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Where, what, when, how and WHY??
Where do I want to play: Division 1, 2, 3
The top Elite programs now adays do not even accept in a "scrambling scratch golfer". You need to be avergaing under par and winning all national junior and national events and or placing top 3. If you don't have a plus handicap, forget the likes of Texas, Florida.....etc
The misconception commonly had by many juniors is that a Division 1 team is always better then Division 3 teams, on average yes, but there are PLENTY of schools in lower divisions that would and could compete with the top level division 1 teams.
Research and the internet is your friend. Unless you are winning AJGA invitationals and or US Junior Amateur events or placing consistently and shooting 73 (highest par for a course) and below constantly in tournaments then you are not going to be recruited by 100's of schools. You need to look for schools or places that you can play.
Average Junior golfer looking to college: I SHOOT IN THE 70's (can have a bad round in low 80's)
You are a dime a dozen, you need to create a resume. By creating a resume you need have some sort of formated excel sheet showing all your tournaments and how you performed at each. Highlighting your local wins and top finishes also showing your ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS, academics are JUST as important as the sport that is giving you that "Red Card" when your college application goes in saying, he or she is here to play a sport.
What do I want to play and why:
Do you want to play at a school that you may just "ride the bench" or do you want to be a top player and play every tournament. Just because you go to college doesn't mean you will play in tournaments. Normally there is a pecking order once at the college you chose. Lots of time there is a qualifying round during the week to see who will go and stay for the last several spots..
What makes the best college golfer:
The MENTALLY STRONG. I can't relay to you how important the mental aspect of the game is. What took my game to the next level was working with a sports psycologist and developing Zen meditation techniques and ways to trust your swing, putt, chip shot....etc.
Not to plug anything but I worked with a gentlemen by the name of Dr Tom Ferraro, http://a.drtomferraro.com/index.htm.
He worked both professional and amateur athletes. This changed my game from 77 on a bad day and 72 on a good day to shooting par everytime out and winning tournaments. This change is the difference between being recruited by a few schools to being a top recruit going into your school.
This preperation is missed by 85-90pct of junior golfers out there, you want to make yourself better work on your mental game. Keep that double bogey to a bogey and then birdie the next hole instead of going down that negative road that can ruin a round.
(If you are telling yourself, this isnt important then you are crazy, if you think, well I hit a LONG ball and that will be my difference maker then you are crazy, everyone at top schools hit a LONG ball, or are VERY acurate, the major difference once everyone has the same athletic talent is the MENTAL game, you see this day in and day out on the PGA tour, speaks for itself)
HOW do I get to play college golf:
HARD WORK. No one is going to give this too you. Your preparation is what matters the most, then that leads to the course and tournaments:
When I was playing golf in 99/2000 my resume of tournaments was as followed (i know i am missing things):
AJGA
PJGT
IJGT
Junior MetropolitainGA
US Amateur Qualifier
US Open Qualifier
MGA (not junior)
Invitationals (ie: Match Play at Ardsley country club, Florida events)
I TRAVELED FOR GOLF (maryland, NJ, NY, PA, Long Island,CT, FL, dont be afraid to travel for tournaments, especially bigger ones)
Highschool Golf (this is least regarded by college coaches, fyi everyone trying to get to college is usually first man on the team, dont think to yourself that makes a difference, lol)
The other part of the resume: ACADEMICS
I received the Scholar Athlete Award by Newsday (this is something I put in my golf resume and academic resume and was given, I did the work to get the award)
GPA (this should always be on your resume)
LAST BUT NOT LEAST:
Take everything on the internet with a grain of salt (not my post of course, haha), but if some kid/guy/girl is claiming to have shot 66/69/67 and shows no record on any site and or hits the ball 350yds every drive and sticks it to 5 feet with every iron, this is the least of your worries. I see these countless threads of how long do you hit your "driver, 7 iron...etc" these are the biggest BS threads on the internet. Let these "internet golfers" do what they want, when you should be out on the course.
STAY HUMBLE................I can't stress this enough, let other people do the talking for you.
(This was a quick post but I will add to the original post within the next few days, these are the bare basics)
Where do I want to play: Division 1, 2, 3
The top Elite programs now adays do not even accept in a "scrambling scratch golfer". You need to be avergaing under par and winning all national junior and national events and or placing top 3. If you don't have a plus handicap, forget the likes of Texas, Florida.....etc
The misconception commonly had by many juniors is that a Division 1 team is always better then Division 3 teams, on average yes, but there are PLENTY of schools in lower divisions that would and could compete with the top level division 1 teams.
Research and the internet is your friend. Unless you are winning AJGA invitationals and or US Junior Amateur events or placing consistently and shooting 73 (highest par for a course) and below constantly in tournaments then you are not going to be recruited by 100's of schools. You need to look for schools or places that you can play.
Average Junior golfer looking to college: I SHOOT IN THE 70's (can have a bad round in low 80's)
You are a dime a dozen, you need to create a resume. By creating a resume you need have some sort of formated excel sheet showing all your tournaments and how you performed at each. Highlighting your local wins and top finishes also showing your ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS, academics are JUST as important as the sport that is giving you that "Red Card" when your college application goes in saying, he or she is here to play a sport.
What do I want to play and why:
Do you want to play at a school that you may just "ride the bench" or do you want to be a top player and play every tournament. Just because you go to college doesn't mean you will play in tournaments. Normally there is a pecking order once at the college you chose. Lots of time there is a qualifying round during the week to see who will go and stay for the last several spots..
What makes the best college golfer:
The MENTALLY STRONG. I can't relay to you how important the mental aspect of the game is. What took my game to the next level was working with a sports psycologist and developing Zen meditation techniques and ways to trust your swing, putt, chip shot....etc.
Not to plug anything but I worked with a gentlemen by the name of Dr Tom Ferraro, http://a.drtomferraro.com/index.htm.
He worked both professional and amateur athletes. This changed my game from 77 on a bad day and 72 on a good day to shooting par everytime out and winning tournaments. This change is the difference between being recruited by a few schools to being a top recruit going into your school.
This preperation is missed by 85-90pct of junior golfers out there, you want to make yourself better work on your mental game. Keep that double bogey to a bogey and then birdie the next hole instead of going down that negative road that can ruin a round.
(If you are telling yourself, this isnt important then you are crazy, if you think, well I hit a LONG ball and that will be my difference maker then you are crazy, everyone at top schools hit a LONG ball, or are VERY acurate, the major difference once everyone has the same athletic talent is the MENTAL game, you see this day in and day out on the PGA tour, speaks for itself)
HOW do I get to play college golf:
HARD WORK. No one is going to give this too you. Your preparation is what matters the most, then that leads to the course and tournaments:
When I was playing golf in 99/2000 my resume of tournaments was as followed (i know i am missing things):
AJGA
PJGT
IJGT
Junior MetropolitainGA
US Amateur Qualifier
US Open Qualifier
MGA (not junior)
Invitationals (ie: Match Play at Ardsley country club, Florida events)
I TRAVELED FOR GOLF (maryland, NJ, NY, PA, Long Island,CT, FL, dont be afraid to travel for tournaments, especially bigger ones)
Highschool Golf (this is least regarded by college coaches, fyi everyone trying to get to college is usually first man on the team, dont think to yourself that makes a difference, lol)
The other part of the resume: ACADEMICS
I received the Scholar Athlete Award by Newsday (this is something I put in my golf resume and academic resume and was given, I did the work to get the award)
GPA (this should always be on your resume)
LAST BUT NOT LEAST:
Take everything on the internet with a grain of salt (not my post of course, haha), but if some kid/guy/girl is claiming to have shot 66/69/67 and shows no record on any site and or hits the ball 350yds every drive and sticks it to 5 feet with every iron, this is the least of your worries. I see these countless threads of how long do you hit your "driver, 7 iron...etc" these are the biggest BS threads on the internet. Let these "internet golfers" do what they want, when you should be out on the course.
STAY HUMBLE................I can't stress this enough, let other people do the talking for you.
(This was a quick post but I will add to the original post within the next few days, these are the bare basics)
Edited by Golfer1659, 07 August 2012 - 10:14 AM.
