Interclub competition in Wellington as strong as ever

Wellington is well into the second half of it’s interclub competition.

It’s the largest interclub competition in New Zealand with about 1400 players across the men's grades, about 450 in the women's grades and about 100 in the junior grades, competing in midweek and weekend divisions.

In the men’s division there are 19 grades. The premier grade contains seven teams of 10 players each and the second (championship) grade has eight teams of 10 players. Then there are 14 divisions of six teams of 10 players each and three other other divisions with a varying number of teams and teams sizes.

Most divisions play 10 games, starting at the end of January and finishing in the middle of May.

For most players in the lower men's grades, the interclub competition is a great opportunity to play another course in Wellington, ranging from the Kapiti Coast to Wellington and the Hutt Valley through to the Wairarapa.

At the top level it remains highly competitive and the most prestigious title at club level.

Although the round robin matches do not attract the crowds they once did a few decades ago, this is primarily due to many of those who used to watch now participating in teams across the many grades.

The premier final still attracts a significant following, the crowning of the district's champion team/club, both men and women, keenly contested and supported (see picture of the 2022 final, last group last hole, deciding point).

The top grade never plays at home but all the other lower grades do. That means five games at home and five games away.

One thing I have learned over the years is that playing at your home track is a decided advantage.

I used to think this was a poor excuse for losing when playing away but have slowly learned this seems not to be the case.

The home track advantage is most prominent at some of Wellington’s hillier nine-hole courses. It is not uncommon for the home club to win big at such courses and lose big when they are away.

Why is that, I often ask myself. The answer I get is familiarity, knowing what club to hit when getting to certain positions.

The question I then ask is why is familiarity an advantage.

Surely every tee shot is to aim down the middle of the fairyway.

Surely every second shot, for a par four, is to hit the ball onto the green. With today’s technology, such as range finders and GPS devices, we can measure down to the metre how far the second shot has to be.

Surely every third shot, for a par four, is to putt it near the hole. Surely every fourth shot, for a par four, is to tap it in, presuming the third has gone close.

Familiarity with greens can be a big difference. Greens can be fast, greens can be slow and that can be hard to become immediately familiar with.

As an interclub captain I do understand familiarity can be of assistance, but I still refuse to accept it as a reason for defeat. But that’s a typical response from a captain.