As someone that has never participated in a Pro - am, This new format will keep me from starting a team and joining. This Summer I was going to fish the Orleans Pro Am as an Am. It is a little much to jump into a Pro Am in the Pro division. From the outside looking in, the am division seemed as a perfect stepping stone to me. The open division looks like the only choice left for the small guys. Cutting out the Am division is like baseball getting rid of AAA, AA and A baseball. Newbies have no where to start. A team with no Prom Ams under their belts are going to get beat down in their first attempt at fishing with the Pros and walk away. When all the competitors of today retire from the Pro Am circuit, who is going to be left? Seems to me like the beginning of the end if this format takes hold. Just like Corporate America, The little guy gets beat up and pushed out by the big guys once again.