Golf Draft Kit: Draft Tips & Strategy

Daily fantasy golf is becoming a more prominent option for gamers, but there's still something to be said for being a part of a season-long league with your buddies. The RotoWire gang has been doing an auction draft for more than a decade, and we'll be back at it again this season. I've had some championship seasons and, um, some non-championship seasons

We have 14 teams, and draft nine golfers each (we start five a week). We have a budget of a make-believe $100, and you have to have at least $1 to draft every guy on your roster. In other words, you can pay as much as $92 for one guy, and then you'll have $8 to get the last eight guys – but it has to be $1 per guy. (Be prepared to be outbid on those eight guys.) There are adds/drops throughout the season, and trades, too. Every move costs a little bit.

Frankly, not everyone in the league pays as much attention as others. I get it, people have lives. But before we get into different strategies, simply following golf on a weekly if not daily basis is the best plan. Rule No. 1: Do your homework. Rule No. 2: Your homework is never done.

Whether you are in a straight draft or an auction, a lot of the strategy overlaps. But not all. And, candidly, this isn't rocket science. A lot of it is basic stuff.

Here goes:

You're a Scouting Director

Pro teams have a draft board – so should you. Make a list of golfers you would like to have, knowing you will not get all of them or even most. Put them in order of importance to you. Look at the top-tier golfers – there aren't enough to go round. RotoWire has 14 teams; there aren't anywhere close to 14 top-tier golfers. It's not impossible to win without Day/DJ/Spieth/McIlroy, but it sure helps. The 2016 winner had Dustin Johnson, and he cost $62 on draft day. Jordan Spieth was $80, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy cost $70 and Rickie Fowler cost $61. Those were the top five. Only Johnson, and perhaps Day, justified the cost.

The 2015 champ had Spieth, one of the top-priced guys at $57. In 2014, the league winner's top price paid was $34 for Brandt Snedeker. So there's more than one way to do it. But don't try to make a habit of getting lucky.

Continuing down your draft board, look at different levels. Just like a pro team will try to figure who will be around in the third round, fourth round, etc., you do the same. You won't get all first- and second-rounders, but you better not be stuck with a bunch of seventh-rounders, either. Make a list of 10-12 guys at every level. How many levels? Depends how deep your draft goes.

Differing Paths

Some RotoWire guys like to load up at the front of our auction draft. This past year, I chose to sit back and look for bargains as others ran out of cash. I ended up with Justin Thomas, Ryan Moore and Kevin Kisner as my top guys, and it killed me. They were in the Tour Championship, sure, but top 30 is not good enough. Kisner, especially, killed me after his hot – and, apparently, aberrant – start. (On the other hand, I got Danny Willett for measly 5 bucks and he won the Masters, which netted me a bonus.) So what will I do this year? Probably react the same way as pro teams that have done poorly one year: pay big for big names the next year.

Changes Mid-Draft

If it's a snake draft, golfers pretty much go in order of how good they are. In an auction, good or even great players can go long after the start of the draft. A guy's value will change at various points in the draft, depending on who's been taken, how much money everyone has left and who you've already drafted. So you need to be able to adjust your thinking accordingly. A guy's value on the course won't change, but his value during the draft will. Pay attention to that, it's very important.

Recent History

Look at results from the previous year, maybe two. Things change so often, it doesn't help to go back much further. (And not that you can do anything about it, but last year was an Olympic year, the schedule was crunched, it was an outlier. Spieth, for one, was exhausted from the get-go. Who knows how it affected others?)

Fairways Are Your Friend

Focus on tee-to-green play: ball striking, SGT2G and GIR. Great putters are few and far between. Find a guy who can hit the dang ball straight! And far is good, too.

Second-Tier Golfers

As you move past the top guys or even the very good guys, look at top-10s, even top-5s, and whether they are qualified for the majors and WGCs.

Third Tier and beyond

At the bottom, look for cuts made and golfers who play a lot. And golfers who won't get squeezed out of the smaller invitational fields are good, too, but you invariably will have some of them.

"Sophomore" Jinx

A guy who enjoys his breakthrough season often takes a step back the next year, or two or three. The money/fame/etc. is life-altering. The bigger the success, the younger the guy, the more likely this could happen. We're not talking just rookies. Roberto Castro came out of nowhere to make the Tour Championship in 2013. For two years, he was horrible and lost his card. In 2016, he was back at East Lake. (He may have gotten hot at the right time to get to the Tour Championship this past year, but he's also much better than a Web.com guy.)

Rookies

We all look for the Next Big Thing, the Hidden Gem. They are few and far between. Spieth is a once-or-twice-in-a-generation golfer. Bryson DeChambeau had to go to the Web.com Tour. So did Ollie Schniederjans. Patrick Rodgers has been ordinary. Jon Rahm may be great, but don't invest too heavily on a maybe. Don't get too excited about guys like Wesley Bryan; there's a reason he was in the minor leagues. Maybe 80 to 90 percent of guys coming out of college or the Web.com Tour won't be key components to your team. If you guess right, you'll be the envy of your draft.

Euros/foreigners

More and more, they are playing stateside. Some are now PGA Tour members while others come just for the big events. In the Rotowire league, we traditionally have stashed a Euro just for the majors and WGCs. With more guys playing here full time, that strategy is getting antiquated. Avoid the foreigners whose games don't translate well to U.S.-style courses.

Head, not Heart

Try to keep emotions out of it. Don't simply green-light a guy who did wonderful things for you last year. A guy went to your alma mater? Great. Say hi on homecoming weekend, but it's not a reason to take him. You saw on Twitter that a guy likes the same band as you? Wow, he's cool! Now move on.

Final Thought

Lastly, keep your wits about you during the draft. Stop. Focus. Breathe. It's easy to get caught up in the fast pace. It's easy to get angry if a guy you wanted went one pick before you, or was $1 more than you could pay. It's like real golf: You can only play one shot at a time. You can only play the next shot. Make sure it's right down the middle.