South Beach International Amateur
December 19-22, 2018| Miami Beach, FL
THE WORLD'S 5TH RANKED AMATEUR GOLF TOURNAMENT
Jeff Hunt
SBIA Co-Founder
Executive Director
Welcome to the 2018 South Beach International Amateur!
We are delighted to invite the top amateur golfers in the world to Miami Beach to compete for the South Beach International Amateur trophy.
The 2017 SBIA field was again one of the strongest in amateur golf, moving into the #5 spot in the worldwide field rankings (SPWAR & WAGR) behind the United States Amateur, The Amateur, The Western Amateur and NCAA Division I Championship. In just its 7th year the SBIA joined the “Top 5” with the four historic tournaments that average over 120 years in existence. The 2017 SBIA field was again 2nd in international participation with almost 50% of the field being from outside its host country, representing 30 nations.
We fully expect to see an increase in field ranking points again in 2018. Last year's field featured 166 of the world's "Top 1,000" players, up from 128 in 2016. This year's field is destined to see a similar jump in top rated amateurs and is expected to attract 180 to 190 “Top 1,000” players.
As has always been the case at the SBIA, all players who made the cut in 2017 will be given conditional exemptions. Currently the list of players who made the cut and highly ranked participants who missed the cut features 180 “Top 1,000” players. With over 85% of previous ranked players coming back to play the SBIA annually, it is obvious that spots in the field will go quickly and field strength will grow dramatically. In 2017 77 players were at +1 after round 2, tying the lowest cut number in the 7 years of the tournament.
The South Beach International Amateur is an "open" competition, and we encourage all top amateurs to apply. The tournament will again be limited to 210 of the world's best amateurs. Applications will start being accepted on July 1st, 2018. For those of you wishing to apply who are not exempt (please see exemption criteria), make sure you email me a playing resume when applying. For those of you who receive exemption and conditional exemption invitations, pay close attention to the exemption deadline dates. Once an exemption date is passed, players are put in the player pool and will be judged solely by their SPWAR ranking as of the November 15th tournament closing date.
The commitment to continue building on the South Beach International Amateur's success starts with creating a great championship experience for every player. For the many of you who will be joining us again, welcome back! For those who come to Miami Beach this December for the first time, we look forward to having you participate! Welcome to the 5th ranked amateur tournament in the world!
See you on Miami Beach!
