Sammey1 (International captain) and I (US captain) are organizing a first-of-its-kind Presidents Cup competition that involves a radical departure from the typical community-run contest. We will eschew the custom of players scheduling matches at their convenience, which causes battles to play out sporadically over weeks, draining enthusiasm, and instead have set dates for the sides to come together in the hopes this will create a sense of immediacy that makes the overall experience more engaging.
With that preamble out of the way, let's move on to all the particulars.
Team Composition
As in the real Presidents Cup, there will be a team representing the United States and an International squad made up of players from the rest of the world, excluding Europe.
Those teams will be comprised of:
- 8 top eligible^ finishers from qualifying tournaments
- 4 captain's picks
- 2 alternates
^ Any entrant from an ineligible country finishing in the top eight will be passed over.
In the event of a tie for the final qualifying position(s), WGT's tiebreaking procedure will not be utilized. Instead, the decision will be left to the discretion of the captains.
Any automatic qualifiers who subsequently prove unavailable will be replaced at the discretion of the captains.
- Players who entered and posted a score in the wrong event should continue playing that event. The setups for both are identical, so direct comparisons can be made between them, and we will be "transferring" scores between leaderboards, for lack of a better term.
Qualifying Tournaments
Parallel qualifying tournaments, kindly created for the purpose by WGTNico, will consist of four 18-hole rounds played over four weeks, utilizing controlled wind speeds and directions to ensure fairness for all participants. These can currently be found in the Limited Time section of the active tournament list.
- Olympic Club - 13 green speeds, 20 MPH average wind
- Erin Hills - 13 green speeds, 24 MPH average wind
- Congressional - 14 green speeds, 24 MPH average wind
- Pebble Beach - 14 green speeds, 29 MPH average wind
Match Play
Once teams are determined, the sides will meet the first two weekends of October. The bulk of matches will be played Saturdays in and around the midday North American period utilized for major WGT events (USGA, Live Series, etc.), though accommodations will be made for any prospective participants from Australia and Asia (Friday evening/Saturday evening, etc.). Matchups will be determined by captains blindly submitting their playing orders.
The first weekend will consist of eight alt-shot matches played in two "sessions" of four matches each at Chambers Bay and Oakmont with the following conditions:
- 18 holes
- Winds - Moderate
- Tees - Championship
- Greens - 13
- Clock - 90 seconds
- Timeouts - 7
- Apparel - Off
The default of 90 seconds is intended to account for the lack of proper timeouts in alt shot. If all participants in a particular match agree, that stipulation can be changed.
The second weekend will consist of 12 singles matches at Merion with the following conditions:
- 18 holes
- Winds - Moderate
- Tees - Championship
- Greens - 13
- Clock - 60 seconds
- Timeouts - 7
- Apparel - Off
With the availability of timeouts, the default clock setting drops to 60 seconds. But, again, participants in matches are free to negotiate a change.
All matches in both alt shot and singles are worth one point to the winner. Matches tied after 18 holes will be halved and the point split. The first team to 10.5 points wins the competition. Should the teams be tied after the completion of 20 matches, the participants in the final singles match will play a nine-hole match to determine the winner, going to sudden death if necessary.
Good luck to all those who participate. If there are any questions, feel free to ask.