Golf Channel Amateur Tour

[Clueless]

Just signed up

I just signed up for the Golf Channel Amateur Tour. Who else from the board plays and what can I expect?

[puttnforthe8]

Cool. Glad to here it.

What flight will you be in?

First tournament is next week. However, it does not count toward season standings.

This years National Championship will be played at TPC Sawgrass!!!!!! That is worth trying to qualify.

We have new TDs this year again...the ones from last year did not stay on.

This should be a good year as the Golf Channel is listening more and more to feedback.

As for what to expect...well expect 14-22 in your flight and expect to shoot your HC or better in order to win. The GCAT is very competitive in the flights and you have to perform in order to win.

I play in the Palmer flight...4 over is a typical winning score.

We will have 2 tournaments per month until next October. There will be 2, maybe 3 regional tournaments that folks will travel. Phoenix usually hosts 1 of the regionals with the others in CA.

Good luck if you play in the first one.

[Guia]

What is an average cost of a tournament? Thanks

[sosinsurr]

I pulled up the Phoenix schedule, their next tourney is $125...then they have one that cost $850 in February

[puttnforthe8]

All tournamaents are $125. Ocasionally there will be one a little less. The regionals are $250-$265(these are 2 day tournies).

The tournament that is $850 is the Duel in The Desert in Vegas. This is just an extra annual tourney and not just for PHX, its for anyone. It is a 2 man deal and the $850 includes your room as well.

Only a few folks make that trip.

The tour Championship is also a 2-day and will be the same price as the regional.

Than national championship is 4 rounds and is $750.

If you make the team, there is a Ryder Cup event also which has the tours from the country competing for the Team Championship(18 holes BB match play, 18 hole Ind. Match play and 9 holes Alt shot match play). This is usually paid for through fundraisers or from everyone on tour chipping in over the course of the season.

Each tourney there is also $20 skins.

[Lumpy_22]

Tournament entry fee is based on the course and prize pool. Usually they get a discount on rack rate (maybe 25% at best) ..

So Say you play a $50 round couse.... $35 goes to the course. Another $30 (roughly) goes into the prize pool for your flight. Another $ 10-20 covers you cart, range balls etc. and then the Golf Channel makes their cut as does the director's. The Director's don't make much based on what they do, they make all the arrangements, do the setup, scoring, computer input, deal with problems and questions... they are reason the tour exists.. the Golf Channel lends their name for credibility purposes..

None of this is a knock against the Golf Channel in any way, nor the director's that run the individual tours.. I've played in events and won in Manitoba and Orlando, and competed in the nationals in Orlando in 2008 finishing 22nd in my flight of 136. Overall I have nothing but positive to say in regards to these tournaments.... my only negative would be the cost...

Enjoy and play well ...

[puttnforthe8]

[quote name='Lumpy_22' post='2092718' date='Nov 30 2009, 01:42 AM']Tournament entry fee is based on the course and prize pool. Usually they get a discount on rack rate (maybe 25% at best) ..[/quote]


Not in AZ Lumpy. We maintain a constant price all year round no matter the course or any other factors.

[BALLARD2]

hope you have a good experience..
i played a few in the 8-12 hcap group.
it took near par to win quite a few times?
i was playing to a 10 and had not broken 77 in my life,
so i found that flight too "competitive" for me :-(
it seemed to me that everyone accepted this to be correct, so i just stopped playing.

[Guia]

Sounds like some sandbaging. 8 - 10 handicap shouldn't take an even par round to win.

[puttnforthe8]

There is no sandbagging. Not possible. If an even par round is shot like that, you will get moved up right quick here in AZ.

But shooting even par is not impossible depending on the length of the course. But in AZ all the flights are quite competitive. But you do have to shoot your HC or 1-2 under.

You can look back on our results from last year: 3.9 & below is even par to win, 4 - 7.9 takes 76, 77, 78 to win, 8 - 11.9 takes 79, 80, 81, 82 to win.

The GCAT maintains it own Tour Index as well and it is monitored by the TD and thru peer review as well. If you go under the index for your flight by you get bumped.

I know this the hard way...I got bumped to a flight for the National championship....I played well towards the end of the season, then ended up having to compete with the higher flight at nationals just when I thought I was going to have a shot at a Natl Championship. Oh well....I didn't embarass myself and actually did quite well.

Here is last years scoring average for 8 -12 flight: 83 average.


Rank Player Rounds Played 1+5+10+ +/- Avg # Strokes
1 Cal Dunville 1 +6.00 77.00 77.00
2 Chris Ariano 11 +11.45 83.00 913.00
3 Richard Ramirez 15 +11.87 83.47 1,252.00
4 Gary Mccrea 22 +12.05 83.64 1,840.00
5 Daniel Prado 2 +12.50 84.00 168.00
6 Christopher Price 1 +13.00 85.00 85.00
7 Michael Meracle 23 +13.30 84.91 1,953.00
8 Lorenzo Smith 8 +13.88 85.75 686.00
9 Huel Cox 2 +14.00 85.00 170.00
10 Harold Hoeg 25 +14.20 85.80 2,145.00
11 Ken Ludeman 6 +14.83 86.50 519.00
12 Carl Thackeray 17 +15.24 86.82 1,476.00
13 Jonathan Schoch 2 +15.50 87.00 174.00
14 Danny Jean 18 +15.83 87.44 1,574.00
15 TImothy Van Houten 1 +17.00 89.00 89.00
16 Mark Powell 4 +17.50 89.50 358.00
17 Kirk Burgess 7 +17.71 89.00 623.00
18 Steve Tharalson 9 +18.44 89.89 809.00
19 Glenn Piontek 4 +18.50 90.00 360.00
20 Scot Solano 1 +19.00 91.00 91.00
21 Kirk McClure 3 +19.67 91.67 275.00
22 Jameel Qureshi 1 +20.00 90.00 90.00
23 Roy Miele 10 +20.30 92.00 920.00
24 John Guthrie 1 +22.00 94.00 94.00
25 Greg Van Wieren 5 +22.20 93.80 469.00
26 Charles Molina 2 +39.00 110.00 220.00

Here is the season results for the guy that won the overall title for the year:

Date Tournament Course Score Place Points
Nov 2 Phoenix Kickoff Classic ASU Karsten Golf Course 84 2 125.00
Nov 16 Northwest Valley Championship Trilogy GC-Vistancia 80 2 125.00
Dec 7 Ocotillo Winter Championship Ocotillo Golf Club 83 T2 112.50
Jan 11 Palm Valley Winter Championship Palm Valley GC- Palms 85 T7 55.00
Jan 25 Lone Tree Championship Lone Tree Golf Club 84 T7 55.00
Feb 22 Vistancia Championship Trilogy GC-Vistancia 81 1 175.00
Mar 8 PHX- Coyote Lakes Campionship Coyote Lakes Golf Club 80 3 40.00
Mar 22 Hillcrest Championship Hillcrest Golf Club 83 T4 85.00
Apr 5 Palm Valley Spring Championship Palm Valley GC- Palms 84 T6 65.00
May 17 Anthem Championship Anthem Golf and Country Club - Persimmon 84 5 80.00
May 31 The Raven Championship Raven Golf Club at Verrado 86 T7 55.00
Jun 13 - Jun 14 WESTERN OPEN Grayhawk Golf Club - Raptor Course 83-91--174 T15 40.00
Jun 28 Northeast Valley Championship Talking Stick Golf Club - North 81 7 60.00
Jul 12 Legend Trail Championship Legend Trail Golf Club 86 4 90.00
Jul 26 The Legacy Championship The Legacy Golf Resort 81 8 50.00
Aug 9 Orange Tree Championship Orange Tree Golf Resort 81 4 90.00
Aug 22 - Aug 23 Phoenix Tour Championship Troon North - Pinnacle Course 81-83--164 5 160.00
Sep 22 - Sep 25 2009 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PGA West - TPC Stadium Course 86-91-82--259 CUT 0.00

[puttnforthe8]

Here is the results for the senior champion for the 8-12 range: He did have one score of 74.

Date Tournament Course Place Points
Nov 2 Phoenix Kickoff Classic ASU Karsten Golf Course 86 T5 75.00
Nov 16 Northwest Valley Championship Trilogy GC-Vistancia 85 9 40.00
Dec 7 Ocotillo Winter Championship Ocotillo Golf Club 83 1 175.00
Jan 11 Palm Valley Winter Championship Palm Valley GC- Palms 77 1 175.00
Jan 25 Lone Tree Championship Lone Tree Golf Club 78 3 100.00
Feb 22 Vistancia Championship Trilogy GC-Vistancia 85 T6 65.00
Mar 8 PHX- Coyote Lakes Campionship Coyote Lakes Golf Club 74 1 175.00
Mar 22 Hillcrest Championship Hillcrest Golf Club 82 3 100.00
Apr 5 Palm Valley Spring Championship Palm Valley GC- Palms 79 1 175.00
Apr 18 - Apr 19 WESTERN MASTERS PGA West - Nicklaus Tournament Course 90-95--185 T21 20.00
May 17 Anthem Championship Anthem Golf and Country Club - Persimmon 85 6 70.00
Jun 13 - Jun 14 WESTERN OPEN Grayhawk Golf Club - Raptor Course 79-83--162 T2 225.00
Jun 28 Northeast Valley Championship Talking Stick Golf Club - North 77 2 125.00
Jul 26 The Legacy Championship The Legacy Golf Resort 80 T6 65.00
Aug 9 Orange Tree Championship Orange Tree Golf Resort 79 1 175.00
Aug 22 - Aug 23 Phoenix Tour Championship Troon North - Pinnacle Course 83-77--160 T2 225.00
Sep 22 - Sep 25 2009 SENIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PGA West - Nicklaus Tournament Course 85-79-80-79--323 4 0.00

[BALLARD2]

hopefully the new tournament director has cleaned it up...
i know it was taking 1-2 over to win the 8-11.9 in 2008.
several times not once or twice...
2008 at bouganvilla(sp) the duke, corte bella are the ones that stick out to me,
i played with the winner at corte bella and became friends with the guy that shot +1 at bouganvilla
so it may be better now but i stopped playing because of it.
and i voiced my opinion as it was happening.
i think greg was the td in 08

[Lumpy_22]

Sounds like you guys have it better in Arizona.. except some odd scoring... I carry a normal handicap of 4 on my course that I've played 400 times, in the GC events I play in the 8 to 12, and it's based on your scores. After 3 scores, if your handicap is 7.2, your in the 4 to 8 group. I have played in the 4 to 8 and +2 wins often... funny though in 1 of my wins in the Hogan, I would have been 2nd in the 4-8 and 3rd in the Scratch, but wouldl have been 2nd in the 12-16 ?????? so some sandbagging happening but not as much as there is for normal handicap tournaments... I love a 12 cap shooting 75 and then getting 12 shots to boot ... net 63 ... I'd have to shoot 5 under to win...I've never shot 5 under or 4 or 3 .. been 2 twice n a par 71 ...in my life in maybe 2000 rounds ..so that's sandbagging..lol

[atlanta golfer]

Not sure about the gcat (can't afford those prices!) but on the egolf tour, you get to know the usual players pretty quickly, or someone else knows them, and people's egolf tournament handicap gets adjusted pretty quickly, after two events and sometimes even after one, and they are moved to the proper flight. I suspect the issues you speak about are usually due to someone who kind of comes out of nowhere, and wins quickly, then moves on. Some of those people seem to float from tour to tour, for obvious reasons.

[puttnforthe8]

[quote name='BALLARD2' post='2094730' date='Nov 30 2009, 11:18 PM']hopefully the new tournament director has cleaned it up...
i know it was taking 1-2 over to win the 8-11.9 in 2008.
several times not once or twice...
2008 at bouganvilla(sp) the duke, corte bella are the ones that stick out to me,
i played with the winner at corte bella and became friends with the guy that shot +1 at bouganvilla
so it may be better now but i stopped playing because of it.
and i voiced my opinion as it was happening.
i think greg was the td in 08[/quote]

Ahh. I recall the events you speak of! And Yes..Lorenzo shot 1 over at Corte Bella...His Home course btw and from 6400-6500 Yards. He never came very close again. The course rating for that course from the back is 69.6 and 119 slope. So the score pretty much matched the rating.

Bouganvilla and Duke were 2 or 3 over. From 6300-6400 yards.

The TD that year put the Hogans out at not much more than 6400 yards. He had a habit of doing that and only the Championship flight was set to full length. (he is supposedly starting a tour for only HCs under 6).

The thing with the AZ tour is that most of the players have handicaps established from 6700-7000 yards. When they stuck us at such short yardage the scores went lower as well.

Sorry about you experience Ballard...as I would have been in the Hogans with you that year. I think I shot decent all three of those events and lost to a very good score. But none of those guys ever repeated anything similar again the rest of the year or since then.

The TD this year will most definitely bump...plus the regional TD is actively involved in the HC review.

I have been playing the tour for 5 years and started out in Sarazen. I have to say that I have never felt that any tour season was unfairly set up. Those that legitimately required being bumped, were bumped. For a 1 round event, you had to perform no matter what flight you were in, because guys were going to be competitive.

As a side note: If you are not competitive in the flight you are in and your GCAT Tour index reflects that, you have the ability/choice to be reflighted to the next lower flight. But if you go out and start shooting good scores in that flight, you may be the one that folks are talking about and then you will get bumped back up.

[fore_life]

I really hope they didnt charge you guys $125 to play bouganvilla....

[Clueless]

First tournament was today. All I can say is it was awesome!! Well worth the price, can't wait for the regular season to start next month!

[sea8tea]

what was it like; give details? I'm thinking about joing the tour.

[Hidalgo]

[quote name='sea8tea' post='2108439' date='Dec 6 2009, 10:13 PM']what was it like; give details? I'm thinking about joing the tour.[/quote]

I'm not in ATL, but in CHA, and from what I've seen and heard ... if you're a senior you're out of luck. They'll put you in with the flat-bellied kids with no handicap or yardage compensation. The senior flights are going to have to increase before I give them $200 to play.

OTOH, if you're one of those youngsters, then you might want to give it a look.

[puttnforthe8]

[quote name='Hidalgo' post='2109003' date='Dec 7 2009, 07:16 AM'][quote name='sea8tea' post='2108439' date='Dec 6 2009, 10:13 PM']what was it like; give details? I'm thinking about joing the tour.[/quote]

I'm not in ATL, but in CHA, and from what I've seen and heard ... if you're a senior you're out of luck. They'll put you in with the flat-bellied kids with no handicap or yardage compensation. The senior flights are going to have to increase before I give them $200 to play.

OTOH, if you're one of those youngsters, then you might want to give it a look.
[/quote]


Sorry, I don't get this. If you're a 6 HC, your a 6 HC no matter what age you are. The seniors here regularly win when they play with the open players.

[puttnforthe8]

[quote name='Clueless' post='2108010' date='Dec 6 2009, 05:27 PM']First tournament was today. All I can say is it was awesome!! Well worth the price, can't wait for the regular season to start next month![/quote]

What flight were you in? How did you do? I lookoed at the scores....heard it was rough conditions for the day and scores were a bit higher.

Glad you enjoyed it. They posted the next few courses: Ocotillo, Vistancia(one of my favs), Lone Tree.

TPC of Sawgrass is the Nationals....I want to qualify for nationals for sure this year. I was already looking at places to stay!!!

[Carolina Golfer 2]

[quote name='puttnforthe8' post='2109886' date='Dec 7 2009, 05:12 PM'][quote name='Hidalgo' post='2109003' date='Dec 7 2009, 07:16 AM'][quote name='sea8tea' post='2108439' date='Dec 6 2009, 10:13 PM']what was it like; give details? I'm thinking about joing the tour.[/quote]

I'm not in ATL, but in CHA, and from what I've seen and heard ... if you're a senior you're out of luck. They'll put you in with the flat-bellied kids with no handicap or yardage compensation. The senior flights are going to have to increase before I give them $200 to play.

OTOH, if you're one of those youngsters, then you might want to give it a look.
[/quote]


Sorry, I don't get this. If you're a 6 HC, your a 6 HC no matter what age you are. The seniors here regularly win when they play with the open players.
[/quote]
it can matter. I have a good friend who is a 5 HC and he quit playing because whatever division that was, based on his HC they played from the tips or tees that were anywhere from 6900 to 7100 yards. He may be a 5 but he's in his 50's and doesn't hit it as far as some of the young guys in the same flight. He doesn't mind competing against younger and even better players he quite enjoys it, but it was just not fun for him to play 7,000 yard courses where he had to hit a hybrid or fairway woud on most of his second shots.

[puttnforthe8]

[quote name='Carolina Golfer 2' post='2109906' date='Dec 7 2009, 03:21 PM'][quote name='puttnforthe8' post='2109886' date='Dec 7 2009, 05:12 PM'][quote name='Hidalgo' post='2109003' date='Dec 7 2009, 07:16 AM'][quote name='sea8tea' post='2108439' date='Dec 6 2009, 10:13 PM']what was it like; give details? I'm thinking about joing the tour.[/quote]

I'm not in ATL, but in CHA, and from what I've seen and heard ... if you're a senior you're out of luck. They'll put you in with the flat-bellied kids with no handicap or yardage compensation. The senior flights are going to have to increase before I give them $200 to play.

OTOH, if you're one of those youngsters, then you might want to give it a look.
[/quote]


Sorry, I don't get this. If you're a 6 HC, your a 6 HC no matter what age you are. The seniors here regularly win when they play with the open players.
[/quote]
it can matter. I have a good friend who is a 5 HC and he quit playing because whatever division that was, based on his HC they played from the tips or tees that were anywhere from 6900 to 7100 yards. He may be a 5 but he's in his 50's and doesn't hit it as far as some of the young guys in the same flight. He doesn't mind competing against younger and even better players he quite enjoys it, but it was just not fun for him to play 7,000 yard courses where he had to hit a hybrid or fairway woud on most of his second shots.
[/quote]

I can understand that. He should have brought that up with the Regional Director! They need to hear that. They could have had the seniors play from a tee box up.

[Hidalgo]

[quote name='puttnforthe8' post='2109954' date='Dec 7 2009, 05:37 PM']I can understand that. He should have brought that up with the Regional Director! They need to hear that. They could have had the seniors play from a tee box up.[/quote]

When I inquired, I [b]DID [/b]bring this up with the RD and he just said, [i]"We have a Senior Flight if we have enough seniors. Otherwise, we mix you in with everyone else".[/i]

Like I said, unless they level the field I won't be playing. Nor will a lot of other elder players that I know.

[Bomb and Gouge]

I've played the GCAT the last two years. I'm going to play very few events in 2010.

The pace of play was ridiculous and when I'm paying 70% more for the courses, I don't want to wait around all day.

Other than that, it is a lot of fun and the people are great.

[Zooko23]

I wanted to play in a few of these but never looked into them too much cause im in tucson and they are all played in the PHX area. Plus I use to be an assistant pro for a few years and never got my amatuer status back, is it worth it? Or should I just play in the local skins games here, they let me play but only a +1 handicap

[puttnforthe8]

Probably not zook. You will be logging quite a few miles in the car for not the return you may be used to.

[Zooko23]

Ya plus our skins games are $15 for the cart fee plus $20 for the skins buyin. On a good day ive seen guys win 200 bucks. I won 65 last week. I dont rely care about the return. I just like havin ppl to play with every now and then. I wish I would saw your guy's golf outing on the 10th. I woulda liked to play in that for a hoot.