NEWS

SPC Venue Host "Scholarship America Showdown"  7/16/06

The R&A has announced that champions of many major amateur tournaments in the USA and elsewhere worldwide, including the SPC Champion, are now exempt into the next British Amateur.  This coincides with the R&A decision to move the British Amateur dates permanently to the latter half of June from their traditional date around the first of June starting in 2006.  Their hope is to attract many more top US based collegiate players who have normally been precluded from playing The Amateur Championship since it conflicted directly with the NCAA Division I National Championship.

Somerby GC, the ’06 SPC venue, has just been named as the #8 "Best New Private" in the country by Golf Digest for 2005.  This should all but guarantee its inclusion as one of the top 10 courses in the State of Minnesota per Golf Digest when the "Best in State" rankings are released around May of 2006.  Somerby’s "sister" course, Windsong Farm that was also designed by Fought/Lehman, was a top 10 "Best New Private" in 2004 and is also now the #5 ranked course in the state.  This comes as no surprise as upon touring the course in the summer of 2005, the SPC Founder who is very "picky" regarding courses that host the tournament, come away very impressed with the course quality as well as the emaculate condition that the course is maintained.  As a testament to how the course is maintained, the fairways are cut to one quarter of an inch which most top courses can only dream about.  The quality of the fairway surfaces are about the same as greens at some public courses.

Somerby Golf Club in Byron, Minnesota (just west of Rochester in southeast part of the state) is set to host the 06 SPC.  2006 will be the sixth SPC and the first year the event has been conducted outside of Northern California and Somerby is the first private club to host the event.  Somerby is hosting the tournament without green fee cost which will enable us to significantly enhance what is offered the contestants during the championship.  ’06 will also mark the first year that the official practice round the day preceding the first round will be concurrent with a "Member/Am" scramble with each SPC contestant paired with a Somerby member. 

The dates for the SPC have evolved from the inaugural held in November of ’00 to late June in ’02 to early/mid August in ’05 to mid-August for ’06.  The objective date wise for ’06 & ’07 is to position the tournament to just precede the US Amateur in the same proximity as that event.  Somerby is located about a 100 miles southeast from Hazeltine, the ’06 US Am venue, which is southwest of Minneapolis.  The ’07 US Amateur returns to the home club of the SPC Tournament Founder & Chairman at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.  Consequently, the ’07 SPC will return to Northern California or possibly the Lake Tahoe area at a site to be determined.  After the ’07 SPC, the SPC Tournament Committee will evaluate the strategy of positioning the event just prior to the US Am, relying extensively on contestant feedback, to determine if we will take the event to North Carolina, the state where the ’08 US Amateur is to be played at Pinehurst (with the ’09 US Am scheduled to be conducted at Congressional in the state of Maryland).

While the SPC field is primarily determined by a wide array of pre-determined exemption criteria (the most comprehensive array of exemptions stipulated of any event in amateur golf worldwide), the tournament has always facilitated field access via qualifying based on the philosophy that any tournament scratch amateur should have a shot at competing in an international level amateur championship.  Making the ’06 SPC field as a qualifier will not be easy and the "bar" has been raised annually since the inaugural based on the past performance of qualifiers as well as the overall quality of the past fields.  The SPC does not conduct independent qualifying for two reasons.  First is cost to retain courses for qualifying and the second is due to the belief that top amateurs have limited resources & time to qualify for anything.  We stipulate existing events conducted by others so that SPC qualifiers can "kill 2 birds with one stone" and to faciliate such qualifiers with the convenience of qualifying for the SPC at a site close to where they would prefer.  For ’06, the SPC qualifying options are any US Amateur qualifying site nationwide or the top amateur event annually conducted in the State of Minnesota, the Minnesota State Amateur.  To qualify for the SPC, one first needs a plus Index and then either qualify for the US Amateur or finish in the top 10 in the Minnesota State Am.  The eligibility standard has been raised to a plus Index minimum based on the reality that no one without a plus Index has survived to the final round of the SPC in any of the last four championships.  See the Exemptions & Qualfying page for more qualifying details.

The inaugural “West/East Matches”, pitting the top amateurs from west of the Mississippi River against their peers from the east, is on the drawing board to be conducted prior to, and in conjunction with, the 06 SPC in Minnesota.  The make up of each 10 to 12 man team has yet to be finalized but will likely reflect a cross-section of player ages with no one age group representing a majority of either team.  Age groups would tend to be “pre-mids” (under age 25), mid-ams (age 25–39), “Masters” (age 40-54), and seniors (age 55+).  It would be safe to say at this point that there will be at least one player on each team from each age group.  These matches would generally be conducted under a Walker Cup type format except that the final round singles would also be the first round of SPC stroke play.  Costs to be covered in behalf of team members and captains would include round trip airfare, lodging, meals, awards, caddies, and related “goodies”. 

More later as details are finalized.

Titleist is now providing proV1x balls for the tournament to be used for tee prizes and/or merchandise payout.

Responses to Frequently Asked Questions (with answers)

Do I need to be a member of the Scratch Players Group and/or an affiliated club to play in the SPC?

You do not need to be affiliated with the SPG or any affiliated organizations to play in the SPC.

Tournament entry is based solely on meeting exemption criteria or via qualifying for any human worldwide.

How do I get an invitation into the SPC?

The SPC does not “invite” contestants.  “Invitationals” necessitate getting or requesting an invitation.  The SPC utilizes the “exemption” mode so as mitigate the entry process for those pre-determined to be worthy of competing at the national amateur level.  In other words, if you’re exempt, you simply enter hassle free.  If one does not meet exemption criteria as stipulated on the Exemption & Qualifying page, such a player can request a “Merit Exemption” (invitation if you will) via the Contact page or enter to qualify if your handicap is +0.1 or better.

If one is exempt and enters by the entry deadline, does that mean they are in the tournament?

Not necessarily.  The entry deadline, as it applies to exempt players, is actually the earlier of the specified entry deadline date or the moment that the spots allocated for exempt players fills.  Exempt players who enter by the entry deadline but after the exempt spots allocated fills, are placed on a waiting list pending the outcome of qualifying and/or withdrawals.  Should additional spots open after the deadline, exempt players on the website posted waiting list are chosen at the discretion of the Tournament Committee.

If one meets a qualifying standard or benchmark, does that mean they can get in the tournament?

Designated qualifying criteria, as posted on the website, only applies to those that, a) enter as a qualifier by the entry deadline and, b) specify a qualifying event/site approved for the tournament on such entry.  In other words, if one has not entered as a qualifier by the entry deadline, it is irrelevant if one subsequently meets a qualifying standard.  Such standards only apply to qualifier entries received by the entry deadline.

If I fly in, will you provide free transportation to, from and during the tournament?

Yes (from practice round day thru the final round day).  See detail on the Travel & Housing page.

Does the SPC provide free housing for contestants?

The SPC makes arrangements for “private accommodations” (code language for meeting USGA Rules of Amateur Status criteria) for a limited number of contestants playing in the tournament.  We had about 20 contestants extended such “free” housing by SPC hosts in homes in Carmel, Pebble Beach, Monterey and Seaside during ’05.  For ’06 in Minnesota, there should be about 30 players who can expect to get such housing, primarily via members at Somerby.  Priority goes to those flying in for the tournament, juniors and collegiate age contestants.  The “pecking order” generally goes to those of collegiate age or younger traveling the furthest.  The SPC “guarantees” private accommodations to any contestant flying in who is from any foreign country outside of North America (Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, etc).  Otherwise, the SPC negotiates a preferred group price for lodging at a quality hotel within 10 minutes of the course.  Contestants can also take advantage of whatever deal they can get via Priceline or other like internet hotel booking providers.  The best prices can usually be had a few weeks in advance and in some cases, for less than we negotiate for the "Tournament Housing Site" hotel.  Most players getting their own hotel room usually opt for the SPC hotel as that is where the contestant complementary "Hospitality Suite" is located.