GOLFWEEK STAFFGolfweek has entered into partnership with San Francisco-based Scratch Players Group to produce the
Golfweek/Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking presented by Titleist.
For the past 20 years,
Golfweek has ranked players via a points system, primarily using tournaments based in the United States. The
Golfweek/Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking will utilize a similar points system but draw from more than 1,400 tournaments worldwide. More than 4,700 amateurs who have earned points since 2005 are in the ranking database.
“I’ve had a good relationship with
Golfweek for a long time and have closely followed the
Golfweek Amateur Rankings,” said Fred Solomon, founder of the Scratch Players Group. “When it comes to amateur golf, no one does it better than
Golfweek. I feel this is a win-win situation for both of us.”
Solomon, 54, a former tax accountant and stockbroker who holds MBAs in finance (USC) and taxation (Golden Gate University), is a member of San Francisco’s Olympic Club. Solomon started the Scratch Players Group in February 1999 as a California-based nonprofit organization to “pursue mutual interests of scratch players.” In November 2000 he staged the first Scratch Players Championship, which has developed into one of the country’s top amateur events.
In late 2004, Solomon commenced the daunting task of compiling results from significant amateur events around the world.
“It became apparent to me that the only way to get a clear fix on the best amateurs was to have a ranking that included all amateurs worldwide based on all possible events they could play in,” said Solomon, a single-digit handicapper and seven-time club champion at Stockton Golf and Country Club. “The world is getting smaller in that players ‘cross-pollinate’ with ever increasing frequency.”
Solomon launched his world ranking Jan. 12, 2007. Points are garnered from every U.S. state amateur championship (stroke and match play) except Alaska. Every state open, state mid-amateur and state public links championship – if 54 holes or more – is included, as well as significant regional competitions, including many city championships. National championships and regional events from around the world also are included. (Player rankings by country are available at www.owagr.com.)
The U.S. Amateur winner earns 1,000 points, the most awarded for any individual tournament. The lowest point amount for any awarded spot is 40. Every tournament used for the ranking awards points for at least two places. Players are removed from the rankings immediately upon turning professional.
“Compiling the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking has become a full-time job for Fred Solomon,” said Dave Seanor, vice president/editor of
Golfweek. “It simply made sense to take advantage of Fred’s passion and knowledge, and form a partnership to produce what we believe will be the benchmark ranking for amateur golf.
“It will be fun to compare the Golfweek/SPWAR with its counterpart, the R&A World Amateur Ranking. We believe our formula to be superior to that used by the R&A, just as we do with the
Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index for professionals when compared to the Official World Golf Ranking.”
Jamie Lovemark, a sophomore at USC and reigning NCAA champion, tops the
Golfweek/SPWAR with 5,247.5 points. Billy Horschel, a junior at Florida, is next with 5,117.5, followed by Clemson sophomore Kyle Stanley (4,864.0), Wake Forest senior Webb Simpson (4,684.5) and Australia’s Rohan Blizard (3,872.5).
Starting this fall, the ranking will go from a two-year rolling basis to three years. Points currently are awarded for one year, then halved for a second year, then vanish. In October, the third year will be halved again, then points will vanish after three years.
Posted: 1/7/2008
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