Junior Section

Thank you for choosing Chesfield Downs Golf and Country Club. We hope that your association with the club will be a long and enjoyable one.

We want your child to have fantastic experience at the club, whether just using our great facilities or actually gaining a handicap & playing competitive golf.

Chesfield Downs Junior Section offers a full calendar of events throughout the year and as a section actively encourages juniors to take part in competitions and get to know others.

Jackie Crabb is our Junior Organiser and runs the Junior Section competitions run on the main course and Jo Oliver and James Clark run the Junior Academy and competitions run on the Par 3 – they are all on hand to help your child to get the best out of their membership, please contact them should you have any questions regarding general or competition golf.

Contact Details:

Jackie Crabb Junior Organiser

Email: jackie@crabbhouse.co.uk

Tel: 07790 791526

Jo Oliver Golf Development Professional

Email: chesfielddowns-gdp@crown-golf.co.uk

Tel: 01462 482929 

James Clark Junior Academy Golf Professional

Email: james.golf@hotmail.co.uk

Tel: 01462 482929 

Competition Golf

Kids love competitions and we have something for almost every junior, with our competitions starting from as young as 5 years old.

The section offers three main types of competition:

Lannock Links Lions Par 3 Competitions - Open to Members & Non Members - 5-14 year olds.

18-Hole Competitions - Open to Full Junior Members up to 18 Year Olds Only.

9-Hole Competitions - Open to Full Junior Members Only - aimed at new/young juniors

Lannock Lions Junior Par 3 Club

The Junior Par 3 Club has been set up to encourage & develop younger golfers, giving them experience in not only playing but also competing against other children their own age.

The rules have been redesigned to help the enjoyment for the youngster and make the game a little easier. We also operate a specially designed Stableford Scoring System, where children will receive points per hole.

There are monthly competitions which are split into three categories:

The Lions – Boys aged 10-14 years

The Cubs - Boys under 10’s

The Lionesses - Girls aged 5-14 years.

Juniors from 5 -14 years (as of the 1st January) can participate in our Par 3 competitions.

For further details on these competitions please contact Jo Oliver, our Golf Development Professional at chesfielddowns-gdp@crown-golf.co.uk or James Clark at james.golf@hotmail.co.uk

Main Course Competitions

We have a very full calendar of events running throughout the year for all juniors – a list of competitions is available on request from Jackie Crabb or check out the club diary.

There are 18-Hole events for the more experienced players & 9 Hole main course events for new and the less experienced players, plus a few friendly competitions and family pair’s events.

18-Hole Competitions

These are open to full junior members only, with an official handicap (club or Congu).

It is recommended that juniors are able to play to a proficient standard and capable of playing 18-holes and within a time of 4-hours.

It is recommended that children should have a handicap of 54 or less, or score below 120 for the 18 holes as a minimum requirement.

Caddies are NOT permitted in these competitions. However parents or guardians may “accompany” their child but must observe a 25 metre distance whilst the ball is in play on any hole. In addition they may not encroach on the green.

It is also recommended that children understand a basic knowledge of the golf rules to enable them to compete fairly.

9-Hole Competitions

The 9-hole competitions have been set up as a stepping stone from playing Lannock Links Par 3 competitions, to playing 18-hole events.

These are aimed at the younger, inexperienced player with higher handicaps. These are all Stableford competitions, allowing children to pick up when they cannot score.

Caddies are permitted and in fact, encouraged, as to offer guidance on rules, scoring and learning to play faster.

The Junior Organiser reserves the right to only allow children to participate in 9-hole events if it feels the child is unable to meet the criteria to play in the 18-hole competitions.

For both 9 and 18 Hole Competitions play will be from the tees as follows:

White Tees – Congu Handicap of 28 or below (boys)

Yellow Tees – Club Handicap of 29-54 and aged 12 years old and over (boys)

Red Tees – Girls (all ages) & handicaps and
Boys under 12 years old with a handicap of 29-54

If you need any help or advice, don’t be afraid to ask, the easiest point of contact is Jackie Crabb.

How to obtain a Junior Handicap for the Main Course

There are two types of handicap for the main course, a club handicap and a CONGU handicap.

A club handicap is a handicap from 29-54 for boys and 37-54 for girls. This will be allocated to juniors scoring over 100 and can be based completion of 9 or 18holes.

A CONGU handicap is an official handicap of 28 or below (boys) and 36 or below (girls) played from the white and reds tees respectively.

When playing in a junior club competition these two types of handicaps have no difference, but when a junior wants to play an OPEN Event at another club, County Events or represent the club in league matches they need an official CONGU handicap

To obtain a handicap the junior needs to submit three cards, signed by a member.
Any of these cards can be from playing a general round of golf or from playing in a junior comp, however the junior can’t win the competition as they are playing to gain a handicap.

Active / Inactive Handicaps

In order to play and compete in Junior Competitions a junior must have an active handicap.

An active handicap means the junior has played in 3 or more handicap qualifying competitions over the course of the last 12 months and is therefore playing with the correct handicap.

An inactive handicap means the junior hasn’t played in 3 handicap qualifying competitions the last 12 months and the handicap could be wrong.

If your handicap is inactive you will not be able to play in any of our major competitions, these are:

The Anniversary Bowl

The Summer Cup

The Junior Club Championship

You will also not be able to enter the Singles or Doubles Matchplay competitions.

We have 4 handicap qualifying competitions (3 Medal and 1 Stableford) before the first of our major competitions in May, and there are 5 qualifying competitions before the draw for the Matchplay is done at the end of May, so there are plenty of opportunities to get your handicap active.

Finally Juniors must play in 3 or more Order of Merit competitions in the qualifying season to be able to enter the Junior Club Championship in September, of which there are 10 before the draw for the Junior Club Championships. If you are not sure how many you have played please ask.

Submission of Supplementary Scores

It’s simple to submit a supplementary score:

Before you go out to play indicate your intention to return a score.

Make sure your card is marked by another member of the club (not a Junior) – add the words SUPPLEMENTARY on the top of the card.

After the round return the score – whatever it is – for it to be added to your handicap record.

Keeping in Touch

The most import thing is that for you to know what is going on, we need to have your correct contact details so we can keep you up to date with upcoming events, results and general news

Most communication of club events, draws and club news is by way of email and texts.

If we have your details we will add them to the junior mailing list.

General Club Information

Opening times

Opening times of the club vary depending on the time of year and what we have going on.

Our normal operating hours are 7:00am-9.00pm in the winter and 7:00am-10:00pm in the summer.

Food is served from 7:00am - 4:00pm in the winter 7:00am - 7:00pm in the summer.

How do I book a Tee Time?

There are a few ways that you can book tee times:

By speaking to a member of the pro-shop whilst at the club

By calling the pro-shop and pressing option 1

Book a tee-time online; speak to a member of the sales team if you haven’t received a username.

What is the dress code at the club?

In the interest of maintaining standards at Chesfield Downs Golf and Country Club we request that all members and visitors comply with our dress code policy.

Golf course dress code:

We request that Golfing attire including Golf shoes are worn at all times on the main course. A more relaxed dress code is in place on the Lannocks links and driving range.

Clubhouse dress code:

The club operates a relaxed dress code throughout the Clubhouse but request no golf shoes or caps to be warn in the bar area.

Driving Range

Our Driving Range at Chesfield Downs Golf and Country Club is a 20 bay covered facility with teaching facilities including 8 heated bays.

There are many targets to hit to including flags, nets and yardage markers. Only the best 2 piece balls are used, to ensure your valuable practice is worthwhile.

Balls can be purchased in various quantities, from as little as £3 for 25.This is our warm-up basket and is ideal for those golfers who like to stretch and hit a few balls prior to their round of golf.

And for the golfer who likes to work on their game, your membership card can be credited in the Pro-shop with funds and offer a 20% Discount on normal rates.