Many coaches have a particular range of tournament averages, handicaps and strength of schedule that they look for when identifying potential recruits. While this is not an exact science the chart below breaks down those averages, stats, and tournaments for each division level to give you an idea of what it takes to compete at that level.  This is a great starting point for creating your list of schools where you fit athletically. You can use www.golfstat.com to then find schools that fall into each of these categories.

 

Top DI – Max of 6 scholarships per program
  • Handicap: 2 or below
  • Tournament average: 76 or below
  • 6000+ yardage in tournaments
  • Top 10 finishes in regional/national tours and tournaments (ex. AJGA, USGA, PKBGT, HJGT, Golfweek, and other top regional/national tournaments)
  • Top 5 finishes in state tourneys
Low DI – Max of 6 scholarships per program
  • Handicap: 4 or below
  • Tournament average: 78 or below
  • 6000+ yardage in tournaments
  • Top 20 finishes in regional/national tours and tournaments (ex. AJGA, USGA, PKBGT, HJGT, Golfweek, and other top regional/national tournaments)
  • Top 10 finishes in state tourneys
Top DII – Max of 4.5 scholarships per program
  • Handicap: 6 or below
  • Tournament average: 82 or below
  • 5900+ yardage in tournaments
  • Top 30 finishes in regional/national tours and tournaments (ex. AJGA, USGA, PKBGT, HJGT, Golfweek, and other regional/national tournaments)
  • Top 15 finishes in state tourneys
Low DII – Max of 4.5 scholarships per program
  • Handicap: 8 or below
  • Tournament average: 86 or below
  • 5900+ yardage in tournaments
  • Top 40 finishes in regional/national tours and tournaments (ex. AJGA, USGA, PKBGT, HJGT, Golfweek, and other regional/national tournaments)
  • Top 30 finishes in local and state tourneys
Top DIII – Only academic scholarships
  • Handicap: 13 or below
  • Tournament average: 87 or below
  • 5700+ yardage in tournaments
  • Competes in regional/national tours and tournaments (ex. AJGA, USGA, PKBGT, HJGT, Golfweek and other national/regional tournaments
  • Top 20 finishes in local and state tourneys
Low DIII – Only academic scholarships
  • Handicap: 15 or below
  • Tournament average: 95 or below
  • 5600+ yardage in tournaments
  • Competes in local and state tourneys
Top NAIA – Max of 5 scholarships per program
  • Handicap: 12 or below
  • Tournament average: 85 or below
  • 5700+ yardage in tournaments
  • Competes in regional/national tours and tournaments (ex. AJGA, USGA, PKBGT, HJGT, Golfweek and national/regional tournaments)
  • Top 20 finishes in local and state tourneys
Low NAIA – Max of 5 scholarships per program
  • Handicap: 14 or below
  • Tournament average: 95 or below
  • 5600+ yardage in tournaments
  • Competes in local and state tourneys
JuCo – Max of 8 scholarships per program
  • Women’s JuCo is a great opportunity for a female is still developing her game or got behind in the recruiting process but has aspirations of playing at a DI or DII school. There are some very competitive teams who compete against 4-year schools.

Note: In colder climates, the averages and handicaps that coaches are looking for can be slightly higher depending on the strength of the individual program.

Note: There are some DIII and NAIA programs that have spots available for higher averages and handicaps with not as much tournament experience.

Note: Some of the strongest DII, DIII and NAIA programs will require DI stats and level of experience.

Note: These numbers are based on 6 years of feedback from college coaches as well as tracking the stats of players who have gone on to compete at each given level.

Note: The scholarship numbers are the max “allowed” but not all programs are fully funded with those scholarships.