The Division I Competition Oversight Committee approved adjusting how team playoffs are conducted in the Division I Men’s Golf Championships.
Starting in 2019, an aggregate playoff counting scores of all five players on a team will be used to narrow the field from 30 to 15 and then again from 15 teams to the eight that advance to match play. The playoff would still be conducted in a “shotgun” format with the competing teams playing on five different holes.
Previously, team playoffs counted the low four scores of five team members relative to par.
The Division I Men’s Golf Committee believes using the aggregate score for the five players will make it less confusing to fans, coaches and players since all team members’ scores count toward their team total. Additionally, committee members said counting all five scores makes it likely that playoffs will end quicker.
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Regional course access policy
The Division I Competition Oversight Committee approved a proposal that courses hosting a regional tournament not be permitted to host a regular-season or conference postseason event during the prior academic year.
The men’s golf committee has heard feedback from coaches in the past that teams may have benefited from having played the golf course where regionals were conducted.
The committee believes this does not provide a fair playing situation to all teams selected to that regional site. The men’s golf committee is not indicating that the host cannot conduct an event in the city of the regional, just that the regular-season event would need to be played at another golf course in the city that year.
However, the committee will provide a waiver for any site that has a previously scheduled event for the 2018-19 academic year.
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Substitutions
The competition oversight committee also approved a recommendation that player substitutions be permitted during all conference postseason tournaments that determine the automatic qualifier for both teams and individuals.
Many conferences over the past year have asked to use the same substitution option for their postseason tournaments that was permitted at regionals and finals during the 2018 Division I Men’s Golf Championships.
