Number of tournaments plan per year for a junior golfer

[kekoa]

At that age, would go with USGA qualifiers first and sprinkle in the state and ajga where they fit in.

[Sean2]

My friend had a very successful amateur career, and is now on Tour.

[JuniorGolfParent]

I would guess a very high % of top junior golfers at younger ages (even 10-12) go on to play in college.

In fact just looking at the past top finishers and participants of US Kids events (Worlds and Regionals) seems to indicate a very high % play at top D1 levels.

 

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

Ugh! If you have division 1 blinders on then its make it or break.

Maybe if Div 1 is a perfect fit for your child maybe its not. What if they got a partial scholarship and some swag, but never played.

Is that worth it?

NCSA spams me with newsletter like probably alot of you.

 

Here is the latest.

https://usatodayhss.com/2018/is-division-1-really-the-best?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

 

[heavy_hitter]

 

You don't have to play D1 golf to move onto the next level.

[wildcatden]

 

 

Yep, so true in any sport.

[JuniorGolfParent]

The D1 distinction is just an arbitrary benchmark. You can make the cutoff whatever you want, I'm just simply commenting that there's a lot of overlap between top juniors 10-12yo and then the top juniors 6-8yrs later committing to compete at the collegiate level.

So unless you define "success" as playing professionally as a touring professional, I would disagree with the comment that there is zero correlation between success at younger ages and success post-high school.

[heavy_hitter]

Not football, basketball, baseball. If you aren't playing D1 in those 3 the likelihood of you moving on are slim to none and the odds are already slim.

[wildcatden]

I think the likelihood if going pro is low enough as it is...which I know that you know as well. A quick look though shows that in 2017 there were 90 players on NFL rosters from D-II. In 2018 it was down to 83 players on NFL rosters from D-II.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

"So unless you define "success" as playing professionally as a touring professional, I would disagree with the comment that there is zero correlation between success at younger ages and success post-high school."

HUH?

I stated that success isn't defined at a certain division of college.

[JuniorGolfParent]

I wasn't solely referring to your reply.

I don't think anyone disagrees that success isn't defined by competing at a specific division (e.g. D1).

[heavy_hitter]

That is 5%.

 

There is one NBA player from D2.

 

Can't find the stat on Baseball.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

Can I get an Amen!

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

So are you saying that in order to have success you needed to played at a younger age?

I mean there another thread about build the athlete. This whole TPI and training is something a lot of other kids have already been doing in other sports for a while.

What about this one?https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/1431220/pros-that-picked-up-golf-late

 

[heavy_hitter]

How about the kid that won US Kids World's and doesn't play golf anymore? I know him personally. Nice kid. He picked the clubs up for this high school season and hasn't picked them up since. Not going playing golf in college.

[leezer99]

If you haven't had a chance to listen to the Shane Bacon & Max Homa podcasts yet I'd highly recommend it. There's a 3 1/2 minute portion about amateur careers at the 1:14 mark that is an absolute must listen. It's where they are answering questions from twitter and IG submissions.

‎Get a Grip with Max Homa & Shane Bacon: Episode 2: The Aaron Rodgers Experience at Pebble Beach on Apple Podcasts

[heavy_hitter]

Had a lengthy conversation with another parent today that is a Big time advocate for players rights. There are a lot of D1 schools that hide behind all the rules and take advantage of athletes in Equivalency sports. There are a lot of Dirty Little Secrets that are swept under the rug by the NCAA and Universities. There is a high case of mental and verbal abuse within this community. One big RED FLAG are programs with a high influx of International Students. These kids are treated like Race Horses. You have to do your due diligence when being recruited and talk to other players on the team. I would definitely stay away from a D1 program that recruits a high amount of International Students.

[tiger1873]

You have to be very careful on promises made for sure. After doing a few camps we got a good feel on how some programs are run.

I have found the smaller programs that have limited number of international players are usually the best ones to actually play at. The players all know there for an education and usually end up with better jobs.

a lot top ranked schools have a lot burnout and honestly kids pick them for all the wrong reasons.

I liked what one coach told me that they all play the same tournaments so you might as well go where they actually treat you like a person.

[heavy_hitter]

You will never have a feel unless you are able to talk to the players on the teams about it.

[tiger1873]

This why winter camps are better then summer camps the players are around to talk to. A lot of them have no problem speaking their mind.

The biggest complaint I heard is restriction of what classes they can take. Some schools care while others do not. I am sure there are plenty of other problems too.

[uskidsdad]

My take to the original poster is that your kid should practice a lot, play in whatever local tournaments that are convenient, and then practice more. The number and type of tournaments that are appropriate varies based on skill. As an 18 handicap, he isn't going to win any tournaments and will likely be finishing at the bottom of the pack even at a local level. Most local tournaments at that age around us are won with scores between -3 and +1. Scores get slightly lower to the regional and world level, but the courses get longer and harder so it's relative.

So you're main goal is keeping him encouraged and liking the game while he practices to get better. It's very easy for a kid to lose interest playing in a few tournaments and shooting 83-89 and seeing his name at the bottom.

And it would be a shame for that to happen because many great golfers were just starting the game at 12.