In recent articles, I have talked about the importance of finding the “right fit” for your college golf experience. My students and I talk a lot about what goes into this process. There are many factors that will ultimately dictate each student athlete’s happiness and success at the collegiate level. When it comes time to create the potential college list, it is paramount to consider all of these factors.
If you are a graduate in the class of 2014, you are likely involved in this process right now. If you are in younger classes, it’s never too early to begin the process of creating the college list. Let’s consider some of the key factors in play:
- Academic makeup – This list should always begin with schools that fit your academic needs.
- Geographical location – Climate and proximity from home are huge
- Recruiting tendencies – Ask yourself this…..”Do they tend to recruit and sign athletes with my golf resume?”
- Coaching style – Some coaches are more “hands on” than others. What are you looking for in terms of furthering your development?
- Playing time – What is the likelihood you can comfortably make and contribute to that lineup? What are the classes of the players who are currently in the lineup? How many of those players will return your freshman year?
There are many other factors to consider, but these five are among the most important. Furthermore, it’s not always easy determining some of these factors. That is why I advocate starting early (9th grade) and taking advantage of all the resources you have. Set up as many unofficial visits as you can. Talk to former and current college players (or parents of). Educating yourself and doing your due diligence will pay off, I promise.
Once you have established these key factors, you are ready to create the college list. You may wonder how many schools to begin with? I tend to advocate a slimmer, more concentrated approach, but it certainly depends on your grade. If you are in the middle of 11th grade and time is ticking, I would create a list of 15 schools or less. Identify schools that mainly recruit players like you and hit the road (make visits). Try to have that list down to 5 or less by the end of the summer.
If you are a 9th or 10th grader, a broader list is fine. However, I would keep it under 30 schools. Any more than that can become too large and decrease your ability to work through this list efficiently. I understand the “throw a big net” approach, but college golf coaches are looking for very specific qualities in each recruit. Mass email strategies simply don’t work. Genuine and personalized pieces of correspondence will go much further.
I also feel it is important to consider a “diversified” approach to creating the college list.
Let’s take a 10th grader with a 12 month stroke average of 75.0……My first task would be to have him list his 5-6 “dream schools”. If he takes a positive leap developmentally in the next 6-12 months, these 5-6 dream schools may be obtainable. My second task would be to create a list of 10-12 “probable” schools. If his developmental level continued to progress, it is likely he would find multiple opportunities within this list. The third and final task would be to create a list of schools (5-6) that would be a likely fit today. In the event he were injured and couldn’t play golf for a period of time, or if his development slowed or regressed, he would still likely find multiple opportunities within this list.
This diversified approach will allow the student to relax and enjoy the process more. Too often, I see junior golf families who only look at big D1 programs. The student ends up feeling enormous pressure to perform each tournament. As time goes on, this pressure slows the student’s development and can ultimately discourage him from playing college golf.
As I have mentioned in the past, I truly feel the “right fit” is out there for every junior golfer who wants to continue chasing their dreams. Furthermore, I do not think you have to make sacrifices academically or otherwise. You do need to start early and you also need a plan much like the one I laid out in this article.
As spring comes in this year, I would like to wish all junior golfers good luck in 2013! I hope to see you at a junior tournament very soon.
Mark Slawter
Owner/Operator
Straight Shot to College Golf
SSTCG 
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