Need advice on starting a High School Golf Team

[Golfing Dad]

I teach at a school that has only been opened for 5 years. I am interested in starting a golf team and would like advice on how to have a successful program. Where do I get clubs? How do I run practices? How often do I practice? What fundraisers are done? Any advice on how to coach kids who are beginners or advanced players? Any other information would be nice. Thanks

[Knockglock]

The first step would be to gauge interest i'd guess. No point going through all the trouble if there is no interest.

I didn't golf in high school, but some of my friends did and here is what I can remember.

Golfers supply their own clubs. At my school all athletes got out of the last period of the day (6th) period for practice. The golf team got free rounds and range sessions from local golf courses. They usually had a range session or played 9

Fundraisers probably just your usual ones, like restaurant ones, ie: customers bring a flyer to a restaurant and then the restaurant donates 5% or 10% or w/e to your cause.

no idea really on how to coach kids other than to just stay positive and encourage them, and to keep it fun and loose

[Iowa Hawkeye]

First, talk to your AD. That is what we (a group of students) did, and that got the ball rolling. Talk to a few local courses about using their facilities and what they will charge. We ended up paying $150 each a season and got a full year membership to the course. Everyone has their own clubs and other equipment, so you don't need to worry about that unless there is nobody with their own. Then you may see if you can get money for a few loaner sets.

We had "practice" every weeknight. It was basically just show up and do whatever. But If I were you, I'd actually have a few organized practices a week and have them on their own the rest of the nights.

[jetman]

I agree with talking to your AD and gauging the level of interest in your school. As for supplying equipment, most schools only supply a team bag and the students are on their own for the rest of their equipment. If you have a small team, one or two fundraisers should be enough to cover the cost of the bags.

As the coach, you do not have many if not any "coaching" duties. Every player, no matter their skill level, should be sent to a certified instructor to work on their swing. You should not be giving them swing advice unless you have a good knowledge of the golf swing. Coming from someone who played high school golf and was an all state selection a few times, I can say that I hated getting advice from my coach because he was a very bad golfer himself. The best thing you can do as a coach is to be upbeat and positive to the point that it is annoying.

I would try to hold at least three practices a week to begin with and see if you can get up to five. If you get a lot of beginners, I would suggest having a golf pro come talk to the team about the physical and mental aspects of the game. Other practices should be a split between time on the driving and time on the course. Both will be beneficial.

For now, I would just find out who wants to play and get some of the students excited about playing golf.

[Iowa Hawkeye]

I agree with talking to your AD and gauging the level of interest in your school. As for supplying equipment, most schools only supply a team bag and the students are on their own for the rest of their equipment. If you have a small team, one or two fundraisers should be enough to cover the cost of the bags.

I agree with most of what you said there, but one part I don't.

Don't expect to be competitive right away. Don't force the kids to learn a lot and practice hard if they new to the game. Get the fundamentals down first, worry about making them into good golfers later. After they have picked up the game and have been eased into it. From my experience, it will drive kids away. Many kids came out when our team started, just because they wanted to smack the ball around and have fun with their buddies. When they figured out golf is hard and takes a lot of work, they quit.

[FFemt5287]

My freshman year of high school there was actually just a golf "club" as they had not had a varsity golf team for a number of years before that. By senior year they had varsity again. (I didn't play, either way) Why not start a golf "club" as an extracurricular as opposed to jumping in with both feet? Atleast to just get the ball rolling.

[shades9323]

When I played in high school our "practice" consisted of playing 9 holes everyday after school. We had team bags but our team didn't want to use them, so we didn't. We also had the ugliest team shirts, but chose not to wear them. Our coaches "job" was to make sure we didn't do anything stupid to the golf course and to drive us to tournaments. If you are serious about a "team" you wont have beginners unless you can't field a full team of experienced golfers. How many students at the school?

Definetely talk to the athletic director. The school may have to add a girls sport to go along with the boys golf team. Maybe you will get lucky and already have enough girls sports teams that you won't have to either cut one or add another.

[tjy355]

Agree with the advice that you should not plan to be a golf swing instructor, however, there are some things appropriate for you to teach - As a coach, you should try to impart a respect for the game by emphasizing the importance of the rules and etiquette.

Good luck!

[golfaddiction]

Definetely talk to the athletic director. The school may have to add a girls sport to go along with the boys golf team. Maybe you will get lucky and already have enough girls sports teams that you won't have to either cut one or add another.

Golf teams are almost always co-ed.

[shankapotamus]

Golf teams are almost always co-ed.

I play on a high school team, and I have never ever heard of a co-ed team.

[ANTC]

I play on a high school team, and I have never ever heard of a co-ed team.

i do also and theirs girls on my team as you can play against girls depending her ranking vs yours.

[shankapotamus]

i do also and theirs girls on my team as you can play against girls depending her ranking vs yours.

There is one girl on one team we played, but a fully co-ed team I haven't ever heard of. And, the girl is really good, but they don't let her play varsity.

[iWALK18]

My freshman year of high school there was actually just a golf "club" as they had not had a varsity golf team for a number of years before that. By senior year they had varsity again. (I didn't play, either way) Why not start a golf "club" as an extracurricular as opposed to jumping in with both feet? Atleast to just get the ball rolling.

This is the correct approach. My HS had tons of kids who played "rec golf". We also had a varsity team, but to start i would go with a recreational club setting.

[kris]

Golf teams are almost always co-ed.

Not where I come from, we have separate guys and girls golf teams. and both are pretty damn good.

I really have no advice pertaining to this thread as i don't really know much about starting a team from scratch. i guess my school was pretty lucky in that the first year we had a varsity team, we won league and went on to win it the next five years. i guess it's not always that easy though. good luck on starting a team anyway!

[Iowa Hawkeye]

In Iowa there is Girls Golf and Boys Golf. All the meets are at the same place and time usually, but two totally seperate teams. They also have their own totally seperat post season and State.

[k1993]

I'm a girl and I play on the boys' golf team at my high school. Actually, I'm the only girl on the team haha...All the high schools in the area have both boys' and girls' teams, but the high school I attend is fairly new and doesnt have enough interest in golf.

Everyone on our team is pretty well off and our coach makes us pay for everything, from range balls to team shirts to team bags. We have practice everyday and we leave school at 1:30. We'll usually go play the front nine or we'll hit the range and short game area. We have never had a fundraiser before, probably either because our coach is a lazy bum, or none of us on the team really need financial help.

[Sterling Styx]

Most sanctioned organization allow coed teams, however the females must tee from the blue with the males, which can make it less appealing to the females.

[Darksun22]

The golf team i played on was only running 1 year before I joined.  My dad sponsered the team and we got shirts/balls/gloves and some fees from that. You probably will have to have the kids get their own clubs.

Do a few fund raisers and get the word around, You will need 5-6 players with some interest at the MIN. We had 31 try out for our team, 10 on the roster 5 in each match. 42-44 was the score that got you into the "starting line up".

The school cut a deal with the local course for 125$ for a "school year" pass for the golf team members. We had to pay that out of pocket.

We never had a girl on our team, but I played vs a few.  They are really at a disadvantage from the blue tees, I don't think it is a good rule, but it is there.