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NCAA adjusts college golf rankings parameters with first 2024-25 release coming next week

How college golf teams are ranked will be adjusted this season.

The NCAA is listening.

With the first college golf rankings release coming Wednesday, Oct. 16, the NCAA sent out a memo to coaches on Friday announcing adjustments in the ranking methodology for the 2024-25 season. This comes on the heels of numerous groups providing feedback and recommendations for adjustments with Mark Broadie’s college golf rankings after a highly-debated debut last season.

Members across NCAA Division I, II and III made up the rankings working groups, as well as reps from NAIA and NJCAA programs.

Golfweek obtained the memo, which was also posted on social media.

The NCAA is making four changes to its rankings criteria for the season. First, a points scale will be compressed to “ensure a more gradual and consistent distribution of points awarded during events throughout the season.” Then, match play, medal-match play and dual match competition will have reduced weighting, as will competition solely against out-of-division teams. Lastly, guardrails will be tightened to limit the impact of outlier results.

The memo states the changes were largely based on feedback from the Division I, II and III Men’s and Women’s Golf Committees, as well as in collaboration with Broadie and NCAA staff.

Broadie’s system is based on a weighted average points system based on head-to-head stroke differentials. While coaches have a year of that method under their belt, there was still plenty of confusion with his methodology last year after more than three decades using a head-to-head ranking.

Last year at the annual coaches convention in Las Vegas, Broadie told Golfweek he was more than willing to adjust his ranking if that’s what the coaches wanted.

Changes have indeed taken affect, and next week, the first rankings with the adjustments will come out.

Best of 2023: Our top 10 college golf stories (No. 1 is about the famous Hawaii coach)

As the buzz about NIL and the transfer portal calmed in 2023, college golf got a new controversy.

As much of the buzz about NIL and the transfer portal seemed to quiet in 2023, college golf got a new and interesting controversy in the form of its scoring system (of all things).

Although things are progressing it still made for an interesting year, one that saw a number of big names exit the college game.

As we continue the countdown to 2024 by offering up a snapshot of our best stories from the year, take a scroll through some of the biggest stories from the world of college golf in 2023 (photo galleries, college facilities and lists were not included in this listing).

Here are 5 of the biggest stories from men’s college golf this fall

A busy fall has set the stage for an exciting spring in men’s college golf.

It seems as if national champions were crowned just yesterday, but instead we’re at the end of the fall college golf season in one of the craziest starts to the year in the sport’s history.

Sure, the top teams have claimed tournament titles and new stars have burst onto the scene, but that doesn’t mean the season has been short on drama and storylines and events that have altered the sport.

College golf is entering a quiet time until February, when it will quickly ramp back up as teams begin the pursuit to make it to Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California, site of the 2024 NCAA Championships.

Here are some of the biggest stories from men’s college golf this fall.

Here are 5 of the biggest stories from women’s college golf this fall

Here are some of the biggest stories from women’s college golf this fall.

It seems as if national champions were crowned just yesterday, but instead we’re at the end of the fall college golf season in one of the craziest starts to the year in the sport’s history.

Here are some of the biggest stories from women’s college golf this fall.

Clippd publishes first edition of college golf rankings in latest chapter of saga

The NCAA’s new college golf rankings are out.

The new era of college golf rankings is officially underway.

Shortly after 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the first Mark Broadie college golf rankings using primarily average points were unveiled. The North Carolina men and Wake Forest women lead the respective team rankings, meanwhile, Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap and Arkansas freshman Maria Jose Marin are the top-ranked individuals.

The release is the latest edition of a saga this fall that has hampered college golf and angered hundreds in the niche community.

What started with Spikemark taking over as the official college golf scoring and rankings provider is now ending with Clippd taking over the managing and publishing of said scores and rankings while Broadie will handle doing the rankings themselves.

Come postseason time, the NCAA will use these rankings to select teams for regional play.

The Clippd rankings include all divisions of college golf.

‘Change is hard’: What to know about Clippd, Spikemark’s failures and future of college golf scoring and rankings

“We’re super excited about this partnership… and we know they’ll get it done.”

The start of the 2023-24 college golf season has been tumultuous, to say the least.

On Monday, Oct. 16, the NCAA announced Clippd, a technology business founded and staffed by passionate golfers, would take over as the official scoring and rankings provider for college golf. This comes on the heels of numerous failures from Spikemark Golf, which replaced Golfstat in July and was supposed to provide tournament scoring, real-time leaderboards, detailed statistics, in-depth analytics and media, allowing fans to keep track of their favorite teams and players.

However, from day one, Spikemark’s website encountered numerous issues, there have been no official college golf rankings with the fall season nearing completion and plenty of questions remain from coaches and those involved with the inter-workings of the sport about the future.

Here’s what you need to know about Clippd, Spikemark’s failures and the future of college golf scoring and rankings.

Spikemark gets spiked; NCAA turns to Clippd for scores, rankings

Clippd bills itself as ‘a technology business founded and staffed by passionate golfers.’

Just five weeks into a new season, the NCAA has officially severed ties with Spikemark for its official scores and rankings.

The NCAA announced Monday that Clippd will take over after a series of false starts and empty promises from Spikemark.

“A leader in the golf technology industry,” according to the NCAA, Clippd will take over from Spikemark “following an agreed handover period.”

Clippd bills itself as “a technology business founded and staffed by passionate golfers” and is already providing stats to more than 100 Div. I, II and III programs.

The NCAA notes that Spikemark approached Clippd for help. Clippd reports its site has been able to publish more than 75 percent of all Div. I college golf tournaments.

In July, the NCAA announced Spikemark Golf would become the provider for all golf scoring and ranking services utilized by the NCAA beginning with the 2023-24 season. Spikemark took over the service role previously provided by Golfstat.

Nine days later, Golfstat responded with a statement saying the company wasn’t going away, though its role was going to be reduced.

The 2023-24 season was already underway when Spikemark posted a message on its website, labeling the non-functioning platform as “Ground Under Repair.”

Spikemark was created and founded by former collegiate player and coach Derek Freeman. In the initial release, the company said it would provide tournament scoring, real-time leaderboards, detailed statistics, in-depth analytics and media, allowing fans to keep track of their favorite teams and players. Spikemark would also provide real-time access to team schedules, up-to-date results and the latest rankings.

However, many tournament directors were scrambling because of live-scoring issues in the initial week of competition. Some tournaments switched to Golf Genius or even back to Golfstat. Others kept scores on their own team websites.

In July the NCAA appeared confident in Spikemark’s technology.

“We are pleased to announce Spikemark as manager for NCAA golf scoring and ranking services,” Joni Comstock, NCAA senior vice president of championships, said in a July 2023 release. “Spikemark’s effective use of current technologies, including the implementation of a transparent ranking system with daily updates, will provide a statistical approach that has been widely adopted throughout the golf community, and one that will positively impact the user experience for our membership and the championships.”

Spikemark’s ranking system was developed in collaboration with Mark Broadie, who is widely known for his development of the Official World Golf Ranking algorithm and the modern statistical approach using “Strokes Gained” statistics. Broadie is also a 20-year member of the USGA’s handicap research team.

The NCAA’s release Monday said Broadie, “a pioneer in the world of golf analytics,” will be the ranking authority and is working with the Clippd team to provide individual and team rankings following the conclusion of the fall season.

“We are confident that Clippd will lead us through technology challenges faced during the 2023 fall season and serve as a valuable partner into the future, as well,” said Comstock. “The goal of this partnership is to fully deliver the quality services that our student-athletes and the college golf community deserves.”

– Golfweek’s Cameron Jourdan contributed to this article.

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