RecruitPKB: Don’t Take It Personally, Learn From It Instead

One of the tougher parts about advising young girls through the college recruiting process (and even college grads who come back to me for advice on internships and job interviews) is the rejection and disappointment of not being recruited or offered a scholarship or position on the team. Not having the scores is usually a pretty obvious and understandable reason that can somewhat easily be accepted by a young golfer. But when a young golfer finds out that a friend of theirs, or rival player, or someone whose scores weren’t as good as theirs, ends up getting recruited or offered then it can be very difficult to not take it personally and wonder what you did wrong. Well after almost 14 years of working in this industry, I wanted to share some of the reasons and insight into why this might happen and how you can [...]

By |2023-06-14T16:29:52-04:00June 10th, 2023|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: When Do I Start The Process?

A question I get asked often through social media, consultations, and during seminars is "When should I start the process?" As with many things in the process, there are rarely definitive answers and this is definitely one of the tougher ones to answer. When the NCAA changed recruiting rules back in 2019 it shifted the process and prevents communication with college coaches until June 15th prior to your junior year. While that June 15th date is the start of the coach communication phase of the process, there is plenty that can and should be done prior to that point. When and what needs to be done is more about the strength of a player's resume than their age. Some 8th and 9th graders who are shooting in the 70s from 5800+ yards, top-ranked in their recruiting class, and have a goal of playing high-level DI likely need [...]

By |2023-04-20T21:37:55-04:00April 20th, 2023|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Collegiate Post-Season Play

For those who keep up with the college golf world, you are aware that the teams are in post-season play right now. For those that don't keep up, I highly recommend you start ASAP. One of the best ways to connect with a college coach is to keep up with what the team has going on. You can follow their social media and keep track through their team's home page, Golfstat and Golfweek. So for a little insight here is what has been happening in the college golf world. All teams are currently playing their conference championships or will be this coming week (DI, DII, DIII and NAIA). For many teams, this will be the end of their season. For others, a conference championship or high enough ranking earned them a bid to continue their post-season play. For DIII and NAIA teams they go from conference championships [...]

By |2023-04-13T07:26:53-04:00April 12th, 2023|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: DII College Golf Insight

Do you think it's all about playing DI golf? Well, think again! The level of play at the top DII golf programs just might surprise you, along with the impact of those college coaches. Here are three recent interviews with three of the best! I shared two of these podcast episodes in a previous article but after this most recent coach interview, I wanted to make sure I included all of them. This is an episode I've been hoping to get recorded for a while now. Being from the Anderson, SC area myself it's been so fun to watch the Anderson University women's golf team become one of the top DII women's programs in the country. As of this episode, they are ranked #5 and coming off a great win in KY. Coach Denton Moore joins me to discuss his first year as the women's head coach [...]

By |2023-03-26T10:28:15-04:00March 26th, 2023|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Playing Stressed Golf

"Stop trying to make your tournament rounds feel more like practice. Start making your practice feel more like tournament rounds" Many times I hear girls and parents say “I played great during my practice round” or “I can shoot X score when I play at home”. Bottomline is those are not and never will be the same as tournament golf. The goal is to better prepare for the difference and how you are inherently going to feel and react during tournaments. Use practice rounds to learn the course and better prepare for the tournament, not as a time to keep score. Use it as a time to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Take lots of notes, consider all conditions that may change, specifically identify your targets, know your layup spots, and get a feel for short-game shots.  Yes be confident going into the first round, but confidence comes [...]

By |2023-03-10T12:02:30-05:00March 10th, 2023|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: The Full Ride Syndrome

There are many myths and misinformed beliefs that we see affect a player's success as they try to find the right college fit. One is called the "full ride syndrome". Numerous times I've had a young player or their parent make the comment that they were only going where they would get a full ride. They felt they deserved a full ride because of their hard work, dedication, and a good resume. While I completely understand why a player would feel this way, there are many "big picture" factors to consider that could override the "full ride syndrome". One factor is the coach's current scholarship situation. Many times a coach only has so much scholarship money available for the current recruiting class. They may be offering you the best deal they can possibly give you. Don't take this to mean they want you any less than a [...]

By |2023-02-27T18:13:47-05:00February 27th, 2023|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: Don’t Hide From Bad Rounds

I get asked by my players when they don’t play well if they should still email the coaches. So here are my different answers based on their current status in the process. If you’re in pretty constant communication with coaches then yes, go ahead and just own up to your rounds and make it easy for them to know how you played. Don’t make excuses but provide good insight into what you did well, what you need to work on, and how you plan to work on it. If conditions were tough then it’s ok to address that but don’t make that the primary focus. They know you’re going to have bad rounds and they would rather you be confident enough to own it and know you’re going to get better! If you’re still at a point of just updating coaches to generate interest or maybe it’s [...]

By |2024-02-22T15:01:24-05:00February 18th, 2023|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: New Year Ahead

As we say goodbye to 2022, it's also a great time to reflect back on what you learned this year. This is a great topic to share with the coaches that you have been reaching out to and give them some insight into your year. While you want to focus on the year ahead, take a few minutes to consider what you have learned this year and some of the ways you have grown as a student-athlete Did you learn any new skills? Have you developed better habits? Were you able to help others in need? What did you learn to appreciate more? What obstacles did you overcome? What we some of the highlights of the year? Jot down a few of these and reflect on them as you begin to shift your sights on the new year!     Written by: Brandi Jackson, RecruitPKB College Consultant [...]

By |2022-12-01T18:27:12-05:00December 28th, 2022|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: College Average Scores

I wanted to share a recent breakdown of the average scores for the 3rd player on a handful of DI and DII programs (data from www.golfstat.com and www.collegegolf.com). In order for golf programs to get better coaches need to replace no worse than their 3rd player if at all possible. And early into the process, they are going to have high expectations to get that with a recruit, especially their first offer with a large amount of scholarship money. Over time they may not get as strong of a recruit as they initially were hoping so that is where some patience in the process will allow you the opportunity to improve your game and potentially find options later. Also, one of the reasons I am sharing this is to show everyone how competitive programs are at the DI level and top DII level, these girls are good! [...]

By |2022-10-20T14:46:54-04:00October 20th, 2022|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments

RecruitPKB: DII College Golf Insight

Do you think it's all about playing DI golf? Well, think again! The level of play at the top DII golf programs just might surprise you, along with the impact of those college coaches. Here two recent interviews from two of the best!   You will have a hard time finding a coach with more success than Brent Nicoson who has led the University of Indianapolis Men's and Women's teams to 13 conference titles, 10 regional crowns, and two DII national championships. He has been named GLVC Coach of the Year a combined 12 times. He is also part of four straight generations of Nicosons who have been a part of Greyhound athletics. Coach Nicoson shares with us his approach to coaching a top-ranked DII program and how he implements the 4 C's (Culture kid, Coachable, Consistent, and Competitor) LISTEN HERE Former college and professional baseball player [...]

By |2022-09-29T10:48:07-04:00September 29th, 2022|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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