RecruitPKB: 3 Myths about College Recruiting

Between the availability of information through the internet, the demand for scholarship money, and the increase in competition among young golfers, the recruiting process has changed drastically in the past 10 years. After being in the junior golf and college recruiting world as an advisor and consultant for almost 7 years, I wanted to take the time to explain and dispel a few of the myths that are floating around misleading and misguiding junior golf families.

Golf Scholarships are Abundant – Golf is a great avenue for a young female to earn scholarship money, but it is not quite what many families anticipate it being. While there are some scholarships that do go unused on the girls side, those are usually at small, rural and lower ranked academic schools. Over the years, it has gotten very competitive among the females for golf scholarship money of any amount. Full golf rides are much more common for the females than the males, but it is still not as common for a true full “golf” scholarship as many think. You may hear players say they received a full ride, but many times that full ride consists of additional academic or need-based financial aid. Also, one thing to keep in mind, schools are “allowed” a certain number of scholarships, but there are institutions, at all division levels, that don’t fund all of those scholarships.
It’s All About the Scores – Yes, your scores are typically what will get you on a coach’s radar or capture their attention, but then it comes down to much more than your scores to determine if you are a real candidate or not for that coach. They are looking at your grades, your attitude on the golf course, your work ethic, your maturity, your desire to compete, how you treat your parents, how you communicate with them, how you present yourself on visits, how you dress and so much more than just your golf scores.
I Have Plenty of Time – If you think that you can wait until your junior year of high school to start the recruiting process you will quickly realize that you are way behind. Yes, there are some factors that determine when the process starts for players, but you must understand that your freshman and sophomore years of high school are extremely critical times for starting the process and getting serious about what your goals are for playing college golf. You can’t sit back and wait for things to happen. You must take ownership of your game and the recruiting process and start to make things happen for yourself.