D1 Golf

[Seals]

Am 17.  I want some insight on what it takes to be a division 1 golfer. I play off a plus 2, but this comes from mainly from non tournament rounds. I have only played in a few tournaments, like county tournaments, and a few state events. No AJGA or the like, mainly due to the travel and entry fees and the fact that no tournaments are in my state. I feel like I have the ability, as I have gone low at very tough courses, like Bethpage Black before, but need advice, hopefully from those that have done D1 golf. When should i contact coaches? what should i include in contact to them. (Swing video, etc) Thanks. 

[iacas]

If you're already 17, you're probably already a senior… it's not too late now, but it's very close to being too late to get something set up for your freshman year of college.

Find the colleges you want to attend and contact their coaches ASAP.

[Seals]

16 minutes ago, iacas said:

If you're already 17, you're probably already a senior… it's not too late now, but it's very close to being too late to get something set up for your freshman year of college.

Find the colleges you want to attend and contact their coaches ASAP.

Junior year. 

Edited August 24, 2017 by Seals

[iacas]

Just now, Seals said:

junior

Okay, but you're still well behind. Contact the coaches of the schools you'd like to attend ASAP.

[Seals]

4 minutes ago, iacas said:

Okay, but you're still well behind. Contact the coaches of the schools you'd like to attend ASAP.

What would walking on be like? I assume it is a few rounds where you have to go low? Since i don't have any tournaments to really talk about, what does my body in the email entail

[David in FL]

8 hours ago, Seals said:

Junior year. 

Are you playing on your HS team this year and next?  I'd also start playing as much tournament golf as you can right now.

[iacas]

7 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Are you playing on your HS team this year and next?  I'd also start playing as much tournament golf as you can right now.

Yep. You're not in AJGA, but play them. Play as many tournaments as you can. Play local amateur events. Play state amateur events.

And contact the schools you want to go to.

We won't write those letters for you.

[scotth]

I didn't play D1 golf, but coached high level club volleyball for 15 years and helped 10-12 players a year get a D1 scholarship.  

This is what we used to tell our players:

• Like many have said, you need to start contacting schools you are interested in right away.  
• Let them know your interest and that you qualify academically for their school (this isn't football and they can't, and won't offer if you can't get into their institution.
• If you play on school team let them know that, and your schedule for the season.
• You are going to need to play in some high level competition tournaments -- let them know you are, and send that information to them.
• This isn't a write one letter and forget it type of thing.  Keep the schools you are interested in updated with your progress during the year.  Even if they aren't responding.
• If you are having a good season on school team, send them results.
• If you play in tournaments and have good results send them that information.
• Enlist family or friends and shoot some video clips and send to the school.  Coaches of every sport love to see video.  Golf is no exception.
• D1 coaches are allowed very limited contact and very regulated contact with Juniors, so don't get discouraged if you don't hear much or anything early.  Getting a D1 ride is very much like the effort it took to become good at golf.  It is a long process.
• It helps to put together a spreadsheet of the schools you are interested in, the coaching staff names, their email and other contact information, track what you send them and when, track when they respond and what they say, their enrollment requirements and when send info to enroll and deadlines.

 

Hope this helps. Unless you are the upper top percent, getting a D1 scholarship is a lot of work and can be frustrating.  However, with the price of college these days it is certainly worth pursuing.   

Good luck and I hope this helps.  

Edited August 24, 2017 by scotth

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, scotth said:

• D1 coaches are allowed very limited contact and very regulated contact with Juniors, so don't get discouraged if you don't hear much or anything early.  Getting a D1 ride is very much like the effort it took to become good at golf.  It is a long process.

There are lots of places to get information on this kind of stuff, too, online.

http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/recruiting

https://www.delbarton.org/uploaded/documents/College_Counseling/NCAA_Guidelines.pdf

[scotth]

19 minutes ago, iacas said:

There are lots of places to get information on this kind of stuff, too, online.

http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/recruiting

Good point.  Print this out, or bookmark it on your computer.  You need to get very familiar with this handbook very quickly.  

Edited August 24, 2017 by iacas
fixed malformed post (again)

[Groucho Valentine]

I never played golf in school, but i play with alot of D1 golfers. Id say If you got another year of HS left, play in everyone you can for the next year. AJGA, State tournaments, USGA, whatever you can do. You'll need the experience. As far as getting a scholarship for golf, you have some time, but not much. scotth had good advice. 

But sadly, if you're not playing basketball or football, full rides are rare in college sports. I played D1 baseball and only 7-10 guys on the whole team had full rides. Most were partials or didn't have a scholarship at all. Maybe its different in golf I'm not sure. But you should get on it ASAP as far as tournament golf goes. 

Dont be like the rest of college players and stalk 2 footers like you're tiger woods and take 5+ hours to play a round.... WE MUST END THE NIGHTMARE

[scotth]

One more thing.  These coaches will recognize a form letter that you are sending everybody right away.  Do not copy and paste the same info to each person or school.  Coaches are inundated with letters and can recognize a no effort/little effort generic mass production instantly.  It will only make you look bad and can quite often make them irritated.  

 Each letter from you must be typed one at a time and it does not hurt to keep up with what is happening at that school and comment on it in your letters.

 

Edited August 24, 2017 by scotth

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I never played golf in school, but i play with alot of D1 golfers. Id say If you got another year of HS left, play in everyone you can for the next year. AJGA, State tournaments, USGA, whatever you can do. You'll need the experience. As far as getting a scholarship for golf, you have some time, but not much. scotth had good advice. 

But sadly, if you're not playing basketball or football, full rides are rare in college sports. I played D1 baseball and only 7-10 guys on the whole team had full rides. Most were partials or didn't have a scholarship at all. Maybe its different in golf I'm not sure. But you should get on it ASAP as far as tournament golf goes. 

Dont be like the rest of college players and stalk 2 footers like you're tiger woods and take 5+ hours to play a round.... WE MUST END THE NIGHTMARE

He's right that for men, full rides are rare.

Believe it or not, if you're really good academically, that can help you get an athletic scholarship. Huh?

If a college coach knows that you're good academically, he knows that he can give you a 1/4, 1/3, or 1/2 athletic scholarship and then supplement that with an academic scholarship. The end result: he gets a player he wants, he only "spends" 1/2 or so of his allotted scholarships, and the player gets a full ride - part athletic, part academic.

So your grades are still very important.

[Seals]

4 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I never played golf in school, but i play with alot of D1 golfers. Id say If you got another year of HS left, play in everyone you can for the next year. AJGA, State tournaments, USGA, whatever you can do. You'll need the experience. As far as getting a scholarship for golf, you have some time, but not much. scotth had good advice. 

But sadly, if you're not playing basketball or football, full rides are rare in college sports. I played D1 baseball and only 7-10 guys on the whole team had full rides. Most were partials or didn't have a scholarship at all. Maybe its different in golf I'm not sure. But you should get on it ASAP as far as tournament golf goes. 

Dont be like the rest of college players and stalk 2 footers like you're tiger woods and take 5+ hours to play a round.... WE MUST END THE NIGHTMARE

I understand playing quickly, but if a 2 footer has some break, you bet i will be taking my time reading it. 

[Groucho Valentine]

1 hour ago, Seals said:

I understand playing quickly, but if a 2 footer has some break, you bet i will be taking my time reading it. 

You're breaking my heart. 

[Lihu]

18 hours ago, Seals said:

Am 17.  I want some insight on what it takes to be a division 1 golfer. I play off a plus 2, but this comes from mainly from non tournament rounds. I have only played in a few tournaments, like county tournaments, and a few state events. No AJGA or the like, mainly due to the travel and entry fees and the fact that no tournaments are in my state. I feel like I have the ability, as I have gone low at very tough courses, like Bethpage Black before, but need advice, hopefully from those that have done D1 golf. When should i contact coaches? what should i include in contact to them. (Swing video, etc) Thanks. 

My son's long time classmate got into NYU, and I think he's playing for them. He didn't really apply for anything until his senior year.

This is his profile:

http://www.ncsasports.org/mens-golf-recruiting/california/la-canada-flintridge/saint-francis-high-school3/stian--lintvedt

As you can see, you're a better golfer at +2HC, and he made it albeit through a long time program. I know of two other of my son's teammates who got into D1 and D3 schools, and it seems like the D1 player never applied for anything and almost never played golf. He was just a naturally gifted +1HC player. I forgot his name, but he was also at Maranatha 3 years ago.

Best of Luck!

[iacas]

+1 isn't getting you into many D1 schools. Not any with a top tier program.

Tournament results matter.

Also isn't NYU Division III?

[David in FL]

12 minutes ago, iacas said:

+1 isn't getting you into many D1 schools. Not any with a top tier program.

Tournament results matter.

Also isn't NYU Division III?

NYU is absolutely Div III...