Sunday, December 09, 2007

FPGP 2008 RULES

Do you have an incredibly cool blog that allows FPGPers to view updates, rankings, etc. as well as harass (that’s two words Joel, not one) each other on a regular basis?

Yes. All pool information is posted to our blog. This is done to ensure that email In Boxes are not filled with rants and raves about our picks. If you are interested in the chatter, you can go find it; if not, you can ignore it. I suggest everyone gets a blogger ID so they can post comments and blog posts, as this has been a great source of fun since the blog inception in 2006.

How much is the entrance fee?

The same amount as always, $100 US dollars. It's a small price to pay for a year of fun and aggravation. Further, veterans of the FPGP will receive a $10 discount for each new player they get to enter the pool. The goal is to have as many entries as possible.

What’s the timeframe?

The FPGP officially starts with the Mercedes Championship beginning on January 3rd, 2008 and ends on November 9th, 2008 with the completion of the Fall Finish. Even though the Fed Ex Cup is completed earlier in the Fall, there are several official PGA Tour events from September thru the Disney, and all of those will be counted in the standings, despite outcries by FPGP veteran, Vic.

What’s the format?

• Each FPGP participant selects 9 PGA Tour players from the 2007 Money List . To be as clear as possible: you may not choose a player who is not on this list. So, no picking Michelle Wie. No picking guys who made it through Q-school, but who did not have official earnings on the PGA Tour in 2007 (i.e., The “Tommy Gainey Rule”). No picking a guy who qualified through the Nationwide Tour but did not have any official earnings on the PGA Tour in 2007…

• Once again, TIGER WOODS is off the board. If there is a player that EVERYONE picks, I will drop him from the picks and allow everyone a re-pick so we can get some variability like we did in 2006 with Ernie Els.

How are points earned in the FPGP XI?

There are two types of picks which we call “regular” and “short.”

REGULAR PICKS

For “regular” picks, you earn points based on:

1) Positive (i.e. improvement) changes in the PGA Money List rankings from 2007 to 2008.

2) Actual money earned on the PGA Tour in 2008.

Assume you select our FPGP blog buddy Jason Gore, who finished the 2007 season ranked 88th on the money list. Now assume that Jason Gore finishes the 2008 season ranked 50th on the money list. Such movement would earn you 38 points. However, if Jason Gore fell to 150th on the money list you would LOSE 62 points for that pick.

With regard to the “earnings points” you gain 1 point for every $100,000 that your "regular" players earn on PGA tour in 2006. Again, if you selected Jason Gore and he earned $1,243,332 next year, you would gain 12 points under his earnings. Please note that points are rounded up. For example, a player earning $551,000 will earn you 6 points, while a player earning $549,000 will get you 5 points.

So, let’s put it all together… assume you pick Jason Gore at 88th , and he finishes the 2008 with $1,432,323 and at 62nd on the money list. You’d gain 15 “earning” points and 26 “ranking” points, for a total of 15 points.

As a reminder, you can pick anyone from the list at the bottom of these rules… Q-school graduates are fine, AS LONG AS THEY ARE ON THIS LIST. That is, you can pick a guy who did not keep their card but re-earned it at Q-school, but you cannot pick players that did not make the list last year. The obvious reason for this is that such players have no “starting” position in the rankings.

SHORT PICKS

The so-called “short” pick name derives itself from the stock market. The idea here is that you are able to pick player(s) who you think had a better than average year in 2007, and you anticipate they will fall in the rankings (i.e., get worse) in 2008.

For “short” picks, points are based on:

1) Negative changes in the PGA Money List rankings from 2007 to 2008.

2) Actual money earned on the PGA Tour in 2008, only in this case you LOSE points as that player earns money.

Again, to illustrate, assume that as a short pick you take Briny Baird, ranked at 100th on last year’s money list. Further assume that he falls to 120th on the 2008 money list. That fall would GAIN you 20 points. Conversely, if he finished the 2008 season ranked 20th on the money list, you would LOSE 80 points. Needless to say, you root for your short pick(s) to have bad years.

Also, for every $100,000 your “short” pick(s) earn, you LOSE one point. So, let’s say you picked Baird as a “short” and he earned $1,040,025 and finished 105th on the money list. You would lose 10 “earning” points for the million in earnings, and gain 5 “ranking” points, for a net of -5 points for that selection.

What is the David Gossett Rule?

If a player fails to make a single cut, their earnings are set to $0, and their “ranking” is set to the last player on tour plus one. For example, one of last year’s picks, Craig Perks, did not earn any official money on tour. Because there were 256 players (Guy Boros was #256) who earned some money on tour, Craig Perks “ranking” was set to 257. Note that the only dollars that count in this pool are official PGA Tour dollars. If you pick some limey who makes 2 million euros on the European Tour, but nothing on the PGA Tour, you get nada.

CONSTRAINTS ON REGULAR AND SHORT PICKS

1. You may take as many as two short picks, but you have to have at least one. So, your line up is either 8 regular and 1 short pick, or 7 regular and 2 short picks.

2. The short pick(s) must meet the following conditions:

a. They had to finish in the top 125 on the 2007 PGA Tour Money List. That is, they must have FULL STATUS ON THE PGA TOUR. NO NATIONWIDE OR Q-SCHOOL GRADUATES CAN BE USED AS A SHORT PICK.

b. The Loren Roberts Rule. Short picks may not be over the age of 50, or turning 50 this year. That is, you can’t pull a 2006 Loren Roberts, and have your short pick playing on the Senior Tour all season, thus earning virtually no PGA Tour Money despite having full status on the PGA Tour. Simply put, you can’t short Fred Funk, although if you want him as a regular pick, knock yourself out. I am not going to compile a list of “those you can’t short because of this rule” but I’ll take a close look at each short pick as they come in and make sure the Loren Roberts Rule is not violated.

3. Only 4 of your picks can be players in the Top 30 on the money list.

TRADES

One trade is allowed and it'll cost you a grand total of $20!! If you make a trade, the points that your new player earns will be counted from that point forward based on the player’s money list position at that time, not their 2007 money list position, and the points from your original player will be eliminated whether they are positive or negative. Trade details:

a. The trade must be for one of your “regular” picks. That is, you cannot trade your short pick(s).

b. Trade Window. Also known as the Greg Owen Rule, trades will only be allowed between March 10th and June 1st . Trades are registered when I receive notification of the trade via email, and are officially consummated when I receive funds for the trade. If funds are not received within a week of notification, the trade will be null and voided, and the FPGPer will not be allowed another trade. There will be NO discussion on this. If the little trade light bulb strikes you in the middle of a tourney, that is fine… but the trade does not go into effect until the following week.

c. The player you trade for must have been ranked lower than your traded player on the 2007 Money List. For example, if you want to trade Mathew Goggin (103rd on the 2007 Money List), you can only trade him for someone who was ranked 104th or worse on the 2007 Money List. The players’ positions on the 2008 Money List are irrelevant with regard to who you can and cannot trade for.


How do I ante up?

Checks must be post-marked by 11AM EST on Jan. 3rd, 2008 or you can't play. Send checks/paypal (prefered) to me...

What’s the payoff?

The payoffs are determined on the cumulative total of your team. If you have one guy who earns 300 points, and the rest of them are -200… sorry, you lose. This is a team game.

After all of the whining last year, here is what were are doing:

3rd place: $120, which covers all costs in the pool.
2nd place: 30% of remaining pot.
1st place: 70% of remaining pot.

No Duffer Award this year.

How do I enter?

Send me your picks via e-mail (stevetuholski@hotmail.com). Make sure you include whether a pick is a regular or short pick, as well as that player's 2007 Money List ranking.

Good luck everyone… let the games begin!

Oh, and don’t forget… I’m not just the Commish… I’m the defending champ!

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