Hi all, I know that I have been a bit quiet lately, and many thanks to bootsnbra and all the others who finished off my country club leagues in the past.
I've been giving some thought to what is the best way of getting a tournament framework going in match play - with all the sandbagging, averages and tiers are a starting point, but not the answer, especially when hundreds of credits are put on the line.
I am proposing a simple rating system - 1 is the best, 10 is the worst - that can give tournament organisers an idea of the level of players coming to them to play. It also can guide any handicapping - the difference between the ratings of two players represents the expected number of holes up the higher-rated player will win by in a 9-hole match.
For those who wish to find a reference, this rating system is largely borrowed from the International Tennis Number.
Calculation
- For a win against a player of his own rating, a player gets + 1 point
- For a win against a player of one rating band higher, a player gets + 2 points
- For a win against a player of two rating categories higher, a player gets + 3 points
- For a loss against a player of his own rating, a player gets - 1 point
- For a loss against a player of one rating band lower, a player gets - 2 points
- For a loss against a player of two rating categories lower, a player gets - 3 points
- For a win against a player three or more rating categories lower or a loss against a player three or more rating categories higher, no points are given because these wins or losses are expected. one of the players is a sandbagger. The system makes it pointless to play players more than two ratings away from you.
- In an alternate shot match, your opponents' rating = Opponent 1 + Opponent 2 - Teammate
- Matches should be at least 9 holes.
- At the end of a rating period (I propose every 3 months), the player's new rating, subject to a minimum number of matches (I propose 10) is:
New rating = Old rating - points / matches. Then round to the nearest whole number. (The minus sign is there because the best rating is 1, the worst is 10.)
Matches that qualify for the rating system are organised match play / alternate shot competitions openly advertised on the WGT or your country club forum. Examples are:
- Single elimination
- Double elimination
- Single elimination with consolation tournaments
- Round-robin groups with or without knockout rounds
- Staggered knockout draw - better rated players getting one or multiple byes
- Swiss tournament system (slor's favourite if you remember!)
- Country club v Country club match
- WGT Virtual Ryder Cup
One-off matches do not count.
Players without a rating (right now, that is everyone!)
I think the best way of approaching this is to leave it in the hands of the tournament organiser to give players their initial rating when they enter the tournament.
Now, over to you!
I will be developing tournaments shortly!
slor