Amateur Golf News: Latest Trends and Updates

This page tracks the changes that affect how amateurs qualify, play and are ranked. It is a summary of rule and calendar changes with sources, not a results feed.

Ranking: the strength calculation changed for 2026

The World Amateur Golf Ranking has used the Power method since January 2020: each Counting Event is rated by the strength of its field, and that rating sets the points available. From January 2026 the way event strength is calculated changed, and the change applies across the whole 104-week counting period rather than only to new events. The structural rules around it are unchanged: points count at full value for 52 weeks and then decay by roughly two per cent a week until they leave the record at 104 weeks, each Counting Event adds a divisor, and the aged divisor total has a floor of 8 for men and 7 for women (WAGR criteria).

For a player this is a reason to read your own record rather than your position. A ranking that moved without you playing is a recalculation, not a result.

Championship calendar: what was played in 2026

• The Amateur Championship was held at Royal Liverpool and West Lancashire from 15 to 20 June 2026, with a pre-qualifier at West Lancashire on 12 June. Stuart Grehan of County Louth won the 36-hole final one hole up on Matt Moloney of the United States (The R&A).
• The Women's Amateur Championship was played at Muirfield, and the 124th edition goes to Royal Cinque Ports from 21 to 26 June 2027.
• The Walker Cup was contested at Lahinch on 5 and 6 September 2026, and the Curtis Cup at Bel-Air Country Club in California from 12 to 14 June 2026 (venue announcements).

Amateur status: the 2022 reset is now the baseline

The modernised Rules of Amateur Status took effect in January 2022 and remain the framework every competitive amateur works inside. The prize limit is £700 or US$1,000 per competition for non-cash prizes, prize money is permitted in scratch competitions within that limit and not at all in handicap competitions, trophies sit outside the limit, and the trigger for losing status is accepting a prize rather than entering an event where money is available (Rule 3). The rulebook was later extended with guidance on sponsorship compensation from January 2023 (guidance notes edition, February 2024).

Equipment: the 46-inch option is a committee decision

Since 1 January 2022 committees running professional and elite amateur events may adopt Model Local Rule G-10, capping clubs other than putters at 46 inches with a 0.20-inch tolerance; the penalty for making a stroke with a longer club is disqualification. The general equipment limit remains 48 inches, and the governing bodies have said G-10 is not a Rule of Golf and is not aimed at recreational players (USGA announcement). Check the local rules sheet of each championship rather than assuming.

Reading further

• 

  Golf scores explained

  Scores

  How to read a leaderboard, and what countback decides.

• 

  Women amateur golf ranking

  Ranking

  The women's divisor floor and what it changes.

• 

  Golf tournament entry

  Entry

  Deadlines, eligibility and the documents you need.

Sources

• The R&A and USGA, WAGR criteria, effective 1 January 2026.
• The R&A, The Amateur Championship and 2026 venue announcements.
• USGA, Rules of Amateur Status, Rule 3 and the February 2024 guidance notes edition.
• USGA, Model Local Rule G-10.