There are some significant changes to this year’s Graduate Cup including dates, eligibility, pricing and groupings for the draw.

***Entries close Saturday 7 October 2017***

The Graduate Cup is the CURTC’s premier handicap competition, first played in 1875. Below are the key dates, eligibility criteria and rules of the tournament.

* Eligibility

Over 18

Open to players with non-provisional handicaps

Results recorded against 4 different opponents since 1 June 2017

* Key Dates

Closing date for entries: Saturday 7 October 2017

Group Stage matches: Saturday 14 October 2017 – Saturday 2 December 2017

Last 16, Quarter Finals and Semi Finals: Friday 12-Saturday 13 January 2018

Grand Final: Saturday 17 March 2018 (Finals Day, sponsored by Hannay Robertson Financial Services)

* To Enter

Please sign up HERE: Maximum 64 spaces

* Payment

Senior members will be charged a one off court fee of £32 which will be debited from their Club account in the week following the closing date. For the knockout stages and finals, court fees will be added to members’ accounts in the usual way. Student players do not pay court fees but are expected to make every effort to play their group matches in a flexible and efficient way. Marking fees for the finals are sponsored by Hannay Robertson Financial Services.

* Format

The draw is for 64 players. There will be 16 groups of 4 players.

Players will be ranked in handicap order and divided into four divisions. A draw will take place and a player from each division will be drawn into each of the 16 groups, providing a representative for each of the four divisions in each group.

The Pros will, on request, block book courts for entire groups to play in one session.

In the event of a draw, group winners will be determined using the following criteria (in order):  most matches won, most games won, fewest games lost, coin-toss!

The Group winners progress to the knockout stage of the tournament which will be drawn. There will be no cap on the maximum difference in handicaps.

All group stage matches are to be played between Saturday 14 October 2017 to Saturday 2 December 2017. Players are responsible for arranging their own matches.

Each match is “first to 8 games”, to be played off handicap and 40-all, not deuce and advantage. Results where the handicap difference is greater than 10 will not be input thus protecting the stronger players who progress to the knockout phase.

Before entering please ensure that you will be available to play ALL 3 of your group matches before the group stage ends on 2 December 2017. If you fail to play matches you disadvantage your fellow group members!

We strongly encourage members to book all their matches by the end of October.

The 16 group winners from the group stage will contest 3 rounds of the knockout competition on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 January 2018, which will produce our two finalists. These matches will be arranged by the tournament organisers.

The Handicap Committee will review the handicaps of the Group winners prior to the start of the knockout phase of the tournament.

The Grand Final will be played on Saturday 17 March, Finals Day sponsored by Hannay Robertson Financial Services. The tournament winner will also be eligible to enter the National Handicap Tournament in the autumn.

A group winner unable to play in the knockout stage will not necessarily be replaced with the runner-up from the same group. Rather, the “next best” runner-up from all of the groups will be selected using the following criteria (in order):  most matches won, most games won, fewest games lost, coin-toss!

In the event that an issue(s) arises that is (are) not covered by the rules above, the matter will be decided by the Handicap Committee whose decision will be final.