High School Golf Teams

[hacker101]

All,

I have a question that I am sure is easily answered but not ever playing or following HS Golf would not know.

My son is a freshman in HS and has been trying out for his HS team the last couple of months. Monday during his meeting the cuts where made, Knowing it would be a some what of a long shot he did not make either team, not a big deal will keep just practicing and taking lesions getting ready for next year.

But the question I have is, the cut line was par or better for the varsity and 4 over for the JV on a back 9 par 72 course. Are the HS kids all that crazy good now?

It is hard to believe that the kids in HS can all be that good that they can hit par, or am i just not very in tune?

[David in FL]

It's obviously dependent on the individual school, demographics, and the difficulty of the course they're playing, but in a large, golf oriented area like So Cal, yep, they're that good.

[dak4n6]

I agree w/ David that there is a very deep talent pool in S Cal, so par for a varsity squad is not unreasonable. Plus, If not enough kids make that cut to fill the roster, I imagine they will take the next lowest kids in ascending order.

In my area there is nowhere near the population or depth as S Cal so my son's HS has only one team, and I saw a few kids on the team who looked barely able to break 90.

[jamo]

It's obviously dependent on the individual school, demographics, and the difficulty of the course they're playing, but in a large, golf oriented area like So Cal, yep, they're that good.

This, or at least that's what I assume. I played just a few years ago and no one on our team average below par, yet we finished 8th in the MA D3 state championship tourney. Again though, that's Massachusetts, not SoCal.

[hacker101]

Wow I never imagined the HS kids where that good Now I have some information and able to help if he needs me to.  Just happy he still wants to play and get better for next year, he has the bug for sure. Now he knows what he is up against and what he will need to do if he still wants it.

Thanks all.

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

My HS golf team was full of players who barely broke 90.

[MasonAsher2014]

Basically depends on where you live. In warm weather state you have to be very good. Here, in Indiana, I'm the best on the team and I shoot even par sometimes, never shot under though. Some kids on the team shoot in the 140's if we were to play 18 holes with them. NOT KIDDING.  We are lucky to have a good group who shoot in the high 30's low 40's consistently and that is why we only lose a couple matches per year. Doesn't help that our rival school has kids that are god like at golf. We keep around 10-12 kids on the team. Only 5 of us are any good though. We have about 500 kids in the school

[hacker101]

My sons HS I understand have been number 1 for 3 years. But I never knew that the HS kids where that good!

[k-troop]

Well, that's a pretty dang good highschool team.  If he makes the team, playing regularly with that group will undoubtedly make him much better.  I was a 1/2 player on my HS team; for us posting a single-day score of 300 or better (4 of 5 players averaging 75 or better) was a heck of a day, but we did it about 1 in 6 or 7 times.  Surely they didn't just play a single 9-hole qualifier though?

[hacker101]

I understand the boys that are on the Varsity team did not even try out they where from last year and are that good. My son played for the last 3 months each week with the school, even though he was dropping his score each week and showed improvment it was not good enough to make that cut on the final round. All the freshman that tried out all got cut, the team is made up of 80% senors, a couple Juniors and 1 sophomore.

But I agree if he can get on the team playing with that caliber of boys will help his game.

[Beachcomber]

I grew up in Central, Ohio.  And played all four years of high school golf.  While we didn't have USGA handicaps, we had official scoring averages that our coach maintained for 9 holes.  My Freshman year, I played on the Jr. Varsity team with a scoring average of 46 on a Par 36.  Then my Sophmore season I made the Varsity team - was our #5 man with a 39 scoring average... I actually received the most improved award by our coach.  Then Jr and Sr years I was our #2 man with a 37 scoring average (+1).

Our team won our league championship back to back my Jr and Sr year... And we made it to Districts as a team in my Sr year but failed to qualify for State Championships.  Our #1 man was averaging 35 or -1 Par and our #6 man was averaging 39.  We were a very good team for our area... But there were even better players and squads.  Golf can be very competitive, even in HS... And this was back in the mid 90's.  With parents getting kids to focus on one sport, I'd imagine there are elite fields of HS players today.

[jeramydavid]

Those numbers seem really low to me. I understand its relative to the course played, and pressure of the round. Food for thought... http://www.mhsaa.com/Portals/0/Documents/BGF/2012%20LP/2012-Boys-D1.txt That is a link to the two day results for Michigan's 2012 hs division 1 boys golf state finals. Of the two days, only two guys had rounds breaking par. This is the best high school golfers in the state.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by jeramydavid

Those numbers seem really low to me. I understand its relative to the course played, and pressure of the round. Food for thought...

http://www.mhsaa.com/Portals/0/Documents/BGF/2012%20LP/2012-Boys-D1.txt

That is a link to the two day results for Michigan's 2012 hs division 1 boys golf state finals. Of the two days, only two guys had rounds breaking par. This is the best high school golfers in the state.

Yeah, and tournament golf - especially a State championship tournament is setup a lot harder - and more pressure than a normal HS golf event/round.

[jeramydavid]

I definately understand that pressure. But if you look at their scoring averages they are all above par. I recently viewed UofMs men's golf stats... (keep in mind they are probably one of the lowest ranked big ten teams) This years roster is full of golfers all have scoring averages well above par. Then I read about the three newest recruits for next year... All three high school golfers, 2 hs state champions, one ranked number one in the state for Michigan (40 in the country) another ranked number one in Montana (48 in the country) they have scoring averages of 73 and 74. Reading those numbers I am surprised the thread starters son was cut from his high school team. And that the varsity cut line for one 9 hole round was par. [quote name="Beachcomber" url="/t/64572/high-school-golf-teams#post_805068"]Yeah, and tournament golf - especially a State championship tournament is setup a lot harder - and more pressure than a normal HS golf event/round.   [/quote]

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by jeramydavid

I definately understand that pressure. But if you look at their scoring averages they are all above par. I recently viewed UofMs men's golf stats... (keep in mind they are probably one of the lowest ranked big ten teams) This years roster is full of golfers all have scoring averages well above par. Then I read about the three newest recruits for next year... All three high school golfers, 2 hs state champions, one ranked number one in the state for Michigan (40 in the country) another ranked number one in Montana (48 in the country) they have scoring averages of 73 and 74.

Reading those numbers I am surprised the thread starters son was cut from his high school team. And that the varsity cut line for one 9 hole round was par.

Realize that HS golf - at least when I played, we played courses on the forward tee's.  I don't have the exact numbers, but believe it was anything around 6,500 yards was average.  When you go to the main tournaments, the courses are often much longer - and setup significantly harder than the average HS golf round played on XYZ course.

Then college golf... They play from the tips.  And they aren't playing the typical muni.  They are playing a lot tougher tracks.... From the tips.  Setup for tournament conditions - tight pins, etc. etc.

It is a different animal.

[jeramydavid]

Realize that HS golf - at least when I played, we played courses on the forward tee's.  I don't have the exact numbers, but believe it was anything around 6,500 yards was average.  When you go to the main tournaments, the courses are often much longer - and setup significantly harder than the average HS golf round played on XYZ course. Then college golf... They play from the tips.  And they aren't playing the typical muni.  They are playing a lot tougher tracks.... From the tips.  Setup for tournament conditions - tight pins, etc. etc. It is a different animal.

I am sure it is. It is really amazing to me the difference between here in southern Michigan, and states with warmer climates allowing year round golf as well.

[hacker101]

jeramydavid, I am the thread starter, yes he was cut and that was the cut line. No freshman made this at all, the close one to this was my son at 9 over, next was 10, he was not sure aver that but had heard it was double.

Like I said never part of the HS sports so all this is very new to me. I agree seeing the numbers hard to believe also, but I was hitting some balls when another HS was practicing. I heard the one boy telling his friend he had just hit 2 under. I am sure being in Calif helps a lot they can play all year round here.

[jeramydavid]

I believe you... Just surprised. The school my kids go to, the school my 12 year old plans to golf for, is a division 2 school who wins regionals and qualifies for states. Last year they had one golfer who placed. They are good. They compete against other schools of equal tallent. A scratch golfer is a rarity. Obviously the tallent pool is much smaller when your state has months of non Golfable weather.