The International Golf Association Official Formation
The International Golf Association (IGA) is proud to be the newest way to use the World Golf Tour as an alternative source of competing in tournaments and becoming the world's top virtual golf player. Throughout the calendar year, many tournaments will be created to give the best and the worst golfers chances to prove themselves on the world rankings. The IGA Tour is open to any golfer who would like to test themselves against the best international players; more on signing up for tournaments will come later.
***** The IGA has no official affiliation with the World Golf Tour. *****
The International Golf Association's Plan
1. The IGA Tour will include five divisions: Division A, B, C, D, and E. Division A is for the best players, and so the prizes are higher; the reverse goes for Division E. Tournament rated Division E will be open to anyone who chooses to play. To play in a Division D-rated tournament, you must be within a certain ranking range to be named later. As you move from E to D and beyond, the prize money is higher, but the skill level also increases.
2. There will be hundreds of tournaments to compete in throughout the year. Some will be match play, some stroke play, and even some skins tournaments. a: Match play tournaments in Divisions C, D, and E will be limited to 128 players, for a maximum of seven rounds played. They will be full 18-hole rounds: two rounds each will be completed on Wednesday and Thursday, and one round each will be played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Division A and B match play tournaments will be 64-person tournaments, with two rounds on Thursday and Friday, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday. All match play tournaments will begin at 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST). You will be notified of your designated tee time the night before, as well as your competitor. See bolded text below for information on changing your tee time. b: Stroke play tournaments in Division E can have up to 256 competitors; Division D tournaments can have 200 sign-ups; Division C can have a maximum of 176 people; Division B stroke play tourneys can hold 164 people; and 152 golfers are allowed in Division A stroke play tournaments. All stroke play tournaments will begin on Thursday, with four-person groups, beginning at 9:00 AM EST. Each golfer will be notified of their starting time on both Thursday and Friday on Wednesday night, as well as the group they are in, by way of a golfer's Wall. Make sure you check this every Wednesday night if it is a stroke play tournament. On Friday night, anybody who is not within eight strokes of the leader or has not shot a round under par will be cut. You will be notified if you do not make the cut. If you do make the cut, you will be told your designated tee time on Saturday morning, as well as the person you are playing with. On Saturday night, when the third round has been completed, those who make the cut will be re-paired and will be notified of their Sunday tee time. c: Skins tournaments are never individual tournaments; they are always tournaments in which players will be grouped with others. These do not affect the world rankings, but they are still very important. They will be qualifiers for the World Crown Cup, a tournament that takes place in November. The World Crown Cup is a team event where countries complete against each other, like the Ryder Cup. Eight countries will compete; to be on your team, you must perform well in the monthly skins tournaments. The top sixteen players in each country will be selected for their national team; they will compete in a week-long event that will eventually reward the best golfing country in the world. It’s a great honor to be the champion of the World Crown Cup; make sure you enter these skins tournaments to have a shot at your national team.
***** If you are unavailable at your designated tee time, make sure you come to my wall (Gaoerfuqiu's Wall) and say that your time does not work for you! Please give us tee times that work for you, and we will do the best we can to accommodate you! *****
3. To sign up for a tournament, place your name in the comments section below, along with the tournament you’d like to compete in. If there is a specific time you would like to request, you may say so as well. You can sign up for a tournament in any division, but a player who has been playing Division D tournaments (meaning he has a low ranking) and wants to play a Division B tournament probably will not get into the tournament. However, there are qualifying tournaments; these can have a maximum of 100 people, no matter what division it is. The qualifying will be played on Monday and Tuesday. You will be notified if you have made the qualifying or if you have already made the main draw; if you’ve missed the qualifying, you will be told. Tee times will begin on Monday morning at 9:00 AM; as usual, you will be notified of your tee time and your group. Note that qualifying is only for stroke play tournaments.
4. Here is the 2009 schedule (at least, what’s left of it):
|
DATE
|
DIVISION A
|
DIVISION B
|
DIVISION C
|
DIVISION D
|
DIVISION E
|
|
July 6-12
|
Bluegrass City Open
|
Southern Golf Series Louisville
|
Sharp’s Div-C Tournament
|
The Bull Run Tournament
|
Prairie View Open
|
|
July 13-19
|
iGolf Live Championship
|
Code Magenta Open
|
Surprise Golfing Open
|
Burnin’ Summer Tourney
|
Stabilizer Open
|
|
July 20-26
|
Beast Series R
|
Golly!wood Golf
|
Confidential Tournament
|
Div-D Strokes
|
Rookie Match Play Open
|
|
July 27-August 2
|
Birdie-Beagle Open
|
Meat and Beans Open
|
Serv One Open
|
Freewind Open
|
Shades of Glory Classic
|
|
August 3-9
|
Win a Car! presents Not Really Open
|
Southern Golf Series Jackson
|
Spruce Champs
|
Plick-Pizz-Pitz-Pitch
|
Treeline Tournament
|
|
August 10-16
|
Schanidoit Higher Championship
|
Schanidoit Open
|
Pig’s Nose Championship
|
Curpo & Ham presents the Golf Open
|
Pole Championship
|
|
August 17-23
|
Monkey Open
|
Southern Golf Series New Orleans
|
Fast and Then You Take it Slow Classic
|
Sunshine Championship
|
Swinging Panther Open
|
|
August 24-30
|
Match Play Div-A Invitational
|
Exter Open
|
Laugh Open Invitational
|
Lyrical Open
|
Sharp’s 4-Rooks Open Tournament
|
|
August 31-September 6
|
Bong Classic
|
Bong Classic
|
Bong Classic
|
Bong Classic
|
Bong Classic
|
|
September 7-13
|
Taco Man & Johnny Waffle Series presents Golf
|
Sticks & Stones Open
|
Ji-Eji-E Scramble Stroke Open
|
chsoPsycho Golf Open
|
The Duke’s Presentation of Golf
|
|
September 14-20
|
Beast Series S
|
Swing Stick Tournament
|
Pocomo Ops
|
Cap Off Golfing
|
Oxymbaf Open
|
|
September 21-27
|
IHOWaffles Golf
|
Southern Golf Series Miami
|
International Amateur
|
Blisster Classic
|
Scrapper Golf Tournament Div-E
|
|
September 28-October 4
|
I Am Tiger
|
I Am Phil
|
I Am Sergio
|
Pure Hache Open
|
Cross Open
|
|
October 5-11
|
Tricks Are For Golf Pros Open
|
Luck’s Tournament
|
Randomizer
|
Sells Tournament
|
TemPlate Championship
|
|
October 12-18
|
Fill the Double Open
|
Cool Down Open
|
Serv Two Open
|
Autumn Amateur
|
U.R.A. Golfer Open Champs
|
|
October 19-25
|
Variational Golf Classic
|
Southern Golf Series Charleston
|
Learn Open
|
WT Golf
|
iGolf Live Div-E October Open
|
|
October 26-November 1
|
Beast Series Y
|
Fours Open
|
BSY Squared Tournament
|
Cartoon Muffin Classic
|
Fluffer-Butter-Nutter Open
|
|
November 2-8
|
The Championship
|
The Invitational
|
The Classic
|
The Tournament
|
The Open
|
|
November 9-15
|
Match Play Open Championship
|
Fruit is for IHOP Open
|
Stewy and Colby Classic
|
Pouncing Tiger Golf Tourney
|
King Ace Championship
|
|
November 16-22
|
WCC Crown Tune-up pres. by Sharp’s
|
WNIVFQM Golf Tournament
|
Div-C Open Tournament Classic Champs
|
Payoff Open
|
FreeTake Tournament
|
|
November 23-29
|
On Top of the World Classic
|
Skips Open
|
Whisper Golf Open
|
The 2009 The Donald Championship
|
Black Classic
|
|
November 30-December 6
|
Fits Golf
|
Laze Golf
|
Eats Golf
|
Hibes Golf
|
Naps Golf
|
|
December 7-13
|
Official IGA Tour World Championship
|
Division B Champions International
|
Division C Champions International
|
Division D Champions Invitational
|
Division E Champions Invitational
|
5. Each tournament has a pool of ranking points that are allocated based on finishing spots. For Division A, it’s 20,000 points; for Div-B, 15,000; for Div-C, 8,000; for Div-D, 5,000; and for Div-E, 2,500. Ranking points are allocated by: (1) how much under par a golfer was in a tournament, and (2) how close to the leader(s) he was. This combination is relative to the average of a tournament; if above-average, the player gets more money; if below, the player receives less. Qualifying tournaments have pools of 10% of the actual tournament’s pool, but the same point allocation applies.
6. Prize money works in the same way as point allocation; Division A tournaments have total pools of $5,000,000; Div-B, $3,500,000; Div-C, $2,500,000; Div-D, $1,000,000; and Div-E, $500,000. A player’s earnings hopefully, in the future, can be cashed in for prizes! (Hint, hint: play tournaments!)
7. The last week of the season is devoted to, for Divisions B thru E, the Champions Invitational, in which players who have won tournaments that year can compete in that division’s year-end tournament. Each one christens the best player to compete in that division. Players can compete in a Champions Invitational in any division, no matter their ranking, as long as they have won at least one tournament in that division in that calendar year. The prize pools are the same, but the winner receives a bonus of $100,000 in Div-E, $200,000 in Div-D, $350,000 in Div-C, and $500,000 in Div-B. As well, the winners receive 2,500 ranking points (do not vary by division). The top 32 players in the world have the opportunity to compete in the Official IGA Tour World Championship; this tournament christens the best player in the world that season. Winners of this tourney get bonuses of $2,000,000 and 2,000 ranking points; the regular pools apply. But an added perk of winning the World Championship is the bragging rights: champions of the ultimate championship are forever known as one of the best golfers ever to play the game.
8. Players may not sign up for multiple tournaments in a week; i.e., they cannot sign up for a Division B and a Division C tournament that run during the same week. This rule also applies for competing in skins competitions and division tournaments. Skins Championships are three-day events that begin on Friday and end on Sunday. On Friday, players will play 18-hole rounds against an opponent – the regular rules for playing skins apply. (If you do not know how to play skins, look it up online.) Players will do the same thing on Saturday and Sunday. By winning more skins, you have a better chance of representing your country later in the World Crown Cup. You do not receive the money that you win by taking a skin, but by winning more skins, obviously, you will get more prize money. In 2009, the July Skins Championship will take place during the week of July 20-26; the August Skins Championship will be August 10-16; the September Skins Championship, Sep. 7-13; and the October Skins Championship, Oct. 19-25. The World Crown Cup will be held over the last week in November annually. It is a week-long event with an eight-team single elimination bracket. One match is played on Monday, where eight players square off separately against eight players from the other nation to play an 18-hole match play event. On Thursday, those that have made it to the semifinals will send their other eight players to play their opposing team’s other eight players in the same format. Saturday and Sunday are devoted to the finals, in which all sixteen players on each team play each other in the last charge to be named the best golfing country in the world. The 2009 World Crown Cup will be contested during the week of November 23-29.
9. We know that the current ranking system in the World Golf Tour may be below average, but they will be used to determine what divisions you can compete in for now. If your scoring average is above 100, you must play in Division E tournaments; 90-100, Division D; 80-90, Division C; 70-80, Division B; and 60-70, Division A. After a few weeks, enough people will have played, and enough points will have been allocated, that we can start to find some substance in our rankings and be able to move people by division.
THE SIGN-UP DEADLINE FOR TOURNAMENTS DURING THE WEEK OF JULY 6-12 IS SATURDAY, JULY 4: THIS IS BECAUSE WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHO MUST COMPETE IN QUALIFYING. SIGN UP TODAY!
***** If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to ask; but please go to my wall (Gaoerfuqiu’s Wall) and ask them. The comments section below should be reserved for sign-ups. *****
This official announcement has been presented by the International Golf Association.