Player Eligibility 

In individual County Competitions (Strokeplay Championships, Matchplay & Inter-Club Team Matchplay Knockout Competitions) it is the Player's responsibility to ensure they meet the qualifying criteria for EGL Men's Competitions. Players who do not meet the criteria will be disqualified. 

In Inter-club competitions (Thornton Challenge Cup, Thornton Challenge Cup Plate, Leslie F. Wood, Leslie F. Wood Plate, Seniors Team Championship, Seniors Team Championship Plate, John Day Trophy & The Norman Plum Trophy) the Team Captain must also ensure that their team players meet the qualifying criteria. Where a player does not meet the criteria the Team will be disqualified from the match.

ELIGIBILITY

Unless competition conditions state otherwise, to compete in Men's competitions all players: -

• Must be male as defined in the  EGL Gender & Fairness in Competition Policy 2025,
  and of Amateur status as defined by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
• Must belong to a Club affiliated to England Golf that has paid the appropriate fees on their behalf to their County and to England Golf and have that Club designated as their ‘home’ Club. Unless competition conditions state otherwise the ‘home’ Club must be affiliated to Essex Golf.
• Must hold an official handicap maintained in accordance with the World Handicap System in accordance with the National Body’s Rules of Handicapping, and have a minimum of seven Acceptable Scores on their handicap record in the preceding 12 months to the closing date of the previous round in the competition they are playing in.
  For 1st round matches the seven Acceptable Scores are to be in the 12 months prior to the date specified in the respective Competition Reglations. A player’s WHS handicap record must be fully developed with no fewer than 20 Acceptable Scores returned.
  N.B. Penalty Scores are not considered to be Acceptable Scores for EGU Competition Eligibility.
• In County Club Team Competitions, a player must have his handicap uploaded to WHS on 1st February by the ‘Home’ Club he wishes to represent in that calendar year and remain a Home Club member at the date of competition.

*HOW TO CHECK THE '7 CARD RULE' - TEAM CAPTAINS

1.    Your Club Handicap Secretary can verify this at any time through the World Handicap System (WHS):

Ask your Handicap Secretary to run the “Competition vs General Play Scores” report for all members of their team.

The report shows the total number of competition and general play scores recorded.

2.   Set the date range correctly:
When running the report, set the “From” date to 365 days before the competition date, and the “To” date to the day before the cut off date of the respective competition.
Example: for a deadline on 10th May 2026, the report should cover 11th May 2025 to 10th May 2026.
Check that your players have at least 7 acceptable scores recorded within that period.

3.   Regular reviews:
Ask the Handicap Secretary to run the report in early February to identify any players who need more competition cards and encourage them to enter more competitions.

Then run it again before each match to confirm all selected players remain eligible.

*NB: Club Handicap Secretaries can run the Competition vs General Play Scores report for individuals too.