How to Create the Ideal Summer Golf Tournament Schedule
By Zack Parker and Nick Duffy , BGGA Senior Coaches
Summer is the season to play golf tournaments . Students should be preparing and training throughout the year and then playing golf tournaments throughout the summer .
Just like tour professional are always prepping for the majors , summer time is the majors for junior golf . Summer is a competitive five to eight weeks when junior golfers can treat themselves like college players or tour professionals as they are playing week in and week out and getting into a true competitive state .
Playing summer tournaments is very important , especially for students who are getting ready for the college placement process . The best time to get exposure to college coaches is during the summer tournament schedule .
Summer is also the time when juniors with little AJGA status can gain stars to become fully exempt . There are more tournaments and more opportunity in the summer .
There ’ s no magic formula for creating the perfect tournament schedule . Creating a plan should be centered around where you are with your game and where you want to go . Too often everyone wants to play in the best tournament , but the reality may be that you need to play in the tournament that allows you to shine and get exposure to college coaches . Getting into an AJGA and finishing last is far less appropriate than playing your local tournament and winning .
For junior golfers 15 and under , the best way to make your plan is to play in tournaments that suit your desires and abilities . When you start finishing in the top five consistently , then move on to the next tier of tournaments .
For junior golfers ages 16-19 , you need to reverse engineer what you are trying to achieve with a college coach . You should go to places where the college coach is going to be in attendance . You should email the college coach to ask what tournaments they are going to be traveling to this summer , and then figure out a way to play in those events . If you ’ re a mid-level player and you ’ re trying to find a school , you should be playing in the geographic location of that school , because it may be easier for that coach to drive over and watch you play .
If you want help with a tournament strategy , consider attending a golf academy like BGGA , and some of your summer tournaments will be planned for you .
In conclusion , every student needs to have a strategy that focuses on what their goal is and then build their tournament schedule based on that . A junior golfer shouldn ’ t be playing in all major championships even if they are a great player . We recommend playing a third of the tournaments that you think you can win , a third of the tournaments that will get you exposure and a third of the tournaments that will be a great learning experience for you regardless of where you finish .