<p>I'm a junior, and I've been on the golf team at my school for the past three years. I already know that I'm nowhere near good enough to be recruited (high 90-low 100 usually in tourneys) but I was wondering if anyone had any data about walkons/club teams at Top 20's. I picked up golf fairly recently but I love it and I'd really like to continue playing in college at any level, so any help would be appreciated! Oh, and also I'm a girl, if that changes things!</p>
<p>I am very familiar with college golf. Have a college golfer. Is junior college something you would consider? To be honest with your scoring average it is highly unlikely you will be able to make any top 20 college team.<br>
Go to this link [Golfstat</a> Women’s NCAA Head-To-Head Standings](<a href=“http://www.golfstat.com/2011-2012/women/wncaahth.htm]Golfstat”>http://www.golfstat.com/2011-2012/women/wncaahth.htm) it is womens college golf rankings for D1 2 and 3.<br>
For example Towson (235) is one of the lowest ranked D1 programs but their worst player had a scoring average of 86. College courses are MUCH harder than high school or any junior golf courses you will play. The lower level D3 schools have players shooting in the 100’s so perhaps that is an option. I am not trying to discourage you but just let you know that it is important to approach the right schools where you would fit or could fit in with your ability. Another website called Ping guide for college golf (google it) has lots of good info. The fact that you are still a junior gives you time to improve. If you do not work with a swing coach currently, I highly recommend it. I bet you could take a lot of strokes off in a short time with good instruction. There is always options out there, it is just a matter of finding them. But make sure you target schools that are realistic for your ability… Feel free to PM me if you need any other help. good luck</p>
<p>This is interesting, as I usually shoot around 100, but would also enjoy playing in college. </p>
<p>Backstory: I was pretty good once upon a time; I was training for tournaments, but I broke my wrist badly so I quit lessons for over a month… When I was out of my cast I had a consistent hook, and my hand position that worked before was just… Wrong, in feeling. So I was awful, and pretty much quit practicing independently also, which I used to do daily. Decided not to bother with the golf team… Though I’d make it, I’d be the worst person on the team, save one fool, driven to play by his mother. Now I play once a month or so; my short game’s usually pretty good (last time I played I sunk a ~35’ putt) but that’s not enough to save me from crummy scores (last time I played I shot like a 115). But whatever, I suppose that’s life…(: </p>
<p>Anyway, back on topic; though I doubt either of us have a chance at playing competitively, I’d love to see the responses for this. Sorry if it seems I’ve spammed your thread, in a fashion.</p>
<p>Elikresses- male or female, confused because you said about playing on a team that had one fool driven by “his” mom. (oh and by the way you see that A LOT in junior golf!!!) and the funny thing is that they tend to fade out in college from burn out… shocker!!!</p>
<p>Oh, I know that I have zero chance of playing on a D1 team! I don’t think I want to go D3, just because my high school is really small, and I don’t really like that environment. I do have an outside coach, who I work with about once a week in the spring, but it snows so much where I live that a lot of the spring is wasted just getting back into the swing of things (haha accidental golf pun). Do either of you know anything about the competitiveness of club teams?</p>
<p>I’m a guy, ahah.</p>
<p>beka- I have never heard of club golf teams unless you are talking about country club tournaments and if so I do not believe college coaches would put much weight on the results from that. The best way to test your game is playing outside tournaments in spring and summer against other girls your age. Check with your local golf association to see what is available for juniors. Good pun by the way… lol</p>
<p>Eli- the reality is it is MUCH harder for guys. There are TONS of unclaimed scholarship dollars for women’s golf but it is not true for the men. Guys have got to shoot low at almost any level.</p>
<p>I’d say go for DIII. That’s what I’m doing right now.
I’m talking to college coaches at some of my favorite small LACs. It’s a nice mix between golf and academics. Just to give you hope, I was shooting in the 130’s 5 months ago when I first started golf and now i’ve moved into the low 90’s and continue to lower my score. (I’m a girl btw) So keep practicin’ and you’ll go lower!</p>
<p>Retro dreamer- Awesome that you want to be so encouraging… but the reality is, it is much much harder for the men even on low level D3 teams. Just checked scores for one of the worst D3 programs in the country and the players shoot mid 80’s… If the original poster wants to play at any level in college he will have to lower his score. I cannot speak for club teams, they may exist, I just do not know.</p>
<p>We have a high school golfer as well, female. Her scoring average through her sophomore season was about 83. Spring sport here so she hasn’t started her junior season yet. She has qualified individually for the state tournament the past 2 seasons. We have done a lot of research for various levels of golf. With scores in the low 100’s you could easily play for most DIII schools and quite a few DII schools. Very unlikely you could play at the DI level as a scholarship athlete but we have come across a few schools that do have team members shooting high 90’s at the DI level (mostly highly academically challenging schools).</p>
<p>Also, the top DII- DIII schools are very competitive and in head to head competition would beat many DI low to average programs (but not top 25 DI’s-not even close) and your scores would not be good enough to make those teams.</p>
<p>The nice thing about golf, if you have some natural talent for the game and practice enough, you can get your scores down to a level where you may get some looks for college.</p>
<p>For males, if you aren’t a par golfer, pretty much forget playing for a top school at ANY level. We have only come across a couple DIII schools that scoring high 80’s will get you on the JV team at a DIII school. There are kids in our state that were in the top finishers at the state tournament that are playing on a second JV team at a DIII school.</p>
<p>Many schools will have club golf teams. These teams are not sanctioned by the NCAA or NAIA but often will travel around and compete against other schools nearby. It would be similar to a club activity on a campus. Often there is a little bit of money to help fund the program through the college but generally the kids participating have to get their own transportation, pay their own green fees, etc. They are in between an intermural sport and an intercollegiate sport.</p>
<p>mncollegemom is right on in regards to the guys. If your not at least a scratch player you won’t get a look from most schools. And truthfully at least for the guys, the coaches really don’t care much at all about high school golf, courses are too easy as is the competition. Coaches are looking for national level experience - AJGA, USGA, etc… It is tough competition.</p>
<p>I agree, mostly, that high school golf courses are usually easy, especially for smaller school classes in various states. I know in our area, many of the courses we get to play are very difficult courses, hosting many professional tournaments, college nationals, etc. I take those scores a little more seriously than the 68/96 slope/ratings for a lot of the courses we see other kids post scores from. If you want a top 25 school, you need to play on the national junior tours but outside of that level, it isn’t that important for women. Also, the length of the college courses is a longer, for women especially, so that makes a huge difference too. If you can’t hit the ball 220+ on your drive, you aren’t playing anywhere for the most part, 250+ would be better. It still comes down to your short game but if it takes you an extra stroke to reach every par 5, that’s going to hurt. Not many high 90’s/low 100’s players hit the ball that far, men or women.</p>