Collegiate Golf

Anyone here play/have played College golf? I am interested because I am looking into it possible, depending on how well I am playing at the End of high school. If not, I am looking into Wildlife Biology. But back to the point, has anyone done this or have any advice on how to achieve this goal other than to train/play ALOT! Thanks,

Varsity_Golf

I'm going to college starting in the fall and although I'm not playing on the varsity team in college, I will play on the club team. My advice: figure out what sort of school you think you can go to academically first. Unless you are really good (scholarship material) you aren't going anywhere you aren't smart enough to get into. It seems like you have your major, so figure out what schools are strong biology schools. Golf wise you are going to want to play in tournaments: AJGA, Metropolitan PGA Junior Tour, FCWT, US Challenge Cup. These all help get your name out. And continue to play for your high school. Then contact the coaches for the schools you are looking at. If you are looking at D1 schools you might have to contact the coach really early, because a lot of them recruit and give out scholarships, and if you don't get a scholarship you might not make a lot of school's teams. A lot of DIII teams don't recruit, but you definitely want to contact the coach either way.

Then again, if you get poor grades disregard my advice. Your options shrink substantially the worse you are in school.

my grades are great, in the system that my school district uses (65 is passing, 100 is perfect grades) my average is ALWAYS around 95. Jamo, how is it that I get into any of these tournaments??

Met PGA Junior Tour:

http://met.pga.com/junior-golf-association/ American Junior Golf Assocation: http://www.ajga.org/ Future Collegiate World Tour: http://www.fcwtgolf.com/ For the Met PGA tour you just sign up. AJGA and FCWT are a little trickier. Some require qualifying and some are performance based entry (basically how you perform in other tournaments). The Met PGA tour is the easiest. The AJGA and FCWT are both national tours, and they generate the most notoriety, but they are really hard and there are a lot of really good players. I would start with the Met tour. Sign up for a bunch of tournaments and see how you do. So just look over all three websites, find tournaments near you, and see which ones you can get into. Look into the kinds of courses they play and what the kids shoot. A lot of AJGA and FCWT tournaments are won under par, but the Met tour is age divided and usually the top group (16-18 for where I live, New England) is usually won at about +2. the 14-15 group is usually a few strokes higher. And congrats on the grades. Mine were about the same. I'm only going to the college I am (University of Delaware) because the better ones that I got into (Lafayette, Lehigh, RPI) were way to expensive.

if you're a 20 handicap and already 15, i wouldn't count my eggs before they hatch cause you've got a lot of work to do in the next two years if you want to play college golf. and even if you do become a student-athlete, you're a student first and you should focus on that no matter what.

All I can say is Remember the name, and read the signature. Plus, i started with my handicap in the spring being 26.0, and its dropped to 19.0, so yes I do have work to do, but I fully believe that I can do anythiing I set my mind to, and believe me, I HAVE SET MY MIND TO THIS.

I am playing at JUCO this upcoming year. Should be fun. Hopefully one, maybe two years there then off to D1

Like he said, you do have a ways to go. I'm 17 years old, and my handicap (for scores from this year only) is .7, and I can even make the team. You need to be very good, very consistent, and good under pressure. Good luck.

Thank you very much Jamo, i know that I have work to do, but I do have 2 years to do that work. I appreciate the info about the JPGA. thanks again,

Varsity_Golf

I was around a 5 handicap when I graduated high school and the only schools that even responded to my emails and letter were some below average d1 schools and a lot of d2 schools. I pretty much figured out at that point I was going to school for education not golf but I did play at a d2 and it was really fun. I will say your first semester in college playing a sport can be overwhelming but I would find a school you like and try to walk on the team.

dude, at your age i never fooled around with handicapping, but i was shooting in the high 70's and playing at the very least 50 holes a week during the summers, and i was in love with soccer and basketball so i just played golf for fun with my buddies. my friends who were serious about golf played and practiced even more than i did and were around 10 strokes better than me on their best days. i'm not trying to burst your bubble or anything. if you have a goal, go for it. but be realistic.

Go to best school for wildlife biology you can get into/afford. Make school your priority. If they have a golf team, try to walk on. With your handicap at your age and the sheer difficulty getting to the PGA tour, your studies should be your first priority. I am sure you are very determined to get better. However, it takes a lot more than determination to be good at golf. We aren't trying to bring down your dreams. We are trying to tell you the reality. Only 1 in 25 or 4% of ncaa student athletes are good enough to go pro in thier sport.

Check out this link though: http://golf.about.com/od/juniorgolf/a/jrcollegegolf.htm

We had a similar thread last year. You might check it out:
http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...lf+and+college

For careers, think about the golf industry broadly. College golf can help you do more than play PGA tour, especially if you do well in the classroom.

I'm in your same boat, I have two years left of high school golf and I would like to play college golf too. But my conference is so stacked with great players, I've come to terms with trying to get into the golfing industry instead of concentrating on competitive golf.

My first advice would be to avoid cheesy catch phrases from Fort Minor songs like "Remember the Name" and go from there.
Good luck!

P.S. You haven't given us a name to remember.

Adam. That's all you get

Varsity_Golf (Adam)

I played at an NAIA school for two years (no scholarship). Most of the dudes that play NAIA and JC shoot in the mid 70's. For D-1, you need to be under par constantly and play well in junior tournaments (AJGA, etc) to get on a coach's radar. If you're 15, you need to be in the low 70's consistently to even get a sniff.

One more thing. If you go to any college in the Patriot league (Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Colgate, American, Army, Navy) they aren't as good at golf and they don't give out scholarships. They are all very good schools thought, so tough to get into. But it is easier to make the golf team. I got into several of those schools, I just didn't have the money.

For the record, did I ever say i was dead set on going to a d1 school?? It would be nice, but i think that d2 or 3 would be more realistic...

Varsity_Golf