ career record his two US Amateur titles. However, if we do then we must remove from that record any USPGA and Masters titles, which leaves a revised tally of 9: 3 Open Championships, 2 US Amateur titles and 4 US Opens.
Tiger gets to bank 3 US Amateur Championships, 2 Opens and 2 US Opens – 7.
Hagen is the biggest loser, as he won 5 USPGA’s, and no amateur championships, and therefore goes back from a career total of 11 to only 6 – 4 Opens and 2 US Opens.
OK…. I can hear your comment – the amateur titles are unfair, so that to stay with the Jones Principle, we should only use the professional Major titles that were around, either when Jones was playing pre-1930, or in which he was eligible to play.
This change would leave only the National Opens of Britain and the United States in the frame.
Re-calculating Major wins using the ‘Jones Principle - version 2’, which counts only Open and US Open wins, the log, in alphabetical order, would then look like this –
Bobby Jones – 7
Jack Nicklaus – 7
Harry Vardon - 7
Walter Hagen – 6
Tom Watson – 6
James Braid – 5
Ben Hogan – 5
John Taylor -5
Peter Thomson -5
How golf arrived at its Four Majors is an interesting story in itself, and one which unfortunately we do not have the space to pursue here, but there is some balance, and an almost poetic justice in a list which leaves only results in the British and US Opens, as the benchmark for golfing immortality.
In all of this, and to the casual observer, even one with the most limited grasp of geography, there will appear to be a distinct anomaly, in that 3 of the 4 championships are in the United States, and not one ‘Major’ is held in the Southern Hemisphere.
This is true, so if we were to introduce results in a ‘5th Major (or a 3rd, depending upon your viewpoint on the Jones Principle and or how ‘open’ a Major should be) – there would be a strong lobby in some sectors for it to be the South African Open.
After all, the SA Open is the world’s second oldest national open championship, and would also be the first Major in the Southern Hemisphere.
The presence, in the Majors’ roster, of another ‘Open’ would be good, and the fact that it is an old event should keep the traditionalists ‘happy’, and its being in the Southern Hemisphere, would introduce some balance to counter the current northern hemisphere / US bias in terms of golf’s Majors.
Needless to say, with the SA Open in the Majors’ fold, then Gary Player with 13 and Bobby Locke with 9 wins apiece would charge to the top of any list – Go Bokke!” Quoted from Handicap Network Africa
Rules of the month
Rule7: Ball Search: Finding and Identifying Ball
Purpose of Rule: Rule 7 allows the player to take reasonable actions to fairly search for their ball in play after each stroke.
- But the player still must be careful, as a penalty will apply if the player acts excessively and causes improvement to the conditions affecting their next stroke.
- The player gets no penalty if the ball is accidentally moved in trying to find or identify it, but must then replace the ball on its original spot.
7 Ball Search: Finding and Identifying Ball
7.1 How to Fairly Search for Ball
7.1a Player May Take Reasonable Actions to Find and Identify Ball
A player is responsible for finding their ball in play after each stroke. The player may fairly search for the ball by taking reasonable actions to find and identify it, such as:
- Moving sand and water, and
- Moving or bending grass, bushes, tree branches and other growing or attached natural objects, and also breaking such objects, but only if such breaking is a result of other reasonable actions taken to find or identify the ball.
If taking such reasonable actions as part of a fair search improves the conditions affecting the stroke:
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There is no penalty under Rule 8.1a if the improvement results from a fair search.
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But if the improvement results from actions that exceeded what was reasonable for a fair search, the player gets the general penalty for breach of Rule 8.1a.
In trying to find and identify the ball, the player may remove loose impediments as allowed in Rule 15.1 and may remove movable obstructions as allowed in Rule 15.2.
7.1b What to Do If Sand Affecting Lie of Player’s Ball Is Moved While Trying to Find or Identify It
- The player must re-create the original lie in the sand, but may leave a small part of the ball visible if the ball had been covered by sand.
- If the player plays the ball without having re-created the original lie, the player gets the general penalty.
7.2 How to Identify Ball
A player’s ball at rest may be identified in any one of these ways:
- By the player or anyone else seeing a ball come to rest in circumstances where it is known to be the player’s ball.
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By seeing the player’s identifying mark on the ball (see Rule 6.3a), but this does not apply if an identical ball with an identical identifying mark is also found in the same area.
- By finding a ball with the same brand, model, number and condition as the player’s ball in an area where the player’s ball is expected to be, but this does not apply if an identical ball is in the same area and there is no way to know which one is the player’s ball.
If a player’s provisional ball cannot be distinguished from their original ball, see Rule 18.3c(2).
7.3 Lifting Ball to Identify It
If a ball might be a player’s ball but cannot be identified as it lies:
- The player may lift the ball to identify it (including by rotating it), but:
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The spot of the ball must first be marked, and the ball must not be cleaned more than needed to identify it (except on the putting green) (see Rule 14.1).
If the lifted ball is the player’s ball or another player’s ball, it must be replaced on its original spot (see Rule 14.2).If the player lifts their ball under this Rule when not reasonably necessary to identify it (except on the putting green where the player may lift under Rule 13.1b), fails to mark the spot of the ball before lifting it or cleans it when not allowed, the player gets one penalty stroke.Penalty for Playing Ball from a Wrong Place in Breach of Rule 7.3: General Penalty Under Rule 14.7a.
