JGS Rankings and how there calculated

[iteachgolf]

 

> @tiger1873 said:

> Have you actually seen how far the average 11-12 year girl hits a driver. Most them are lucky to get anywhere close to 200 yards.

>

> I would think the average is maybe 180. They are using long irons if there lucky to hit a short par 4 at 6000 yards. A lot then will get longer but it will take time. For some just like boys there never going to have distance. Your going to have a hard time convincing any college coach you can par a hole and at best drive 200. Especially with today’s tech and ball.

>

> You may not need to play AJGA to play a bottom tier college but if you want to pick and have decent school you probably should be trying to play AJGA by the time your 14 or 15.

>

> With all things equal most people would agree play AJGA and USGA if you can and still be competitive.

 

 

Again you’re wrong. I can show you plenty of players at top 20 schools who have never played an AJGA event. Even more verbally commit before they play their first AJGA. In fact I discourage kids playing AJGA events until they are 16 and in a position to win one, there are a few exceptions and they are capable of winning an AJGA at 14

[wlm]

I tend to disagree a bit with this. I think kids who show potential should be building status at 13 and playing Junior all stars at 14 and Opens at 15. The better players will be moving into invitationals by 16.

[heavy_hitter]

> @tiger1873 said:

> Have you actually seen how far the average 11-12 year girl hits a driver. Most them are lucky to get anywhere close to 200 yards.

>

> I would think the average is maybe 180. They are using long irons if there lucky to hit a short par 4 at 6000 yards. A lot then will get longer but it will take time. For some just like boys there never going to have distance. Your going to have a hard time convincing any college coach you can par a hole and at best drive 200. Especially with today’s tech and ball.

>

> You may not need to play AJGA to play a bottom tier college but if you want to pick and have decent school you probably should be trying to play AJGA by the time your 14 or 15.

>

> With all things equal most people would agree play AJGA and USGA if you can and still be competitive.

 

Again, this simply isn't true. You have a lot of misconceptions about junior golf, how the ranking system works, and what colleges are looking for.

 

It doesn't matter how far a girl is driving the ball at 11-12 as long as they can drive it 200 by the time they are 13. College don't care how far an 11-12 year old drive the ball. They don't care how long a 13-15 year old drive the ball. With the new recruiting rules, 95% of the collegiate golfers will not be recruited until they are 16 year olds.

 

You do not have to play AJGA to have a pick at a top school playing girls golf. This is a misconception that you have. Playing at a top GOLF college shouldn't be the goal. Simply playing in college is the goal and with your daughter being 12 shouldn't even be a consideration at this point. The goal should be to go to college to get an education, especially for a girl. The likelihood of continuing into a LPGA career is slim to none. My daughter has no aspiration of playing professionally. She loves golf and would love a career in golf, but not playing. She knows with her degree that her opening salary when she graduates will be $85,000 a year. That is far above the average salary of a LPGA tour player.

[heavy_hitter]

> @wlm said:

> I tend to disagree a bit with this. I think kids who show potential should be building status at 13 and playing Junior all stars at 14 and Opens at 15. The better players will be moving into invitationals by 16.

 

I don't agree or disagree with this. I think defining showing potential would altar my opinion. IF a kid can compete to win a Junior All Star event at 13 then that is showing potential.

 

I in know way see it being a good thing that a kid under the age of 13 should be applying to ANY AJGA event unless they can compete to win. There is zero reason for a 12 year old to try to build status in AJGA through AJGA unless they can compete to win the event. IE.... an Alexa Pano.

[iteachgolf]

> @heavy_hitter said:

> > @wlm said:

> > I tend to disagree a bit with this. I think kids who show potential should be building status at 13 and playing Junior all stars at 14 and Opens at 15. The better players will be moving into invitationals by 16.

>

> I don't agree or disagree with this. I think defining showing potential would altar my opinion. IF a kid can compete to win a Junior All Star event at 13 then that is showing potential.

>

> I in know way see it being a good thing that a kid under the age of 13 should be applying to ANY AJGA event unless they can compete to win. There is zero reason for a 12 year old to try to build status in AJGA through AJGA unless they can compete to win the event. IE.... an Alexa Pano.

 

Like I said, exception is if they are good enough to win. If a kid is good enough to compete in an invitational at 16 he can play sooner. The numbers of kids ready to compete at invitationals at 16 is extremely small. Ive had at least 10 top 100 overall ranked students on JGS and only 1 of them played an invitational before junior year of high school. Most played multiple their senior year and summer after graduating. More were verbally committed before playing their first AJGA, let alone first invitational, than those who weren’t.

 

I prefer winning and winning often while shooting low scores over diving in the deep end before a player is ready

[heavy_hitter]

> @iteachgolf said:

> > @heavy_hitter said:

> > > @wlm said:

> > > I tend to disagree a bit with this. I think kids who show potential should be building status at 13 and playing Junior all stars at 14 and Opens at 15. The better players will be moving into invitationals by 16.

> >

> > I don't agree or disagree with this. I think defining showing potential would altar my opinion. IF a kid can compete to win a Junior All Star event at 13 then that is showing potential.

> >

> > I in know way see it being a good thing that a kid under the age of 13 should be applying to ANY AJGA event unless they can compete to win. There is zero reason for a 12 year old to try to build status in AJGA through AJGA unless they can compete to win the event. IE.... an Alexa Pano.

>

> Like I said, exception is if they are good enough to win. If a kid is good enough to compete in an invitational at 16 he can play sooner. The numbers of kids ready to compete at invitationals at 16 is extremely small. Ive had at least 10 top 100 overall ranked students on JGS and only 1 of them played an invitational before junior year of high school. Most played multiple their senior year and summer after graduating. More were verbally committed before playing their first AJGA, let alone first invitational, than those who weren’t.

>

> I prefer winning and winning often while shooting low scores over diving in the deep end before a player is ready

 

We are on the same page. Hope and Reality are two different things. You can't Hope they will play well, you have to KNOW they will play well. If a kid has never shot below 75 (at 6500+ yards for a boy and at 5800+ yards for a girl) in a two day tournament then you shouldn't be applying to AJGA if you are under 13. I don't care what they score at a home course, a one day event, or in US Kids. A kid won't be successful "Hoping" to score.

[JuniorGolfParent]

Question for those knowledgeable about these rankings:

 

How closely does the scoring differential for JGS referenced in the discussions in this post relate to handicap index?

 

When you see a highly ranked junior golfer with a 0 differential on JGS, does that person have something close to a 0 handicap index?

[iteachgolf]

> @JuniorGolfParent said:

> Question for those knowledgeable about these rankings:

>

> How closely does the scoring differential for JGS referenced in the discussions in this post relate to handicap index?

>

> When you see a highly ranked junior golfer with a 0 differential on JGS, does that person have something close to a 0 handicap index?

 

Handicap index would be significantly lower because of how it’s calculated. For instance a top junior of mine had a handicap of +7.2 and a JGS scoring differential of -3.2. Someone with a scoring differential of 0 would likely be a +2 or so

[Pinewood Golfer]

T> @iteachgolf said:

> > @JuniorGolfParent said:

> > Question for those knowledgeable about these rankings:

> >

> > How closely does the scoring differential for JGS referenced in the discussions in this post relate to handicap index?

> >

> > When you see a highly ranked junior golfer with a 0 differential on JGS, does that person have something close to a 0 handicap index?

>

> Handicap index would be significantly lower because of how it’s calculated. For instance a top junior of mine had a handicap of +7.2 and a JGS scoring differential of -3.2. Someone with a scoring differential of 0 would likely be a +2 or so

 

This is correct because the handicap system uses only the top half of your scores. JGS uses the top 75% therefore more higher differentials are included.

[iteachgolf]

> @"Pinewood Golfer" said:

> T> @iteachgolf said:

> > > @JuniorGolfParent said:

> > > Question for those knowledgeable about these rankings:

> > >

> > > How closely does the scoring differential for JGS referenced in the discussions in this post relate to handicap index?

> > >

> > > When you see a highly ranked junior golfer with a 0 differential on JGS, does that person have something close to a 0 handicap index?

> >

> > Handicap index would be significantly lower because of how it’s calculated. For instance a top junior of mine had a handicap of +7.2 and a JGS scoring differential of -3.2. Someone with a scoring differential of 0 would likely be a +2 or so

>

> This is correct because the handicap system uses only the top half of your scores. JGS uses the top 75% therefore more higher differentials are included.

 

And only tournament scores which skews it higher as well

[kekoa]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I actually ignored JGS rankings until recently.  I finally ponied up the $35 to join and realized my son's ranking actually fell off since he didn't play enough 2 day ranked tournaments last year.  So far, he played 2 tournaments in 2024 is ranked again.  

 

I'm actually curious what a good ranking is for a particular class?  Top 25-50?  

[golferdad8]

7 hours ago, kekoa said:

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I actually ignored JGS rankings until recently.  I finally ponied up the $35 to join and realized my son's ranking actually fell off since he didn't play enough 2 day ranked tournaments last year.  So far, he played 2 tournaments in 2024 is ranked again.  

 

I'm actually curious what a good ranking is for a particular class?  Top 25-50?  

Depends on your definition of good & what year. Top 25 to top 50 in 9th grade won’t matter as most will likely drop by 10-11th grade when lots more players join JGS. If top 25-50 & “good grades” probably opens up lots of doors at power 5 (now power 4) schools. 
 

As others have said, there’s been massive differential inflation the past 5 years since people started to game the system by playing only in highly rated courses that get further boosted by a “stronger field” (of highly inflated players).
 

The result is a bunch of people in 10-11th grade clumped up in the top 40 to 150-200 rankings who cherry pick tournaments & average 74-76 but have rarely won any tournaments (top 5s & top 10s).
 

Further, outside the top 15-20, most of the players’ differential are close enough to each other that smart coaches will ignore ranking & look at raw differentials. Note: we see only the past 12 months but coaches see all the scores going back years as the like to see the trajectory & trend. 

To answer your question, from top 25 to 125-150 ranking, I think a pretty good chance of a power 5 (4) program. 

[Golfquant]

1 hour ago, golferdad8 said:

Depends on your definition of good & what year. Top 25 to top 50 in 9th grade won’t matter as most will likely drop by 10-11th grade when lots more players join JGS. If top 25-50 & “good grades” probably opens up lots of doors at power 5 (now power 4) schools. 

This is spot on. 

 

Once high school starts, ranking management (gaming which tournaments/courses to play) really becomes ubiquitous and lots of international players pop up  - so a US top 50 in middle school can easily fall to #100-150 or higher even with similar performances to prior years relative to their peers.  If you aren't on the AJGA fast track (fully exempt, getting into invitationals) by summer after sophomore year you will probably drop even farther/harder and getting recruited to top P5 programs isn't impossible, but a lot more challenging.

[LawGenius305]

JGS overvalues players in strong fields. If a player isn't ranked high at a young age to get into those fields, they player will be left behind. 

[golfdad1]

16 minutes ago, LawGenius305 said:

JGS overvalues players in strong fields. If a player isn't ranked high at a young age to get into those fields, they player will be left behind. 

This is partially correct, as there are several players who were recruited by high ranked power 5s that weren't quite at the invitational level yet. Now they are, and are doing well and ranked very high in their class. but they are more of the exception, not the norm.

 

There are also several players, notably 2025s, who were successful in bigger events in 2021 and 2022, but did not fare very well in 2023, that are still ranked in JGS very highly, because they already have access to the invitationals with crazy adjusted ratings. That's where JGS has a serious flaw. Their talent level may have decreased, but they are still ranked highly because they are still in the invitational track with mediocre results.

Edited February 2 by golfdad1

[golferdad8]

If I were a college coach, I would use: 

* 33% weighting on JGS (incl looking at % of rounds below par & average score)

* 33% on amateur golf finishes (esp if playing against current players), and

* 33% on the kids' academics/discipline/family background/loyalty

 

To me, it seems many coaches are lazy & don't do their own work - just chasing the "hot" (ranked) players. 

This is like NFL scouts going on Kiper's mock draft, haha...and they all miss drafting Purdy - go 49ers! 

Hearing that Oklahoma recruit 80% of their players within 60 miles of their school. 

Lastly, most of the Ivy coaches don't travel & recruit kids who go to their "camps." 

[Happyguy]

Been following from a far for a while. He's what I've observed and a few questions???

From class of 2025 I saw that on June 15th you had to be in the Top 50 on JGS to be a part of the conversation and be recruited to the best golf schools. 

Then it seemed to strech out to the top 75 as time went on. Some standouts who were top 50 who fell a bit into that top 75  were then committing to big schools. But only the standouts. 

Observed some top 50 ranked juniors fall from the top 50 to 150+ during sophmore year. This seems to be devastating to their chances at playing at a top golf school. 

Ranking on June 15th seems to be key. That is my takeaway from JGS rankings and what happened with class of 2025.

Wondering how recruiting is going for those who have not yet committed? 

Are they looking at Ivy league? which is mentioned here a lot. Are the schools waiting to see grades or are the kids just not being recruited? are coaches not actively recruitting as they are busy with their seasons right now? 

Should a kid worry if he is not yet committed?

A high profile 2025 CA kid on IG went from top 50 to 175ish on JGS. Has not committed yet. This by choice? or is he not being recruited becaue of this big fall on JGS?

I'm sure lots of rosters for 2025 must be full by now.  

Still fuguring out this process. Fun to see where and when kids have committed. 

 

 

[kekoa]

13 hours ago, golferdad8 said:

Depends on your definition of good & what year. Top 25 to top 50 in 9th grade won’t matter as most will likely drop by 10-11th grade when lots more players join JGS. If top 25-50 & “good grades” probably opens up lots of doors at power 5 (now power 4) schools. 
 

As others have said, there’s been massive differential inflation the past 5 years since people started to game the system by playing only in highly rated courses that get further boosted by a “stronger field” (of highly inflated players).
 

The result is a bunch of people in 10-11th grade clumped up in the top 40 to 150-200 rankings who cherry pick tournaments & average 74-76 but have rarely won any tournaments (top 5s & top 10s).
 

Further, outside the top 15-20, most of the players’ differential are close enough to each other that smart coaches will ignore ranking & look at raw differentials. Note: we see only the past 12 months but coaches see all the scores going back years as the like to see the trajectory & trend. 

To answer your question, from top 25 to 125-150 ranking, I think a pretty good chance of a power 5 (4) program. 

The whole 'gaming the system thing' is real.  I know one dad in particular who knows the game and what he has done worked.  Gaming the system coupled by the kid performing really shoots them up to the top.  

[golferdad8]

15 hours ago, kekoa said:

The whole 'gaming the system thing' is real.  I know one dad in particular who knows the game and what he has done worked.  Gaming the system coupled by the kid performing really shoots them up to the top.  

This dad could be a “golf consultant” 😂. Many former recruits’ parents KNOW the tricks. 

[leezer99]

I like how my daughter’s gymnastics works. Zero parent involvement during training and meets. They train 8 months then compete in events that the gym schedules for about 4 months. If you score high enough you get to go to states or regionals. There are literally only 4-5 meets per year. If you’re good enough at level 10 / elite then you get invited to workout with the national team. The only controversy is if a kid switches gyms but that’s tough to do since there is usually only one elite gym in any given area. 

[Happyguy]

16 hours ago, kekoa said:

The whole 'gaming the system thing' is real.  I know one dad in particular who knows the game and what he has done worked.  Gaming the system coupled by the kid performing really shoots them up to the top.  

Has it worked? Has he been recruited? Or are coaches aware of this gaming? 

And if you don't mind me asking,

What has this dad done?

What does he know that we don't that games the system? 

Is this commom knowledge?

Am I way behind?

Is there things I should be doing and knowing to keep up with the other dads?

 

[kekoa]

On 2/3/2024 at 10:49 AM, Happyguy said:

Has it worked? Has he been recruited? Or are coaches aware of this gaming? 

And if you don't mind me asking,

What has this dad done?

What does he know that we don't that games the system? 

Is this commom knowledge?

Am I way behind?

Is there things I should be doing and knowing to keep up with the other dads?

 

Hopefully my comment wasn't taken the wrong way.  I just mean he has his kid play certain tournaments that are most beneficial to rankings looking primarily at course rating and field.    As I mentioned, the kid still has to perform though.  He's a bit young to be recruited but everyone says he will go anywhere he wants when the time comes.

[Tugu]

7 hours ago, kekoa said:

Hopefully my comment wasn't taken the wrong way.  I just mean he has his kid play certain tournaments that are most beneficial to rankings looking primarily at course rating and field.    As I mentioned, the kid still has to perform though.  He's a bit young to be recruited but everyone says he will go anywhere he wants when the time comes.

This father is literally the bizarro version of me (comic reference). I literally know of no parent who cares less about this stuff than me.🤣

[darter79]

Rankings are math game plain and simple. I got bored and created a predictor application to figure out if you play X and shoot certain scores how that will likely influence your ranking.  Some kids and parents know this and will only play events will ratings are high to protect a kid rankings. Then at times Junior Golf Scoreboard will change said ratings to their likings. But at the end of the day rankings are no more than a math game. 

[Tugu]

So a friend of a friend is a neighbour of Din Wen Yi, who won the US Am. I was asked to help out with his daughter's golf swing by said friend.

 

As a way to thank me for his daughter's seemingly stronger ball striking, he decided to give me the following. Firstly my son had go play 100 point AJGA events like Heather Farr, Innsbrook etc. That I was making a grave mistake letting my son play Northern California Junior events where the field was weak. Even though we'd won or come second shooting 65's, we needed to go play Toyota Cup events in Socal. Furthermore on an even bigger level, there are countries with weak fields where we can gain WAGR ranking points easily. etc etc etc.

 

Honestly, I just didn't have the heart to tell him that I understood the maths, but just felt like it wasn't in my son's long term interest as a developing man to even contemplate such a course of action. But apparently he felt his advice was gold as Wen Yi and his compatriots had all done it on a massive scale to get WAGR points and receive exempt status to big amateur events.

 

In the end all of it made me feel like I was back in first year law doing Torts again...I was again trying to hide my boredom.

 

@Happyguy Hope the above answers a few of your questions. Its alot more detailed than this. But it's not rocket science. It's a simple formula where winning is by far the least important component.

Edited February 5 by Tugu

[Happyguy]

7 hours ago, Tugu said:

So a friend of a friend is a neighbour of Din Wen Yi, who won the US Am. I was asked to help out with his daughter's golf swing by said friend.

 

As a way to thank me for his daughter's seemingly stronger ball striking, he decided to give me the following. Firstly my son had go play 100 point AJGA events like Heather Farr, Innsbrook etc. That I was making a grave mistake letting my son play Northern California Junior events where the field was weak. Even though we'd won or come second shooting 65's, we needed to go play Toyota Cup events in Socal. Furthermore on an even bigger level, there are countries with weak fields where we can gain WAGR ranking points easily. etc etc etc.

 

Honestly, I just didn't have the heart to tell him that I understood the maths, but just felt like it wasn't in my son's long term interest as a developing man to even contemplate such a course of action. But apparently he felt his advice was gold as Wen Yi and his compatriots had all done it on a massive scale to get WAGR points and receive exempt status to big amateur events.

 

In the end all of it made me feel like I was back in first year law doing Torts again...I was again trying to hide my boredom.

 

@Happyguy Hope the above answers a few of your questions. Its alot more detailed than this. But it's not rocket science. It's a simple formula where winning is by far the least important component.

Interesting info you must have gotten.

If you don't mine posting some more specifics of some of those tips, I'm sure lots of parents would love to hear more details. 

Countries with weaker fields or WAGR points? I never thought of that. 

I have no clue about the math that goes into the JGS ranking. I will start doing some homework. 

Any tips, things, tournaments I should look at specifically?

Field ranking seems important right?

Play the best tournaments that he can get into? 

Or, I've seen pretty decent boys playing FCG events with weak fields, go low. But does that help or hurt?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm trying to learn. Want to do right by my son. We seem to be behind the curve a bit and he has his college golf hopes set pretty high after the camps he attended  at ASU, Stanford and UCLA. 

 

[Tugu]

5 hours ago, Happyguy said:

Interesting info you must have gotten.

If you don't mine posting some more specifics of some of those tips, I'm sure lots of parents would love to hear more details. 

Countries with weaker fields or WAGR points? I never thought of that. 

I have no clue about the math that goes into the JGS ranking. I will start doing some homework. 

Any tips, things, tournaments I should look at specifically?

Field ranking seems important right?

Play the best tournaments that he can get into? 

Or, I've seen pretty decent boys playing FCG events with weak fields, go low. But does that help or hurt?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm trying to learn. Want to do right by my son. We seem to be behind the curve a bit and he has his college golf hopes set pretty high after the camps he attended  at ASU, Stanford and UCLA. 

 

Not to be deliberately obtuse, but this is kinda where I draw the line. Namely when parents are somehow made to feel they are not doing right by their kids if they don't join the arms race of gaming rankings for junior sport. 

 

Not sure how old your kid is, but if he works at his craft and can shoot under par, there are going to be decent/good programs that want him. That would be my first priority, how to instill a love and devotion towards perfecting the craft. 

 

Lastly, just look at the past posts here. There are dad's way more knowledgeable than me on the intricacies of what I consider a bastardization of youth endeavor. So I'm not the best to ask. I would just note that when real events are spoken of, the talk of rankings and differentials go out the window and the discussions rightly veer towards how someone did in said event.

 

P.s UCLA golf doesn't seem like sights set all that high.🤣 @leezer99 Can I get an amen?!

Edited February 6 by Tugu

[leezer99]

7 hours ago, Tugu said:

Not to be deliberately obtuse, but this is kinda where I draw the line. Namely when parents are somehow made to feel they are not doing right by their kids if they don't join the arms race of gaming rankings for junior sport. 

 

Not sure how old your kid is, but if he works at his craft and can shoot under par, there are going to be decent/good programs that want him. That would be my first priority, how to instill a love and devotion towards perfecting the craft. 

 

Lastly, just look at the past posts here. There are dad's way more knowledgeable than me on the intricacies of what I consider a bastardization of youth endeavor. So I'm not the best to ask. I would just note that when real events are spoken of, the talk of rankings and differentials go out the window and the discussions rightly veer towards how someone did in said event.

 

P.s UCLA golf doesn't seem like sights set all that high.🤣 @leezer99 Can I get an amen?!

 

I'm not saying UCLA is in bad shape but a dad I know that played golf there said he wouldn't send his son to UCLA. They are looking out of state last I heard. 

 

 

[Happyguy]

7 hours ago, Tugu said:

Not to be deliberately obtuse, but this is kinda where I draw the line. Namely when parents are somehow made to feel they are not doing right by their kids if they don't join the arms race of gaming rankings for junior sport. 

 

Not sure how old your kid is, but if he works at his craft and can shoot under par, there are going to be decent/good programs that want him. That would be my first priority, how to instill a love and devotion towards perfecting the craft. 

 

Lastly, just look at the past posts here. There are dad's way more knowledgeable than me on the intricacies of what I consider a bastardization of youth endeavor. So I'm not the best to ask. I would just note that when real events are spoken of, the talk of rankings and differentials go out the window and the discussions rightly veer towards how someone did in said event.

 

P.s UCLA golf doesn't seem like sights set all that high.🤣 @leezer99 Can I get an amen?!

Thank you for your input and honesty!
I did some homework regarding JGS and my son is doing just fine with doing what we’re doing. Had the opportunity yesterday to ask questions of a very knowledgeable parent, whose son committed to one of the top schools last year. They said we’re on track, doing the right things and to just keep on doing it. 
They completely agree with you in that gaming the scoring system is wrong and even hurtful in the long run.
Biggest take away from this parent was: Post scores and the rest will fall into place. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. 
As for UCLA, we’ll see. The coach seems tough and expects a lot out of his players. He has recruited some great kids it seems. Time will tell. But the draw for my son to UCLA are the courses they have access to play.  ASU with their practice facility is also a dream location for my son.  Their IG is very enjoyable to follow. 
I’m going to sit back and enjoy the process. Things will happen as they should. I’ll encourage my son as much as possible on his journey. I’m just glad he still lets me tag along and watch him play. 

[Tugu]

1 hour ago, Happyguy said:

Thank you for your input and honesty!
I did some homework regarding JGS and my son is doing just fine with doing what we’re doing. Had the opportunity yesterday to ask questions of a very knowledgeable parent, whose son committed to one of the top schools last year. They said we’re on track, doing the right things and to just keep on doing it. 
They completely agree with you in that gaming the scoring system is wrong and even hurtful in the long run.
Biggest take away from this parent was: Post scores and the rest will fall into place. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. 
As for UCLA, we’ll see. The coach seems tough and expects a lot out of his players. He has recruited some great kids it seems. Time will tell. But the draw for my son to UCLA are the courses they have access to play.  ASU with their practice facility is also a dream location for my son.  Their IG is very enjoyable to follow. 
I’m going to sit back and enjoy the process. Things will happen as they should. I’ll encourage my son as much as possible on his journey. I’m just glad he still lets me tag along and watch him play. 

Great to hear. Hope you and your boy enjoy the process.

 

As for UCLA, think of the logistics if your son is legitimately going to study. Its a half hour minimum drive ANYWHERE in LA. So what are the chances he spends an hour minimum back and forth before class, then after class it's another minimum hour back and forth? That's a minimum 2 hours if he wants to practice twice.

 

Now we finally round the corner of a coach that is spending his 4.5 scholarships on out of state and internationals. Plus he basically kicked a kid we know out by threatening to withdrawl the child's scholarship. Though I am altogether uncertain if said child was not in need of a wake up call, It's all alittle cut throat for my liking. I have met a few kids at odds with their coaches. It's not fun and alot for a developing mind to process when away from their support network for the first time in their life.

 

As for the marquee courses, most kids that make their team will have opportunities to play those locations. I'm guessing your kid's alittle younger than mine, cause my 16 year old lost that excitement of playing Pebble and the likes some time ago. Now it's just get the yardage and work out a strategy for practice/play. It's much more about how to go low and breakthrough for the W. Maybe Augusta still holds that magic for him. Maybe.

 

Now add in all the distractions of La La land....