I'm referring, of course, to players with great short games, and more specifically great putters. Now imagine how good these players could be if putting wasn't just 50% of the game. What if it was the ONLY game? On Friday, November 18 AmateurGolf.com will host a Major Series of Putting (MSOP) qualifier at Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, in North San Diego County.

You may have heard Matt Ginella of The Golf Channel talk about this formerly downtrodden gem of a course that his buddy John Ashworth (Linksoul) has taken over and renovated. Each Friday, Goat Hill hosts a skins game, and our November 18 qualifier will follow that. Just $40 gets you entry into the skins game ($15 "pot), your 9-hole greens fee, a $25 Callaway gift card, and entry into the MSOP qualifier. The winner gets their entry fee paid for the March "Amateur Only" putting championship in Las Vegas.

To register now, visit AmateurGolf.com/tour. Go ahead, make a mini-vacation out of it in San Diego, where our weather hit 95 degrees on the coast on November 9.

ABOUT THE MAJOR SERIES OF PUTTING

That's the idea of the MSOP, a March, 2017 series of putting competitions in Las Vegas -- the acronym in fact stands for "Major Series of Putting" -- that plans to be the biggest putting tournament in history, and is expecting prize money in excess of $10 Million. And AmateurGolf.com is proud to be a part of the MSOP, right from the beginning. But wait a minute, why would AmateurGolf.com get behind a tournament with big prize money? Well, for starters there is an amateur-only competition scheduled. We'll get to that later.

Starting in August, and running through early 2017, the MSOP will host qualifiers at U.S. and Canadian golf clubs. Many of those qualifiers will take place in conjunction with scheduled golf tournaments (makes sense) while others will be standalone. Pay a small entry fee, then win your qualifier for an automatic entry in one of the March events.

You can also pay an entry fee and register for the March events immediately, guaranteeing that you will be among the expected 4,200 participants in Las Vegas and allowing you to make plans for the big trip.

If you're like me, you're probably wondering a couple of things. Who is behind it? And can they pull it off?

Let's start with who is behind it. Because when I heard about it, saw the attractive website, and that Brad Faxon is endorsing the project, I knew the MSOP had some serious financial backing.

It turns out that MSOP is a subsidiary of Lune Rouge Innovation, a new creative company founded and controlled by Cirque du Soleil Founder Guy Laliberté. And that brings me to another amazing fact about the MSOP. They are constructing, in collaboration with Nicklaus design, an 18-hole championship putting course, surrounded by stadium seating. Now visualize having a putt to win everything with all of those people watching. You're not in the $10 Nassau anymore!

"The MSOP Championships are the perfect occasion for golfers from all walks of life to compete for high stakes," says MSOP President and GM Guillaume Béland. "(Players) will experience the intensity and excitement we usually only see at the highest levels of professional golf."

The competitions will run between March 8-29, 2017. There are various individual formats in both match and stroke play (pros, amateurs, or combined), team competitions, a women's competition, and an amateur championship, which is scheduled for March 16, 2017. Entry fees (which allow you to bypass the qualifier) run from $1,000 to $5,000 for the open competitions, but just $350 for the amateur championship.

HOW TO ENTER

Visit the MSOP website to learn about qualifying dates and locations. The list will be updated frequently starting in mid-August. To register immediately and bypass the qualifying process, visit the Events and Schedule page and click on the event you are interested in to learn more and register.

HOSTING A QUALIFIER

Tournament directors and PGA professionals interested in hosting a qualifier at one or more of their events (or anytime at their course) can download an informational kit from the MSOP website. AmateurGolf.com will be running a qualifier at one of our big Winter Series events in December. (Stay tuned for info.)