Poplar Cup (2018)

Poplar Cup 2018 

Prior Season

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The Poplar Cup is the new season-long friendly competition replacing the Poplar Creek Challenge which ended its run in the 2016 season.  The Poplar Cup is designed to involve every member who plays in any tournament they choose to play.  The Poplar Cup is all about points.  The more you play, the more points you earn.

Start Date

The Poplar Cup will start in October 2017 at the NCGA Zone Qualifier.

Eligibility

There are no eligibility requirements for the Poplar Cup.  You are automatically entered just by playing in any event throughout the season except for the three exempt tournaments (see below).

Tournaments

All tournaments during the season will be part of the Poplar Cup. However, Match Play, 2-Man NCGA Senior and the TOC will not be part of the Poplar Cup since these events have limited fields and would not be fair to those who are not eligible for these events.

Majors

There will be five majors throughout the season handing out DOUBLE points.

• Beat the Pro
• Las Positas
• NCGA Net Amateur
• Moffett Field
• Club Championship

Points

Points will be awarded to every player for simply completing an event – 10 points for normal events and 20 points for the majors.

Points will not be awarded if the player is a no-show, withdraws or is disqualified from an event.

In addition, players who finish 1st thru 7th in their flight will be awarded extra points.

What this amounts to is the higher you finish in your flight, the more points you can earn.  Not all is lost if you don’t finish 1st thru 7th, you will still earn 10 or 20 points for completing the event.

Here’s an example of how points will be awarded in an average flight containing fifteen players.

Points Awarded
Flight Rank	Normal Events	Major Events
1	100	200
2	90	180
3	80	160
4	70	140
5	60	120
6	50	100
7	40	80
8	10	20
9	10	20
10	10	20
11	10	20
12	10	20
13	10	20
14	10	20
15	10	20

If there are more players in a flight then each player will receive 10 or 20 points.

For team events, the points are awarded to each player.

Points are awarded at each tournament except for the three events excluded from the Poplar Cup – Match Play, 2-Man NCGA Senior and the TOC.

Payouts

At the end of the season the top ten players in the final points standing will receive a payout. 

1st	125.00
2nd	75.00
3rd	65.00
4th	55.00
5th	45.00
6th	35.00
7th	25.00
8th	25.00
9th	25.00
10th	25.00

The $500 prize fund will be funded by a $1.00 surcharge to the entry fee for the five major events.

In the event of a tie, the payouts will be combined and then split evenly.  For example, if two players tie for 4th, the 4th and 5th places will be combined and then split ($55 + $45 = $100.  $50 to each player).  The next payable spot will be 6th place.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What happened to the Poplar Creek Challenge?
A. The Poplar Creek Challenge lasted five seasons and we saw a continuing pattern where players dropped off the leaderboard because they did not play the required tournaments which is not what we prefer.  We want to see as many players as possible vying for the prize fund.  Further, the Poplar Creek Challenge was a challenge (pun intended) to setup and maintain throughout the season.

Q. How many tournaments must I play to stay eligible?
A. There is no minimum tournaments to play.  You pick your schedule but obviously, the more you play, the more points you earn.

Q. What’s the difference between the Gilliam Points and the Poplar Cup?  Players who play well will be at the top on both lists.
A. That’s true for the Gilliam Points but let’s look at it another way for the Poplar Cup.  Let’s take a player who doesn’t play often due to scheduling or who doesn’t play well enough to cash throughout the season.  If they play well in only a few events including the majors then their points could vault them up the leaderboard.  Remember that the majors have double points and points are awarded for entering an event.  So a player could be rather silent on the Gilliam list but be a ninja in the Poplar Cup.

	Poplar Cup	Poplar Creek Challenge
Format	Points	Best par 3-4-5 score on designated holes
# of eligible events	20 approx.	8
Minimum # events to play	None	3 away + 1 home
Entry eligibility	None	None
Requirements to stay eligible throughout the season	None No players are removed from eligibility	Player is removed if they do not play the minimum # of events.
Prize Fund	$500	$500
Highlights	All players get points for completing an event and more points for finishing 1-7 in their flight.   Majors are double points. Players can make big jumps on the leaderboard by placing 1-7 and playing well in the majors. No players are DQ’d from the competition.	Players score their best score on designated holes throughout the season.
Lowlights		Players can drop out of competetion once they don’t play the minimum # of events. Cumbersome to setup and manage.

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