An Order of Merit is a ranking that runs all season. Players earn points for each round they play and for where they finish. The points add up from round to round, and whoever has the most leads. One bad round doesn’t knock a player out, so everyone has a reason to keep turning up.
A worked example
These numbers are an example. Six players play a four-round season. Their group gives 2 points for playing a round, plus 10, 6, 4, 2 for the top 4 places. Here is how each round finished, with each player shown by their letter and = marking a tie.
Player A wins round 1 and gets 2 for playing plus 10 for the win. In round 2, Players A and D tie for 2nd, so each gets the full 6 for 2nd place, and Player B, next in line, is 4th. Player F misses round 3 and gets nothing for it. Each player’s season points after each round:
Player A leads on 36. Players B and C finish level on 30, so they share 2nd place (T2), and the next player is 4th. Open the calculator with this points table and paste in your own results.
The choices your group makes
Points for each place
Decide how many places score and how many points each one is worth. One published order of merit gives points to the top 20, from 30 for a win down to 4 for 20th. Another gives 25 for a win. The more a win is worth against the places below it, the more the table favors winners over players who finish near the top every week.
Points for playing
A flat amount for every round played rewards the regulars. A player who never wins but never misses still climbs the table.
Best rounds only
Some groups count only each player’s best rounds. One club counts the best 5 of 8. Missing a round, or having a bad day, then costs a player less. In the example, counting each player’s best 3 rounds gives Player A 32 instead of 36: their round 3, worth 4, drops out.
Double points for big days
A group can make its biggest rounds count double, as one county’s golfer of the year competition does for its headline events. If round 4 in the example counted double, Player A would get 24 for winning it and finish on 48.
Separate tables by handicap
Larger groups sometimes run one table for each handicap band, so players compete with others of a similar standard. One club splits its order of merit this way. To work out tables like these, run the calculator once for each band.
Ties
Agree before the season how a tie in a round is scored, and what happens when two players finish the season level. Players who know the rule before the first round don’t argue about it after the last one.
When the season starts again
Agree the date the standings go back to zero, and tell your members before the first round of the new season.
How GreenRoster does it
GreenRoster keeps your group’s Order of Merit for you. Its points add up like this:
- A member’s points for a round are your points for playing, plus the points for their place from your table, plus any adjustment you make. An adjustment can take points away.
- Places come from the round’s result: plus/minus when the round is played to quotas, points when it isn’t. Tied players share the place and each gets its full points. The next place is skipped, so a tie for 1st is followed by 3rd.
- Places past the last row of your table get nothing.
- Members on equal season points share their place in the standings the same way.
- Guests appear in the round’s results but get no season points and don’t appear in the standings.
- The standings count rounds on or after the date you choose for the season to start. Changing the date deletes nothing and doesn’t change anyone’s quota.
GreenRoster counts every round, at single points. Best rounds and double points are only in the standings calculator. For the rest of the weekly routine, see how to run a golf points game.