Tournament Policy Changes

This season brings two policies that tournament players should note: one concerns the President's Flight and the other pertains to the "10 score" requirement for tournament entry.

The first change is the elimination of the President's Flight that has been used at the State Amateur Championship for many years and at the Junior State Championship since its inception. In the past, the Championship Flight was divided into two flights for the last round, based on the players' cumulative scores up to that point. Players within 15 strokes of the lead remained in the Championship Flight and competed for the title while the rest of the players formed the President's Flight. The reason for this division was to give players at the bottom of the Championship flight, which is larger than any of the other flights, an opportunity to win prizes. But many players have indicated that they would rather remain in the Championship Flight, especially since moving to the President's Flight meant playing from a different set of tees on the last day of the tournament.

The second policy change is the elimination of the "10 score" rule. The requirement to have at least ten scores posted within the last year was intended to ensure that players' handicaps reflect their actual scores, and thus their true ability at the time of the tournament. Unfortunately, the process of ensuring compliance with this requirement became a burden that took valuable time during busy tournament preparation days, so the Board decided to eliminate the requirement and rely on players to post their scores in accordance with USGA guidelines. The MWGA encourages all golfers to acquaint themselves with the guidelines http://www.usga.org/handicapping/publications/To-Post-Or-Not-To-Post/ and to post their scores accordingly.