Competitive Enhancements

MGA Announces Enhancements to Competitive Schedule for 2008 and Beyond

When the 2008 MGA season kicks off in April with the Pro-Am Team Championship, competitors will get the first look at what MGA officials believe will be a popular effort to provide significant enhancements to their series of competitive events.

"We realize that our members have a limited number of tournaments they can play in each year, and we want them to look to the MGA events on the schedule first for their competitive experience," said MGA President Jim Faust. "That means we have to provide a quality experience at an affordable price and increase the number of opportunities for players of all skill levels to compete for prizes."

The first thing players will notice when looking at the 2008 schedule is the number of weekend days included this year. "We listened to our players, and I can't express how thrilled we are that our member clubs have stepped up and offered their courses on weekend days," said Faust. "Eight of the thirteen competitive rounds that we play this year are on a Saturday or Sunday and we are excited about that."

Also, re-establishing a flight system and dramatically increasing the prize pay-out to players will be a priority this year. "We have to balance the fact that we are staging elite competitive events with the need to attract enough players for those events to be successful," continued Faust. "After much discussion, it was determined that the best way to do that was to re-establish a performance based flight system where the field will be divided based on first round scores in the two-day events (excluding the Pro-Am Team Championship) and 36-hole scores in the MGA Amateur Championship."

Based on minimum field sizes of 70 players the MGA plans on paying at least three places in three separate flights in their two Four-Ball events and at least three places in five flights in their three Individual Medal Play events. This plan calls for an approximate 50% increase in total prizes and awards to be returned to players. Also, every overall champion and runner-up in the five core events will receive engraved, keepsake crystal trophies.

Other enhancements planned for this year include a completely re-designed website; expanded use of the BlueGolf system to provide instant leaderboards, online registration, pairings by email, etc.; and an overall commitment to providing players with a true championship experience.

"2008 should prove to be a very exciting year for the MGA and it's members," said Faust, "and we welcome the continued feedback that has led to many of these changes."