FCPP Federació Catalana de Pitch and Putt

Origin and Objectives

The game of Pitch and Putt started in Catalonia in 1990 when Martín Whielaw, an Irishman with residence in Girona, built a course at Solius (Costa Brava), following the experience of his father who had had a course in Ireland.

Matin established, from the very beginning, some specific characteristics for the game in Catalonia:

- holes between 40 and 120 meters with a total length of 1.500
- its own handicap system
- development of an independent association with links with the golf authorities in the area and able to organise competitions between its members

Following these ideas and after a second group of courses were built, the Associació Catalana de Pitch and Putt (ACPP) was legally constituted on October 17th, 1994 and was duly inscribed in the Registry of the Catalan Government. Together with Solius, El Vendrell, Sant Jaume, Campamny, Vallromanes and Sant Cebrià were the founding members of ACPP.

ACPP has as its main objectives the promotion of Pitch and Putt and the coordination of the activities of its members. These general objectives have been developed over the years. Some current activities of ACPP are:

- the representation of the catalan Pitch and Putt at the local as well as international level
- promotion
- management of an specific handicap system (now with an online program)
- organisation of Catalonia Championships: Scratch (men and women), Second and Third categories (men), Women, Juveniles, Seniors (men and women), Doubles, Match Play and Doubles (Interclub)
- Coordination and supervision of Ranking competitions
- Sports and discipline activities
- Selection of the players representing Catalonia in international competitions

It is important to emphasize that more than 400 competitions are programmed to take place all over Catalonia during 2003. Apart from them, two international tournaments (Catalonia vs Holland and the European Championship in Ireland).

In 1997 ACPP signed a first agreement with the Catalan Golf Federation (FCG). This agreement has been updated in May 10th, 2.000.In this joint document, the independence of Pitch and Putt is recognised and the collaboration in several areas is established.

ACPP is a founding member of the European Pitch and Putt Association (EPPA), built in 1999 and with a Secretariat in Dublin. Pitch and Putt Associations or Federations of Ireland, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, France and Norway are, together with Catalonia, members of EPPA.

Structure

The catalan Pitch and Putt is organised according to the following structure:

- General Assembly (28 associated members and 2 affiliated members)
- Board elected by the Assembly every four years
- Sports Comisssion, renewed every year. It reports to the Board
- Secretariat (Executive Secretary, Head of Administration, officer)
- Associated players (7.800 at the end of 2003). They pay a fee 23 Euros annually. This includes the right to participate in competitions, an individual insurance (MAPFRE) and other advantatges.

In 2003, The Assembly approved the possibility of accepting “affiliated members” withouth voting rights. The first of these members are El Torrent and Ordino, both located in the Principality of Andorra. Several petitions from existing or projected Pitch and Putt courses located outside Catalonia (rest of Spain and Southtern France) are now in consideration.

General norms

Following the experience of the first years and also taking into consideration the definitions made recently by EPPA, the ACPP General Assembly approved on May 15, 2002, the “Reglamento del Pitch and Putt”.

The so-called “Racommandations for the construction of Pitch and Putt courses”, written jointly by ACPP and FCG were also signed on June 19th, 2001.