walking on to a college golf team?

[jsgolfer]

  On 12/19/2017 at 2:40 PM, MikeyGolf said:

I know this thread is over 5 years old.

I played varsity golf in high school and was improving quickly during that time.  I already was going to a Div 1 school and the golf program had a walk on program.  We talked with the coach and there were qualifying tournaments.  1 round and the top 2 or 3 were on the team assuming the score was low enough.

I made the team as a walk on 3 of my 4 years after shooting low 70's in the qualifying rounds.  I knew I would never have a chance to play in a tournament, but, I did get free golf access and I played a lot of golf with the team.  

This was in the late 80's, not sure if the process is similar, but, it was a great time and became a better player from it.  

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  On 12/19/2017 at 10:14 PM, 1fish1 said:

My story is this. The first round of golf I ever played was at the age of 18. I shot like 160 that day. 3 Years later I walked on and made the San Diego State University Golf Team.

So, I know it is possible. My background was wrestling and track and field. I never played baseball, so the whole swinging thing was new to me. My philosophy was simple. I would work just as hard at golf as I did as a wrestler. That's the hardest sport on earth so I believed that if I put in that type of work then I could make it. Plus I wouldn't be throwing up all the time. That was a huge bonus. 

Also, I had no money so I never took lessons and couldn't pay to play everyday. I practiced my short game every day and didn't ever worry about how my swing looked. All I cared about was how I hit the ball, the shot shape and my short game. That's why today everybody calls me Mr. Short Game. 

Long story but if you work hard you can make it on to a D1 college team. 

 

Best of luck.

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I’m sure this would be great advice, but the OP last posted in any thread in 2012.  Not sure he or she will be responding to anything in this thread or any thread for that matter.

[Patch]

One of my (step) in-laws was a walk on  golfer at UNLV. He played 3 years for them. I think he told me he was 2 hndcp. This was a long time ago, that he played there. He was built like Nicklaus, and could hit ball just as far.

I would assume it's tougher now days to walk on at any of the major programs. 

I met him many years after he graduated. He never made it on any tours, and wound up being a post office employee which he retired from.

We played several times, while he was alive. I could never beat him. I was fortunate that he shared a few things with me. He was one of those guys that made golf look so easy. 

[iacas]

  On 12/20/2017 at 8:24 AM, Patch said:

One of my (step) in-laws was a walk on  golfer at UNLV. He played 3 years for them. I think he told me he was 2 hndcp. This was a long time ago, that he played there. He was built like Nicklaus, and could hit ball just as far.

I would assume it's tougher now days to walk on at any of the major programs. 

I met him many years after he graduated. He never made it on any tours, and wound up being a post office employee which he retired from.

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If he's retired, then yes, that story is almost irrelevant. A 2 these days doesn't get a Division II spot in many cases, let alone a top-level DI program.

[NM Golf]

  On 12/19/2017 at 10:14 PM, 1fish1 said:

My story is this. The first round of golf I ever played was at the age of 18. I shot like 160 that day. 3 Years later I walked on and made the San Diego State University Golf Team.

So, I know it is possible. My background was wrestling and track and field. I never played baseball, so the whole swinging thing was new to me. My philosophy was simple. I would work just as hard at golf as I did as a wrestler. That's the hardest sport on earth so I believed that if I put in that type of work then I could make it. Plus I wouldn't be throwing up all the time. That was a huge bonus. 

Also, I had no money so I never took lessons and couldn't pay to play everyday. I practiced my short game every day and didn't ever worry about how my swing looked. All I cared about was how I hit the ball, the shot shape and my short game. That's why today everybody calls me Mr. Short Game. 

Long story but if you work hard you can make it on to a D1 college team. 

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Yet another story of someone who became a scratch golfer on short game alone.  Not to mention improving at an unheard of rate, shooting well over 100 to scratch in 3 years without the help of lessons or playing much. I'm not saying the above story is a work of fiction, but I would say its highly improbable at best. It just doesn't happen that way.

We had two kids who worked at the course go to college last year to play golf. Both carried a + handicap and neither went D1. Modern golf has gotten much more competitive. Not picking up a club until you are in your teens almost guarantees you will not have the game necessary to play collegiate golf. But thats okay, you can still have a lot of fun playing.