<p>We are sending our oldest D off to college in a few weeks, and recently my brother is asking me questions about college for his son, a rising junior and potential golf recruit.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about Golf Recruiting, I barely know anything about the game of Golf. I am hoping for some general info that will help me advise my brother. They are looking at smaller schools in NC/SC, not sure of their family financial situation.</p>
<p>I do know one of their initial tours was a small private school, Division I. His grades are high Bs and As, with the lower grades coming from difficult AP courses. He is about to take SAT test for the first time this fall.</p>
<p>What is the timing of recruitment for this sport? What is major way of getting a coaches' attention...attending tournaments, summer golf camps (does such a thing exist?), or direct contact with the coach? What are golf coaches looking for in a player? Is this a sport where the coaches travel a lot to see you in person, or do they just look at your golf stats?</p>
<p>I can ask but know a friend whose son is going to a well-regarded LAC for golf and they just wanted numbers, scores and grades. We had a good laugh about how video doesn’t work for the sport of golf.</p>
<p>Without video I’m guessing you need to have your brother go right to the school’s website, click into men’s golf and do their questionnaire. Do this as much as you can so you can at least get on the radar for schools who will put the kid’s name in their database.</p>
<p>Smaller schools often mean smaller travel/recruiting budgets for golf programs. First, it’s important to open the doors of communication with the coach. Advise your nephew to fill out the athlete interest forms on the schools’ athletic sites and email the golf coach directly. Include recent scores from tournaments, GPA and SAT scores. Show that he’s done his homework with regards to the the admissions requirements of the school. It is also important to show that he’s familiar with the golf team and their average scores, where they’ve played tournaments, etc. and that he feels he’d be a good fit for the program. </p>
<p>After communication has been established, feel free to email the coach with info on where you’ll be playing tournaments. My D did this and 2 coaches knew to look for her because they had plans to watch potential recruits there. Also, send them scores after the tournaments to keep his name on the radar. As for the recruiting time table, some coaches say they recruit 2-3 years out, so as a rising junior, your nephew it is the time to get his name on the coaches’ watchlists. Unlike other sports, most golf recruits approach the coaches. As for videos, some do ask for them will request specific shots.</p>
<p>My daughter is a D1 golfer and loves the school she chose. While academics was important to her, she knew she wanted to golf in college no matter what. She chose a smaller, lesser known school and joined their honors program. She feels she has the best of both worlds. That’s also what your nephew will have to decide.</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me for more info and good luck.</p>
<p>Golf coaches look for different things, depends on the coach. Of course they all look at scoring average, but how they carry themselves on course, swing mechanics, how they handle adversity, how clean are their shoes (quote from a coach). There are golf camps but unless it is the kids dream school I would not waste the money. Tournaments at the national level (AJGA, FCWT and IJGT) are where you will see coaches. Of course US Junior am is a biggie as well.<br>
Most coaches will travel to tournaments in summer or over winter break where they can watch a number of recruits. So in that regard they will travel. Some schools have bigger recruiting budgets than others too so that depends. I sent you a PM with a very helpful link on golf recruiting to send to your friend.
Timing wise… need to get on the horn NOW…</p>
<p>I also have a D in D1 golf. We made a resume to send to coaches late sophomore year. The cover page included contact info, GPA/class rank (and later SATs), scoring average and handicap index. We included bullet points for career highlights, such as major tournaments played, low scores, All-State honors, and various athletic and academic honors and awards. We also included contact info for her coaches. At some point we made a swing video which we uploaded to an unlisted youtube and added the link to this page.</p>
<p>The resume then included a chart, broken down by year, listing her tournament results from freshman year on. For each tournament, we included the name and date, tour, course, yardage, rating and slope, score, and finish. We also separated out high school, local, regional, and national level tournaments. </p>
<p>We updated the resume after every tournament and sent an updated copy to coaches when needed. When we emailed coaches, we always included a list of upcoming events.</p>
<p>To answer some of your other questions, I think coaches will come see you if they have a chance, but they may make an offer sight unseen. Many of the coaches on my DD’s medium/short list saw her play at least once the summer before senior year at a couple of major championships that were crawling with coaches. It’s hard to say if they came just to see her or they would have come anyway. Or maybe she was a good excuse to justify flying across country and getting some other recruiting in, too. At any rate, whether coaches will see you or not, it is important to play in the big tournaments.</p>
<p>Another piece of advice? Check out the websites for the Junior Golf Scoreboard and the Ping College Guide. Tons of helpful info there.</p>