2008/09 MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP RELATED STORIES Matchplay Championship home page Now you needn't be a Club member to enter! Matchplay Championship Preview About the Taba Heights course About the Marriott St Pierre course About the Marriott Hollins Hall course The Grand Final: Cheshire players are the big cheeses in Egypt Regional Qualifying & Grand Final Scores North Regional Qualifier: Tight finish again decided on countback in North qualifier South Regional Qualifier: Sky high hopes as 12 golfers book their places in Egypt in South qualifier The 2009/10 Matchplay Championship official website Click here to enter the 2009/10 Matchplay Championship - only £40 per team! Matchplay Championship inks deal with Sky Sports for TV coverage The 2007/08 Matchplay Championship report The 2006 Matchplay Championship report

Now you needn't be a Club member to enter the Matchplay Championship!

Casual golfers, who aren’t members of a club, will now be able to participate in one of Europe’s most prestigious televised amateur golf events without a Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU) handicap, following a change in the event’s rules.

The Matchplay Championship sends 32 finalists on an expenses-paid week’s trip to Egypt as reward for qualifying – but previously this opportunity has been open only to members of affiliated clubs.

However, Matchplay Championship organisers have confirmed casual golfers will be eligible to compete in the 2009/10 event for which entries are already being accepted.

A concurrent Matchplay event will be running alongside the existing tournament for those whose handicap is not active or who possess a ‘Strokes’ handicap.

Strokesgolfhandicap.co.uk is a recognised golf handicapping system where golfers can enter scorecards and obtain an official handicap certificate.

John Woosey, managing director of The Golfers Club, which promotes the Matchplay Championship, explained: “We have made changes to the handicap criteria for this year’s event so we are now accepting CONGU-‘Active’ golfers in one event while running another event alongside for CONGU ‘Non-Active’ golfers and golfers with a Strokes handicap.

“While this change falls in line with recent CONGU changes it also allows non-club members to participate in the event, which we hope will encourage more to enter. It also makes the event fairer for all, especially those with ‘Active’ handicaps, an area which has caused much debate down the years.”

The change in the competitions rules applies initially only to the men’s pairs event.

Here's how the Matchplay Championship works:

• All rounds up until the regional finals are knockout stages using a better ball matchplay format at the home team’s course over 18 holes. The winning team qualifies for the next round.
• The regional final is played using a combined Stableford format over 18 holes.
• The Grand Final is played over three days using an accumulative Stableford format.
  The first Matchplay Championship took place in 2003 and has grown in popularity ever since.
• The first four grand finals took place in Jamaica, and it moved to Egypt in 2008.

The Matchplay Championship, which costs just £20 per person to enter, is one of Europe’s biggest amateur competitions with more than 1,150 teams from the UK & Ireland competing in 2008/9. Qualifiers for the grand final in Egypt win an expenses-paid week-long trip to the luxurious five-star Marriott Taba Heights Beach Resort. The grand final in Egypt and the regional finals in the UK are covered by the cameras of Sky Sports.

In total 16 teams from across the UK & Ireland will travel to compete in Egypt next month – eight mixed pairs and eight men’s pairs.

The 2009/10 Matchplay Championship is sponsored by Direct Golf UK, Rewards4Golf.com and Golf Monthly.

Why not join in the fun and enter your team online at www.matchplaychampionship.co.uk

April 8, 2009