In January this year Golf Australia moved to lower the senior women’s age qualification for national senior events from 55 to 50 years and now Golf NSW has announced it will also extend the new age level to all men’s and women’s events from January 2023.
Golf NSW said this week that following the Golf Australia action it had performed a a review of age qualification for its senior events and changes were now in store, though the men’s age level would not change immediately as they were in the middle of the NSW SOOM season.
Golf NSW said following the review:
- Age qualification for the rescheduled 2022 NSW Senior Amateur Championship in November will be 50 yrs and over for women and 55 yrs and over for men. This will ensure that 50 – 54 year old women have an opportunity to play and achieve national ranking points, as they can in the majority of other states. There will be no change to the men’s age at this stage, as we are in the middle of the NSW SOOM season.
- From 1 January 2023, all senior events under the auspices of Golf NSW will be for players 50 yrs and over (men and women). This will ensure that the following events in NSW have a consistent age requirement:
- NSW Senior Amateur Championship
- NSW Senior Order of Merits (men’s and women’s)
- NSW Senior Open
- Master Pennant
Golf NSW said it had made the decision in the best interest of senior golfers across NSW to promote inclusion and participation, as well as to be consistent across all the senior events that it runs. Clubs hosting NSW SOOM events in 2023 will also be encouraged to allow participation from men and women aged 50 years and over.