How to Start College Prep for Junior Golfers Today?

It is the dream of many junior golfers to play at the collegiate level. Preparation starts long before entering college; It involves years of practice, planning, and learning to get your junior golfer ready for college-level tournaments.

If you are looking for more information on how to best prepare your child for success, then don’t worry, I am here to help. I am Michael LaBella, an expert golf coach at MLaB Golf, located at Butler Country Club. I have successfully coached numerous junior golfers into becoming competent collegiate players.

Starting College Prep for Junior Golfers

Early preparation always makes a player better. I have observed that the junior golfers who started preparing for the game at an earlier age became the best golfers at college-level tournaments. Here are some of the tips that I follow at my coaching center, MLaB Golf, to make my students' future ready.

Make a Tournament Resume

A tournament resume is essential to showcase the experience and growth of young golfers. For those that are more seasoned include your highlights, events with a tougher strength of field, and your top tournament rounds. Even include upcoming events so college coaches can track your progress. If your child has just started training and is newer to golf, a tournament resume helps them showcase their commitment to the game, and his/her improvement over time as they work with their coach.

What should be included in a resume?

Here are a few key elements to include in your tournament resume.

• First Name, Last Name, Graduation Year.
  

• Headshot or action photo.
  

• Contact information.
  

• Parents Names and Contact information.
  

• Class Rank and SAT/ACT scores if applicable.
  

• High School.
  

• Athletic awards and accomplishments and Academic Accomplishments.
  

• High School Coach and Swing Coach.
  

• Current Junior Golf Scoreboard and AJGA Rolex Ranking if applicable.
  

• Name of the golf course, date, size of the field, score, and placement within the field.
  

• Upcoming tournaments should also be mentioned to show junior golfers’ commitment.
  

• It should be updated regularly after every tournament.
  

Networking with College Coaches

College coaches start their recruiting process much earlier than you may expect, however, there are certain NCAA rules you must be aware of. You can contact college coaches at any time, but coaches have specific restrictions on when they can respond. For NCAA Division I sports, coaches can begin direct communication in the month of June following a student’s sophomore year. For Division II and III, rules differ and communication can sometimes start earlier. Even with these restrictions you may contact college coaches and put yourself on their radar. It is important for junior golfers to begin the communication process with college coaches, once a connection is made it is important to maintain communication and update your top choices with your tournament resume, results, and upcoming events.

How to maintain communication with college coaches?

• Young golfers can reach out to them through email. Introduce yourself along with your tournament resume.
  

• Sending personalized messages really helps. It is important to mention why you are interested in a particular program and highlight why you feel you would be a good fit and how would you benefit their program
  

• As many junior golfers might try to connect with them, there is a chance your email or message may go unnoticed. As a reminder, you can send them a follow-up message or email.
  

Participate in Various Events

College coaches prefer junior golfers who have played in various events across the country. This doesn’t mean that you have to travel from Pennsylvania to California, however, they want to see that you’re traveling outside of your city to play against other levels of competition. Coaches also prefer multi-day events and have little focus on high school matches, or single day events, unless you’re playing a section/district event or at the state level.

Multi-day events can showcase a few different things including stamina, the ability to have a comeback round if you underperform in round 1, and allows you the opportunity to be ranked on the Junior Golf Scoreboard  You will receive a ranking once you have competed in four multi-day stroke play tournaments or multi-round match play qualifiers , with a total of 8 completed 18 hole rounds, within the last 365 days.

For those that are new to competition see below for a list of different junior golf tours in order of level of difficulty. It is best to work your way up, become comfortable with competition, then increase the level of difficulty, move to multi-day events, and travel out of the area to different events. As your junior increases his/her skill level it is recommended to participate in local, regional, and higher-level junior golf tournaments

Participating in such tournaments helps to build skill, adaptability, and exposure. It is an important step in college prep for junior golfers.

Tournament Options for growth:

• U.S. Kids Golf Tour
  

• Islay’s Junior Golf Tour
  

• Hurricane Junior Golf Tour
  

• Golf week Junior Golf Tour
  

• AJGA Junior Golf Tour
  

Make a Record of the Progress

What I have observed over the years is that college coaches prefer golfers who have shown consistent improvement in their performance. Junior golfers need to maintain a track record of their tournaments, which will show their progress over time.

A proper record of scores, goals, improvements, and performance metrics should be maintained. It also includes the mental and physical growth of a player over the years. Maintaining a record helps coaches and the junior.

Consistency and Patience

College recruitment is a slow process. A young golfer may face various setbacks. It is important to remain positive throughout the process. The setbacks should not affect the consistency of the player’s performance. Even small milestones should be celebrated to keep up the spirit of the young golfer.

It is important to focus on growth rather than immediate results. This keeps the golfer motivated and prepared for various challenges.

Practice is the Key to Success

At MLaB Golf, I, Michael LaBella, have observed that starting the training of young golfers early has helped them in the college recruitment process. What matters most is that the junior is having fun while growing on and off the course. Even those learning golf for the first time can improve their game with regular practice.

I believe in empowering junior golfers to make them ready for anything life throws at them on and off the golf course. With the right attitude and commitment, I believe that anyone can set out to reach their goals.