The college golf recruiting myths is in its final installment today. Don’t be sad that it’s over, but glad that it happened! Our next series will be just as informative so get excited about that.
Myth #16: Coaches will stop recruiting me if I have a bad tournament.
Reality: Coaches understand that golf is hard. They like to see adversity and how you handle it. Professional golfers are humans, and you as an amateur/junior golfer are not expected to walk on water. Do you come back better next time, or do you send them a really long email explaining why you shot what you shot? When I was a coach, I always appreciated the students who could stand by a bad round and tell me what they learned. I hated getting emails that were chapter books explaining why all the bad bounces, the slow player you were paired with, rain, wind, snow, sleet, and poor rulings were the culprit for your 85. Be introspective. This is an opportunity to grow. You will be faced with similar challenges at the college level, and no one can be expected to shoot low rounds every time they tee it up.
Myth #17: My scores are about as good as the #5 player on the roster. The coach needs me!
Reality: Junior golf does NOT equal college golf for a number of reasons. Junior golf is often played in more favorable weather conditions and on shorter courses. If your scores in junior golf are equal to the #5 player on the roster, you won’t level up their program. In fact, you should probably add one to three strokes to your scoring average when you transition from junior golf to college golf. In this case, you’re not in the lineup anymore! Oftentimes coaches are recruiting players who will contribute to the team regularly and perhaps even replace their current #1, #2, or #3 players. There are some reasons that a coach would recruit a steady #5 player, but they probably won’t be as excited about a #5 recruit as they would about someone who can make an immediate impact in their program.
This is where the right fit is important. Do you want to go somewhere where you barely make the lineup for 50% of your tournaments, or do you select a school where you’ll be a difference maker? When I was going through the recruiting process, I was recruited by a number of schools. One opportunity I had was to play at a program that was ranked in the top-10 in the country. Their team was stacked at that time. Lorena Ochoa had recently left to turn professional, and the university had already committed scholarships to two other players in my graduating class who were better than I was—by a lot! I appreciated the coach’s honesty when he told me that I would likely sit on the bench until my junior year. That would have broken my spirits, and while lots of people thought I was crazy for turning down a top Pac-12 school, I knew it wasn’t the right fit for me.
Myth #18: If I get a scholarship offer, I can wait around until I get more offers.
Reality: You always want to ask a coach how long you have to accept their offer. Definitely don’t leave coaches hanging! If you do, your offer will dry up and no longer be available to you. Coaches deal with players every year who “play the field” and use their offer to gain a “better offer”. They can sense that behavior from a mile away, and it would behoove you to know what you would say to a coach if you anticipate that an offer will be coming. This is something that I talk through with my students when things seem to be getting more serious with coaches. Will you accept the offer? Spoiler alert: coaches LOVE it when players accept their offers.
If you truly aren’t sure or weren’t expecting it to get to this stage yet, then tell the coach thank you and that you need to talk it over from your parents. The tricky part about the recruiting process is that players rarely receive all of the offers that they want on the same day. Some coaches wait until way later in the summer/fall to offer their top players so you have to be willing to say no to a coach and lose a great opportunity if you are waiting for something else to materialize.
What is “Golf Globally”?
Golf Globally assists junior golfers and their families with the college golf recruiting process. Founded by Dr. Katie Brophy Miles, the company offers families custom packages to guide them through their college search. As a former NCAA Division I player and coach, Katie takes a holistic approach in helping your sons and daughters achieve success at the junior level and beyond.
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