Am I missing something or is it no longer true that pros under 955 rating can play am ?
I looked up the different catigories and could not find anything but if I remember what was sent to us in the mail had something in it .
I also see , if I am not mistaken , that all pros are going to have a one shot deal of returning to am ?
Is this true too ?

Any input will be greatly appriciated . Thanks Bill Geibel

Now I go to player classification and it is the 2005 version ( the last one I checked was 2004 ) and it says pro players can play down .
Sorry for the confusion , but I assume a 2006 will come out and be right ? or are we just going by the 2005 standards ?

www.pdga.com/documents/td/06PlayerDivisionsGridFinal.pdf (http://www.pdga.com/documents/td/06PlayerDivisionsGridFinal.pdf)

Thanks Chuck , I knew I seen it somewhere but could not find it here or there or anywhere at this time .

Pro's should not play Am's...........................if they do , then Am's will play Novice and so on..............................then advancement is thrown out the window again.

Pro's should not play Am's...........................if they do , then Am's will play Novice and so on..............................then advancement is thrown out the window again.



A Pro rated 874 has no business playing Pro (or masters at that rate) With this rating he could play Rec if he wanted.

Ratings STOP sandbagging. As a player gets good, his rating will rise and he will be forced to move up. The only problem is there is nothing in place to force an Advanced Player to move up. You could have a 1000 rated Advanced player and could not do anything other than peer pressure to get him to move up.

That's the million dollar question: should anyone ever be forced to turn pro?

The only problem is there is nothing in place to force an Advanced Player to move up. You could have a 1000 rated Advanced player and could not do anything other than peer pressure to get him to move up.

We could put a cap on Advanced and create a higher amateur division. The small number of players in the division would eliminate any financial incentive to linger there. The number of 955+ rated amateurs is growing much faster than the PDGA generally. Right now there are 125 "Expert" amateurs >954. I think it is fine to wait until you are 980 or 990 to turn pro if that's your preference. But those guys sgould not be competing against 916 rated players. That's not competition. :D

Or rolling divisional ratings breaks and not change the divisional structure.

At this point though, I'm starting to think that we really do need a division between advanced and open. There are just way too many open players dropping out due to hopeless competitive situations in the most expensive division and do we really need to discuss or debate the reluctance of very skilled advanced players to take the next step?

It would certainly mean short term loss of field size for Open, but consider the cost to the sport as a whole as we lose so many 940 to 970ish (added cash) players.

It is a tough decision and I can understand the sit tight and ride it out position. Still, we seemed to make such progress with the new Am Plan of a few years ago, it seems a shame not to bring this sort of benefit to all skill levels.

Basically what it tells a player like me, already maxed out on time to practice (none), that I will just have to wait it out until my skill levels deteriorate enough that I don't have to be at the bottom of a competitive division anymore.

Is that really a message we want to send our better players because they are in a division with a 10 stroke per round scoring spread?

I say we should go back to how it use to be, when a player accepts cash your a pro for life. This players rating thing is not working, SORRY P.D.G.A. but it not working. Unless you all can fix this problem. ( NOT!) :D

That's the million dollar question: should anyone ever be forced to turn pro?

absolutely not!!!

I say we should go back to how it use to be, when a player accepts cash your a pro for life. This players rating thing is not working, SORRY P.D.G.A. but it not working. Unless you all can fix this problem. ( NOT!) :D



A player is a Pro for life, they are just allowed to play where they are competitve (for prizes) if there skill level drops below that of what is considered "pro caliber".

A 900 rated MPO is not competing at a Pro level. He is donating, and likely not to attend many events. If he is allowed to start attending events and competing with the amateurs, it is likely that he will once again get into the game and improve to a point that he will be competitive in MPO again.

Well at 955 player rating I can understand the following logic from you .

That's the million dollar question: should anyone ever be forced to turn pro?

absolutely not!!!

I beleive that there is a place where players should have to play pro ( i.e. having 980 or so rated advanced players still playing adv is crazy , having 1000 rated masters hiding out in a division just cause they are 40 is crazy too ) but that level can be adjusted for the level of compition that shows up .( tier based player rating cut offs or as in Nicks Idea we can rotate the levels so different people sit at the the top of the feed chain for awhile )

I would be much more in favor of ratings breaks that change by tier than ones that change based on the calendar, but think both would be a little confusing for the players that don't keep up with their ratings.

I would be much more in favor of ratings breaks that change by tier than ones that change based on the calendar, but think both would be a little confusing for the players that don't keep up with their ratings.



I remember hearing the same sort of objections to the Am Plan I helped author a few years back. It didn't turn out to be "too confusing" did it? Not a garantee of success, still you have to admit that there is evidence at hand that doesn't make it certain to be confusing, right?

At 955 and me at 965, it seems strange that we are playing in such different divisions, doesn't it?

At 955 and me at 965, it seems strange that we are playing in such different divisions, doesn't it?



Not at Mid-Nats. You'd also get to play with me at 946 this year.

If things go as planned I'll be there. That is unless my plan to get my rating up to 985 is successful.

Things always work out as planned, right?