Recruit PKB: Don’t Overlook DIII Programs

"As a DIII coach, I see families who overlook the experience that can be had at a DIII level for a strong player." This was the answer to “what is the biggest mistake you see junior golf families make in the recruiting process?” John Rogers, Head Coach at DIII Bridgewater College gave a great answer to shed some light on the experience you can receive playing DIII college golf. Yes, it’s great to have a big goal of playing DI golf but that isn’t always the fit nor the best opportunity for many players. And don’t be scared off by the absence of “golf scholarships”, I have seen numerous players get as good if not better packages at a good DIII program than any DI or DII program was going to offer. Coach Rogers full quote: “As a DIII coach I see families who overlook the experience [...]

By |2017-12-15T14:16:11-05:00December 14th, 2017|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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RecruitPKB: Growth or Fixed Mindset?

How do you handle adversity, challenges, and setbacks? With a fixed mindset or a growth mindset? One of my favorite and most influential books is Carol Dweck's Mindset. She has conducted numerous studies and research on the difference in those who possess a fixed mindset and those who have a growth mindset. This past weekend I had the opportunity to sit down with a top 50 ranked DI college golf coach to discuss plans for one of my players who would be playing there. We wanted to create some steps and goals to help this player be more prepared for when she stepped foot on campus in the fall. A lot of our discussion centered around mindset and creating more of a growth mindset when it comes to challenges and getting better at all areas of golf and life. I thought I would share a little insight into to [...]

By |2018-03-06T15:55:05-05:00December 8th, 2017|Player Performance Articles|0 Comments
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Recruit PKB: Do Your Research

"I always appreciate it when a recruit has done a little research on college golf, and my team in particular." - Emily Kuhfeld,  GA Southern Women's Head Coach Part of the recruiting process is to learn more about the school, coach, and golf program as you communicate with a college coach, but do as much initial research as you can. You can learn a lot thru the resources that are available online such as the school and team website, PING College Guide, CollegeBoard.com, Golfstat.com, Golfweek.com, and social media. Also doing your research on the NCAA rules will show a coach that you’re serious about this process and understand what can and can’t happen at different stages. This will help you not make mistakes or misunderstand why a coach may not be responding to your emails or phone calls.   If you do the research you will be much more prepared for [...]

By |2017-11-30T13:08:24-05:00November 30th, 2017|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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RecruitPKB: I Didn’t Sign, Now What?

I know it may feel like everyone else signed their NLI last week but don't worry! There are still opportunities out there and coaches who need players. You can still find an opportunity to play college golf and sign during the regular signing period in April if you put some work into the process. Keep a good schedule of tournaments lined up throughout the fall, winter, and spring. Let the coaches know where you will be playing. Focus mostly on DII, DIII, NAIA and JuCo schools, as most DI programs will have finished their recruiting. There are still some DI coaches looking for players into the spring of senior year, but it's a more rare occurrence so don't put many eggs in that basket. Try to consider some colder areas of the country as those programs tend to fill up their roster later. The better academic schools usually [...]

By |2017-11-09T14:21:53-05:00November 16th, 2017|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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RecruitPKB: Don’t Panic but Be Proactive

"Just wanted to let you know that for 2020 we have one verbal commitment and another offer out.  Assuming that gets accepted we would only have walk-on opportunities available for 2020." - Top 25 Ranked DI Women's Golf Program In consulting my 2020 recruits, I have received several responses like this from coaches who are already wrapping up their 2020 recruiting class, during the fall of a recruit's sophomore year.  I know it's hard to believe and part of me doesn't like to share this because I know it makes players panic and stresses them out. But I have also seen the lack of knowledge and understanding of the reality of the recruiting process and they find out this information too late. Thankfully on a positive note, I have also had several 2018 recruits, current seniors, who have just wrapped up their recruiting process by making their decision in [...]

By |2017-10-13T21:50:40-04:00October 12th, 2017|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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RecruitPKB: Q and A with UNCG Coach

Recruit PKB College Consultant recently asked the UNCG Head Women's Golf Coach Janell Howland to answer a few questions about her recruiting and coaching philosophy. What is your own coaching philosophy?  People first, Students second, Golfers third.  Everything we do in our program revolves around those 3 things, in that order.   What do you love about being a college coach?  Seeing personal growth from each girl from the time they get to me until the time they graduate.   What do you look for with a resume and swing video?  Grades, Golf Scores from multiple years to see how they are trending, Extra activities that they are involved in. I want to see an all-around person as well as an athlete.   What are some good questions you ask players on visits to help determine the best fit?  What size of school are they looking for?  What size of team are [...]

By |2017-09-25T20:46:18-04:00September 28th, 2017|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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RecruitPKB: Ceiling of Improvement

"If you don't do the things you're not good at then you'll never get better" This doesn't just mean practicing or working on those things a little to say you did it, it means dedicating time to actually get better at those things! - One of the earlier years of being on Symetra tour, my college boyfriend, who was a pretty good golfer, was caddying for me and he noticed that I was having more longer irons into greens bc the courses were playing longer. But during my warm up and practice, I would only hit them about half as much as I did my shorter irons. - My 8 iron was my favorite club, it always had more wear on it than any other club in my bag!! I loved grooving it on the range shot after shot and I would get excited on the course when [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:44:41-04:00August 25th, 2017|College Recruiting Articles, Player Performance Articles|0 Comments
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RecruitPKB: Team Roster

Seems pretty easy but it's surprising how little a recruit pays attention to the team roster. Here are a few tips on what to look for: 🔹 How many players are on the roster? 🔹 How many seniors would leave the year before you would join the team? 🔹 Did those seniors contribute to the team? 🔹 Are there international players on the team? 🔹 If so, what percentage of the team is international? 🔹 Are there more in-state or out of state players on the team? 🔹 What are the other junior golf bios of the players on the team? These are just a few general tips for what to pay attention to when looking at the team's roster. - While you can learn a lot from the roster there are also a lot of variables that you won't know, such as, how the scholarships are divided, if the program is fully funded [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:48:13-04:00August 10th, 2017|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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RecruitPKB: College Coaches Gut Feeling

Last week I shared a Q and A that I asked the Georgia Southern Women's Golf Coach, Emily Kuhfeld, to submit for me. She shared some great answers so if you missed that please go check it out HERE. I was reading over her answers and there was one that stood out to me that I wanted to elaborate on a bit more for all of you.  When I asked Coach Kuhfeld about questions that she uses to help her determine if a player is a good fit or not this was her response "There is also a part of recruiting which is hard to explain; it is almost like a gut reaction to the player. I listen to myself on this, and what kind of overall feeling I get with the bond between myself and the recruit." This is probably one of the best ways to [...]

By |2017-09-13T11:48:13-04:00August 1st, 2017|College Recruiting Articles|0 Comments
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