News
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current SPWAR top 200 breakdown
by player country or region is
(with world pro ranking numbers):
- 83 from USA (77 OWGR)
- 36 from GB&I (26 OWGR)
- 31 from Europe other (34)
- 18 from Australasia (23)
- 11 from Asia (13)
- 9 from South Africa (11)
- 7 from Latin America (6)
- 5 from Canada (2)
current SPWAR top 200 by the top USA player States is:
- 13 from California
- 11 from Georgia
- 7 from Florida
- 7 from Texas
- 5 from Alabama
- 4 from South Carolina
- 4 from North Carolina
- 4 from Tennessee
- 4 from Washington
comments or questions? email us click HERE for previous news
click HERE for the 2007 World Amateur Tournament Ranking (top 30 worldwide + others)
4.July.08 Ireland successfully defended their title in the European Amateur Team Championship led by Gareth Shaw & Paul Cutler but Wallace Booth of Scotland was deemed the overall best finisher individually.
4.July.08 Trent Whitekiller of OK won the Sahalee Players in WA by 2 over Matt Giles of AUS.
2.July.08 Mike Ketcham beat JD Anderson 3&1 in the final of the Iowa Match Amateur.
30.June.08 Danny Lee of NZ just miss qualifying for British Open losing in a playoff at USA site.
30.June.08 G-SPWAR top 10'ers Michael Thompson of AZ and Kevin Chappell of CA along with Swed Jonas Blixt at #43 worldwide have turned professional.
29.June.08 Rohan Blizard of Australia won the East of Scotland Am in a playoff over Scots Craig Watson & Peter Latimer.
29.June.08 Tim Madigan won the New Mexico State Amateur by one over With and Word.
28.June.08 Jason Palmer won the Midland Open Am in ENG by 2 shots over Jamie Abbott.
28.June.08 Rory Hie of Indonesia (& CA) roared out of the pack with a final round 62 to win the Dogwood Inv by 3 shots over third round leader Jonathan Hodge of TN.
28.June.08 Bobby Massa beat fellow Texan Will Osborne 2&1 in the final of the Cotton States.
28.June.08 Brinson Paolini edged Roger Newson 1up in the final of the Virginia State Amateur.
Notice to Tournaments email results
Commencing with the start of 2008, the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking becomes the Golfweek Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking completely replacing Golfweek's men's amateur ranking that existed before 2008. As such, submitting any related results directly to Golfweek means such results get subsequently forwarded to the Scratch Players Group for inclusion in the ranking. The quickest way to get any tournament results in the ranking is to email such results via the email link above or email to group @ scratchplayers.org immediately upon the conclusion of the event (and before leaving the event site). Tournaments can alternatively email Scratch Players with the exact URL extension (webpage address) where such results can be found. We will then retrieve a copy of the results directly off such webpage.
Results Format
Tournaments that email results should do so in the preferred format options as follows:
- html
- Excel
- Word
A pdf is accepted but not preferred.
Faxed or "snail mailed" results are not accepted.
Results must include:
- last name(s) clearly distinguished from other names
- full first name (or other name, if initials, 2 minimum needed)
- names in English (or other latin based language)
- player's home country (if event open to those outside)
- final total score if stroke only event (no per hole scores)
- the match play tree if match determined champion
Results should include:
- player's hometown, state/province & country as applies
- stroke scores in match events if 36 holes or more
Results should not include player home clubs.
If a player starts any round but does not finish, their score that round is "WD" (withdrew or retired), "NC" (no card) or "DQ" (disqualified). If a player fails to show up for any round, their score should be "NS" (no show). If a player withdraws before the start of the event, their name should not appear in the results.
Warning Notice
As of January 1 of 2008, every tournament worldwide included in the ranking should have their complete results timely website posted on their event website, the host course website or by a significant golf media website. "Timely" means within 48 hours of the last putt dropping in the event. "Complete" results means the 18 hole scores of every player who started the tournament. Any tournament that fails to have their results timely website posted and does not email such results timely to Scratch Players or Golfweek, will have their finish position points cut to a nominal level for the champion and total point spots down to a maximum of 5 spots.
Event points are based on:
- number of world top 10, 50, 100, 200 & 500 players
in a field as of the start of such tournament
- size of start field
- total holes &/or rounds played
- other minor factors
The primary factor is the quality of the field as quantified by the number of top players who start. If an event seeks more points, there is no chance that increased points will be awarded based on a "pledge" or "promise" that an event will get a better field. Starting in 2008, each tournament in the ranking will be tracked closely to compile the start field statistics. Any adjustment in win points, total points and finish position spots thereafter will be based on such statistics.
We are well aware that events have "ebbs & flows" of field quality annually which is why we use an average of field stats based on multiple years.
If you are not sure if a particular tournament is included, please see the requirements for tournament inclusion below. email Inquiries email results
Ranking Description & explanation
Click HERE for previous news. Next up is the Rice Planters, North & South Am, Spirit of America, Cameron Corbett Vase, Ontario Amateur, & others ending by 7/8. For a chronological listing of top amateur tournaments worldwide, see the World Master Calendar or for just the USA, see Master USA Calendar.
In short, finish position points for included events carry for one year, then are halved in the following year, then vanish after 2 years. Event weighting and spots paid based on who is in the field, how many start, and over how many holes/rounds.
No ranking in golf at any level will ever be dead accurate and many existing rankings are just a notch above "guestimates" and/or skewed for a particular agenda, bias or intended result of the issuing entity. Notwithstanding, the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR) is the first ever compiled, the first to include all amateurs worldwide and the most comprehensive, accurate and unbiased ranking of amateur golfers ever undertaken by far. It does not need to be perfect, just close and for the top 200, that has been accomplished.
As of September of 2007, 9 months since the SPWAR's inception in
early January, the SPWAR has become the world amateur ranking recognized in the United States which represents about half the total golfing world and such domination continues to this day. Among all major amateur tournaments in the USA not conducted by the USGA, only the SPWAR is recognized for event exemptions or invitations to the exclusion of any other world amateur ranking attempt. The USGA does not as yet officially recognize any rankings for amateurs. SPWAR has also evolved as the world amateur ranking of choice among most of the top amateur players in the world which is the primary measure to validate the SPWAR's dominance.
We don't care where the top ranked amateurs are from.
We only endeavor to identify who they are.
The ranking will be updated at least weekly but usually daily. It is "sortable" via last name and current ranking and sub-rankings can be generated:
- by region (Asia, Australasia, GB&I, European Mainland, Latin America, North America, Middle East & Africa),
- by country and,
- by state/province (in Australia, Canada & the USA initially).
- by name search (by last name or any other name)
When a player appears in the ranking's top 200, his photo will be added to the finish position detail one sees after clicking a player's last name if such a photo is available. Scratch players with photos not in the top 200 indicates they were previously ranked at that level.
The ranking covers over 900 amateur or open tournaments worldwide as well as amateur performance in any of the events on one of the top nine pro tours worldwide included in the official world pro ranking (OWGR) as well as amateur performance in any pro event "of note" anywhere in the world. Some amateur tournaments are conducted primarily as team events but as long as individual stroke or stableford scoring is tabulated for all rounds, it is treated as an individual event in the ranking. Collegiate play, primarily in the USA, is also integrated into the ranking in a big way as a sub-ranking for tournament performance before the D1 Regionals. The 3 US collegiate D1 Regionals as well as the Nationals in all divisions are included as separate tournaments. Both the US & British Senior Amateurs, some of the top Society of Senior events in the USA and a few others are the only senior events in the ranking. One way or another, well over 1680 amateur, open, collegiate, senior, mid-amateur or junior tournaments are covered by the ranking thereby rendering the ranking the most comprehensive in the history of golf.
There are over 5400 amateurs in the ranking database earning at least some points somewhere worldwide the last 2 years. Of those, only the ones currently ranked in the top 1000 appear in the ranking as website updated at least weekly but in many cases, hourly (includes ties for top 1000).
Since the ranking can be sorted online by visitors, it also yields the most accurate ranking of amateurs for virtually any country of significance, in each USA & Australian state, and in each Canadian province of any golf significance.
The ranking is compiled via a "finish position" points basis for the past two years of tournaments or sub-rankings. The world ranking will be on a two year rolling basis with points "aging away" or eroding in annual increments where points earned are halved in the second year, then vanish after 2 years. "Net" points are after aging. Point positions tied are "summed & split". In individual match play events, we do not show "finalist, semi's, quarters" or the like. Additionally, those who make the same match play round are considered tied but such ties are first broken by stroke scoring in cases where stroke play seeding was at least 36 holes. As an example, say Aaron, Bob, Carl & Dave all make just the quarter-finals. Aaron shot 214 in stroke play, Bob 209, Carl 211 and Dave shot 214. In this case, Bob finishes in the 5th point spot, Carl the 6th spot and Aaron & Dave tie for the 7th spot. This is based on the premise that Bob had a better overall tournament performance than the other quarter-finalists. Points awarded for the same match round are not significantly different but there is a difference to distinguish the better score in stroke play. Finish position in several team events are expressed in terms of match wins/halves/loses while the actual finish position is determined on an intra-event point system. In these cases, a player gets or loses one point for a doubles match and gets or loses 2 points for a singles match. Upon conclusion, all player intra-event points are summed with the top player having the most such points. He would be the "winner" for purposes of
SPWAR website addresses (URL's)
re-directed to this ranking
www.
officialworldamateurgolfranking.com
officialworldamateurgolfranking.org
officialworldamateurgolfranking.net
OWAGR.com
OWAGR.org
OWAGR.net
SPWAR points and so on down the list. Most players in these types of events do not get SPWAR points and therefore their participation in the event is not reflected in the ranking.
Amateurs turning professional will be eliminated from the ranking as soon as it comes to our attention based on professional organization membership, entering any pro tour qualifying "school" as a pro, signing with an agent or sponsor, and/or actually cashing a check in a professional event. If you see a player in the ranking you believe has turned pro, please email us with a link to where on the internet we can go to verify pro status.
this graphic may be used as a "link icon"
(a custom designed link icon for individual websites provided upon request)
In order for an amateur or open tournament to get in the ranking, it must:
- be conducted over at least 54 holes if only stroke or stableford format (except US and British Open final qualifying plus US Am Qualifying)
- be conducted over at least 5 rounds if a stroke/match combo
- have a start field size of at least 32 tournament scratch male players (there are rare exceptions for international events and national championships of minor countries)
- have at least one man age 35 or younger in the field (except for the limited number of top senior events worldwide)
- have at least one male age 17 or older in the field
The ranking does not discriminate based on sex. However, no women's only amateur event worldwide is sufficiently strong enough to merit inclusion. Consequently, for a woman amateur to be included in the ranking, they must perform well enough in men's events to finish in the applicable point spots. Among all the 1500 plus events included in the ranking, a woman amateur has finished "in the money" (a SPWAR point spot) only once since 2004 when Michelle Wie made the quarter finals in the men's 2005 US Public Links.
Player points are assigned to each finish position in each event based on normal strength of field annually along with field size and number of total rounds played. In rare instances, a separate set of points will be assigned to the same tournament for different years when extraordinary circumstances arise. This occured in 2006 with the South African Amateur when the field was doubled to 312 players on the same course to be used for the World Team Amateur 6 months later. It will occur again in 2008 when the stroke play portion of the Australian Amateur will be substituted with the SAGA Invitational, a significant "National Trial" event already in the SPWAR. In this later case, combining events without adjustment would result in "double dipping" of SPWAR points which, of course, will not be allowed to happen anywhere worldwide. However, with the 2008 World Amateur Team Championship being played at the same course as the 2008 Aussie Am / SAGA Invitational, that will be taken into account.
The top individual amateur event in the world is deemed to be the US Amateur and 1000 points are awarded to the champion along with points for all players making match play plus those missing match by one shot or playoff. Points are also awarded to the top 4 players & ties in US Am stroke play which is the maximum spots for any stroke play event worldwide that seeds match play. Most of the top 50 amateur tournaments in the world in terms of SPWAR win points and total points for all finish position spots are annually conducted in the United States based on the documented number of top players in start fields anywhere worldwide. An event can be awarded as few as two spots for points. How many points and for how many spots in each tournament is information that is to remain proprietary to it's creator and owner for the foreseeable future**.
The tournaments in the ranking include:
- all events on the Master World Amateur Calendar (maintained & website posted by the SPG)
- all events on the Master USA Amateur Calendar (maintained & website posted by the SPG)
- the national amateur championship, closed and/or open, for every significant golf country and most others where golf is played
- the state amateur championship, stroke and/or match, for every state in Australia (all USA State Amateurs in the USA Master Calendar)
- the provincial championship, stroke and/or match, for any of the Canadian provinces with a population of 500,000 or more
- the top 99% of events included in any other men's world ranking
- the top 600 amateur tournaments in the world, by any measure, are included in the ranking
- at least 400 more tournaments than any other amateur or pro ranking worldwide
In certain areas of the world, match play events are seeded from what they deem to be a separate tournament. If match play seeding is determined based on a stroke play event, then both such competitions are considered the same tournament. In those cases, the stroke play portion gets a separate array of points for up to the top 4 spots with the match play dominanting the player points allocation. In these cases, match play performance, in essense, validates stroke play scoring.
If you feel a certain event should be included in the world amateur ranking that is not already in the ranking, please advise with the following:
- email us the complete results including full first & last names, all with home countries determinable for the top finishers, for the last 2 years and/or,
- email us the exact URL extension (webpage address) where such complete results can be found.
Such tournaments will be reviewed to verify that they meet minimum inclusion standards for possible inclusion in the ranking. Within a year or two, all events in the ranking will be required to timely website post results for any event to get significant points or points beyond 5 spots. In the modern era of the internet, any significant amateur or Open tournament worldwide should website post results somewhere and virtually all do now.
On a final note to those who conduct tournaments and/or scoring for such tournaments, see information in teal colored box above. Including a contestant's home club or any club is worthless information for a world amateur ranking. In terms of home country for players currently residing elsewhere, the distinguishing factor is citizenship. Specifically for example purposes, if a player is currently in the USA and he is not eligible to be named to the USA Walker Cup or World Amateur team, he is not from the USA. If a player is eligible to be named to a World Amateur team for more than one country (dual citizenship), then he is from the citizenship country he currently and primarily resides in. Any player's primary country of citizenship will first be established by what country he represented in the World Team Amateur if applicable. In other words, if a player from England can not make the World Team Amateur representing England but is also a citizen of, say, Bermuda, then that player is no longer from England but from Bermuda in the SPWAR if he plays the World Team Amateur for Bermuda. Call it the "Jamaican bobsled" rule.
ranking FAQ's comments of questions? email us Ranking Archive & prior news
**The disclosure of a player points grid or the like to show what events get what points is not provided as this would enable "copycats" to essentially replicate the ranking and "re-package" such a ranking as their own. If someone else wants to come up with a world amateur ranking, they will have to invest their own time and expense and figure it all out themselves. Copycats are hereby notified that the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking is copyrighted with all rights reserved and such rights will be strictly enforced with all legal remedes pursued for those infringing on such rights.