A. Following the 2023-24 season, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) formed rankings working groups to provide feedback and recommendations on ranking methodology. The rankings working groups were comprised of members across NCAA Divisions I, II and III, plus representatives from NAIA and NJCAA programs.
Based largely on feedback from the working groups, the Divisions I, II and III NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Committees, in collaboration with Dr. Mark Broadie and NCAA staff, have made the following adjustments to the ranking methodology for the 2024-25 academic year:
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A. Yes, except for possible differences with players who do not compete in an entire event. A player who plays only in one round of a three-round event (example, because of a substitution) receives points for that round based on the round SG and is given a weight corresponding to one round. A player who plays only two rounds of a three-round event receives points for those two rounds based on the two-round average SG and is given a weight corresponding to two rounds. (Note: Did not finish (DNF) results are handled differently.)

A. There will be a minimum round requirement to be included in the individual ranking. This is consistent with the NCAA minimum round requirement to be selected for the NCAA postseason (for example, a minimum of 15 rounds are required in Division I). The minimum round requirement for ranking will increase as the season progresses to ultimately match the minimum requirement for postseason selections. These minimum round requirements will vary by division. To be included in the first rankings of the season, teams and players are required to have completed a minimum of four competition rounds.

A. Many sports used points-based ranking systems, including tennis and F1.

A. The SG to points ranking system is not 'gameable'. The ranking can’t be manipulated by schedule choice. Average points earned depends on a team’s performance and does not depend on: 1. The size of the event: The same points are awarded for the same performance in small and large events. 2. The strength of the event: The same points are awarded for the same performance in strong and weak events. 3. The number of rounds of the event: There is no advantage or disadvantage for playing in short or long events (because average points are weighted by the number of rounds in each event). 4. Whether the event is stroke play or match play. Note: In match play the margin of victory does not count like it does in stroke play.

A. The strength of field is the average SG of teams (or players) in the event. The SG calculations are updated after any new events are completed and take into account all data for the season-to-date.

A. Within an event, stroke differential is the same as the SG differential. For example, if one team’s average score in an event is 72.5 per player per round and another team’s is 74.0, then that 1.5 stroke differential becomes a 1.5 SG differential. The 1.5 SG differential produces different point awards for the two teams (and any two teams with a 1.5 SG differential would have the same ratio of point awards). Larger stroke differentials mean larger SG differentials which produce larger points differences.

A. All finish positions receive positive points. The ranking method takes into account stroke differential, so fewer points are awarded for finishing last by 10 strokes than last by one stroke.

A. Head-to-head results factor into the SG calculations and the subsequent point awards. In this way, head-to-head results have a significant impact on the rankings. The SG calculations are a more accurate version of head-to-head analysis because SG takes into account not only direct head-to-head results, but also the results of their opponents in their head-to-head matchups, their opponents’ opponents, and all subsequent levels of opponents. Beating top-ranked teams will lead to large SG values and large point awards for the event. The same large points can be earned by beating lower-ranked teams by a larger stroke differential. While stroke differential matters for the ranking in stroke play events, in match play the margin of victory does not matter (only the win-loss-tie outcome matters).

A. The ranking is determined by a team’s average points not their total points, so teams are not rewarded simply for playing in an extra one or two events.

A. The ranking system is based on stroke differentials and there is not a fixed number of total points for each event.

A. For the 2024-2025 season, points awarded in events with 2 teams (including match play and stroke play formats) will receive ⅓ the weight of events with 3 or more teams. For example, points in a 5-team 3-round event receive weight 1.0, points in a 5-team 1-round event receive weight ⅓, and points in a 2-team 1-round event receive weight ⅑. Other than this 2-team weighting, there is no ranking advantage or disadvantage to playing in large-field or small-field events.

A. From a ranking perspective, there is no advantage or disadvantage to playing in strong- or weak-field events. A team needs better finishes in weak-field events to earn the same points as in strong-field events. The SG calculation takes this into account. Of course, there are some practical limits to consider. For example, suppose a strong team plays in a weak-field event on an easy course, where even the weak teams shoot under par. The strong team would then need to score well under par in order to maintain their ranking (which might not be feasible). The takeaway is that there is no advantage or disadvantage to playing in strong- or weak-field events, within reason. Separate from the ranking, Division I also has the .500 rule in place to be eligible for Regionals. This needs to be considered when setting a schedule.

A. For the 2024-2025 season, if a team plays in an event out of their division and is the only team competing from that division, the points received will be weighted by ⅔. For example, if Team A is a DIII team, and plays in a 4-round event where it is the only DIII team competing, Team A’s points will be weighted ⁴⁄₃ x ⅔ = ⁸⁄₉ (with the 4 rounds contributing the ⁴⁄₃ weight and the out-of-division factor contributing the ⅔ weight).
Other than this ‘out-of-division ⅔ factor’ there are no other changes to the handling of events with teams from multiple divisions. As per last season, all Strokes Gained calculations are done across all NCAA divisions simultaneously. This improves the accuracy of the SG calculations and the accuracy of the ranking.
For example, if an event has 9 DII teams and 1 DIII team, every team will receive points based on their event SG. So, the lone DIII team’s performance in the event will count toward its ranking. Each division’s points are on different scales, so the points the lone DIII team receives in the DII event are converted to DIII points in the DIII ranking (so they are comparable to points received by DIII teams in DIII events). Note: There are separate published DI, DII and DIII rankings, not one joint ranking.

A. Yes, it works! We’ve checked that there is sufficient 'connectivity' across all teams so that a national ranking is possible for each division, even though some teams play more of a regional schedule.

A. For the 2024-2025 season, a 1-round match play result is weighted by ⅓ of the usual one-round event weight, as per the ‘2-team’ event weight. For example, a 5-team 1-round stroke play event receives a weight of ⅓ while a 2-team 1-round match play event receives a weight of ⅓ x ⅓ = ⅑.
Other than this ‘2-team ⅓ weight factor’ there are no other changes to the handling of match play events. In any match play format, including medal match play, points are awarded based on the win, loss or tie outcome, independent of the margin of victory and match play format. Though teams might have a preference for match play or medal match play, the rankings do not take the match play format into consideration. In a multi-round match play event (e.g., single elimination from 8 teams to 1 winning team), each match play 'round' is treated separately for the ranking, i.e., each outcome of a match between 2 teams results in point awards and counts as a single round of play.

A. Stroke play and match play require different strategies, which could skew the end result.

A. A better win-loss-tie record, all else being equal, will lead to a better ranking. However, since the W-L-T record does not take into account a team’s strength of schedule, nor does it consider the margin of victory, it is not a direct input into the ranking.

A. The stroke play portion is considered as a separate stroke play event (and takes into account the number of stroke play rounds). In the match play portion of the event, each match is treated as a separate round with a single outcome.

A. An event’s leaderboard and the rankings depend only on the posted team scores (i.e., the rankings do not depend on dropped scores).

A. An 18-hole event is given one-third the weight of a 54-hole event and half the weight of a 36-hole event. A team would need to play three 18-hole events to have the same ranking impact as a single 54-hole event.

A. Only varsity events using NCAA-approved formats will impact the rankings.

A. In the current system, SG values and point awards are continually updated and refined as new information arrives throughout the season.

A. Point awards will adjust as the season goes on. There are several reasons for this choice. First, it will lead to a (slightly) more accurate ranking by taking into account all available information throughout the season. Second, the point adjustments will be small. Third, this choice is consistent with the way the rankings worked in previous seasons.

A. Every team starts the season “from scratch” for ranking purposes. This was a strong mandate from the NCAA. The implication is that a meaningful ranking cannot be published until a few weeks into each new season.

The first ranking of the season will take into account all scores and results from fall season events that have been published to the Scoreboard website up until the deadline. The deadline for submitting results to be included in a given week’s rankings is 23.59 PST on a Tuesday evening / 2.59am EST Wednesday morning unless otherwise stated. The rankings do not take into account any results or rankings from prior seasons. The points awarded and rankings will adjust taking into account all results for the season as the season progresses. Only teams and individuals that meet a ‘minimum round requirement’ will be ranked.

A. A player with a DNF will not receive zero points for the event. Instead, a player will receive reduced points, which are designed to create a disadvantage for a DNF while still recognizing any round(s) that were completed.

A. No. Since the total points for an event are not fixed in advance, and since stroke differentials matter and are not known in advance, and since the outcomes of teams in other events affect ranking, possible ranking changes are not published in advance of Events.

A. The deadline for submitting results to be included in a given week’s rankings is 23.59 PST on a Tuesday evening / 2.59am EST Wednesday morning, unless stated otherwise.