The Official Waiting Lists

For Seattle
Jeff Haight — longtime Seattle Team member
Dave Sturtevant — longtime Seattle Team member

Erik Ward — friend of Jeff Benezra and Nick Jenkins
Kevin McCarthy — friend of Norman’s
Dan Gottesman – friend of Jeff Benezra and Nick Jenkins
Morris Rosen — friend of Jeff Benezra and Nick Jenkins
Mark Baldwin — friend of John Harrison (left off here in ’11)
Peter Fessler — friend of Nick Jenkins
Chris White — friend of Nick Jenkins

For World
George Peckham — 2010 player
Matt Beaton — 2009 player
Chris Hansen — 2009 player
Jason Matzat — 2008 player

Michael Richardson – friend of Paul Sharkey’s who paid $250 deposit in 2010
Todd Pizarek — friend of Paul Sharkey
Lance Abendroth – Friend of Paul’s
Neil Dunlop — friend of Norman Cheuk

Is it Time to Tweak the Singles Matches?

The Cup could benefit from a few pre-arranged singles matches, a la Weir/Woods Presidents Cup 2007.

The old saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” certainly applies to Greenspan.

But “tweak” is not “fix,” and for my money, I think a tweaking of the singles format is in order.

To date, the captains order their players 1-12, lay the lists next to each other, and that’s that. The only exception is that there cannot be a match-up where the handicap differential is greater than ten. The system has worked well so far. I think the Worlds have a slight lead in overall singles play, but so be it. The Seattles just need to play better.

All that said, I’d propose we inject some spice into the format. We’ve sent a few e-mails around, and so far the ideas are as follows:

OPTION 1 — ORDER THE PLAYERS. Basically the captains would arrange their players in order of handicap and match them up that way.

Ads: Limits the strokes being given.
Disads: Makes it virtually impossible that some guys will ever play each other in singles; increases likelihood of playing the same guy repeatedly; takes strategy out of pairings.

OPTION 2 — ALLOW CHALLENGES. Status quo with a few exceptions. Before the captains order their players, each captain finds out if one of his players wants to challenge a player on the other team. If he does, then the other player may accept. (We could do this compulsory accepting, or optional accepting.) Only caveat would be that the players must each have at least one point scored. This rule prevents a captain from throwing one of his own guys on the proverbial grenade by instructing him to challenge the other team’s strongest player, thereby taking him out of the mix.

This could be done a myriad of ways. One challenge per team, make acceptance mandatory, etc. For example:

For the mandatory acceptance match, Gran wants Waldner in singles. So long as Waldner has scored at least one point, done. Waldner cannot back down.

Aro wants Waalkes in singles. Waalkes isn’t liking his chances. He passes.

Nelson wants Jenkins in singles. Jenkins always likes his chances. Match on.

The remaining ten players from each team are ordered as per the status quo.

Ads: Lotsa spice and lotsa trash talking for years to follow. E.g., Jenkins to Cheuk: “you challenged me and I beat you 5&4!!”
Disads: Depends on your perspective. If your team’s best player is taken out, it may not look so good.

OPTION 3 — TIERED RANDOM DRAWS. Divide the players into three groups of four — low, medium and high handicappers. Random draw the matches within the groups.

Ads and Disads: see Option 1.

OPTION 4 — STATUS QUO. Has been working fine.

OPTION 5. Let the defending champion’s captain pick the format, any of the above.

RESOLUTION: On August 10, 2009, the Executive Committee agreed by e-mail to allow the defending champion’s captain to decide the format for singles.

Eligibility Rules

Roster Spots – Invitation Date — Invitations
All invitations for the following year’s Greenspan Cup shall be sent out on November 1. Captains shall invite players subject to the following order of priority:
1. Returning Greenspanners. For purposes of this rule, a “Returning Greenspanner” shall be anyone who either (a) paid the full amount for a spot the previous year, or (b) paid their $500 deposit in full prior to January 1 and received no refund. In both cases, it is irrelevant whether said person played the event.
2. Paying but Non-Returning Greenspanners. For purposes of this rule, a “Paying but Non-Returning Greenspanner” is someone who paid at least $250 of the initial deposit to play the previous year but, for whatever reason, did not play.
3. Half-Returning Greenspanners. For purposes of this rule, a “Half-Returning Greenspanner” is someone who played in the previous year’s event but, for whatever reason, did not pay the full amount.
4. Former Greenspanners. For purposes of this rule, a “Former Greenspanner” is someone who either (1) has played in at least one of the previous three years’ events and paid in total for their spot at least one of those years, or (2) has played in at least fifty percent of the total Cups played.
5. Wait-Listed Players. The wait list shall operate as follows:

a. Any person who had paid the full amount to play in a Greenspan Cup within the previous three years shall be listed at the top of his respective team wait list. In the event said player does not get invited to play for three years, he shall keep his spot at the top of the list. More recently-added players of this status, however, are entitled to jump to the top of the list. E.g., Player A paid for his spot in full in 2005. He did not play or pay in 2006; thus, he went to the top of the wait list. Player B pays in full for his spot in 2007 but decides not to play in 2008. in 2009, Player B is entitled to an invitation before Player A.

b. Any person who has played in a previous Greenspan Cup, regardless of how much he paid. For purposes of this rule, more recent players get higher priority. E.g., Player C plays in 2010 but does not pay for his spot. Player D plays in 2008 and pays the full amount. In 2014, player C is entitled to an invitation before Player D.

Beginning with the 2012 Cup, persons must have at least ten (10) scores posted on their GHIN cards in the previous twelve (12) calendar months to be eligible for an invitation.

Filling Openings
For purposes of this section, a “Tenured Greenspanner” shall be someone who has either (1) played in at least seventy-five percent (75%) of all Greenspan Cups, or (2) played in four of the last five Greenspans. In either case, a person shall be deemed to have “played” so long as he played, regardless of whether he paid to play in those events. A tournament paid for, but not played in, shall not constitute a tournament “played” for purposes of this definition. A “Non-Tenured Greenspanner” shall be someone who has played in fewer than seventy-five percent of all Greenspan Cups.

1. In the event a Tenured Greenspanner opts out of event prior to the tournament, he shall have the right to recruit his replacement. Said Tenured Greenspanner and his replacement may work out payment amongst themselves. If the Tenured Greenspanner pays the full amount, he shall be entitled to Returning Greenspanner status. In the event said Tenured Greenspanner is not able to find a replacement within a reasonable time, the team captain shall find a replacement.

2. In the event a Non-Tenured Greenspanner opts out of the event prior to the tournament, he does not have the right to recruit his replacement. Instead, the team captain shall find a replacement.

Refunds
Deposits and payments made for Greenspan Cups are non-refundable. In the event, however, that an invitee notifies his captain at least three months before the first day of the event that he will not be able to play, said player is entitled to a refunded provided his replacement is willing to pay the difference.

Last updated and approved by Executive Committee: December 6, 2010.