High School Golf

[StueyB1960]

On ‎8‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 2:26 PM, Patch said:

I just recieved my first, personal association with H.S.. Golf. 

My GDaughter sent me info on a night tournament her highschool team is sponsoring. She needs to fill out a team of four @ $100.00 each. There are 8 young ladies on their team. These Ladies, with supervision, will not play, but will manage the entire event. 

The $100.00 includes the 18 hole golf play, glow ball(s), dinner, non alcohol beverages, assorted other golf games with in the game, mulligans, and raffles. Extra raffle, and mulligan tickets can be purchased for $2.00 each. (another $100.00 most likely)

Obviously I am in, and have already told others in our "old guys" golfing group that I expect them register for this soiree too. We always support each other's ppersonal endeavors.  Probably will be 8-9 guys contacting my GDaughter for entry. 

I was some what surprised at this event being being front, and center, before any actual team play. I understand the need to generate monies for traveling league play, and equipment as needed. I just thought we would see a playing schedule first.

Another thing that surprised me was the fact that these young Ladies will also be graded as to how well they run this tournament. They will learn, in addition to a golf swing, some of the things that go on,  managing a golf course/tournament. I just thought it was solely going to be a competion thing against other teams their division. The youngsters are going to learn more about the golf game, than just playing it.  I like this added concept. 

Sounds like fun to me. If something like that would happen around me I would sign up in a heart beat. I am all for helping out the high school sports programs in my area. Lord knows they need it around here.

[Buckeyebowman]

On 8/6/2019 at 1:13 PM, The Flush said:

My son played his first ever competitive round of golf today and it was a member of his high school team.  He is not very skilled as he has really only played for less than a year and has not had any lessons. His team practices/tryouts consisted of 3 days of a little range work and then 9 holes of golf. There has been essentially zero instruction. It appears everyone is expected to develop on their own and then show up to play. The team ace is the home course pro's son, who is close to a scratch golfer (shot a 37 today).  The rest of the team is probably around bogey golf +/- 5 strokes on average, with some rounds much higher.  My son said there were a few kids who tried out who are really, really bad. So far the best he has shot is a 46 against par 35. He shot a 56 today on a course he had never seen before. I suggested to my son that his goal for the year might be to get his average to bogey or better.  During one round this year another twosome joined my son and I for the last few holes as were backed up waiting on others and in the course of conversation HS golf was brought up. One of them mentioned that he has seen a lot of HS golf on that course and that my son would have no problem competing based on what little he saw of his game and the other HS golfers he has seen.  So other than a few good players, it appears southern Ohio HS golf is not very high level. We live in a rural, high poverty area, so I am sure that affects the level of play around here. I am making a lot of assumptions since I have not really witnessed many other HS golfers play.

What is high school golf like in your area?

It can depend on where you are, even in a relatively small metropolitan area. If you're in a wealthier suburb where kids have the benefits of a country club membership and instruction, the golf is liable to be very good. If you're out away from the urban centers, it's liable to be another story. 

Last year we played at a local course in the village of Cortland, OH. This is in NE Ohio. Quite a nice course that's been around a while and not all that easy. I was nursing a beer in the shade when boys all dressed in like colors started showing up, and I realized a high school golf match was going to be played there. So, I got another beer and sat back to watch them tee off. The schools represented were definitely in the "exurbs/country part of the county, and there were a whole lot of "baseball swings" on display that day!

The kids just go out there and do the best they can. I read the high school golf scores in the paper. In the richer communities you will see scores, for a 5 person team, in the low 200's, with the lead dog typically shooting in the 30's. For the farther out teams, you will typically see scores in the mid to upper 200's, with the top dog typically shooting in the high 40's to low 50's. I've seen scores in the 70's for 9 holes!  

[Patch]

Today was my Granddaughter's first tournament.

As a freshman, they played some sort of 9 hole scramble/bestball format. It was kind of tough to understand, since all info was sent to us via text msg, and/or instagram. We are still about 700 miles from home.

Our Granddaughter had a great time she said. Her shots of the day were 5 tee shots, that her team used for their round. She didn't elaborate just how good they were, just that they used them to hit their second shots from them. There was also no mention of scores....... 

The other bright spot was they basically were on a 80, (160 rt) mile road trip from home, which also meant they missed several actual classes. Grades decides who travels with the team. 

She also informed me she gets "free golf" at "Her Home Course", anytime she wants.

Here all along I thought it was my home course.......gesssh.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Patch

[The Flush]

11 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

It can depend on where you are, even in a relatively small metropolitan area. If you're in a wealthier suburb where kids have the benefits of a country club membership and instruction, the golf is liable to be very good. If you're out away from the urban centers, it's liable to be another story. 

Last year we played at a local course in the village of Cortland, OH. This is in NE Ohio. Quite a nice course that's been around a while and not all that easy. I was nursing a beer in the shade when boys all dressed in like colors started showing up, and I realized a high school golf match was going to be played there. So, I got another beer and sat back to watch them tee off. The schools represented were definitely in the "exurbs/country part of the county, and there were a whole lot of "baseball swings" on display that day!

The kids just go out there and do the best they can. I read the high school golf scores in the paper. In the richer communities you will see scores, for a 5 person team, in the low 200's, with the lead dog typically shooting in the 30's. For the farther out teams, you will typically see scores in the mid to upper 200's, with the top dog typically shooting in the high 40's to low 50's. I've seen scores in the 70's for 9 holes!  

My son's school is pretty rural, located in a town of less than 5000 people. And they are the largest school in their conference. I think they only count the lowest 4 scores out of up to 6 players per match.  Our team usually has scores of around 36, 42, 48, and 52 on average. My son has been 3rd best on the team, although one match he was second. It seems like most teams have 1 player who can break 40 and the rest are always a crapshoot. My son's team will be hurting next year as he will probably be the best returning player and he has never shot better than 44 even in non-competition play. 

The last 3 matches have been rained out.  They should get to play today.

[mcanadiens]

The last time or two I've made it out to the range, I've shared it with the mighty Stebbins H.S. (Riverside, OH), golf team. For a blue-collar district, they got a real good turnout this year. My estimate was about 12 red-shirted young men. A few of those guys can really swing a golf club. Then there are a bunch of other kids that I might be able to beat.

 

 

 

[TRUCKER]

On 8/6/2019 at 1:09 PM, iacas said:

High school coaches are van drivers. Nothing more.

They are expected to develop on their own yes. They should. High school coaches often can’t break 90.

P.S. Paragraphs are your friend.

😆

[Patch]

On 8/6/2019 at 1:09 PM, iacas said:

High school coaches are van drivers. Nothing more.

They are expected to develop on their own yes. They should. High school coaches often can’t break 90.

P.S. Paragraphs are your friend.

We are hoping that is not the case with our youngster's coaches. That said, their girls varsity golf team just won a consectutive 3-A state title. The boys team also won their division at state. I might assume someone knows something about golf instruction.

If our Granddaughter is allowed/needs outside swing instruction, the local PGA pro is also available. She already had a couple lessons from him, quite a while ago. He also has a private "Junior's Program".

It just depends on what our youngster wants out of her game. Maybe how much time she has available to put into this activity is a better statement.  For a freshman, she has pretty full plate. 

[Buckeyebowman]

On 8/28/2019 at 9:43 AM, mcanadiens said:

The last time or two I've made it out to the range, I've shared it with the mighty Stebbins H.S. (Riverside, OH), golf team. For a blue-collar district, they got a real good turnout this year. My estimate was about 12 red-shirted young men. A few of those guys can really swing a golf club. Then there are a bunch of other kids that I might be able to beat.

 

 

 

The same seems to be true of collegiate golf. This past Labor Day and the day after, I went out to watch the YSU (Youngstown, State University) Ladies Golf Invitational at Mill Creek North. I watched some of these young women play some marvelous golf! Shooting under, or near, par from the men's white tees. I also saw some ladies who couldn't really give me a game! 

It takes all kinds to make a world, and I'm appreciative of anyone who wants to compete. 

[Patch]

I was finally able to watch my Granddaughter's practice this evening. I kept my distance as I watched. I let the coach do his job. I do not know her coach. 

Another male student was running a video camera of the practice session. 

I saw a lot individual instruction being given as the group was hitting what appeared to be their drivers. 

As expected the more expirienced (juniors/seniors) ladies were hitting the better drives. The two "rooky" freshmen need some serious work. 

They all spent about 45 minutes on the range, then finished up on the practice green putting. This part of the practice session was not as serious as their range session. The youngsters were having fun.

Afterwards I did the G-Pa thing, and made the trip to the local McDonalds for ice cream with my Girl and a friend of hers. . 

Happy times. 

[Buckeyebowman]

Good for you! It seems too many people forget to make golf fun for kids! Fun is what they're all about! 

[The Flush]

My wife and I watched our son play in his high school sectional tournament yesterday, which is my first time to watch him play in any competition. It was a great day for golf at the Portsmouth Elks CC, a nice Donald Ross design that is probably the best course in SE Ohio.  Sunny with a high of about 79. I don't know how many spectators there were, but the course said they were sold out of carts for spectators, so it must have been a decent number.  They were spread out enough that they were not too noticeable. I think I would have walked if I was by myself, but my wife wanted to ride.

The groups were by position within the team, although it was decided by the tournament director, not the team coach. My son played as the #4 of 5, but there is not much difference between the 2-5 players. Son started great (for him) and then played bad, and then played great again to finish with a 95.  He had two 8s on par 4s in that bad stretch that if they were even double bogeys would have given him his best competition round. No birdies, 6 pars, 1 OB drive, 1 in the water, 1 fried egg sand save. I was glad to see him finish strong after clearly being frustrated during the middle holes. My son was the best player in his 3-some and usually out drove the others by 20 yards. Son's team finished 4th with a 357 for the top 4 (75-94-95-95-98) to advance to the district tournament next week at a course he has never played. The #1 on my son's team tied for individual best with the 75. The #3 player had an 11 on a par 4 to finish with a 98. The #5 player hit a drive that landed in the cart we were driving, so we had to wait on an official to come make a ruling. We probably robbed him of 5 yards by being there.

7 out of 65 players shot under 80, 2 seniors, 3 juniors, 1 sophomore, and 1 freshman. 13 players broke 90, 19 broke 100 with 26 shooting over 100. The best was a 75 and worst was a 198, although the second worst was a 149. The best team shot  75-79-87-88. The worst shot 90-105-109-109. Clearly there is a wide range of skill in southeastern Ohio golf.

Pace of play was slow at times, due to the extra stokes and lost balls caused by the lower end of the skill range. On one hole in the middle of the second 9 my son was waiting in the fairway while another group was waiting on the tees, yet there was a full open hole behind my son's group by the time they finished. We heard a lot of balls hitting trees throughout the day.

I appreciate that there is a high school golf tournament webpage to track results. https://www.baumspage.com/golf/index.php

The district tournament next week will probably be my son's last of the season as there is little to no chance that they will be the 1 team to advance to the state tournament.  The #1 player on the team has a chance to make it as an individual. I know my son has had a lot of fun and has definitely improved.  He has never had lessons and has probably only been hampered by me.  His coach said there would be a weekly unofficial fall HS golf outing available for free, so maybe he will continue to play in that if doesn't go to football practice on those days. If he can eliminate the really bad holes he can move from average to decent, but I will probably need to get him to take lessons to move into the good category. The HS team is supposed to get a simulator as part of some facilities improvements, so that will be cool and could help lead to some off-season improvements.  Hopefully I get to use it too.  His coach has already said he will be the #1 next year, so he will need to step it up some.

The best part of HS golf is that my son and I played a lot together this summer to help prepare him.  If he wasn't playing golf, I probably wouldn't be playing golf.

 

[Bucki1968]

Golf has really taken a beating in the Tampa area. Many of the area high schools don't have teams anymore and most of the ones that do, don't have enough kids to win a match (need a whole team). Even some of the private schools have numbers way down. I've been trying to figure out why that is with such a large first tee program. First tee goes into almost all of the middle schools to teach golf etc. I realize that many of these schools have a very low income population but that has not been such a problem in the past. I have all the equipment at my disposal to give to kids. I'm not understanding it?

[dennyjones]

2 hours ago, The Flush said:

The best part of HS golf is that my son and I played a lot together this summer to help prepare him. 

+1

[satchmodog]

Every Wednesday at a local driving range i have to try to get there before this girl's team from far away kenosha invades so i can get a lane. These girls are mostly abysmal and the coach does absolutely nothing but play on his ohone unless someone beckons him. Most of these girls are so uncoordinated that they cannot make contact at all and are just wasting space. They're either getting frustrated or they're screwing off with friends. A few seem to be good strikers and are there for serious reasons.  I just find it frustrating that the coach is so apathetic.  Maybe he cankot cut anyone and hopes some of them simply quit. They look rather young, so maybe they are freshmen. The boy's team that i see occasionally has some super talent as well as a few hacks, but the majority are pretty good. Now granted, where i lived in Illinois you grew up with a putter or a crosse in tour hand. Golf around my area is an old fart sport and i guess at 52 i have become that fart   Kids now have it so good. When i was learning to golf in the late 70s, kids weren't allowed on most courses around my area. If tou wanted your kid to golf in most areas, you had to join a country club, which we did. SE Wisconsin is mostly rural and we have some killer golf courses. I wish that golf was given the priority that baseball,  girl's softball,  soccer and football were given. Honestly,  i think golf is a great sport for kids. You wind up learning concentration,  controlling your body and emotions and you walk. I also think golf is a good sport for underprivileged children. You don't need a set of taylormade clubs or the newest pings. You can get by with generic clubs and used clubs just fine. You can use the same 400 dollar set of used clubs and bag the entirety of high school,  where your hockey gear is outgrown every season. Personally,  I'd donate money, gear and instruction time if my local high school had a serious golf program.  But they don't seem to give a crap about golf. But they sure like building sport facilities in a fairly low earning area and raising taxes so they can have the bragging rights to a beautiful sports complex,  but then don't bother having decent training and coaching because  the local teams are awful. 

A few weeks ago the girl's coach was actually helping one of the girls because she called him over. She couldn't hit the ball and when she did, she topped it. So he's telling her to do everything,  except for the correct thing. She's holding the club at the very bottom of the grip for some ungodly reason and she's not getting her arms extended.  I chime in and say she either needs to hold the club towards the  butt of the club, or use longer clubs. She smiled and said thanks and I  imagine her coach told her to ignore me because she continued to swing and hold the club in the exact same manner. Screw it, i give up. So basically ruin the enjoyment of the kid and probably have her walk away for good with a sour taste, or swallow your ego and take some damn advice.  Jerkoff. It's sad because unlike a lot of those girls, she actually wanted to learn. 

Then there was the big baby huey farm boy who'd line up his drives, set his feet and than as soon as his backswing started, he'd toe tap like a baseball swing and move his left foot closer to the right foot. He had a ton of raw power, but he kept either missing the  ball or not hit it cleanly and he'd wind up with a worm burner. I tried telling him to keep that foot on the ground and only move it at his follow through.  Yeah, he knew what he was doing and said he was fine. Ok then haha. I always take advice  when I'm struggling.  Some people's kids...

[Patch]

I found out something new to me last week pretaining to HS golf. 

Seems at our youngsters' local tournaments, that if a non HS golfer, (a paying customer)  is behind them, they have to move out of the way, and let the customer play through. I guess this is the agreement between the school, and the golf course. 

Watching my Granddaughter play last week, her group had to move out of the way 6 times, to let multiple paying customers play through. This led to 2.8 hour, 9 hole round. 

Talking with my Granddaughter afterwards, the HS players are not bothered by the interuptions. It's just part of the match for them. "We just roll with it" was my girl's answer.

Is this the way other courses handle highschool tournaments?

In the past, myself, and others, have always let the tournament players play through if they caught up with us. A normal practice we always afford faster players. . However, we never tried to play through them. We figured them playing in a tournament, gave them a priority. 

[The Flush]

I am pretty sure our HS golfers are paying customers.  The school may be paying instead of the players and the it might be a discount rate, but the golf is paid for.  I know this is true for the sectional/district/state tournaments.  I am assuming it is true for the regular season.  But it is all weekday golf, with the regular season being 9 holes starting at 4PM and the tournaments being 18 holes starting at 9AM. I doubt it interferes with other golfers too much, at least not anymore than any other league play.

[Patch]

1 hour ago, The Flush said:

I am pretty sure our HS golfers are paying customers.  The school may be paying instead of the players and the it might be a discount rate, but the golf is paid for.  I know this is true for the sectional/district/state tournaments.  I am assuming it is true for the regular season.  But it is all weekday golf, with the regular season being 9 holes starting at 4PM and the tournaments being 18 holes starting at 9AM. I doubt it interferes with other golfers too much, at least not anymore than any other league play.

Yeah, I am not sure if the school is paying, or not. I know the youngsters are not paying.

I do know our two local courses let the youngsters on the local team play (non competition) for free anytime they want.

Plus the course teaching pro, who runs the driving range, gives them free range balls anytime they want.

The short game practice area is free to use by anyone, anytime.

All this in addition to organized team practices. 

[phillyk]

1 minute ago, Patch said:

Yeah, I am not sure if the school is paying, or not. I know the youngsters are not paying.

I do know our two local courses let the youngsters on the local team play (non competition) for free anytime they want.

Plus the course teaching pro, who runs the driving range, gives them free range balls anytime they want.

The short game practice area is free to use by anyone, anytime.

All this in addition to organized team practices. 

At my course, we charge the high school a fee for playing & range balls at the beginning of the season.  The kids pay for range balls and playing outside of normal practice times.  In regards to them playing, they are not required to let people play through.  If they are practicing, they usually do let groups go through. If it's a match / tournament, the course is theirs for a period of time, so no public would be bothering them.