News

Changes in store for UGA Rankings System in 2013

The 2013 golf season will bring some changes in the Utah Golf Association Player Performance rankings for men and senior men.  This change was announced today by Bill Walker, UGA Executive Director.
“Point systems always involve a tug of war between judging the values of quality and quantity and this new point system balances those values very well,” Walker said.
“The bulk of the work has been done by Mike Branca, our Director of Rules and Competition, and Reese Nielsen, chairman of our men’s committee, and they have done a wonderful job putting this together,” Walker said.
The previous system was based on average of points accumulated after a minimum of six events. This new system is a rolling point based system that totals points accumulated in a player’s best ten events over a 12-month period.
“The intent of these changes is to encourage more participation and still identify the top performers,” Nielsen said. “We talked to a lot of people and got a lot of input from others and many of the suggestions have been adopted in this new system.”
“One day tournaments have been added to encourage participation and there enough tournaments to include those who don’t want to play on Sunday and for weekend golfers who can’t miss work,” Nielsen added.
“Some felt the old system discouraged some from playing in some tournaments in order to protect their ranking, and this system solves that problem,” he said.
“We hope we’ve struck a good balance between quantity and quality,” he said. “Time will tell and we will watch closely and listen for input.”
Points will be those earned in the player’s best ten events in the most recent 12 month period plus any USGA/Utah Open bonus points.
Current PPR standings will be adjusted before the first event of 2013 to the new system.
Only 2012 PPR events will be used for recalculation and the 2013 events will be added as they occur.
The UGA Director of Competitions may add or delete specific tournaments with approval of the men’s committee.
Men’s Player Performance Ranking System (PPR)
The point system for the Men’s Player Performance Rankings places different point values on separate categories of tournaments as follows:
The Utah State Amateur, as the only match play tournament, awards 100 points for first place, 80 for runnerup, 60 for semifinalists, 40 for quarterfinalists, 30 for those advancing to the Round of 16, and 20 for those advancing to the Round of 32.
Tier One tournaments include UGA Winterchamps, Tournament of Champions, Mid-Am, 4-Man Team, U.S. Am Qualifying, Salt Lake City Am, Salt Lake City Open, Provo Open, and Art City Am.  The winner earns 50 points and the points reduce gradually to one point for 20th place.
Tier Two tournaments include St. George Am, Coral Canyon Am, Sand Hollow Am, Sun River Am, Fox Hollow Am, Spanish Oaks Am, USGA Public Links Qualifyhing, USGA Mid-Am Qualifying, Cache Valley Am, Talons Cove Am, Red Hills Am, Vernal Classic, and Black Diamond Open. First place is awarded 40 points and proceeds down to one point for 20th place.
Tier Three tournaments include Golden Spike Am, Glenmoor Open, Glen Eagle Am, Rose Park Open, Valley View Am, Wingpointe Am, HAFB Am, Birch Creek Am, Northern Utah Am, Brigham City Open, Roosevelt Open, and Central Utah Am. The winner earns 20 points and the points proceed down to one point for tenth place.
The Utah Open will award any amateur who makes the cut 30 points, and if an amateur wins the event he will earn 15        0 points.
An amateur winner of the local qualifier of the U.S. Open will earn 50 points, and an additional 100 points for winning the sectional, an additional 150 for making the cut at the U.S. Open, and 500 points if (hold your hat) he wins it.
Any player who advances to the U.S. Am will earn an additional 50 points for advancing to match play, 70 points for winning the first match, 100 points for winning the second match, 125 points for reaching the quarterfinals, 175 points for reaching the semifinals, 250 points for being runnerup, and 400 points for winning the title.
Additional points will also be given for various levels of success at the national site of the USGA Mid-Am, USGA Public Links, and USGA Junior. Points for winning any of those events will be 300 and proceed down to 40 for each stage of advancement.
Senior Men’s Player Performance Rankings (SPPR)
The Senior Men’s Player Performance Rankings are based on the same philosophy as the men’s PPR.
The Utah Senior Am and Senior Open will award 60 points for first place and proceed down to one point for 20th place.
The UGA Senior Match Play will earn 60 points for the winner, 45 for the runnerup, 30 for semifinalists, 16 for quarterfinalists, nine for reaching the Round of 16 and three for reaching the Round of 32.
The Tier One events will include UGA Winterchamps, UGA Tournament of Champions, UGA 4-Man Team, USGA Senior Am Qualifying, Sand Hollow Senior Am , Sun River Senior Am, Weber Senior Am, SLC Senior Am, and Talons Cove Senior Am. Points will range from 40 to one for 15th place.
The Tier Two events will include Dinaland Senior Am, Hideout Senior Am, Moab Senior Am, Toana Vista Senior Am, and Mesquite Senior Am with points ranging from 30 to one for 12th place.
The Tier Three events include designated senior tournaments at Gladstan, Carbon, Bountiful Ridge, Birch Creek, Palisade, Spanish Oaks, Cove View, Eagle Mountain, Ben Lomond, Tooele, Stansbury, Schneiter’s Bluff, and Cedar Ridge with points ranging from 20 to one point for tenth place.
There will also be bonus points for qualifying for the final sites of the U.S. Senior Open and the U.S. Senior Am.
PPR points will be those earned in the player’s best ten events in the most recent 12 month period plus any USGA/Utah Open bonus points.
Current PPR standings will be adjusted before the first event of 2013 to the new system.
Only 2012 PPR events will be used for recalculation and the 2013 events will be added as they occur.
The UGA Director of Competitions may add or delete specific tournaments with approval of the men’s committee.