I'd like to start by saying this post is not a b!+(h session or an attempt to bash WGT in any way. It is intended to provide one player's perspective on recent change and ideas to keep the site growing.
I inquired about the prize money reduction to a WGT staff member last week after we saw the first reduction but received no response.
Disappointed and discouraged to say the least. This seems to be a rather drastic reduction and a VERY poor business decision. There is no way to win enough credits to buy equipment such as clubs and balls now so this appears to be a misguided attempt to boost "cash out of pocket" sales. I understand the logic but disagree with the strategy wholeheartedly. What's your motivation to try new equipment now? To me this will only hurt the sales of equipment because there's no point of spending your own money to upgrade equipment when you stand to win virtually nothing. I have been able to pay for most (not all) of my golf balls by
performing very well in tourneys and regularly bought clubs out of pocket to
test the latest equipment upgrades, but not anymore. When my current
credits are exhausted I will try playing with the starter balls again,
and if I'm unable to do so effectively will probably explore other
options. I fear many will do the same.
Other possibility regarding reduction is that this is an attempt to boost interest and participation in the premium tournaments, which I would like to see happen. That said, reducing free tourney prizes doesn't seem to be the right way to do it. To increase premium tourney participation, try reducing the buy-in. It may not work but seems worth a shot. What's better for WGT, 30 players in a tier paying $8 for entry or 150 players paying $4? Reducing buy-in would also prevent players from utilizing a loophole for entry which I won't discuss here.
I also fear purse reductions will stimulate an increase in the big NO NO which is multiple accounts. Many will create other accounts and go back to playing starter equipment from the up tees.
Here's the breakdown the last two weeks have brought us. I only investigated purse reductions in the master tier, but all have seen an enormous cut.
18 & 9 Hole Single Play
Week 45- 2000 purse, winner 360. Week 46- 900 purse, winner 162. Week 47- 700 purse, 126 winner. This represents a 65% decrease.
9 Hole Unlimited
Week 45- 1600 purse, winner 288. Week 46- 800 purse, winner 144. Week 47- 400 purse 72 winner. This represents a 75% decrease.
Please help us WGT. I love the site and want to keep playing here. I do understand the need to adjust the purses but this seems like way too much. I also believe that if prize money will not be boosted again, a proper change would be to adjust the payout from top 70 to 20 or 25. (.2% for a 70th place finish appears rather pointless, not even one penny in the 9 hole unlimited) This would reward excellence a bit more and perhaps motivate people to continue purchasing equipment.
I've always been taught that if you voice a problem with something you'd better provide suggestions on improving it. That's what I've tried to do here. So how do the rest of you WGTers feel about this? Please be constructive with your posts.
Thanks, Jake
Side note, you may indirectly make my wife very happy because it seems doubtful I will continue to spend 2-3 hours an evening playing virtual golf under the current payout structure! :)