New Ways To Play Fantasy Golf in 2025 | Formats, Strategies and Leagues

7 Comments

1. 

   @Patrick-tt3ig 7 months ago

   Good video, actually made me think of an idea while watching that I think seems pretty cool:

   All the numbers here could be ironed out, but I was thinking 10 player rosters done via a draft with best ball scoring of the top 5 scorers each week counting. Scoring would be based on DGs true strokes gained figures squared (could use your site as well because I think you have an adjusted version, sorry not a member), which would be done to emphasize top end performances further. It also opens up the possibility to pick from any league that DG carries, including LIV, DP, etc. which is fun considering how spread out golf is right now. Using true SG also makes more important events more valuable (15th place in The Masters will be worth similar to a win in the Puerto Rico Open).

   Of the 10 spots, 7 would be protected, meaning that nobody can touch them (though trades can be offered and accepted with these players). The other 3 are unprotected and can be pinched by other teams. Who is in the protected zone or not can be shuffled around Tuesday through Sunday, but on Monday it is locked in place, as that is the waiver claim date just like Tuesday is for fantasy football. Teams can either make claims for players in the free agent pool or from other teams unprotected players and whoever has the least cumulative points gets top priority. On Tuesday no other players can take from your team until next Monday, though teams can still pick up players from the free agent pool (no claims now) if you wish until the tournament that the desired player is in tees off.*

   This allows for the draft to not be everything, for you to be able to have players playing every week, and for there to be fun strategy about who you will/won't protect (analogous to lineup setting, though best ball scoring foregoes true lineup setting). Again, those numbers could change, but I think the number of unprotected should be less than the amount of players that score so that protected player strategy is of importance, not allowing you to just hold the best players, but that you must have some diversity of schedule to try and get five playing each week if you can.

   My vision has no head to head, but it could certainly be added. It would just be looking to get the highest possible either each year or maybe you could break the season into "swings" like the DP World Tour does. This seems like a good balance between traditional fantasy setup and also adjusting, both in scoring and roster construction, for the idiosyncrasies of golf. Also will note that DataGolf true SG totals change as more info roles in, but for scoring purposes they would be fixed to whatever number they appeared as the Monday after the tournament.

   * This is one awkward thing with letting every event in is that they have vastly different tee times, but the likelihood is that picking a player not on one of the very top tours would not be worth it, so this shouldn't actually be a problem. Depends on how big your league is as to whether or not any players not from LIV/PGA/DP World Tour will be used.

2. 

   @hamme443 7 months ago

   Great video, Rick. I have a lot of thoughts regarding fantasy golf:
   – I was a commissioner of a few leagues when you used to manage the spreadsheet. Like you alluded to, I didn't enjoy the scoring we had at the time and would prefer using money won instead of fantasy scoring. I was in a dynasty golf league but LIV ruined that. I'm still optimistic about the future of fantasy golf given the popularity of fantasy football.
   – I love Fantrax's customization options. It's really good for dynasty baseball. But like you said, it's far from perfect, especially for golf.
   – I've been using Buzz for a few years. They have a free contest with prizes that I always enter. And one of my fantasy leagues is run via Buzz.
   – I really enjoy the Majors Best Ball on Underdog but hated the season-long Best Ball version. I also hated that weekly snake drafts were for a single round and not the whole tournament. That being said, Underdog has the best mobile app of any fantasy product out there. Lots of potential.
   – For the PGA Tour Fantasy product, are they still limiting your selections per segment? Last year, you could only select a golfer three times per segment. If they don't have that limit, I feel like Scottie will be 95% rostered every time he tees it up. With the limit, there's more strategy involved.
   – The Calcutta format sounds interesting but I can't imagine tying up thousands of dollars into one contes (unless I'm not understanding the concept). But as a data guy, I do strongly agree that the top golfers will be overvalued and the other golfers will be undervalued.
   – I joined your One & Done on Splash (and have loved Splash in general for golf, NFL, college football, etc.). I plan on joining the PGA Fantasy private group later this week.

3. 

   @mattiannetta 7 months ago

   I would like to join

4. 

   @RickRunGood 7 months ago

   If you would like to join either the $1000 league or be part of a $500 league, comment here!

5. 

   @JackLochore 7 months ago

   Is there the spreadsheet again this year with all the leagues, buy ins etc?

6. 

   @KrotHere 7 months ago

   Rory at 7 is a terrible ADP. should be closer to 30. Not playing an event until Pebble. Only expecting 2 tournaments in the first round

7. 

   @lukedechant5529 7 months ago

   Got Rory at 2.5 in the Underdog Best Ball…..