What is a Golf Season in the PGA and its significance?

[isukgolf]

I took this from the grand slam conversation. Because honestly until the grand slam thread, I thought the golf season was a bit meaningless. What truly is a golf season and does it have any true relevance to anything. Is there a world champion crowned? Does it account for any HOF considerations? It just does not seem to fit golf like it does other sports. Other than in the conversation of a grand slam does it come up anywhere else? What is the correlation between a season and a calendar year?

[RiddleMeThis]

It seems to have flowed from one season to the next in the past since they play tournaments year round.  Recently though, I feel like the FedEx Cup Playoff system kinda declares the "end" to the season.  I know winning a major is clearly a bigger achievement, but FedEx Cup is a cool system that takes the whole season into account.

[MEfree]

, I feel like the FedEx Cup Playoff system kinda declares the "end" to the season.  I know winning a major is clearly a bigger achievement, but FedEx Cup is a cool system that takes the whole season into account.

+1- Also, the PGA tour season is used for determining exempt status for the next season (with a current year win giving you exemption/higher status for the rest of the year plus 2 additional full seasons) Winning the Fed Ex Cup is a big deal- these guys are professionals and $10 M is the best pay check you can get in the sport. The Fed Ex Cup and total prize money on the PGA tour is a big reason why everyone wants to play there. Finish Fed Ex top 30 in September and you get into the Masters the next April (while being within the top 10 in April does not mean you get an invite) Some other tournaments may work this way also, but Augusta is the most obvious.

[RiddleMeThis]

Winning the Fed Ex Cup is a big deal- these guys are professionals and $10 M is the best pay check you can get in the sport. The Fed Ex Cup and total prize money on the PGA tour is a big reason why everyone wants to play there.

This is great for golf fans in my books.  Keeping the big-name players in tournaments that "matter" passed the last major means better golf to watch in September.  Have to stay clear of NFL season though with the sunday conflict grossly decreasing viewers.

[Wally Fairway]

Different calendar on the European Tour - their season ends with the DP World Tour Champions in Dubai on 11/22.

[isukgolf]

Is there an official start and end date?

[Patch]

I don't think there is much of a season, since quite a few pros are playing in tournaments well after the FedEx, up until they can no longer garner points/money to help keep their playing cards for the next year. The world golf rankings take into account tournament play for  two years. If I had to make a guess I might go with the last tournament of the year being the end, and the first tournament of the next year being the beginning of a new season.

Most golfers make up their own season. Some play more/less tournaments than others.

[Zeph]

They changed the system in 2013.

As a result of the schedule change, the qualifying school will no longer grant playing rights on the PGA Tour, but will only grant privileges on the Web.com Tour (known as the Nationwide Tour at the time of the March announcement; the tour was renamed on June 27, 2012 in mid-season).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGA_Tour#Changes_for_2013_season_and_beyond

[Abu3baid]

What truly is a golf season and does it have any true relevance to anything. Is there a world champion crowned? Does it account for any HOF considerations?

It just does not seem to fit golf like it does other sports. Other than in the conversation of a grand slam does it come up anywhere else?

The first thing I thought of is you need to define when someone gets one of these awards since they are handed once a year?

1. PGA Player of the Year
2. PGA Tour Player of the Year
3. Rookie of the Year
4. Vardon Trophy
5. Byron Nelson Award
6. Arnold Palmer Award
7. Comeback Player of the Year

Now, are they all within the same season?  I don't know I didn't go into those details, but to me it is logical that they do.

What is the correlation between a season and a calendar year?

I guess that depends on the sport.  Seasons can saddle 2 years as in football, but to identify seasons in any sport they usually put the year at the end of it anyway.

So, PGA 2015, NFL 2015 ect.. Other than that the only correlation is probably 1 season = 1 year unless there are sports where there are multiple seasons in a year, but I can't think of any off the top of my head..

[mtsalmela80]

It seems to start in October and end the following October.

Pretty simple really, and straightforward. 47 tournaments including 4 majors.

[Rick Martin]

It seems to start in October and end the following October.

Pretty simple really, and straightforward. 47 tournaments including 4 majors.

way too long, oversaturated with tournaments  -

[MEfree]

way too long, oversaturated with tournaments  -

I disagree. Golf fans can watch as few or as many tournaments as they want- serious fans can watch each week while less serious ones can just watch the majors and any other events they find compelling. By having more tournaments, more communities get to host tournaments, giving more people a chance to see live professional golf in person. There seems to be enough sponsors to make this happen, so why not? The top pros can pick and choose the events they play, while the extra events give the middle of the pack, journeymen, veteran and up and coming players (who are still really talented) a chance to compete and earn a living. When/If people/corporations stop showing up, watching and sponsoring tournaments, the PGA Tour will cut back on the number of scheduled events.

[Rick Martin]

Tampa's event has gone through a multitude of sponsors and is now on a relatively unknown paint company.....third sponsor in five years, with one year not having a sponsor whatsoever.

Too many tournaments dilutes the pool, makes each individual tournament less meaningful, and makes the the typical fan indifferent to many of the tournaments unless it's a major.

I won't give the next few tournaments a minute of viewership and I think I'm pretty much more avid than the typical fan.

[RiddleMeThis]

Tampa's event has gone through a multitude of sponsors and is now on a relatively unknown paint company.....third sponsor in five years, with one year not having a sponsor whatsoever.

Too many tournaments dilutes the pool, makes each individual tournament less meaningful, and makes the the typical fan indifferent to many of the tournaments unless it's a major.

I won't give the next few tournaments a minute of viewership and I think I'm pretty much more avid than the typical fan.

Now that I think about it, I actually agree with you.  More tournaments gives more golfers the opportunity to compete, but this isn't a charity, its a professional sports league.  Shorten the season... Maybe in the range of 20 tournaments w/ the 4 majors.  Gives more umph to the non-majors.

But.... I feel like everyone involved in the PGA would take the opposite stance, especially sponsors who would be in jeopardy of losing a tournament.  $$$$$ talks.

[Chris223]

Basically you're suggesting the PGA Tour not have tournaments every week of the season? That would really cut down on the number of players. Just because one tournament gets a new sponsor every couple of years doesn't mean it doesn't generate revenue. Companies have to balance whether or not pouring in money is worth it to them to be a title sponsor as I can't imagine its cheap. Look at all the companies pulling out of Nascar lately... nascar is still extremely popular but companies are struggling and can't dump that much money into title sponsorships in sports

[RiddleMeThis]

Basically you're suggesting the PGA Tour not have tournaments every week of the season? That would really cut down on the number of players.

24+ weeks long is still a long season.  You can still have them every weekend (preferably), then just have an off season of 5 months or so.  I get that golf is unlike any other major sport but just the hypothetical idea provokes some thought on what it would be like.

[No Mulligans]

I consider myself a pretty big fan of the televised pga events.  But even still my interest does wane on the tournaments a week before and after majors and in October, November and December.

I'd prefer a shorter season.  There is value in a period of going without and the built up anticipation for the beginning of the next season.  It creates excitement.  I'd bet the same would be true for both the fans and the tour players.

[newtogolf]

Now that I think about it, I actually agree with you.  More tournaments gives more golfers the opportunity to compete, but this isn't a charity, its a professional sports league.  Shorten the season... Maybe in the range of 20 tournaments w/ the 4 majors.  Gives more umph to the non-majors.

But.... I feel like everyone involved in the PGA would take the opposite stance, especially sponsors who would be in jeopardy of losing a tournament.  $$$$$ talks.

Actually most PGA Tour golf tournaments are associated with a charity.  Cutting tournaments means cutting charitable donations to local charities.  What doesn't matter is who sponsors the tournament.