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Preparing to make a College Golf Team

There really isn’t a lot of common knowledge on this topic. Many people think that if you play on the High School Golf Team that you will get noticed. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work with any high school sport. Often, your high school golf coaches and guidance councilors don’t really have the information to help you with this topic. This is where the JGA of America and JGA Golf Academy can help you reach your goals and dreams of playing collegiate golf! It’s part of our overall mission to help you achieve your goal of playing golf in college.

To help you better understand the college recruitment process, we partnered with the Ping College Golf Guide (Click here...to link to their website). This is a great source of information about college golf! All of the older kids who are members of the JGA of America will receive the online guide (starting with their new membership effective July 1st) included with their membership fee. I would encourage all of the families who are serious about college golf to upgrade to the EXPANDED PING Guide/Golfstat Report. Information wise, this expanded version has everything you need! All of the answers to every question will be available...even how your own golf game compares to the scores of a real college golfer at a real college golf tournament! This can be found easily on their website and will help with your overall perspective of what it’s like to play college golf and where you fit in.

To get noticed by college coaches, you must play in nationally ranked events. The service that the college golf coaches all use is the Junior Golf Scoreboard. All of the JGA of America’s JGA Tour events and the single-day Cape Jr. Golf Tour events (when combined) are officially ranked by the Junior Golf Scoreboard. In order to appear on the Junior Golf Scoreboard (‘On the radar’ so to speak) you must play in (5) nationally ranked events in a 12 month calendar year. You really want to consider competing in 10 to 12 + nationally ranked events as it takes a little while to get comfortable at this level. We aren’t always on top of our game, so don’t stress the occasional bad round. Depending on your talent, national ranking, grades, high school classes/course load, etc. you may even be able to get a scholarship!

In terms of golf only, if you feel as though you want to go for it, here are some steps to help get you started:

1. Find a PGA Professional who is available to be your golf coach and take you under his wing. Discuss your dreams & goals of competing in college with your PGA Professional & Work hard to achieve your goals!

2. Develop a plan. (Include the Ping College Golf Guide as a necessary online resource to help with the process.) Once you feel dedicated to giving this your best effort, you should seriously start early by looking at your Golf Lesson Time, Practice Time, Play Time, Competition, Nationally Ranked Tournaments, Build a Solid Jr. Career/High School Resume, Get SAT/ACT Tutoring, Register with the NCAA Clearinghouse, Do Research About Each College (consider your interest in a major/field), E-mail/Write College Coaches, Start Visiting Colleges, Apply to a College, etc.

3. Compete throughout the levels. Work your way up. Rome wasn’t built in a day! Here are some samples of different levels:

a. Cape Jr. Golf Tour (Single-day Tournaments) - The CJGT is a universal tour for all skill levels. You can learn how to compete on the CJGT and you can learn how to compete at a higher level by keeping it going with other skilled golfers your age. We have such a wide range of talent to include kids who can shoot par to kids who shoot double bogey golf. We pair competitors according to skill level.

b. JGA Tour (Nationally Ranked Two-day Events) - The JGA Tour is your next step to playing golf at a higher level. These events are 36-hole tournaments that are nationally ranked by the Junior Golf Scoreboard. You don’t have to be a great golfer, only aspire to be one! Champions often shoot around par; however, new competitors very rarely shoot in the 70’s during their first season. If you can shoot in the 80’s (at least in the low 90’s) and want to take your game to another level and want to take your game to a higher level, the JGA Tour is for you!

If you want to get noticed by college coaches, besides the JGA Tour, you need to consider adding these events to your resume:

Links to other very important Nationally Ranked Tours:

AJGA - This is the top tour; especially, if you want to play Div. I

IJGT - This is an elite tour for those who want to play Div. I or Div. II

Links to other important Nationally Ranked Events to help you get onto Division I & Division II Colleges Golf Teams:

Optimist International Jr. Championship - The JGA of America is proud to host the Atlantic Central District Qualifier for all ages on

April 25, 2009 at Greate Bay Country Club!

US Kids Golf World Championship

The Big “I”

USGA Jr. Boys

USGA Girls Amateur

PGA of America Jr. Championship