Rules of Golf
The events will be run in accordance with ‘The Rules of Golf’ as laid down by the R&A and the Local Rules of the courses visited.

Who can play
The events are open to all golfers, male and female who comply with the handicap requirements.

Competitors under the age of 18 are welcome to take part but must be accompanied by an adult.
Competitors under the age of 18 can qualify for the UK Final but they are ineligible to qualify for the Volvo Masters Amateur World Final and will be awarded a voucher for £150 in lieu of a place in the World Final should they qualify.

Handicaps
All competitors must have either a current handicap issued by a CONGU affiliated golf club or a FORE Society handicap. The maximum playing handicaps will be 24 for men and 30 for ladies with full Stroke Allowance.

At every event a competitor’s handicap will be reduced on the basis of one stroke for every two Stableford points scored over 36.

Ties and Countbacks
In the case of a tied result in a competition over one round the result will be decided on a card play off taking into account the last nine holes on the scorecard regardless of where a player started. If there is still a tie the result will be decided on the last 6, 3, 2, 1 hole/s.

In the case of a tied result in an event over more than one round the result will be decided on a card play off taking into account the competitors score on the last 18 holes played. If there is still a tie the result will be decided on the last 9, 6, 3, 2, 1 hole/s.

Volvo Order of Merit
To be eligible for order of merit points a competitor must be a current member of the Volvo Masters Amateur Tour for which the annual fee is £25 for 12 months membership from the date of joining.

A competitor new to the Tour can play in one event before joining and the merit points for that one event will be awarded retrospectively to that competitor on joining.

Merit points are awarded on the basis of 100 to the winner, 99 for 2nd, 98 for 3rd and so on. In the case of ties competitors will be awarded the same number of merit points.

A competitor’s best five merit point scores will determine his / her position in the order of merit. At the end of the season if there is a tie for 20th place in the final order of merit the player/s with the sixth best merit point score will qualify and so on if the sixth scores are the same.

Volvo Championship Events
The winner and runner up at each of the four Volvo Championship Events will qualify for the Volvo Masters Amateur Tour UK Final. To be eligible to accept this prize a competitor must have previously played in at least one FORE Tour, Volvo Masters Amateur or Volvo Masters Amateur Tour event or he / she must have played in at least three handicap qualifying events at the golf club at which they are a member within 12 months prior to the Championship Event.

Volvo Masters Amateur Tour UK Final
The 2008 UK Final will be staged at Celtic Manor on the 12th and 13th October over 36 holes on the 2010 Ryder Cup Course and the following competitors will automatically qualify:

• The top 20 in the OoM after The Players Club
• The leading 2 ladies in the OoM after The Players Club
• The leading 4 Volvo owners in the OoM after The Players Club
• The winner & runner up in each of the 5 Championship Events
• The leading Volvo owner at each of the 5 Championship Events
• The winning aggregate score at the ¾ day events in Portugal, St Andrews & Cornwall

If any competitor qualifying under categories 2 - 6 above, finishes in the top 20 of the Volvo Order of Merit after The Players Club, then the next competitor on the Order of Merit will qualify for the UK Final.

Volvo Masters Amateur World Final
The winners at the UK Final will qualify to represent the UK at the Volvo Masters Amateur World Final which will be played in Andalucia, Spain between 29th Oct and 3rd November 2008.

Caddies & Buggies
The use of buggies is permitted in the events where they are available for hire. Caddies are permitted at any of the events and the competitor is responsible for his / her cadddie’s actions.

GPS range finding equipment
The use of GPS range finding equipment is permitted in the events.

The organising committee’s decision will be final in any situations which are not covered by the Rules.