Turning 55 this year or 50 if you’re female?
Well, there’s a silver lining (pun intended) because you are now a ‘Senior Golfer’ and eligible to play in a host of tournaments in South Australia, Interstate and even overseas. The Senior Golf ‘Circuit’ is underpinned by Golf Australia (GA) State and National Senior Order of Merit (OOM) events. There is also a strong Senior Pennant competition in SA.
Each State has a number of Senior tournaments for male and female Senior Golfers, and there are some National events too which attract great interest from around Australia and even overseas. You need to be 55 years and over if male and 50 and over if female. NSW is the exception at the moment, as they have recently lowered the male eligibility age to 50.
Most events include two categories of competition; Seniors 50/55+ and Super Seniors 65+ and most events include Men’s and Women’s competitions. Most events are ‘off-the-stick’, with handicap prizes also often awarded.
You can find the Senior Events schedule on the pull-down menu under the GA Events Calendar tab on the Golf Australia website https://www.golf.org.au/events#/customer/1090/schedule
Many events are already scheduled but more will appear once the holidays are over.
In SA, there are 12 OOM events and the SA Senior Championships running from February through to September. SA events are mainly 18-hole affairs, held Mondays, except for the 36-hole Grange-Kooyonga Senior Open and the 54-hole SA Senior Amateur to be held at Kingston SE in the second half of the year. Interstate events are held mid-week as well.
SA Senior Pennant involves 19 Clubs split into three Divisions and runs from October – November, with matches held on Mondays. Teams comprise 7 players.
Grange also competes in a separate 6-player ‘Senior Interclub Matchplay’ competition against Kooyonga, Royal Adelaide and Glenelg in the winter, on Fridays.
You can track results on the GA website as well as in the Senior section of each Month’s Inside Golf magazine https://www.insidegolf.com.au/ and on the Australian Senior Golfer website https://australianseniorgolfer.com.au/ (see the AUSOOM page under the Events tab).
So, if you have been in the competitive wilderness for a few years but are still itching to compete, there is now a good reason to hit the practice paddock and get your game in order.
The ‘Senior Circuit’ is well organised and strongly supported by a great bunch of men and women in SA and Interstate. Don’t be afraid to try it out…you will soon be hooked.
Thanks to Grange Member Shane Amor for coordinating much of the Senior Golf programme at The Grange. Check out the links above and for any further questions or queries, feel free to contact Shane via 0427 136 707.