Getting noticed for college golf

[TN94z]

12 minutes ago, TourSpoon said:

There is a fit for everyone, just make sure those grades are high. If golf is a possibility, there are a lot of options. Many times the program cobbles together money from many different sources and getting money for great grades or leadership is how they can offset getting limited money for athletics. 

That's what he is focusing on now too. His grades have really improved.

I also have a 1.5 year old little girl that is already swinging her plastic clubs around the house. So I may be going through all of this again in the future...lol. I'll have her playing in TNJPGA a lot sooner though...if that's what she wants to do.

[hcopenhagenh]

25 minutes ago, TN94z said:

Thanks for the reply. You are not being a debbie downer, just realistic. I am referring more towards lower level schools...schools in our area..that sort of thing. Shooting 60 on 9 holes is where he was when he first started. He now shoots low 40s consistently and I can see areas of very easy improvement that will have him in the upper 30s next season. As far as scholarships go, I am sure you are 100% correct with the level of schools that you mentioned. There is a nice University in our hometown that just awarded a senior from last year a scholarship to play golf. I foresee Jacob being better at that age than the kid that just got that scholarship. So I truly believe the opportunity is out there (maybe not on the level you are referring to), but more locally.

With that being said, he is going to play more Jr tournaments outside of high school golf (which I totally agree with you on) to see where he stands and see how he grows. If it doesn't work out, it just doesn't work out. But I am going to continue to do everything I can to make it happen regardless of him being behind the 8 ball. He has been playing since he was 4. Just nothing competitive. That's one of the reasons he dropped from 60s to 40s after a 2 year layoff with minimal practice.

You need to find out what they are truly getting scholarship wise.  

There are head count sports and equivalency sports.

Head Count Sports for men are Football and Basketball.  These are the only two sports that the only option is to give a full scholarship.

Equivalency Sports are all the rest.  For many of the D1 teams they will give Player 1 Full Ride, Player 2 Full Ride  Player 3 Full Ride  Player 4 75%  Player 5 75%.  or Player 1 Full Ride  Player 2 Full Ride Player 3 63%  Player 4 63%  Player 5 63%  Player 6 63%.   The rest are fending for themselves and a scholarship can technically be getting books paid for.  This is for Division 1.  Regardless of Division, there aren't many full rides thrown out there for boy's.

 

60's to 40's is a big turn around.  

To me, and I watch golf at all levels, the two most important things to work on is wedge game and putting.   The kids that are really good are the kids that have a great wedge game inside of 100 yards.  Inside 100 they can take that wedge and put it inside of 15 feet and make that putt for par or bogey at worst.  These kids KNOW they can score which is a big difference from hoping they can score.

 

Good Luck.

10 minutes ago, TN94z said:

That's what he is focusing on now too. His grades have really improved.

I also have a 1.5 year old little girl that is already swinging her plastic clubs around the house. So I may be going through all of this again in the future...lol. I'll have her playing in TNJPGA a lot sooner though...if that's what she wants to do.

Girl's golf is near and dear to my heart.  It is a lot of fun.

6 scholarships for an 8-10 person roster.

[TN94z]

1 hour ago, hcopenhagenh said:

You need to find out what they are truly getting scholarship wise.  

There are head count sports and equivalency sports.

Head Count Sports for men are Football and Basketball.  These are the only two sports that the only option is to give a full scholarship.

Equivalency Sports are all the rest.  For many of the D1 teams they will give Player 1 Full Ride, Player 2 Full Ride  Player 3 Full Ride  Player 4 75%  Player 5 75%.  or Player 1 Full Ride  Player 2 Full Ride Player 3 63%  Player 4 63%  Player 5 63%  Player 6 63%.   The rest are fending for themselves and a scholarship can technically be getting books paid for.  This is for Division 1.  Regardless of Division, there aren't many full rides thrown out there for boy's.

 

60's to 40's is a big turn around.  

To me, and I watch golf at all levels, the two most important things to work on is wedge game and putting.   The kids that are really good are the kids that have a great wedge game inside of 100 yards.  Inside 100 they can take that wedge and put it inside of 15 feet and make that putt for par or bogey at worst.  These kids KNOW they can score which is a big difference from hoping they can score.

 

Good Luck.

Girl's golf is near and dear to my heart.  It is a lot of fun.

6 scholarships for an 8-10 person roster.

Yeah, I need to talk to that kid's dad. I know him. I agree and that's actually what I am working on with him now. My plan is to go out to the course and figure out his full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 yardages with his wedges and make a sticky to put on his shafts (straight from the LSW book). Then I am going to teach him to start using these different options depending on what shot he's dealing with. His putting also needs a lot of work. The last few times I have played with him, I consistently counted 6-8 shots he lost just with putting mistakes. Putts he should have made were missed, distance control was terrible on long putts, and sometimes he just plain hit the ball in the wrong direction. He should be in the 30s with some putting work honestly. And then maybe we can get his wedges dialed in during the off season as well.

I can't wait until my daughter starts playing (assuming she wants to).

[TourSpoon]

2 hours ago, hcopenhagenh said:

You need to find out what they are truly getting scholarship wise.  

There are head count sports and equivalency sports.

Head Count Sports for men are Football and Basketball.  These are the only two sports that the only option is to give a full scholarship.

Equivalency Sports are all the rest.  For many of the D1 teams they will give Player 1 Full Ride, Player 2 Full Ride  Player 3 Full Ride  Player 4 75%  Player 5 75%.  or Player 1 Full Ride  Player 2 Full Ride Player 3 63%  Player 4 63%  Player 5 63%  Player 6 63%.   The rest are fending for themselves and a scholarship can technically be getting books paid for.  This is for Division 1.  Regardless of Division, there aren't many full rides thrown out there for boy's.

I might add that a coach may have a "full ride" or "blue chip" student athlete that has an HPA that is high enough for academic money they will use that as a way to leverage their athletic money. So that "full ride" in reality may be a combination of money for different sources saving that athletic money to attract more of those mid-depth athletes that you need to round out a squad. 

State schools in Florida will take advantage of this using a student's "Bright Futures" tuition money into their package thus saving athletic money. My niece plays softball for a top 10 D! program and she is a "full ride" but again, because she had the grades she got the state Bright Futures, money for academics on top of that and athletic money to make up her full ride, My son, who attends a private Florida D2 school gets just over 50% through partial athletics, academic, leadership, an in-state private school award, and another few bucks for turning in an early FAFSA (financial statement). 

Even if your golfer is not up to getting money, there is an ability to walk on, get money later due to outstanding performance, or even play on a club level, intermural or greek league. There is a lot going on in the college and university system to really give kids a chance to play if they really want to. The goal is really to get the best education you can and do something you love while you have the time. 

[iacas]

Off topic stuff is in the spoiler tag…

Spoiler

Some stats aren't quite right.

3 hours ago, hcopenhagenh said:

To me, and I watch golf at all levels, the two most important things to work on is wedge game and putting.   The kids that are really good are the kids that have a great wedge game inside of 100 yards.  Inside 100 they can take that wedge and put it inside of 15 feet and make that putt for par or bogey at worst.  These kids KNOW they can score which is a big difference from hoping they can score.

That's not any more true at that level as any other level: the best players at that level excel at the driving and approach shots.

PGA Tour average (median) from 75-100 yards (in the fairway) is 17'4" or so (http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.075.2016.html). PGA Tour average from 15' putting is to take 1.78 putts. They make fewer than 1 in 4 from 15'.

Good golfers - regardless of the level of play - are generally good because they hit the ball far and in play, and they hit a lot of greens, with some of the best of the best hitting it a bit closer to the hole on those greens than others. Short game and putting contribute about 1/3 to their scoring relative to their peers.

I'm fortunate to have a daughter who is close to a bogey golfer as an (undersized, she still has a few years of growth left) 8th grader. The competition for women's D1/D2 golf is nowhere near as severe.

[hcopenhagenh]

12 minutes ago, iacas said:

Off topic stuff is in the spoiler tag…

  Hide contents

Some stats aren't quite right.

That's not any more true at that level as any other level: the best players at that level excel at the driving and approach shots.

PGA Tour average (median) from 75-100 yards (in the fairway) is 17'4" or so (http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.075.2016.html). PGA Tour average from 15' putting is to take 1.78 putts. They make fewer than 1 in 4 from 15'.

Good golfers - regardless of the level of play - are generally good because they hit the ball far and in play, and they hit a lot of greens, with some of the best of the best hitting it a bit closer to the hole on those greens than others. Short game and putting contribute about 1/3 to their scoring relative to their peers.

I'm fortunate to have a daughter who is close to a bogey golfer as an (undersized, she still has a few years of growth left) 8th grader. The competition for women's D1/D2 golf is nowhere near as severe.

I have a daughter playing D1 golf.  While the competition isn't as severe, D1 and high D2 coaches do have stereotypes for their golfers.  They want them a certain size and a certain build.  They will take a kid that is 5'9" that averages a 78 over a girl that is 5'5" and averages 75 .  They know that the 5'9" hasn't maxed out their potential and can grow in the distance department just on size alone.  They want girls going into greens with irons and spinning the ball, not a bumped hybrid that rolls onto the green.  Heard this from several coaches in the process.

Edited October 21, 2016 by hcopenhagenh

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, hcopenhagenh said:

I have a daughter playing D1 golf.  While the competition isn't as severe, D1 and high D2 coaches do have stereotypes for their golfers.  They want them a certain size and a certain build.  They will take a kid that is 5'9" that averages a 78 over a girl that is 5'5" and averages 75 .  They know that the 5'9" hasn't maxed out their potential and can grow in the distance department just on size alone.  They want girls going into greens with irons and spinning the ball, not a bumped hybrid that rolls onto the green.  Heard this from several coaches in the process.

I'm good friends with a number of college coaches, particularly women's college coaches, and while I have no doubt that some likely care about height, most will take the player with the good scores so long as their game is commensurate. You're making a big assumption that a 5'5" girl is going to be bumping hybrids all day long.

Jamie Sadlowski is only 5'10". Sadena Parks is 5'3". Kim Sei-young is 5'4". Brooke Henderson? 5'4". Randomly chose players from the top 20 on the LPGA's Driving Distance list.

Distance is an, absolutely, but there's a big world between "bumped hybrids that roll onto greens" and "spinning the ball with irons." Height correlates to distance, but we're not talking about an R² value of 0.89 or something.

Now, before this gets too far off topic… let's leave it at that.

P.S. Off topic because we're talking about how to get noticed by college coaches, not generalities of height and distance and impact on scoring in the vague, non-specific sense.