SGA 18-hole Golf Events

No. Anyone can play in any event. SGA events are open and inclusive - all golfers are welcome to enter any of our events, and each SGA event is a stand-alone event and you can enter each one separately and pay as you play. Optional SGA Tour Memberships are available for those who want to compete for the premier Tour trophy events, but you do not need to be a Tour Members to play in an event. Tour Memberships represent wonderful value but are not compulsory. 

The cost to play depends on the venue for the competition. Each season, the regular Event Entry Fees will range from $35 to $95 (note that the Tour Championship is played at a premium course with higher fees). The Event Entry Fee includes your round of golf and the prizes for the Novelty Events (NTPs, Long Drive, etc) and, in some cases, a motorised cart. Players with official handicaps may elect to enter the official competition to have the score entered on Golf Australia CONNECT and to play for the great prizes we offer.

You can play as many, or as few events as you like. Some of our golfers play a few events a year, some only play the less expensive courses, some prefer the more glamorous venues and a few golf tragics try to play in every event.

Most certainly. Men, women, couples, singles and juniors are all welcome.

No. Our players are golfers of all abilities, from 'A' graders to beginners, but you need to be aware of basic rules and golf etiquette and be able to play at the same pace as the group ahead of you.

No, you do not need an official handicap to play in the events. We welcome social players and they only have to pay the Event Entry Fee. Many members of SGA do have an official handicap or are in the process of getting one. We encourage our golfers to activate a handicap (which we can arrange, manage and maintain) but it is not compulsory. If you don't have a handicap, we can help. To find out how easily you can access an official golf handicap, go to our Golf Handicaps page.

Participation in SGA events is open to all age groups, abilities and walks of life. We have club members, players with Golf Australia CONNECT handicaps and social players. Our golfers enjoy their golf, the friendly competition and the social interaction - it is a chance to catch up with friends and to make new acquaintances among like-minded golfers. Most of our members enjoy a couple of drinks together after their round.

No, but we expect all our golfers to maintain high standards of dress and behaviour and comply with the standards set by the golf clubs and the courses we visit. Entry in the events is subject to accepting the SGA Terms & Conditions of entry.

We offer optional SGA Tour Memberships for players who wish to support The Tour and compete for the our annual Trophy Events (Order of Merit, 4BBB Championship, Golfer of the Year & Tour Championship). You don't need to be a Tour member to play in the events, it is simply an opportunity for regular players to be more involved in the Tour community and enjoy competing for our annual trophies. 

Stableford - The stroke index on the scorecard determines the calculated par on the hole and how many shots a player receives on the hole depending on their handicap.

• Players who exceed their calculated par by two strokes (i.e. nett double-bogey) receive no points and wipe the hole.
• One stroke over the calculated par (i.e. nett bogey) receives one point.
• If you make a calculated par, (i.e. nett par) you score two points.
• A score of one stroke better than your calculated par (i.e. nett birdie) is three points.
• A score two strokes better than your calculated par (i.e. nett eagle) is four points (and so on).
• Scores are totalled and the player with the best (highest) stableford score is the winner.

Example: Let's say a player has a GolfLink Handicap of 5. He or she will thus get a shot on the 5 hardest holes as noted by the course scorecard (every course has all 18 holes "indexed" from 1 (hardest) to 18 (easiest).). The player approaches the first hole of the day (let's say it is a par-4), and sees that it has an index of 3 (i.e. the third-hardest hole on the course). He or she thus gets a stroke on the hole. Let's say this player takes 5 shots on the hole. In stroke golf, this would be a bogey. But in Stableford, since the player gets a stroke on the hole, their "nett" score is 4 (i.e. 5 shots minus the handicap stroke). They have thus made a "nett par" and get two points.  On the scorecard, the player marks "5" for score (i.e. actual strokes), and marks 2 in the points column.

If, on that same hole, the player had taken 6 shots, then they would mark 6 for score, and 1 in points. If they had taken 4 shots, they would mark 6 for score, and 3 for points.

Par - The stroke index on the scorecard determines the calculated par on the hole and how many shots a player receives on the hole depending on their handicap. A hole is either won, lost or halved depending on your your stroke score against the calculated par. Scoring a calculated par means you halve the hole and a zero or a small square is recorded on the card. If you score better than your calculated par, you win the hole and a plus (+) is recorded as the result. If you score worse than your calculated par, you lose the hole and a minus (-) is recorded as the result. The scores are totalled and the player with the highest plus (+) score is the winner. On the scorecard, the player marks the total number of strokes, and then either a +, a 0, or a - in the points/result column.

Four Ball Best Ball Stableford (4BBB) - The SGA Tour Mini-Majors - 4BBB Stableford is played by two players competing as partners. Each golfer plays his own ball and plays a stableford round. On each hole, the better stableford score of the pair is recorded on the card as the team score (with the player's initials). When scores are equal, the ball holed first is recorded. On the SGA Tour, each team will keep three cards - the two individual rounds which will be entered on GOLF Link and the 4BBB round which will be used for the competition on the day to allocate prizes and Order of Merit points.

We play four events per year that are 4BBB rounds. These rounds are our four Mini-Majors as there is a Trophy event for the 4BBB Championship and the 4BBB events effectively carry double points in the Order of Merit. As points will be awarded to both players in the team for the placing their team achieves, there will be twice as many Order of Merit points available than at a normal Tour event.