Junior golf is not just about swinging clubs and sinking putts—it's a dynamic world where performance is quantified, ranked, and celebrated. In this edition of our newsletter, we take a deep dive into the realm of junior golf rankings and ratings, deciphering the system that shapes the landscape of competition and college recruitment.
The World Amateur Golf Ranking
The idea of the WAGR System is: -
• To accurately rank players as they compete in competitions.
• To provide a ranking system that enables players to compare with each other even though
they may not directly compete against each other in events.
• To stimulate ambition in players and federations to succeed in development of their game
and golfing ability.
Importance of WAGR
WAGR has become more important in the last few years, and it is important that players and
parents have some understanding of this.
It is not a simple system, it is difficult to navigate but it is now important to ‘get on’ WAGR and to
gain some understanding of the system for you and your golfer.
Why has it become more important?
As the players progress through the system and want to play in the more challenging and prestigious tournaments they will need to have WAGR points!
More tournaments are using WAGR as part of their entry criteria, but many are still related to
handicap or a mixture of both. Many National Championships in this country and abroad now have entry via the WAGR system. For example having a low handicap sometimes isn’t enough to get you in, as ranking is looked at first. An example of this would be a tournament may choose from the first 2000 players that have entered there competition on the ranking system before going to look at who has the lowest handicap.
The WAGR Challenge
The challenge is to get on the WAGR system. To do this your golfer now needs to consider playing in some events that award WAGR points.
A player needs 6.5 points to be entered onto WAGR .
A player becomes ranked by playing in a WAGR ranking tournament at least 54 holes and finishing with a score of +8 or better, and most likely having to win the event in a position to obtain WAGR points of at least 6.5, which gets you on the ranking in the first place as mentioned above.
Having gained at least 6.5 points and ranked on the WAGR system it then becomes easier to gain
WAGR points, as every tournament you then play in that has WAGR points, you have the opportunity to pick some points up, depending on how others finish in the field. For example you may finish 80th in an event but if there are only a few players with rankings above you, you can still be awarded points for that event depending on the power.
The WAGR Power
Not all tournaments are equal, as they depend on the strength of the field that day.
A prestigious tournament eg R & A Women’s Amateur had a Power of 919 in 2023 it was a strong
field. Scottish Girls had a Power of 85 in 2023 not a very strong field.
This means that the higher the Power the more points will be awarded, the lower the Power
the less points on offer.
R & A Women’s Amateur awarded 6.5+ points up to 33rd place in 2023.
Scottish Girls awarded 6.5+ points only to first place in 2023 and top two places in 2022.
How do you then Initially Gain WAGR Points?
a) Play in a low power event, with a small field and win eg Faldo Series, Stephen
Gallagher, British Junior Golf, Independent Schools, Robert Rock etc. You can find out this information searching under ‘events’ on www.wagr.com
Remember 6.5+ is the magic number.
b) Win a slightly higher power tournament eg English U16, R & A U16, Scottish Girls or Boys - but win!
When a Player becomes Ranked on WAGR
Once on WAGR, i.e. having gained the initial 6.5 points, it then becomes easier to collect WAGR
points.
An example:– A player not on WAGR, wins the English U16 Girls (Power Rating 75) and this puts her on WAGR with 8.8 points. Then she plays in the next WAGR rated tournament, R & A Girls Amateur (Power Rating 556) and is placed 87th but gains 3.6 WAGR points.
(NB to play in the R & A Girls Amateur and without a WAGR ranking the player would have needed
to be placed in the top 9 to gain the magic 6.5+ points.)
Once a player is ranked and appears on WAGR then comes what I can only describe as the
‘complicated bit’ ie points gained, divisors and average points as can been seen on a WAGR player
record.
The Points Average is:- (total points gained/applied divisor) x 100 = Points Average
eg as below:- (3.6316 +8.8131) /7 x100 = 177.7814
The above player’s Divisor is 2 (number of comps), Adjusted Divisor is the minimum number 7, so
when the player has 19 entries the Adjusted Divisor could be 19 (ish).
WAGR is a 104-week rolling system, but the first year’s points do gradually become less important and diminish.
The Way Forward – some advice for players and parents?
Take the opportunity to play in a WAGR event to gain the initial 6.5 points if you can.
If you play against a smaller field, you would have to win!
Once on the WAGR system make sure you play in some WAGR rated tournaments each year to gain more points and maintain a WAGR ranking.
In Conclusion
It has become more important for players to gain WAGR points, the world of tournaments
has changed and is still changing. Albeit it appears a complicated system, it is easier to understand over time. But once on the WAGR system points are easier to gain from tournaments it’s just getting on it in the first place!!
Whether your junior golfer is aiming for collegiate stardom or simply seeking to excel on the course, understanding the intricacies of junior golf rankings is key to unlocking their full potential. Join us as we embark on this enlightening journey together!
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