Comments on: Is College Golf Extinct? http://thesandtrap.com/columns/thrash_talk/is_college_golf_extinct Golf News, Reviews, and Commentary Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:22:24 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Brad http://thesandtrap.com/columns/thrash_talk/is_college_golf_extinct#comment-4239 Brad Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:44:31 +0000 http://thesandtrap.com/uncategorized/is_college_golf_extinct/#comment-4239 Kids from highschool should have to go to college and take four years to go into a professional sports. This would improve their minds and help them play at a higher level, physically and mentally. Kids from highschool should have to go to college and take four years to go into a professional sports. This would improve their minds and help them play at a higher level, physically and mentally.

]]> By: Jeff http://thesandtrap.com/columns/thrash_talk/is_college_golf_extinct#comment-1599 Jeff Thu, 22 Sep 2005 15:53:56 +0000 http://thesandtrap.com/uncategorized/is_college_golf_extinct/#comment-1599 Why would forcing individuals to stay three years at the University improve college golf? Wouldn't this increase the number of players jumping straight to the pro game from high school to aviod this commitment? What happens if the coach leaves that recruited him or her? Which is possible at OSU with Molder being considered for the AD job? Has anyone looked at the stroke average of the top twenty programs to see if they have been adversley affected? You can't compare this situation to basketball as the level of play at the PGA tour would be unaffected. Those that leave school early are not guaranteed a card. We are left with two areas. The quality of college golf and the affect on these individuals that choose to go pro. I don't think we are seeing a decline in the quality of golf as much as the dominant programs lementing the fact that the other programs are catching up and that they are falling back. The number of junior golfers has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. As a result the quality of play at the junior and college levels has risen as well. The problem now is that coaches are geting burned by players leaving early or not coming at all. Couldn't this be handled by coaches seeking out players that will make a committment for three or four years and adjusting the dates for the LPGA and PGA Tour application submission so that it falls before the time that a high school player must sign a letter of intent. This would give coaches an out as there would be a much larger pool of players to sign as the deadline hasn't hit yet. The second issue is the negative effect that it has on players careers. We can't assume that college golf will make a player better prepared for professional golf. There are numerous cases in which someone has stayed all four years and struggled. Golf is an individual sport. If it's possible to give coaches a way to find players and give them an out then we should allow these individuals the freedom to decide what is best for their career as opposed to tying them to a school for the coaches benefit. Why would forcing individuals to stay three years at the University improve college golf? Wouldn't this increase the number of players jumping straight to the pro game from high school to aviod this commitment? What happens if the coach leaves that recruited him or her? Which is possible at OSU with Molder being considered for the AD job? Has anyone looked at the stroke average of the top twenty programs to see if they have been adversley affected?

You can't compare this situation to basketball as the level of play at the PGA tour would be unaffected. Those that leave school early are not guaranteed a card. We are left with two areas. The quality of college golf and the affect on these individuals that choose to go pro.

I don't think we are seeing a decline in the quality of golf as much as the dominant programs lementing the fact that the other programs are catching up and that they are falling back. The number of junior golfers has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. As a result the quality of play at the junior and college levels has risen as well. The problem now is that coaches are geting burned by players leaving early or not coming at all. Couldn't this be handled by coaches seeking out players that will make a committment for three or four years and adjusting the dates for the LPGA and PGA Tour application submission so that it falls before the time that a high school player must sign a letter of intent. This would give coaches an out as there would be a much larger pool of players to sign as the deadline hasn't hit yet.

The second issue is the negative effect that it has on players careers. We can't assume that college golf will make a player better prepared for professional golf. There are numerous cases in which someone has stayed all four years and struggled. Golf is an individual sport. If it's possible to give coaches a way to find players and give them an out then we should allow these individuals the freedom to decide what is best for their career as opposed to tying them to a school for the coaches benefit.

]]>