<p>Are there any golf recruits out there? I am a parent looking to find out more about the process. In particular, looking at schools in the Northeast. Has anyone been through or going through the process? I didn't find too many active links that deal with this subject, so jump in!</p>
<p>My kid has been through the process and is now a college golfer. What info are you looking for?</p>
<p>I have a D1 golfer as well. In his 3rd year currently. Specific questions would be great.</p>
<p>Sorry I haven’t responded. I had a bunch of activity here, and then I was glued to the TV watching the Masters. Here is a question: throughout your processes, was there a school which expressed an interest that may have seemed lukewarm, only to later turn out very positive? What was the turning point?</p>
<p>In our D’s experience, the initial contacts with the coaches were lukewarm. D was not a highly recruited athlete so she took the initiative to contact coaches. Communication became more personal and frequent when she was in her junior year and playing in many more tournaments. She kept them up to date with her scores and stats regularly and also invited them to watch her play. Some coaches also emailed her info on where they were going to scout. It is a roller coaster ride of a process but one that can be well worth it!</p>
<p>For my son it was more of a giant flip of shooting some under par rounds in AJGA and qualifying for US Junior am and having a great summer after soph year of high school. He went from being probably rather invisible I guess to being followed by college coaches every time he played. It happened so fast it was weird. Once the recruiting period “opened” he got a wide variety of D1 programs sending him things. From personal hand written letters to the “package” that recruits are sent. He did not have to deal with trying to decipher where coaches stood as he made it known to the programs he was interested in that he wanted to make an early decision so he got the offers from the schools he was interested in and went with his top choice. It was Nov of his junior year when he picked. He did not want to leave our home state and he wanted to stay north so he basically did not even explore some awesome possibilities… Turned out to be good for him though… Best of luck…</p>
<p>Our D opted not to go the DI route. Just be aware that golf is a 2 season sport in college and at the DI level it’s flying out somewhere on Thursday, practice rounds Friday, playing Sat-Monday, back on campus late Mon or Tuesday almost every week, fall and spring. If his goal is to be a professional golfer, go for it, if not, think long and hard about the commitment. </p>
<p>Interest varied from program to program. Early on it was mostly “hey, we would love to talk to you when you visit” moving into “you are our top recruit-let us know if you need more money” type thing. We started looking at schools the summer after sophomore year–mainly because of time issues with school activities, etc. Those visits conversations were all on campus because of recruiting rules. Things picked up the start of junior year when they could contact her. She had about 100 coaches actively recruiting her, meaning sending personal emails, phone calls, etc. She got information from 50 or so other coaches. She narrowed down her choices and applied to 9 schools. Her final choice was a program that is very low key, very laid back and will miss maybe 3 days of classes each year. Her main goal was to be able to pay but mostly to get some money to help pay for college.</p>
<p>Some coaches showed mild interest to start, one coach in particular was “sure come visit but I’m not sure how much I have to give for scholarships” to 3 holes into a round of golf with her and the conversation moved to “you will be contributing to our program right away and between merit and golf we can get you close to a full ride”…at least with golf it’s easier to evaluate skill–looking at scores and the type of courses they play on. I know for girls golf, a lot of coaches are concerned because many high school program play pretty short courses and then move into 6000 yard courses for college. That is one thing that helped our D, they play from 5800 yards in high school. She did not do the junior national tour but played with many that did in high school and summer tournaments.</p>
<p>I would say that if your child is male–cast a very wide net unless he is a top national player. For girls it’s a lot easier because there just aren’t as many female golfers and many schools use golf to balance football.</p>