Rankings FAQs About Us Press

Frequently Asked Questions

Following the 2024-25 season NCAA Divisions I, II and III Golf Committees conducted annual meetings and as a result of those meetings there is a minor adjustment to the ranking methodology for some genders and divisions. The adjustment is an addition of a ‘guardrail for runaway winners’ (team or individual). This guardrail caps the number of points of a winner in extreme cases of a large stroke differential between first and second place and a large differential between a team’s (or individual’s) event performance and their season-long performance. Following committee discussions, NCAA Division I Women and NCAA Division III Men and Women adopted this guardrail for the 2025-26 season. There is no change for NCAA Division I Men, NCAA Division II Men or Women, and no change to NAIA or NJCAA.
Additionally, in order to create more uniformity across leagues and divisions, the points have been rescaled for NJCAA DII Women's teams, NJCAA DI and DII Women individuals, and NJCAA DII Men individuals. This rescaling has no impact on the ranking order of teams or individuals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.What are the changes in the ranking methodology for the 2025-2026 season?

Q.What are the changes in the ranking methodology for the 2024-2025 season?

Q.Is the ranking methodology the same for teams and individuals?

Q.Will all players be included in the individual rankings even if they’ve played only a few rounds?

Q.Do team rankings in other individual sports use a points-based ranking?

Q.Is there an advantage in playing in certain events?

Q.How is strength-of-field calculated (for both current and future tournaments)?

Q.How is stroke differential accounted for?

Q.Does the last-place team in a tournament get 0 points?

Q.Do head-to-head victories matter?

Q.How does the ranking ensure fairness for teams that play in more events or fewer events?

Q.What’s the best way to determine total points for a field as we plan our schedule for next year?

Q.Is there an advantage to playing in larger fields versus smaller fields?

Q.Is there an advantage to playing in stronger tournaments versus weaker tournaments?

Q.How does it work when teams from multiple divisions play in the same tournament?

Q.Does the ranking formula work for divisions that play a more regional schedule, as opposed to a national schedule?

Q.How does match play affect the rankings?

Q.Why does stroke differential matter in stroke play events but the margin of victory does not matter in match play events?

Q.Does a team’s win-loss-tie record factor into the ranking?

Q.How is a combined stroke play and match play tournament format considered for rankings purposes?

Q.How do the rankings work with different stroke-play formats in college golf (5-count-4, 6-count-5, 6-count-4)?

Q.How does the ranking ensure fairness across different lengths of events (18-hole, 36-hole, 54-hole)?

Q.Do the new rankings factor in 'exhibitions'?

Q.Does the new ranking system continually review what’s happened in the past and adjust the strength-of-field in previous events?

Q.Will point awards be fixed after the first published ranking or will they adjust as the season progresses to take into account more information about the strength of field of events?

Q.What is the starting point at the beginning of each new season for team ranking

Q.How do you assign a value to the first tournament of that year when nobody has played that year and every team is new?

Q.How are DNFs handled?

Q.Will coaches be able to see their potential best and worst ranking prior to an event?

Q.What is the deadline for publishing results to the Scoreboard website in order to be counted for that week’s rankings?