Whilst I appreciate the fact that there are many reasons why people play WGT, let me put my ‘cards on the table’ and state that for me, and I suspect many others, it’s the ability to connect with others through the CC system that keeps me playing. Look at my score history and you’ll get a clear idea as to where my interest lies.
It seems to me that over recent months, or even longer, WGT has placed a lot of emphasis on things for gamers, and not so much for golfers. I’m a past golfer, but due to personal circumstances I am no longer able to play the game that I played for many years. During those years I found that being a member of the club was one of the best things about playing golf. As a WGT player I feel the ability to be a member of a CC is pretty much the same, but with some significant limitations and that’s why I think WGT should put more effort into improving the CC component of WGT and I’ve got a couple of suggestions along those lines.
Coins! What value are they under the current structure? Whilst others might play ‘coin rooms’ or one or three hole games, I don’t and have no interest in doing so. My suggestion is for WGT to set up a ‘CC Coin Bank’ system so that WGT Coins can be played for in CC tournaments. The CC tournament creation system already has a facility to set an entry fee and to ‘Add to Purse’ in relation to credits, so why can’t WGT Coins be added as an alternative. The ‘WGT Coin Bank’ system would need to be set up so that the CC has control over the payout arrangements as many CC’s operate their own handicap system and don’t rely on the ‘off-the-stick’ scores that WGT publish on the Tournament Results page on the WGT website. Under the current WGT scoring system the top players in the CC would win all the time! That’s not what I’m looking for! The CC would need to have a nominated ‘Director’ in charge of the ‘Coin Bank’ with the ability to transfer the WGT Coins to the players in the tournament who have won as determined by the tournaments pay-out arrangements.
Another suggestion I have relates to the WGT scorecard system. I would like to see a more detailed, hole-by-hole scorecard system for CC tournaments, so that the tournament organiser has more information on each player in the tournament. WGT already shows a player their scorecard at the half-way stage in an eighteen hole event and at end of every event. Why can’t these scorecards be captured and made available to the tournament organiser to use when and where required. Such a system would open up the opportunity for a CC to run a wider range of events, in conjunction with their handicap system that many CC’s have. You could run Stableford, Par, Four Ball and Best Ball tournaments as well as different events such as ‘Triple Sixers’ or ‘Birdie Chase’ events or even a ‘season eclectic’ and there are undoubtedly others . The opportunities for CC’s to maintain interest in their tournaments, as well as the possibility to retain players or attract new ones to WGT due to more variety would also be a bonus. If the opportunity to get more scoring information from CC tournaments was available, I’m sure that many CC’s would get involved.
As I stated earlier, I’m a golfer, albeit a past one, not a gamer, so these are a couple of ideas I’ve got that I think would improve the CC system on WGT. I’d like to hear what others think about my ideas as well as adding any ideas of their own. If, like me you are more CC aligned than other aspects of WGT maybe we can get some changes made. Apologies for being quite ‘long winded’!
Cheers,
Bob.