Can college golfers get sponsored?

[JYB]

Has anyone ever heard of this ? Not for money but for equipment?

[RemyM]

Yes, top amateurs are allowed to accept equipment for free. Read the rules of amateur status in the back of the rule book.

[useless149149]

I know that all the players on the Stanford team get free Nike gear, apparel, and the rest at no cost to the school. Apparently the top 6 players or so get free gear from whatever company they want (not sure if the school pays for it or the companies donate it).

[golf_junkie27]

No, a college golfer cannot be sponsored by a golf company. That would be considered an acceptance of "gifts."

A school can have an apparel/equipment deal that goes through the athletic department. However, an individual athlete cannot accept free gear or a sponsorship. It's against NCAA rules.

[iacas]

A school can have an apparel/equipment deal that goes through the athletic department. However, an individual athlete cannot accept free gear or a sponsorship. It's against NCAA rules.

That's how it was until sometime in the past ten years. I want to say four years ago or so, but somewhere in there, things changed.

College golfers can accept free equipment. It's not against NCAA rules, and I believe that's because it pertains directly to their sport. They can't accept a sports car (or cash, or a "sponsorship"), but a new driver? Sure can. An equipment company can even fly them out to their fitting labs or something in order to properly fit them, let them hit 30 drivers or irons and choose the ones they like, etc.

[tazrestling27]

I am a d1 wrestler and no we are not allowed to be sponsored since our school is already sponsored or else we lose our scholarship.

[Harry Longshanks]

College golfers can accept free equipment. It's not against NCAA rules, and I believe that's because it pertains directly to their sport.

Another interesting fact I learned at the NCAA Regionals this year was that each article of clothing (maybe equipment too, but I'm not sure about that) can only have 1 corporate logo on it.

Nike accidentally sent the members of my alma mater's team their team/school hats with 2 logos. The team manager had to take a Sharpie or tape and cover up one of the logos on each hat. The athletes are also not allowed to wear any non-Nike clothing because of the sponsorship deal with the University (errrr, I guess I should say "visible clothing" - because I have no information regarding undergarments, socks, etc.) When one of the players couldn't find a pair of Nike golf shoes that fit his feet (I know the feeling), Nike custom made him a pair of shoes. Nice.

[golf_junkie27]

College golfers can accept free equipment. It's not against NCAA rules, and I believe that's because it pertains directly to their sport.

Yes, they can accept free golf equipment. However, it has to go through the school and be distributed by the coach.(As I stated, previously) If a player is found to accept equipment through any other outlet, it's an NCAA violation.

(By outlet, it means a Sporting Goods or Manufacturing Companies) The only loophole to this rule is if a player accepts free equipment that was also made available to the general public.

[Harry Longshanks]

The only loophole to this rule is if a player accepts

So, what you are saying is that it's not a violation if once a year they can get a two ball mini-sleeve of Top-Flite Super Rocks at a demo day if they come early enough before they are all snatched by some sticky-fingered guy?

Suh-weet! I'm going back to college!

[JYB]

the reason i asked is because i'm going to playing college golf starting this fall and i'd like to get some sponsorships. I know that i'm only playing D3 but there are certain things about me that i gurantee would make manufacturers want to hook me up. yeah!

[RemyM]

When I played D3 golf 22 years ago we got nothing except a shirt. We got windbreakers but had to return them after the season or buy them. I don't think we even got bags or balls back then.

Before you do anything I would run it by your coach or AD.

[birdmangriffin]

At my school (I don't play for them, though), they get bags, clothes, balls, etc. all free. I don't believe that clubs are a part of the deal though. It's a given that the school is sponsored by Nike though, since the world HQ is down the road 10 minutes.

[Harry Longshanks]

At my school (I don't play for them, though), they get bags, clothes, balls, etc. all free. I don't believe that clubs are a part of the deal though. It's a given that the school is sponsored by Nike though, since the world HQ is down the road 10 minutes.

If you are talking about the Ducks (which have a complete athletic department contract with Nike), I'm 99% sure that the players can get their clubs from Nike free of charge. But unlike the clothing/shoes (because those are considered to be the team uniforms I guess), the players are not required to use Nike clubs or balls.

[birdmangriffin]

If you are talking about the Ducks (which have a complete athletic department contract with Nike), I'm 99% sure that the players can get their clubs from Nike free of charge. But unlike the clothing/shoes (because those are considered to be the team uniforms I guess), the players are not required to use Nike clubs or balls.

nope, Nike is in Beaverton, and UO is 2 hrs south. I go to the Univ. of Portland (one of the smallest D1 schools in the country)

[Tristan]

in England it is normally the case that if you are in the national squad at any age group you contact the individual company direct and they will normally give you the stuff. But it has to conform to amateur status etc which means i think it has to be less than £500/$1000 worth