King's Cup 2018 - The Qualifiers start at Westport

Westport's par three 9th.

The International King's Cup is kicking off again this weekend with a qualifier event in each province. If you’re free to play as a pair you should seriously consider entering as the ‘final’ is a Ryder Cup styled three-day match-play event between a team from the United States and a team from Ireland. The tournament, in honour of golf’s greatest ambassador, Mr. Arnold Palmer, will be played on the Faldo Course at the 5-star luxury Lough Erne Resort, in County Fermanagh, from Monday 14th to Friday 18th May.

A unique feature of the competition is that it gives players of all ages and abilities an opportunity to play for Ireland. The road to qualification for Irish Golfers begins by qualifying from the first of four provincial qualifiers, with the Connacht event staged in Westport on Saturday 24th March. From this event, 16 golfers (8 pairs) will go forward to compete in a final qualifying stage to be played on the Lough Erne Resort in County Fermanagh on Sunday 15 April, where all 32 pairs from the four qualifiers go head-to-head. From this a 16 man Irish team to play the USA shall be selected.

There are two age brackets from which the two-man teams can qualify to secure a spot on the Irish team: Age 18+ and Senior 50+. See Rules of Play below.

Westport's par three 14th hits straight at Croagh Patrick.

Liam Friel and John Collins are two players who went on to qualify for the final from the Westport event and they played a significant role in helping Ireland retain the Cup in 2017.

Amateur golfers from across Ireland should really get involved for this year’s qualifiers as the final is a grand affair. Full details are on the Westport Golf Club website at www.westportgolfclub.ie. Booking can be done through BRS or by contacting the clubhouse at 098 28262.

The other three provincial qualifiers are:

Munster Qualifier – Ennis Golf Club: Saturday 31st March

Leinster Qualifier – Dunmurry Springs Golf Club: Sunday 8th April

Ulster Qualifier – Lough Erne Resort: Saturday 7th April

Visit the club websites or make a call to book your spot.   

Rules of Play

Format: The format for play is fourball stroke play as defined in Rule 31 per the USGA® Rules of Golf in which two players play as partners, each playing their own ball. The lower score of the partners is the score for the hole. If one partner fails to complete the hole there is no penalty.

Amateurs Only: International Kings cup is open ONLY to amateur golfers holding an official GUI handicap.

Teams: Teams in the Irish Team Qualifiers may be formed by any combination of male participants (18 years or older).

Divisions: There are two divisions - Open Division and Senior Division.  The Open Division is open to all ages. The Senior Division is for Players 50 years of age and above prior to the provincial qualifier. A player that is 50+ is allowed to compete in the Open division, but a player that is under 50 is not allowed to compete in the Senior Division.

Flights: Each Division has four flights. Championship, A-Flight, B-Flight and C-Flight.

Flight Handicaps 

·       Championship 4.9 or less

·       A Flight             5.0-9.9

·       B Flight             10.0-14.9

·       C Flight            15.0 and above

A Team Handicap is determined by totaling the handicap index of player A and player B together and dividing it in half. Example - Player A is a 10 handicap and player B is a 15 handicap totaling 25. Divide the total of 25 in half and the Team Handicap is 12.5. That team would be in the "B" Flight.

No team can have a handicap differential of more than 8 strokes between teammates. For example - a player that is a 10 handicap cannot play with a player that is a 24 handicap, unless that player drops his handicap down from a 24 to 18. Their team handicap would be 10+18=28/2 = 14.