TopGolfer.ie

So the Top Golfer site is up and running, and the Facebook Page friends are starting to migrate accross to join the website community. This morning, there's over a thousand friends attacthed to Top Golfer on Facebook, and just over one hundred registered for the TopGolfer.ie community, which will balance out in time no doubt. Initial activity on the Forum has been slow, but I imagine that will change once a golf ball is struck in earnest, later this month at Fota Island.

Without a doubt, this is a real positive for the hundreds of regular competitors at Senior and Junior Scratch level. To date, the only awareness of scratch cups and who was doing well has been generated by word of mouth, some Howdidido-perving and the odd topic on Boards.ie. The level of competition among this body of players has been crying out for a more formal and central publication of results and activity. It also adds incentive to those who in the past, might have just dabbled in one or two local scratch cups, to get them travelling that bit further down the road. I firmly believe that the little bit of extra hype and publicity that TG can bring will draw players away from their home club Sunday Stableford, down to a 36 hole strokes event from the back tees elsewhere- a far better platform for competition among single-digit players.

The tour is based on existing Scratch Cups which in themselves, tend to be of varying prestige. Some will command a field from all corners of the province, or even country. Others, for whatever reason, are restricted to a more local following. The TG Tour Schedule has a mixture of both, from what I can see. Notable exceptions are major Senior events such as Mullingar or Dundalk, and in the Junior category, the two-course Headfort event, which has been such a highlight of the JSC calender, is also not listed. On the positive side, there's what I think is the first ever JSC at Castle GC, who were Junior Cup finalists last year. That'll be an interesting one, even if most of their 2009 Junior Cup team are playing off 2 and in the throws of puberty by the time the 2010 event rolls around.

One thing that's not setting my world on fire from reading the detail on the TG site, is the absence of any kind of order of merit, or league table. There's mention of a "series" and a "community", and the winners of the events play off at the end of the year, but that's kind of it. What I initially expected when I noticed TG first, was a link up of individual events, by way of a points system for the top 10 or 20 guys at each event- now that would be a competitive gem! I assumed this was a way of rewarding the regular players who get to as many events as they can, and perform well. Maybe there's a reason for not doing it. Regardless, via Twitter and the Forum, they seem to be open to feedback so maybe they'll pick up on it. I'll post up a note when I have a chance.

Seeing as the modern amateur championships are now almost exclusive to those playing full-time golf, Top Golfer may well prove to be a great way to shine a light on the weekend warriors. Sure, they may spend more time scraping dried-in wheatabix off bibs than pitching off a tight lie, or have to put more hours in at their desk than at the range, but their dedicated guys playing a good level of golf. Good luck to all involved!