NYSGA News

I have had a number of conversations with people about our 2009 format changes and wanted to go a bit more into depth regarding the philosophy behind them and if we generate some good discussion, thats great.  I will address them one at a time:

1) Women’s Amateur

The Women’s Amateur is probably the event I enjoy conducting more than any other each year.  The quality of play is high and the players as a whole are fun to be around and talk with.  What puzzles me is why the field has shrunk over the years to barely 60 particpants.

In order to try and grow the field, and after numerous discussions with Betty Deeley, Tournament Chair, as well as other members of the Committee, we decided to make some drastic changes.  The first, and I think most important, is the addition of the Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.  The field has gotten younger in the past 10 years, and over the past 20 years I believe only 3 winners came from the “Mid-Amateur” set.  We hope that with the addition of this Championship, some more players in the Mid-Am age group will return to compete this year.  We also hope that the addition of carts will bring back some players that perhaps left due to the mandatory policy for walking.

Finally, the change to stroke play was necessary with the addition of the Mid-Amateur Championship.  There was no way to run these events concurrently without making this change, unless we made players decide prior to the Championship which competition to participate in, which made no sense.  We hope that these changes will increase the size of the field and return this Championship to the popularity it enjoyed 30 years ago.

2)  Men’s Amateur

Stroke play was a staple of the Men’s Amateur in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and was abandoned in 1991 to mirror the US Amateur Championship format.  The Championship has been successful in both formats…it was not participation that necessitated the change.

The fact is the golf economy, as you well know, has changed…and not for the better.  Golf facilities are under immense pressure from their memberships to increase revenue and we live in a region where the golf season is a short 6 months, tops.  Members want, and deserve, to play their golf course when they wish.

The Men’s Amateur Championship, in its previous form, was simply too long.  A host facility knew when taking the Championship that we would be on-site for 6 days, disrupting their membership.  On top of this, the course was taking the Championship, gratis, to give back to the game.  The difficulty we have had with securing a host for this Championship has been a huge burden and we are faced with 2 sobering choices.  One - pay the clubs a per round fee (and greatly raise entry fees to pay for it) or Two - shorten the event, by 2 days, and hope this creates far less disruption at the host facility.

We chose to shorten the event by making it stroke play and we hope that this change not only allows to continue to get great hosts, but increases both the size and quality of our Championship field.  Just look at some of the winners in the 70’s and 80’s…Allen, Sindelar, Sluman, Burns, Roy, & Zahringer, to name a few.  I don’t think you can argue with that list.

3)  Senior Men’s Amateur

While we don’t expect these changes to be as controversial, this is still a major change as the field has been made considerably smaller.  The evolution of this Championship, however, necessitated the change in my opinion.  Senior golf is far stronger and more competitive now than it ever has been.  This Championship, when started, was basically called a “clambake”…a fun event with a Championship attached to it.  Well, when 80% of the field have handicaps of 5 or below, it is easy to see that this no longer applies.  It was time to take this competition to the next level, and reward the top Seniors in the state with a truly elite field without all the pace of play issues we have had in the past that foursomes bring.  While there will be a bit of grumbling from the players that find themselves on the outside looking in, I have no doubt the overall Championship will be a far better one for everyone involved.

As always, feel free to contact me directly at (888) NYSGA-23 or by emailing me at bmoore@nysga.org with any concerns.  That is why I am here.

B-Mo

I created a Facebook group which we will keep up to date with news and notes as the season goes on.  You can find it by clicking here.

The NYSGA has voted to make major changes to three of its Championships this season: The Women’s Amateur, Men’s Amateur, and Senior/Super Senior Men’s Amateur.  We hope that these changes will strengthen each Championship and the details are listed below.

1) Women’s Amateur – There are 3 major changes to this Championship, and we hope that these changes will greatly increase participation in its 80^th year.

a. We have added a new Championship, the Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, which will be held concurrently for players who have reached their 25^th birthday before the Championship begins.

b. The format has been changed to completely stroke play, and will be contested over 54 holes. There will be a cut after 36 holes.

c. Carts will now be allowed at all stages of the Championship.

2) Men’s Amateur

a. The Championship will be contested over 72 holes of stroke play.

b. All players will play 18 holes on both Tuesday & Wednesday of the Championship, and we will cut the field to the low 40 players & ties, as well as anyone within 10 shots of the lead. On Thursday, all remaining competitors will play 36 holes.

3) Senior & Super Senior Men’s Amateur

a. The starting field will now be 132 players, down from 164 players. This will allow us to conduct play in threesomes throughout the week, alleviating the Pace of Play issues we have had over the years and giving us increased flexibility with weather issues. The cut after 36 holes will change slightly, and now the top 50% of the field and ties in each Championship will remain for Thursday’s final round.

b. The entry fee will be increased from $115 to $200, but will include all cart fees for the Championship, including the practice round. This will make the process much simpler logistically for both the players and host facility, and will result in an overall cost savings for all participants.

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