The Gate May 2017 | Page 13

Post Graduate Students Take Advantage of Year Off on Path to Higher Education Each junior golfers’ path to play collegiate golf is unique. For some, it takes more time to hone their game and prepare for the rigors of being a student- athlete. For those needing more time, Bishops Gate Golf Academy (BGGA) offers a Post Graduate program designed to do just that. BGGA’s program meets the growing demand of specialized training for students who are seeking growth before moving forward with future academic and athletic plans. Many graduating seniors today are not ready physically, technically and/or competitively to excel at their desired level of college sports. “Jonathan Yarwood took me under his wing and really built me from the ground up,” said Branimir Nikolich. I think this is a great opportunity for me to have. I’ve learned so much about the golf swing that I never thought I would know.” In 2016-17 year, BGGA had 12 Post Grad athletes, all with the same goal of making the most of their gap year. Now that the year has come to an end, all Post Grad students have been placed at universities and many are on college golf teams for the fall semester making for a 100% success rate. Through the Post Grad program, students received a half day of golf coaching, unlimited golf facility access, golf specific performance training, mental training as well as college planning and placement assistance. The college placement process is complicated. There are a lot of rules and connections to golf programs are important. That’s where BGGA plays a significant role. “I started too late,” said Billy Rosemeyer. “They definitely helped me get back on track. BGGA helped me a lot with college placement.” Zaffar Sikkander agreed and said, “College placement takes a long time. The earlier you start the better. The more schools you write to the easier it is. Even if you have a set dream school you should have a lot more schools you would want to write to just to keep your options open.” When your road to playing college golf doesn’t take the turn you want, this may be the program that gets you back on the right path. Post Graduates moving on to college: Carson Barbe – Mississippi State Callum Brown – Palm Beach Atlantic University Zach Greifenberger – Gardner-Webb University Mateo Lancheros – Ottawa University Chelsea Liu – University of Pennsylvania Michael Marsico – Gannon University Branimir Nikolich – Brevard College Billy Rosemeyer – Capital University Taiga Seki – College of the Canyons Zaffar Sikkander – La Salle University