IOS 2 Am Nats qualification discussion

[#28409]

Hey Jon can you please break down the am nats berths for me.  I was told yesterday I received a qualification once brandon beuter informed us that he was already qualified.  The TD has informed me today that I have not qualified after I sent my registration in.  Can you help me clear this up.

[OvEr HaNd AsSaSiN]

9 spots in no order
- Doug B
-Jeremy B
-Jonathan D
-Bob G
-Mike L
-Robert M
-Steve S
-Brandon T
-Eric F 
Looks like you missed it by a stroke

[Jon Brakel]

Hey Jon can you please break down the am nats berths for me.  I was told yesterday I received a qualification once brandon beuter informed us that he was already qualified.  The TD has informed me today that I have not qualified after I sent my registration in.  Can you help me clear this up.

I called and left you a message. I'm working with Bruce and the Am Nats TD to figure if he made a mistake or we made a mistake. The score ports are still in the car and Becky has the car running errands. I'm quite sure we will figure it out once I can see the board.

[Bruce Brakel]

I went over the Am Nats qualification situation today with the Am Nats TD.  They are full and you'll be getting a full refund.  

We qualified nine players.  Costa, Bassett, Bueter, Jordan, and Travis were already qualified so their spots bumped down.  That took qualifying down to the tie at 12th-14th.  

It is possible that we incorrectly showed another player as being pre-qualified who was not.  I remember during awards someone yelled out that he was qualified and we took him at his word.  That may have been the problem.  Or, it might have been that we showed Robert McDonald as pre-qualified when it was a different McDonald who was pre-qualified.  I could not say without seeing the cards.  

Jon, of the top 14, who did I put stars on?  

Whichever it was, we only qualified down to 14th place and they did fill today.  Phil told me that our player who thought our qualifying went one spot deeper [you] would get a full refund.  Thank you Phil.  Sorry you did not get in.  

[Bruce Brakel]

Just as an aside, I decided to delay sending in my registration for Am Nats so that our players who wanted to get in would have one more chance to get in.  I qualified but they are filled so I won't be playing. 

I think I'll still drop my pants and get the steroids.   

[#28409]

it was beuter that said he was qualified, i don't believe he was marked

[Bruce Brakel]

Bueter was pre-qualified so that was not the mistake.  We must have been showing someone as pre-qualified who was not, possibly McDonald or Buettgen.  Phil said you'd get a full refund. 

[Jon Brakel]

We qualified nine players.  Costa, Bassett, Bueter, Jordan, and Travis were already qualified so their spots bumped down.  That took qualifying down to the tie at 12th-14th.  

Jon, of the top 14, who did I put stars on?  

Costa, Bassett, Bueter, Jordan, and Travis have stars on their card so that part is correct.

I think this is what happened::

Bueter's star is written in blue pen instead of red so I think when he shouted out (and correctly so) that he was already qualified then Bruce put a pre-qualification star on him. At that point we had qualified 9 people including Bueter plus a tenth who was in a tie for 12-14th places. So, that's 10 people. When Bueter said he was pre-qualified Bruce just thought that he had to go down one more person. That one more person was actually two because of a tie for 15-16th places. This included Matt Z who then registered. So, we accidentally told 11 people that they qualified when there were actually only 9.

On behalf of the IOS, I apologize for this mistake.

[Bruce Brakel]

I'm going with Jon's story.   

[tacimala]

Jonathan Dobberstein cashed in open in 2007, which would not allow him to play an amateur major, so I believe the spot(s) should trickle down one more to whomever was in the next position.

Either way, I'm glad to see Am Nats become a popular event. They've gone from not being able to fill it up to needing to figure out a better system because deserving people are being shut out. There's no reason they should have allowed all 940+ players to enter before all the qualifying events were finished.

[Dan Michler]

There's no reason they should have allowed all 940+ players to enter before all the qualifying events were finished.

They probably wouldn't have done that if they were 100% confident that it would fill.  Filling the event has to be their #1 priority followed by attempting to get the 'most qualified' amateur field.  As you said, they have done a fantastic job growing that event over the last few years.  Perhaps next year they won't be quite as quick to pull the trigger on the ratings-based qualifications.

It was simpler when they had the event in September, which is much closer to being an end of the season event similar to USDGC.  Having it in June leaves little time to qualify for the event in 2010.  The summer date probably helps maximize the field though.

Either way, good luck to those who are going, its the best amateur event of the year.  To those who didn't get in, start trying to qualify for 2011 and then register early.

[Bruce Brakel]

I agree with you Taylor on how it ought to be, but that is not the way it is.  A pro-playing-am who qualifies steals a spot from the amateurs.  I will bring this issue up with Phil, because probably no one ever thought of it. 

[tacimala]

I'm not sure how one could qualify though without meeting all of the specifications.

[Bruce Brakel]

I used the word "qualifies" loosely there.  I should have said "A pro-playing-am who finishes amoung the top X% after skipping pre-qualified amateurs, steals a spot from the amateurs."  What is really interesting about this oversight in the qualifying rules is that if that same pro did it more than once, he'd steal a spot every time.  An amateur who has no intention of going also steals a spot, but at least he .steals it once and get skipped at subsequent qualifiers

[OvEr HaNd AsSaSiN]

Nats Whoooooooooooooo