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College Golf

SplooGe

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Jan 7, 2007
1,694
249
College's don't pay athletes, they MAY get tuition and board free but that's it. College Golf typically doesn't offer too many free rides, you got to be great to get anything.
If you believe this I have some oceanfront property I can sell you.
 

David Hillman

Well-Known Member
Apr 15, 2008
836
0
If you believe this I have some oceanfront property I can sell you.

http://www.athleticscholarships.net/golfscholarships.htm said:
There are 290 division 1 and 199 division 2 colleges that offer men's golf scholarships and for women there are 228 division 1 and 109 division 2 colleges that offer scholarships.

That's a total of 1,980.1 men's golf scholarships available in the NCAA alone. For women's golf the total number on offer in the NCAA is 1,812.

http://www.collegegolf.com/collegegolf/ said:
The talent levels among college golfers span the spectrum. The best players frequently post sub-par rounds; however, there are thousands of men playing on college golf teams whose average score is in the 80’s or higher and thousands of women playing college golf who shoot in the 90’s or 100’s.

You do not need to be a scratch golfer to play or earn a golf or non-golf scholarship. All you need is a strong desire to attend college and play golf while you are there.

I'm with whoever asked "How old can I be?"
 

Sandpiper3

Golf Course Designer
Aug 9, 2006
5,058
2
It seems like there's a big distinction being ignored here. Some people are talking about D3 and some about D1. Unless golf is totally different from sports I'm accustomed to, the huge difference there is that D3 has no scholarships. "Letting you play on the team" and "paying you $20k to play on the team" are totally different concepts.

That said, my high school didn't have a team, and I don't think my college did, either, so what do I know?

This is where your wrong, trust me D3 schools find ways around it.

OP- I know two guys who are going to Oregon, amazing players. Where are you looking at seriously attending? What are your jr scores like?
 

David Hillman

Well-Known Member
Apr 15, 2008
836
0
I'm not sure where you are going with this.

It's a joke... I'd golf for free room and board.

My sister-in-law was offered full rides to a couple schools to play golf. She turned them down and went to nursing school instead, for reasons I don't fully understand. She could hit the ball a ton, but I was never overly-impressed with the rest of her game.
 

cypressperch

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2006
681
3
Toledo Bend Lake, Louisiana
Country
United States United States
I coached high school golf for thirty

years at a large public high school. During those years, we had just four golfers who went to college on full scholarships. An equal number went to college on their own and ended up playing some college golf, but without scholarships. A couple of those got half-scholarships by their senior year. All of these golfers were scratch or close to scratch by the time they graduated from high school. When they started playing on the college level, the courses got longer, pin placements more difficult, etc, etc, etc. Those high school 72's became college 76's, but those that played the entire four years were much improved over what they had been like as high school seniors. One of these golfers, a young lady, made it to the LPGA and was making some progress until she got married and started a family. The marriage was a good one. Her husband, Chris Riley, made the Ryder Cup team that year.

If you are a young girl and like golf or you know of such a person, golf scholarships are still somewhat easier to get than for young men. My golfer was shooting in the low 70's from the ladies tees and she went to LSU on a full scholarship. Both she and LSU did very well while she was there. She was one of their best players every year she played. I would say she was either the best or second best player on that team.

I had many a player over those thirty years who could shoot consistently in the mid to high seventies. No colleges showed any interest in them.

I help a little with a college tournament called The Battle on the Bend which is held in November at Cypress Bend Resort situated on a lake known as Toledo Bend. There will be 12-15 universities playing in that event. They play from the tips and the course is long, tight, twisting, and up-and-down all over the place with a lot of water and sand and tricky greens. The top ten scores will be at par or slightly below. There will be ten or so scores, each day, around ninety. The majority of the scores will be in the mid to upper seventies and lower eighties. None of the schools could be called golf powerhouses, but some are pretty solid. I have talked to many of the participants, and I have noticed one interesting trend. The golf coaches love to recruit players that are above average academically. These students often qualify for some assistance of an academic nature so that the golf program can give them a half scholarship which sets them up nicely to get a degree and play golf. They do not have to worry about these players making satisfactory grades. It is a shame that some pretty good high school golfers do not take care of business in the classroom. As I said earlier, I have had some pretty fair golfers who did not get much consideration from the colleges. Had they been outstanding students academically, or at least pretty solid academically, I think they might have had a shot at a half scholarship.

CP
 

dunagan15

Well-Known Member
Aug 17, 2008
67
14
I go to Auburn University and and last year before he graduated I played w/ Auburn's # 2 guy most Saturdays. I can tell you that there is no way you can shoot in the 80's much less the 90s to make that team. We played the University course.

Par 72 over 7,326 yards w/ a slope of 138, and oly once out of about 10-15 times did I see him shoot above a 74, so there ya go.

He is actually right now trying to make the tour as an amatuer so I hope it all works out. College Golf can open a lot of doors down the road.
 

David Hillman

Well-Known Member
Apr 15, 2008
836
0
I go to Auburn University and and last year before he graduated I played w/ Auburn's # 2 guy most Saturdays. I can tell you that there is no way you can shoot in the 80's much less the 90s to make that team. We played the University course.

Par 72 over 7,326 yards w/ a slope of 138, and oly once out of about 10-15 times did I see him shoot above a 74, so there ya go.

So that's the #2 guy on one of the better teams in the country ( Auburn is ranked #16 in golf right now ). What are the _other_ guys shooting?

I just went to NCAA.com and pulled the most-recent tournament results I could find.

FIGHTINGILLINI.COM // THE OFFICIAL SITE OF UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ATHLETICS

Over three days, the winner shot -1, some damn fine golf obviously. However, of the 75 players, 10 were +20 or more over the three days.

Here are results from another tournament, broken down by team. You can clearly see that the fifth, and in many cases fourth, guys are hovering right around 80. And this is in D1.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/bay/sports/m-golf/auto_pdf/ShoalCreek_Final.pdf

In fact, Auburn played in that tournament, and their #2 shot 75/77/72 and finished in T18.

From this small sample, 90s don't happen, but 80s do regularly.
 

Augster

Rules Nerd
Supporting Member
Mar 9, 2005
1,473
23
In so far as eligibility......

If I'm not mistaken, if you have never attended college you still have all of your eligibility available.

Once you enroll in a college somewhere, your years of eligibility start. You can extend those years with redshirt and injury etc. etc., but rarely will your eligibility last 6 years from when you first step foot in college.

SO, if you went into the military right out of high school, or started working, etc. etc. you "should" (if I'm correct still) have all of your eligibility left. The place I have seen this the most is guys going into the military for 4 years, defending the country and playing a LOT of basketball, then coming into college as a freshman at 22 with a full 4 years of eligibility and a "grown up" physique compared to most 18 year olds.
 

SplooGe

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Jan 7, 2007
1,694
249
Your eligibility clock starts the first quarter/semester you are a full time student. You can "greyshirt" for as long as you want I believe.
 

flomarilius

Nike staffer :)
Jun 19, 2006
648
0
hey bball dude I am sorry if that statement came off kinda harsh, was having a really bad day when I read that and that just brought really messed up memories from my last scholarship offer so I will apologize if I offended anyone in any sense. Personally I'm the captain of Florida Int'l new club team and I'm near scratch till I can get out of here. Golf at the college level is more competitive than in high school no doubt but believe me you will see kids in the 100s before your done.
 

Victory

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2007
279
3
do club work for 3-4 local colleges.. girls/guys and all have game.. i think in this day and time - the comp is so tuff you must golf it par or below. D1-2 level.
 

cypressperch

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2006
681
3
Toledo Bend Lake, Louisiana
Country
United States United States
This discussion reminds me of when we

debated how a really good amateur would do playing Tiger Woods. We had people saying that he would beat a near scratch golfer giving such a good player 2 strokes a hole. My position was that as great a player as Tiger is, that would be a tall order, especially on that golfer's home course. Shift to a course set up like the US Open, and It becomes a pretty good match. Anyway, there are many on this forum who score pretty good or know of people who do, and we get to thinking these players could play college golf, like at Auburn and such. College tournaments are played (the ones I am familiar with) on courses that are as long and hard as they can make them. They get put under the clock for slow play. Every rule must be followed to the letter. It is golf at a very high level, and this fact has to be entered into the equation when trying to figure out one's potential to do well at college level golf. It is a level below professional golf, but it is still a lot higher than what most people think of as good golf. The kid that shoots in the high seventies and low eighties from standard tees is in for a very hard time when the course is suddenly 1000 yards or so longer. Length off the tee becomes very big, along with a certain degree of accuracy. If you are hitting hybrids to greens and the opposition is hitting wedges and short irons, the odds are just not in your favor.

Having said all this, yes there are some pretty high scores that show up at college tournaments. That seldom occurs on the more talented teams. If you are not growing as a golfer rapidly, it is seldom that a golf coach is going to allow you to stay on the team indefinitely. An exception might be that the poorly playing team member is from a family that has some influence. Even there, however, you probably would not be on the traveling squad and would seldom truly represent your college. You would always be able to say that you were on the golf team. Hey, I was even on a college golf team, and was even medalist in a dual match with a weak opponent! The year was 1965, it was in the piney woods of North Louisiana, the temperature was around 45* F, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

If a person has a dream of going far in golf, that is fine and dandy. I wish you the very best. You have to be realistic at the same time. There are kids out there who are going to the best instructors, they have the best equipment, they play in junior tours all over the country starting at an early age, they have it all. They play around 365 days a year. The slot you hope for is the one that they have had their sights on for years with all of these advantages. But it can be done, so go for it with all you got!

Sincerely, CP
 

Lil_Huth

Well-Known Member
Sep 14, 2007
568
0
Yep it is all based on what colleges you look at and what you want to do with golf in life. I just want to play golf in college so I am going to be playing golf for a D-3 school, I have been talking to the coaches. It is true, D-3 their guys in the 3-5 slots shoot around 85 or so for 18 holes. Some even get up there in the 90s on tougher courses. If you want to go play for a D-1 school that is 100% your choice, but Im just going to have fun and be around golf.
 

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