20 replies to this topic

[Lord Thomas]

There have been a number of questions about college golf brought up in the last few weeks.  Think of this as a guide, but if you have any more questions about college golf or college in general, don’t hesitate to ask.

If you want to play college golf, there is a program somewhere that is looking for someone like you.  I only played one year of high school golf before a wrist injury ended my high school golf “career” and I still garnered interest from about six Division II and Division III schools.

I recommend looking at college as an academic experience where you can continue to play golf, and not as golf with a few classes interspersed.  I think of golf in college as a bonus and not as the reason I am attending college.  While college coaches look at things like the Junior Rankings and tournaments such as the US Junior Amateur, if you want to play in college you have to do a bit of legwork yourself.  I would start by constructing a “Golf Resume” with a listing of tournaments you have played in, your score, the result, and other pertinent details (course played, course rating / slope rating, yardage, etc.).  This resume can then be sent to coaches of schools who are good matches for you.  By good match I mean a school that is academically a good fit, as well as a good fit in terms of the quality of golf played at that school.

It is important to keep in mind that while only Division I and Division II schools can offer athletic scholarships; most Division III schools offer academic scholarships and have good financial aid departments.  A division I or II school may not offer you a scholarship, but they may offer you the chance to walk-on.

Grades are almost as important as golfing ability to a college coach.  Coaches don’t want to deal with you becoming academically ineligible, because then you can’t play.  If you have been successful academically, you could include things like cumulative grade point average, ACT or SAT score, or class rank on your Golf Resume.  Oftentimes an outstanding test score or grade point average can help your resume stand out from the numerous other players a coach is looking at.

Even if you are a freshman or sophomore in high school, but have some idea where you want to attend college, contact the coach and ask them what they look for in a golfer, whether certain tournaments are of greater importance than others, and that will show interest which the coach hopefully will remember down the road.

Here are a few other threads where the topic of playing golf in college has been discussed:
http://www.golfwrx.c...showtopic=18743
http://www.golfwrx.c...showtopic=14144
http://www.golfwrx.c...showtopic=13375

-Thomas

[stickman]

Great Post ! thanks Thomas !

[7D2]

Lord Thomas, on Feb 26 2006, 04:35 PM, said:

Even if you are a freshman or sophomore in high school, but have some idea where you want to attend college, contact the coach and ask them what they look for in a golfer, whether certain tournaments are of greater importance than others, and that will show interest which the coach hopefully will remember down the road.

Can the Coaches Email you back, or are they not allowed to till after your junior year?

[NickasInSaltLick]

getyoursrixon, on Nov 2 2008, 07:00 PM, said:

Lord Thomas, on Feb 26 2006, 04:35 PM, said:

Even if you are a freshman or sophomore in high school, but have some idea where you want to attend college, contact the coach and ask them what they look for in a golfer, whether certain tournaments are of greater importance than others, and that will show interest which the coach hopefully will remember down the road.

Can the Coaches Email you back, or are they not allowed to till after your junior year?

I'm pretty sure there's some rules on the NCAA level about that.  On the NAIA level where I'm coaching, there's hardly any rules when it comes to recruiting other than the obvious ethical ones.

[titleist_player69]

Is there anything else that i should put in my golf resume, besides the tourney and grade stuff. Like personal information, what?

[golftitleist]

Possibly other activities you participate in; other sports, clubs, community service, things of that nature, I assume it varies from coach to coach regarding what they're interested in, but I would think those things would be good. Swing videos or recommendations from pros or coaches also not a bad idea.

[titleist_player69]

K Thanks

[nas1021]

i'm 16 and im very interested in playing in college. currently, im a 7 handicap and i would like to play at a D1 school. (i dont care if the team is terrible), I just want to play in at least 5+ tournaments a year. but my question is, what is the best way to let colleges know I want to go there? do I look for them, or do they look for me? thank you

[titleist_player69]

I'm 15 and a 1 handicap. I live in ontario and don't have the money to travel down to the states for more than two maybe three tournaments a year and need to stay on the east coast. How important are playing in the american events like AJGA? And besides the USGA U.S. Junior Amateur what other tournaments would you recomend playing in or trying to qualify for? What's the best tournaments to get recognized by College D1 coaches?

Possibly: AJGA FootJoy Invitational, AJGA The Junior Players, Jr. Orange Bowl International what?

Thanks

Edited by titleist_player69, 10 March 2009 - 07:09 PM.

[golftitleist]

titleist_player69, on Mar 10 2009, 07:03 PM, said:

Possibly: AJGA FootJoy Invitational, AJGA The Junior Players, Jr. Orange Bowl International what?

The Footjoy and Junior Players are both invitation only, so it would be tough to get into that. Orange Bowl, Verizon Junior Heritage, and the Optimist are good places to start.

[pigolfer]

what kind of minimum grade requirement are most college coaches looking for?

[Coach Argonaut]

We can email you back but can't talk to you over the phone or meet in person and speak until June 15th after your Jr. year of high school.

[7D2]

Coach Argonaut, on Apr 29 2009, 05:10 PM, said:

We can email you back but can't talk to you over the phone or meet in person and speak until June 15th after your Jr. year of high school.

Just a few questions.
What would coaches expect to see in an email from a player?
When would it be a good time to start talking to coaches?
Do coaches look at junior golf scoreboard?
What would be a good ranking for a player looking to play at a top 100, D1 school?

[Coach Argonaut]

getyoursrixon, on Apr 29 2009, 06:19 PM, said:

Coach Argonaut, on Apr 29 2009, 05:10 PM, said:

We can email you back but can't talk to you over the phone or meet in person and speak until June 15th after your Jr. year of high school.

Just a few questions.
What would coaches expect to see in an email from a player?
When would it be a good time to start talking to coaches?
Do coaches look at junior golf scoreboard?
What would be a good ranking for a player looking to play at a top 100, D1 school?

First, make it personal, not an obvious canned letter.. give your handicap and avg. tournament score with low tournament rnd., your age and grade, whether or not you are registered in the NCAA clearinghouse, SAT scores and cum GPA..how long have you played golf, and your upcoming tournaments so that the coach can access your finish..  
yes we look at scoreboard and we pay more attention to multi day tournaments and scoring potential.. a top 100 D1 school isnt that good so you dont have to be a great player, but you need to show that you have potential and have broken par in solid tournament fields.. good luck..

[7D2]

Coach Argonaut, on Apr 30 2009, 08:50 PM, said:

getyoursrixon, on Apr 29 2009, 06:19 PM, said:

Coach Argonaut, on Apr 29 2009, 05:10 PM, said:

We can email you back but can't talk to you over the phone or meet in person and speak until June 15th after your Jr. year of high school.

Just a few questions.
What would coaches expect to see in an email from a player?
When would it be a good time to start talking to coaches?
Do coaches look at junior golf scoreboard?
What would be a good ranking for a player looking to play at a top 100, D1 school?

First, make it personal, not an obvious canned letter.. give your handicap and avg. tournament score with low tournament rnd., your age and grade, whether or not you are registered in the NCAA clearinghouse, SAT scores and cum GPA..how long have you played golf, and your upcoming tournaments so that the coach can access your finish..  
yes we look at scoreboard and we pay more attention to multi day tournaments and scoring potential.. a top 100 D1 school isnt that good so you dont have to be a great player, but you need to show that you have potential and have broken par in solid tournament fields.. good luck..

Where do you coach?

[MiffWildCat]

Hello,
    I just began golfing about 3 years ago and at the beginning of this summer and I shoot between 77-81 and i plan on working my butt of to get to scores between 72-76.  Unfortunately, my two other years were not so hot (Freshman 1 9 hole round of 56)  and sophmore (93-99) and junior (82-88) but i am improving quickly and working my butt off.  My next year is senior year and even though i plan to compete in a few tourneys, they are only local and i dont plan to do so well until near the end.  Will senior year match scores and end of summer tourney scores be too late for coaches to scout me or do i just have to hope to be a walk on? (sorry for the lengthy question)

[designer22]

Coach Argonaut, on Apr 30 2009, 09:50 PM, said:

yes we look at scoreboard and we pay more attention to multi day tournaments and scoring potential.. a top 100 D1 school isnt that good so you dont have to be a great player, but you need to show that you have potential and have broken par in solid tournament fields.. good luck..

My son has played on 3 state high school championship teams. He had a season scoring average of 76 at some pretty tough courses playing at yardages of 6800-7000+ yards. He places high as an individual on a regular basis with rounds in the lower 70's and has a national title (FCWT) to his credit. Most importantly, he is still improving. He will be a senior this year and has 3.55 GPA with a 25 ACT. He has sent out upwards of 75 resumes to the colleges he would like to attend and play for but hasn't had any positive responses. Just 'Thanks for your interest' form letters. What are we doing wrong?

[generaljhc]

Any luck designer?

[LaBraeGolfer]

I was wondering how bad a 122 would hurt you if you shot three more tournment rounds in the low 80's I typically shoot low 80's but I had an extreme off day where I couldn't hit the ball more than ten feet on many occasions typically I hit 10 greens a round this was on the Northern Ohio Junior Pga Tour so most players are looking at college golf

[stoakers1314]

Great Post Lord Thomas! Remember to any of those out there trying to play college golf that golf is unlike football, basketball, etc. in that D1 is the only level with good golf. Men's golf in particular is extremely deep and some of the best golf can be played at levels other than D1 and D2. Teams in D3 and NAIA are good, and can offer you the right fit. You may not travel as much during college, but this will allow you to stay on top of your classes easier while still playing golf. If you don't believe me check out golfstat.com and take a look at the scores players are posting at each level of collegiate golf.

[Titleist876]

Designer this is much too late but for the benefit of others, here is the method I used to land my scholarship:

I played College Golf at Southeastern Oklahoma State University - Division 2. What you need to understand is Coaches email inboxes are FLOODED with requests! Their mailboxes are Loaded with kids dying to play there. It was the same way even at our school - a very under performing D2 school.

The ONLY way to get in touch with the coach is by Direct contact i.e. - Phone Calls. You will definitely leave Voicemails so be prepared to leave an EXTREMELY Short Voicemail, your name, sons name, his awards, achievements, along with a call back number and keep all that under a minute and a half. (Difficult but do-able with practice). What you want to state just before leaving the call back number is your sons genuine interest of attending the school for academic purposes (again mentioning his strong GPA would be good here) and that you want to meet him and visit the campus.

Once you get a call back, you have to talk up that your son has ALREADY applied to the university (Hopefully ALREADY gotten accepted) and now wishes to discuss playing on the team. Usually at this point, depending on the program, is when you will want to exchange a resume/video with the ultimate goal here of scheduling a Campus Visit and getting a "Try Out". Depending on NUMEROUS factors like (How many Seniors did he graduate last season? How many are already on the team? How many players has he already Recruited? Where your son will realistically play on the team? etc.) will determine if it gets that far. Some larger programs wont even mess around with people calling, sending resumes/emails or that jazz because they know who they want and will get them. My method I feel would work for Lower NAIAs & D1, Most D2 and D3 programs.

Just think, there are tons of other dads out there calling about their Sons and the only twist you have to use is the "My Son is going to this university regardless and will help out your golf team" mentality. If you are able to get a tryout, awesome, thats all you can do as a dad! Its your Son's time to perform. All of the above, I used to get my scholarship, I made the calls (I wish my dad would have for me though, ha ha), I got accepted, chose to attend the school regardless, got the interview/tryout and shot a little 73 on a course with a rating of 76.2 from the tips playing the last three holes in near darkness. It was the toughest/most nerveracking round of golf in my life and I did it. Your son can do it too, and I didnt shoot the scores your son did in High School.

Best of luck!