About

The APGC and JAGA  are dedicated to providing top-tier education opportunities for junior golfers while nurturing their passion for the sport. The Optimas-JAGA International Series and Order of Merit, in cooperation with APGC, offer elite and super-elite student-golfers in the Asia Pacific region pathways to prestigious events like AAC, WAAP, and college or professional ranks, with over 30 events annually. A player’s “Best Four” performances will count towards the OOM, with the final ranking published after the grand finale at the JAGA campus in Al Ain, UAE, every April.

The JAGA International Series will introduce an APGC-approved Order of Merit, creating the most credible ranking system for juniors and amateurs in the Asia Pacific region. Participants will earn both WAGR and JIS OOM points, with top performers receiving invites to prestigious events. The top 40 in the JIS OOM will be fully sponsored by JAGA to compete in the series finale at Al Ain Equestrian and Golf Course every April.

The JAGA International Series will introduce an APGC-approved Order of Merit, creating the most credible ranking system for juniors and amateurs in the Asia Pacific region. Participants will earn both WAGR and JIS OOM points, with top performers receiving invites to prestigious events. The top 40 in the JIS OOM will be fully sponsored by JAGA to compete in the series finale at Al Ain Equestrian and Golf Course every April.

• JIS-OOM events are open for all amateurs under the age of 23 yrs.
• Further classification of age groups is as follows:
  • U 13 : Should not have turned 13 by the first day of the tournament.
  • U 15 : Should not have turned 15 by the first day of the tournament.
  • U 18 : Should not have turned 18 by the first day of the tournament.
  • U 23 : Should not have turned 23 by the first day of the tournament.
• If a participant moves to a higher age category within the year, they can choose to compete in that category from the start of the calendar year by notifying JIS and local organizers. Once opted, they cannot return to their original age category for any JIS tournaments.

• The JIS will deliver OOM in the following categories:
  • U 13 Boys
  • U 15 Boys
  • U 18 Boys
  • U 13 Girls
  • U 15 Girls
  • U 18 Girls
  • Overall Boys
  • Overall Girls
• Overall Boys / Overall Girls OOM will represent the overall standings from the participants in the U 15, U 18 and U 23 age categories. It is therefore imperative that all participants from these categories (U15, U 18 and U 23) play from the same Tee Box (akin to WAGR).
• U 13 Boys and Girls are not eligible for the Overall OOM, unless one decides to play the higher age category (and the appropriate Tee Box).
• There is no separate OOM for the U 23 participants.

• All JIS – OOM events are to be WAGR compliant as well. Refer to https://www.wagr.com/about/criteria for detailed guidelines on WAGR compliance.
• The minimum field size is 8.
• The tournament is to be scheduled over at least 54 holes of strokeplay planned over 2 or 3 rounds.
• The competition must be scheduled over successive days, however there may be a break between phases of a competition.
• Cancellation or reduction of a round or rounds for reasons of weather, safety, etc., will not necessarily render the event “non-counting”.
• Use of a course by each Event Organiser is limited to three (3) Counting Events per gender each calendar year.
• The course used must have a minimum Par of 64, or pro-rata value for courses with less than 18 holes.
• Distance adjustments are only allowed for gender in mixed-gender competition.
• Playoffs or tie breakers must be based on playing golf over a hole or successive holes; otherwise, the result will be reflected as a tie.
• Results must be ordered from the champion or winner to the last place including all players who competed. The order must be based on score or points. Points may be based on, as an example, the Stableford or modified Stableford scoring systems.
• All players must conform to the Rules of Amateur Status, published by the R&A and USGA which came into effect on January 1, 2023.
• All players must possess a valid Handicap Index (H.I.) as of 01 Jan 2024.

OOM Algorithm.

• JIS – OOM will be using an in-house algorithm to dynamically award points to the Top 20 finishers and ties.
• Award of points to the top 20 finishers will be a certain percentage of the “power of the Tournament”. The power of the Tournament will in turn depend on a number of factors, some of these would be :-
• Total No. of Players
• No. of players with WAGR rank. The contributed weightage will vary depending on the ranks of those players, such as, beyond 2000, up to 2000, up to 1000, up to 600 and less than 300. Different ranks will contribute differently to the power of the tournament.
• Length of the Course – there will be three categories of course length that will contribute differently to the power of the tournament. These are:
• Boys : Less than 6600 yds, 6600 – 7000 yds, and More than 7000 yds
• Girls : Less than 6000 yds, 6000 – 6500 yds, and More than 6500 yds
• Par of the Course
• Participants Score vis-à-vis the length of the course (for instance, under par scores in a long yardage course will fetch certain bonus points as compared to a similar score in a shorter yardage course)
• Quality of Conduct of the tournament, such as live scoring, media coverage, opening and closing ceremony, etc

• The grand finale event of the JIS – OOM will be held at Al Ain Equestrian Shooting and Golf Course in April every year.
• A maximum of 120 players (from U15, U 18 and U 23 age categories only) will participate in this event: 80 boys and 40 girls.
• Participants for this event will be selected from the JIS – OOM or through invitations only.
• The Championship will be played for Individual as well as Team Positions.
• Top 2 boys and the top girl (one) from each APGC country (from the JIS – OOM for Overall Boys / Girls) will receive full exemption for the event and they will represent their country at the event, in addition to contesting for individual position.
• (Full exemption for these participants will cover their expenditure towards hotel stay, local transportation, tournament rounds, one practice round, cart fee, caddy fee, welcome dinner and prize giving lunch) (Air Fare not included).
• One Team manager from each country will be welcome to accompany their team and receive full sponsorship, as stated above.
• Notwithstanding the Team invitation mentioned above, any participant in the Top 20 boys and Top 10 Girls from the Overall Boys / Girls Merit list of the JIS – OOM will also earn full exemption for this tournament, although they may only compete in the Individual category.
• Selection of the rest of the field for this tournament including award of wild cards will be on the sole discretion of the JIS Leadership.
• Following Prizes will be awarded at the Grand Finale:
  • U 15 Boys – Top 3,
  • U 15 Girls – Top 3
  • U 18 Boys – Top 3
  • U 18 Girls – Top 3
  • Overall Boys – Top 5
  • Overall Girls – Top 5
  • Overall Teams – Top 3