More high school golfers will have a chance to play in the State Tournament this fall.
Following Region play, an additional round of the golf — christened the State First Round — will be conducted at three locations across the commonwealth.
The KHSAA Board of Control approved that plan during its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday at the KHSAA Office in Lexington.
According to the KHSAA, the change, effective fall 2022, will increase the number of golfers advancing beyond the regional tournament and create an additional round of play to expand postseason opportunities.
Each State First Round site will include four regions (there are 12 regions in golf as opposed to 16 across the state in many other sports). Each region will send 20 golfers to the State First Round for a total of 80 golfers at each location.
KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett broke down the change and its advantages.
In contrast to the previous format in which only the winning team and seven at-large qualifiers advanced, the new format will see the top two teams advance along with the top 10 individuals from non-advancing teams.
“When the golf format was revised before the 2019 tournament, we had received significant input from our schools to continue to look at options so that the Region runner-up teams could come back to competition and yet expand the field to help grow the game,” said Tackett.
Thirty golfers from each State First Round site will advance to the State Final Round Tournament for a total of 90 participants. The top three teams from each First Round site plus 15 individuals from non-advancing teams will advance to the Final Round.
With the change to the postseason lineup, up to 96 additional golfers will advance from Region to State First Round. The KHSAA expects that to promote the potential growth of the sport in all areas of the state.
With an increased number of participants advancing, Regions with traditionally successful teams and individuals are not eliminated in favor of participants from other areas.
The KHSAA also notes that with the addition of three additional courses, strong relationships have the potential to develop with host sites, assisting with the continued growth of the sport.
Both the State First Round and the State Tournament have the flexibility to start later in the day in the event of inclement weather, allowing for completion of play, which has been a major challenge with the current format.
The State Final Round will have all 90 golfers compete for both days of the event without the necessity of a cut and allow play to be conducted in one flight, as players are accustomed to doing most of the year.
