Keys to
Recruitment in
College Golf
By BGGA College Placement Department
There are several keys to success in the college golf
recruiting process. Here are some to help you along
the way!
• Work hard at improving your golf game.
Establish a plan for improvement with your coach
and work on the areas that will give you the most
benefit in terms of overall improvement.
• Do well in school.
Every grade counts and every year is considered.
You can’t just try hard at the end. You must be
consistent throughout your high school career.
• Prepare for your entrance exams.
Take a course and or find a tutor to help you
prepare for your ACTs, SATs and TOEFL (if
applicable). You can retake tests if necessary to
improve your score.
• Build a solid golf resume.
Compete in tournaments that allow you to develop
as a player and strive to reach the highest level of
competition possible.
confident you can pass admissions and play for the
team), challenge schools (schools you believe you can
gain access to but you’ll have to work hard to do so),
and reach schools (schools that are currently out of
your reach but where you aspire to attend and play.
You will email the coach at each of the 50 schools and
can expect a 20% or less response rate depending on
how good of a player and student you are.
• Go on visits!
• Write a compelling email to a coach.
Don’t try to make decisions from your couch! Visit
Coaches receive thousands of emails. Make sure
schools so you can get a feel for the environment and
yours stands out from the rest by highlighting your
meet the coach in person. The NCAA only allows you
strengths and positive attributes. Student-athletes
to take up to five official visits (paid by school) to DI
that email coaches in their sophomore year tend to
or DII schools, and only one visit per school. There is
do better in the recruiting process as they get on the
no limit on official visits to DIII or NAIA schools. You
coaches’ radar early. Coaches cannot respond to you
are allowed as many unofficial visits (paid by you) as
when you’re a sophomore under NCAA rules. The
you would like.
latest you should wait is November of your junior year.
• Know your criteria for a best fit college for you.
Determine what’s important to you in a school and
make sure it meets your academic, athletic, social
and economic needs. You’ll be spending four years
at the school you choose, so you want to make sure
it’s a place where you’re going to be comfortable.
Each student-athlete will have different criteria, so
think about what’s important to you in a college
environment.
• Establish a realistic list of schools.
Using your criteria, create a list of at least 50 schools
that include safe schools (schools where you are
• Be proactive and start early.
Most players start too late in the process! Start in the
ninth grade and know what you should be doing in
every phase of your high school career.
Study Tip #5
Read/Recite/Review - if you really want to master
what you are working on, make sure that you have
read over all of the material, recite key information
and/or your notes out loud, and then review it
all again as close to test time as you can. This is
definitely a “rinse, repeat” activity that will pay big
dividends on test day!