Picking tournaments based on JGS

[jigsaw1011]

I was unaware of my son's ranking until a father of one of his friends commented on his ranking on JGS. He is in the top 50 of his class. Should I be more mindful of how tournaments affect his ranking when choosing his schedule? We were blissfully unaware up until this point and seemed to work out. He is only 12 so I don't even know if I should care at this point.

[leezer99]

Play against the strongest fields.

[tiger1873]

At 12 the best thing you can do is focus on them getting better scores. Lower you score diff and the ranking gets better.

 

When they get older worry about the tournaments they play.

[CTgolf]

> @jigsaw1011 said:

> I was unaware of my son's ranking until a father of one of his friends commented on his ranking on JGS. He is in the top 50 of his class. Should I be more mindful of how tournaments affect his ranking when choosing his schedule? We were blissfully unaware up until this point and seemed to work out. He is only 12 so I don't even know if I should care at this point.

 

What year is he?

 

Class of 2027 doesn't even have 50 kids who qualify and class of 2026 has 93 total

[leezer99]

> @CTgolf said:

> > @jigsaw1011 said:

> > I was unaware of my son's ranking until a father of one of his friends commented on his ranking on JGS. He is in the top 50 of his class. Should I be more mindful of how tournaments affect his ranking when choosing his schedule? We were blissfully unaware up until this point and seemed to work out. He is only 12 so I don't even know if I should care at this point.

>

> What year is he?

>

> Class of 2027 doesn't even have 50 kids who qualify and class of 2026 has 93 total

 

He said his boy was 12... I'm guessing 2025 of which there are more than 250.

[heavy_hitter]

If he is 12 you need to be very aware of the tournaments. When I have more time I will appropriately respond.

[jigsaw1011]

He is 2024.

[leezer99]

> @jigsaw1011 said:

> He is 2024.

 

Tough class to rank high in. #4 is a former DCP champion (he used to live near us), #10 was on The Short Game (Esquire TV Show), #8 is a really good player we used to play with, #24 is another local kid that my son played with on a PGA Jr League Team with until he went and joined a private course.

[jigsaw1011]

Yes, it is a tough class. My son has had a good season playing in some of our PGA sections' two day tournaments in the 12-18 division and scoring well. He has also won some two day tournaments.

 

[leezer99]

> @heavy_hitter said:

> If he is 12 you need to be very aware of the tournaments. When I have more time I will appropriately respond.

 

Tik Tok @heavy_hitter ... we're all waiting. :D

[heavy_hitter]

> @leezer99 said:

> > @heavy_hitter said:

> > If he is 12 you need to be very aware of the tournaments. When I have more time I will appropriately respond.

>

> Tik Tok @heavy_hitter ... we're all waiting. :D

 

I have a job.... lol

 

I will start by saying that if he is playing in USK Worlds then that needs to be the last US Kids Tournament he ever plays. US Kids don't play a long enough distance, the fields other than 12 year old Worlds aren't that great, and because of distance the Course ratings of US Kids tournaments are terrible. US Kids Desert Shootout for a 12 year old plays at 5800 yards with a course rating of 67.3. He shoots a 72 in that tournament which is a good score. Scoring differential is a 4.7. He plays in an AJGA All Star at 6700 yard with a course rating of 71.3 and shoots a 75. Scoring differential is 3.7 and that 75 is better than that 72. It ends up being better than that US Kids Regional because their are 50 kids in that AJGA that are all better players so the strength of tournament improves.

 

If he can handle the distance, you need to try to play him in tournaments where he can move up into 13-15 or 13-18 year old divisions. Again, longer distances means better course ratings. Being ranked high is not about wins. Karl Vilips played in a whopping 8 tournaments last year, is the number 4 ranked junior golfer in the country and has zero junior wins.

 

If you have a kid that is top 50 in his class then I would go by the scenario that less is more. I would be looking at no more than 10 multi day tournaments a year. You don't have to chase a ranking because you are already there. You need to play in bigger tournaments with larger fields. Think AJGA then a handful of other events over the course of the year. Take a big look at 54 hole tournaments along with AJGA. The thing you really want to look at in the non AJGA tournaments is the course rating. Go into the search menu on JGS and search past tournaments to see what the course rating was at the courses. The high the number the better. The other thing you want to look at is the scores for those tournaments. If there are a lot of red numbers then play, if not then don't play. Some tours just don't do a good job of setting up the course to be friendly. Stay away from those tours. There are also courses that are just hard despite the ratings maybe being low and kids don't score well at that site.

 

You also want to play in AJGA one day qualifiers to start building that resume. Also take into consideration with non-AJGA tournaments how many performance based stars he can earn.

 

 

 

 

 

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

Recently I would say we have focused solely on SOF. No need to pay or play in a tournament that has 1 out of 10 kids ranked on JGS. Juniors have shelf lives per year and only a certain of tournaments in them.

[Palmetto Golfer]

Thanks Heavy!!!

[Noles]

I have recently started considering this when choosing tournaments with my son. In PA, come mid-October there is no telling what kind of weather a tournament could be played in. Throw in the shrinking daylight hours and heavy workload at school causing less practice time and there is really no upside to playing in a tournament that would get factored into his JGS ranking. Last year he played in a tournament in NJ at the end of October where it was 39 degrees and windy as hell when he teed off and the range was closed due to heavy rain overnight. Not exactly ideal scoring conditions. It's a shame because there are a few tournaments that we considered if they didn't have JGS attached to them. Saves me some $$$ i guess.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

> @Noles said:

> I have recently started considering this when choosing tournaments with my son. In PA, come mid-October there is no telling what kind of weather a tournament could be played in. Throw in the shrinking daylight hours and heavy workload at school causing less practice time and there is really no upside to playing in a tournament that would get factored into his JGS ranking. Last year he played in a tournament in NJ at the end of October where it was 39 degrees and windy as **** when he teed off and the range was closed due to heavy rain overnight. Not exactly ideal scoring conditions. It's a shame because there are a few tournaments that we considered if they didn't have JGS attached to them. Saves me some $$$ i guess.

 

We had this same issue but at the beginning of the season. It was 40 outside. I think about 9 kids. He cant wait for this one to drop off.

[heavy_hitter]

> @Noles said:

> I have recently started considering this when choosing tournaments with my son. In PA, come mid-October there is no telling what kind of weather a tournament could be played in. Throw in the shrinking daylight hours and heavy workload at school causing less practice time and there is really no upside to playing in a tournament that would get factored into his JGS ranking. Last year he played in a tournament in NJ at the end of October where it was 39 degrees and windy as **** when he teed off and the range was closed due to heavy rain overnight. Not exactly ideal scoring conditions. It's a shame because there are a few tournaments that we considered if they didn't have JGS attached to them. Saves me some $$$ i guess.

 

There is a 54 hold event Late January in North Florida. Big event. I have refused to play in it because of time of year and weather. Cold, Rainy, and Windy this time of year. Scores are always high at this event.