What is an AM?

[Flatroc]

Originally Posted by emmarose

... if we're talkin' tolkien, i believe you mean elfs...

... and yes, yes i am the spelling police...

here ya go:
In the Beginning of Days, long before Good or Evil moved in Middle-earth, when only the wild beasts and ancient trees inhabited the forests and valleys, the first of the 'speaking peoples' awoke and gazed 'out in the Wild Wood in wonder at their first Dawn'. These were the Elves, the firstborn, the immortal Elder Race of Middle-earth, noblest of the Children of Eru .
I think Elfs are a bunch of fellers that hang out with Master Samwise of Bag End, the Easter Bunny and Bilbo BAGgins.
On Christmas they sit around singing gospel songs while rooting for the GI ENTS!

[Chuck Kennedy]

Honoring my connection with trees, Ents and Mother Earth, I dressed as Father Nature for Halloween this year:

[jshrack]

Back to the original subject.

I like:
Pro
Adv
Am
etc.

By your own logic, doesn't this imply that advanced is not pro.
The descending order implies pro is the top class.
Everything below pro is... not pro.
Most people who go into the advanced category are excellent players. Many are on the cusp of turning pro. Plus, we all figure out very quickly that it is just short for advanced amateur. If we replace 'Am' with 'Int' you could make the same argument and it would be more confusing. The abbreviation convention seems to fit, from my perspective. Do you think someone actually thought about this in the previous 35+ years?

Or should we change it to Professional, Amateur, Novice?
Sounds belittling...

[Cold Steel]

I didn't read the whole thread, so sorry if I repeat something...
Novice= This looks like fun, I'll give it a try.
Intermediate= I've just become addicted, but haven't played much in a formal setting, I'd like to see what that's like.
Advanced= I've competed, but I would get my ass kicked in Pro. Besides, that guy from Yakima is playing Advanced, I haven't beat him the last three times we competed. OR Once I win one Season/series/event in AM, I swear I'll go Pro.
Pro= I have a chance to kick anybody's butt, because I can or because just maybe the stars will align for me some day and victory shall be mine.

The division of amateurs, IMHO, keeps ADV players from crushing the dreams of NOV and INT players.
If the waters are too dangerous, no one's going to swim, right?

Oh- I wonder if Nikko is actually an elf? Besides the emotion thing, he's got a lot of the qualities if you think about it.

[ahukingacehole]

What is difference in signing up for the pdga in am vs pro? Can't anyone play in open if signed up am?

[runnaman]

You have to sign up as Pro if you've ever accepted cash in a PDGA tournament. I'm not sure if there's any more to it than that.

[DexterHawk]

not true... see the competition manual

[snap7times]

You may maintain amateur status if you are under 970 and have accepted cash in the past... dexterhawk made it too simple but it's the truth...

[Flatroc]

The way I see it is, you can sign up for the PDGA as a pro, accept and even spend the cash.
Then, if a rating dictates, you can still play below your skill level and sandbag, uhhh, I mean, play amateur. Not you personally, but I'm sure you know some of these "rating game" peeps.