Season Rules

General Rules

School children must be in full time education studying a nationally-recognized course of study at their school (e.g. GCSEs or A levels or well-defined equivalents) are eligible to play in the competition.

U15 players can compete within an U15 and U18 setting within the same season.
Students up to and including year 10 can compete in the Swifts U15 strokeplay & foursomes tournaments. Any student can compete in an U18 event.

Swifts Strokeplay Events

U15 events will consist of 36-hole events ranked with junior golf scoreboard, and 18 hole events (unranked). U18 events will consist of 54 hole events WAGR ranked and ranked with junior golf scoreboard. The original Berkshire 18 hole event will also be included as an U18 event.
Team format will be 3 scores to count from a team of 4 each round. Unless entries are so high that it is moved to 2 scores from 3.
In mixed-gender fields, if the Course Rating differs between tees by more than one shot, appropriate adjustments will be made to equate the gross scores.
Ties for individual boys and girls at each event will be determined by card countback: last 18 holes, back 9, back 6, back 3. If it is still a tie, hole by hole count back will begin starting from the 18th hole of the last round until a winner is determined.
In the event of a tie in the team competition, the result will be determined by the fourth player’s score in the final round. If the tie persists, the winner will be the team with the lowest individual gross score in the final round.
Both U15 and U18 strokeplay seasons will conclude with their own National Finals. The National Finals will carry 1.5 times the OoM points.
Teams will qualify for the National Finals based on the Order of Merit table, which is calculated from each school’s best 3 tournament results.
The total number of teams to qualify for the National Finals will vary depending on host venue capacity.
Final players and team OoM point totals will be calculated by adding the top 3 points across all the events in the season, to determine the National Champions.
If there is a tie for 1st place across the season, the player / team who performed best at the National Finals will be crowned the winner.

Swifts Foursomes

In the foursomes events, all Round Robin matches and regional finals must be completed within the 1st Term. The U18 National Final will take place in the first week of the Summer Term, while the U15 National Final will be held after the Summer Half Term. To support smooth scheduling, there is no need to wait to know opposition in Term 1, and we ask all Heads of Golf to be proactive in arranging the group stages.

U18 Swifts Foursomes

The home team has the choice of venue. However, if the away team is required to travel more than 50 miles, they may request that the home team selects a venue which, as far as possible, equalises the travelling time between the two schools.
All matches are to be played between three foursomes pairs as scratch match-play.
The usual R & A rules for match play should be used. Any disputes in matches must be resolved by the persons i/c the teams.
Teams are expected to play their pairs in their presumed order of strength from the top, but this does not mean that they must play their lowest handicappers in the top pair. Whilst this rule is open to interpretation, it is hoped by the Committee that the integrity of those in charge will not need to be brought into question.
If girls are in a team, boys should play from the tees that best matches the course rating of the ladies tees.
If a school is unable to turn out three pairs on the date arranged for the match, it should inform the opponents beforehand and automatically forfeit the bottom match.
In larger regions, the competition may be divided into two round robin groups, followed by a regional final. Regional finals are to be played at a neutral venue.
Match are concluded when a game is won, if a game is all-square after 18 holes, play must continue until a hole is won and a decision is reached for each game. Therefore, there cannot be any halved matches.
Except for the clarification of the Rules of Golf, no-one other than the Team Captain and foursomes partner (including Person in Charge, Coach, Golf Professional, Parent, other team member) may communicate with players playing a match. Contravention of this rule should result in the loss of the hole on which the infringement takes place.
No caddies allowed. Spectators / finished team mates are expected to keep their distance.

Round Robin Group Stage (Michaelmas Term)

1 point for each game win
A total of 3 points is awarded each match
In the event of a tie within a region, the winner of the head-to-head matches will progress. If this does not produce a winner the school with the most up across all regional matches will progress.

National Finals (Summer Term)

14 regional winners will come together with the winner and runner up of the previous years finals, to compete in the National Finals

U15 Swifts Foursomes

Student up to and including year 10 can compete in the Swifts U15 strokeplay tournaments.
U15 players can contribute to a schools U18 team and U15 team within a season.
The home team has the choice of venue. However, if the away team is required to travel more than 50 miles, they may request that the home team selects a venue which, as far as possible, equalises the travelling time between the two schools.
All matches are to be played between two foursomes pairs as scratch match-play.
The usual R & A rules for match play should be used. Any disputes in matches must be resolved by the persons i/c the teams.
Teams are expected to play their pairs in their presumed order of strength from the top, but this does not mean that they must play their lowest handicappers in the top pair. Whilst this rule is open to interpretation, it is hoped by the Committee that the integrity of those in charge will not need to be brought into question.
If girls are in a team, boys should play from the tees that best matches the course rating of the ladies tees.
If a school is unable to turn out two pairs on the date arranged for the match, it should inform the opponents beforehand and automatically forfeit the match.
In larger regions, the competition may be divided into two round robin groups, followed by a regional final. Regional finals are to be played at a neutral venue.
Match are concluded when a game is won, if a game is all-square after 18 holes, play must continue until a hole is won and a decision is reached for each game. Therefore, there cannot be any halved matches.
Except for the clarification of the Rules of Golf, no-one other than the Team Captain and foursomes partner (including Person in Charge, Coach, Golf Professional, Parent, other team member) may communicate with players playing a match. Contravention of this rule should result in the loss of the hole on which the infringement takes place.
No caddies allowed. Spectators / finished team mates are expected to keep their distance.

Round Robin Group Stage (Michaelmas Term)

3 points for a win
1 point for a draw
In the event of a tie within a region, the winner of the head-to-head matches will progress. If this does not produce a winner the school with the most up across all regional matches will progress.

National Finals (Summer Term)

8 regional winners will come together to compete at the National Finals