If you are a female amateur golfer, you can now find how you rank amongst your peers around the world. The R&A have launched with Women’s World Amateur Ranking, following the Men’s World Amateur Ranking which was launched a few years ago.
The ranking uses the results of tournaments from around the world which are weighted (with higher points) according to the status of the event. The event can earn bonus points depending on the rankings of the players in the field.
There are two mens’ rankings: R&A World Amateur Ranking and Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking. Interestingly there are discrepancies in the rankings of players some players ranked quite differently from one ranking system to the other.
In my opinion, the Scratch Players has ranked the Australian players more closely to how our domestic ranking would rank them. Over the past two years there has been a bit of an evening out of the rankings. One of the biggest differences in these two rankings is that the Scratch Players ranking is a rolling two-year ranking with points being ‘aged’ in the second year (a reduced percentage). The R&A ranking is a rolling one-year ranking, making player movement within the ranking more prone to larger shifts.
The top three ranked Australian women are Emma de Groot (44), Bre Elliott (56) and Courtney Massey (62). With the main women’s ranking events being played in the next few months
Increasingly the world rankings are being used as a means of qualifying for events, thus overcoming the issue of handicap differences around the world. I’ll be watching the rankings with interest as will the players.