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So Many Choices, So Much to Understand.......and So Many Rules (Part One)
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Updated: Fri 1/9/2009 7:51 pm
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So Many Choices, So Much to Understand.......and So Many Rules (Part One)
Junior Golfers Find Answers at Gateway PGA Junior Golf Scholarship Seminar
The landscape of college golf has changed as much, if not more, than the PGA Tour since a young man from Stanford declared, "hello world". The evolution of digital media has created a home for coverage of the amateur, collegiate and junior golf scene that otherwise was relegated to the back page of a local paper if covered at all.
As referenced on one of the leading junior golf web sites, www.juniorgolfscoreboard.com, with each school needing to recruit at least two players for both men's and women's teams, that means schools need more than 3,500 players. As a result, there is virtually a spot for every junior golfer who wants to play golf. Now that number isn't an exact figure and not every junior golfer will find a home on the collegiate level, but there are definately more opportunities to play and compete than most high school players realize.
One reason coverage of the junior golf scene has expanded so aggressively in the last 15 years is the emergence of national amateur competitions beyond what is available through the United States Golf Association. The American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) has developed into the proving ground for the Division I prospect. Attend any AJGA summer tournament and you'll have dozens of college coaches in attendance, searching for the next Jamie Lovemark, Rickie Fowler or Scott Langley. Parents travel thousands of miles each summer with junior golfer in tow to provide their son or daughter the opportunity to be "seen". Thousands of miles traveled and thousands of dollars spent creating a junior golf economy all its own.
Until recently, to understand this "new" world required mistakes being made. You essentially had to live through it to really understand it. But now thanks to the PING College Golf Guide and efforts on behalf of regional junior golf directors throughout the country, junior golfers and their parents are able to get predisposed to the nuances of college golf and how to go about being noticed by college golf coaches.
On Thursday, January 8th, Carol Fromuth and the Gateway PGA Junior Golf Program hosted what has turned into their annual Junior Golf Scholarship Seminar. Coaches from as far as Carbondale, IL and Kirksville MO joined representatives from the University of Missouri, Missouri-St. Louis, Lindenwood, Drury, Missouri State, John Logan College and Webster University in an effort to give Gateway PGA Junior program particpants helpful information to assist them in their preparation for a college golf career. Institutions from NCAA Division I, II and III along with NAIA and Junior College are represented. The opportunities are plentiful and each division and academic institution a bit unique.
"So many people approach the process of thinking they know what they are doing and find out, often too late, they made a million of mistakes", said Junior Golf Director, Carol Fromuth. And mistakes in this game can cost you quite a bit of money. More important than the money, mistakes in this game can cost a junior golfer the opportunity to continue their competitive golf career.
All too often high school players wait until their senior year in high school to start inquiring with colleges and college coaches. Most Division I coaches have already identified and signed their recruits to enter school in the fall of 2009. Division I coaches are looking at current high school juniors, sophomores and sometimes even freshmen for their next class of athletes to recruit. But that doesn't mean the high school senior yet to find a college is without an opportunity to play. Division II and Division III programs most likely have an open roster spot. Division II institutions provide golf scholarships and it's not uncommon to have a Division II coach holding a scholarship opportunity for that late bloomer in high school.
While the number of tournaments available to junior players has grown, where and when to play in specific events is increasingly a more difficult question to answer. "I recommend you learn to win on the local level, then the regional level before attempting to play exclusively on the national level", commented Carol Fromuth. "The level of competition in the metropolitan St. Louis area and in the states of Missouri and Illinois is of such high quality, the large majority of junior golfers are best served to focus their schedule closer to home".
Beyond where to focus your competitive rounds as a junior player trying to get the attention of college coaches, the NCAA has a well defined, albeit sometimes difficult to understand, structure to control the recruitment process. Inherent in being a junior golfer competing for a spot on a college roster comes the responsibility of understanding the do's and dont's that, if ignored, can lead to rules violations and sometimes ineligibility. In Part Two we'll share answers to a few of the questions asked by junior golfers and their parents at the recent Gateway PGA Junior Golf Scholarship Seminar.
For more information on the Gateway PGA Junior Golf Program or to contact Program Director, Carol Fromuth, visit www.gatewaypga.org.
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