To play AJGA or Not play AJGA

[Golfingdawg19]

My daughter is 14 and is a competitive junior golfer. She is ranked inside the top 100 of her class by JGS. We have not done any AJGA events yet. My personal belief is you compete at the highest level you can be successful at. We play a couple different tours right now and if she gets to a point where she is winning on a regular basis then the next step is AJGA. In the meantime we will continue with the tours she is on and add some other events like our state girls championship though the state golf association and PGA. The last thing you want to do is to jump into things to soon and ruin their confidence. I've spoken with college coaches and they echo these sentiments. The other thing to look at is what level of college golf is your child trying to get to. Unless you are trying to get to the very top schools in D1 then AJGA isnt necessary. There are plenty of tours that provide your child the competition needed to be successful in college.

[Ray Jackson]

We didn’t know this (and maybe we should have asked more questions before signing up for our first membership this year) but if your at the young end of the age range for events more than likely you won’t get in. My son turned 13 in December and we have been trying to get into age specific Previews and he is like the 80th alternate as they take the oldest kids first and then down. So he is a 2027 graduate, and he won 4 tournaments last year (36 hole events) on North Texas All American tour and top 3 in all the others he didn’t win. We have finally got into a one qualifier for the Sergio event in Austin in March. But how the AJGA advertises that Previews are for kids with no PBE status portrays as it as you’ll get to start there and you actually probably won’t. 

Edited February 27, 2022 by Ray Jackson

[Jkhogbear]

48 minutes ago, Ray Jackson said:

We didn’t know this (and maybe we should have asked more questions before signing up for our first membership this year) but if your at the young end of the age range for events more than likely you won’t get in. My son turned 13 in December and we have been trying to get into age specific Previews and he is like the 80th alternate as they take the oldest kids first and then down. So he is a 2027 graduate, and he won 4 tournaments last year (36 hole events) on North Texas All American tour and top 3 in all the others he didn’t win. We have finally got into a one qualifier for the Sergio event in Austin in March. But how the AJGA advertises that Previews are for kids with no PBE status portrays as it as you’ll get to start there and you actually probably won’t. 

It’s early in the year and things are hard to get in.  It gets a lot better as the year goes on. 

[mrshinsa]

16 hours ago, Ray Jackson said:

We didn’t know this (and maybe we should have asked more questions before signing up for our first membership this year) but if your at the young end of the age range for events more than likely you won’t get in. My son turned 13 in December and we have been trying to get into age specific Previews and he is like the 80th alternate as they take the oldest kids first and then down. So he is a 2027 graduate, and he won 4 tournaments last year (36 hole events) on North Texas All American tour and top 3 in all the others he didn’t win. We have finally got into a one qualifier for the Sergio event in Austin in March. But how the AJGA advertises that Previews are for kids with no PBE status portrays as it as you’ll get to start there and you actually probably won’t. 

 

I agree, AJGA advertisements are somewhat misleading. 

The previews are impossible to get into unless you're 22 or 23.

The All-Stars are actually possible if your junior is an accomplished golfer, and have racked up stars from his/her wins.

 

 

[tiger1873]

22 hours ago, Ray Jackson said:

We didn’t know this (and maybe we should have asked more questions before signing up for our first membership this year) but if your at the young end of the age range for events more than likely you won’t get in. My son turned 13 in December and we have been trying to get into age specific Previews and he is like the 80th alternate as they take the oldest kids first and then down. So he is a 2027 graduate, and he won 4 tournaments last year (36 hole events) on North Texas All American tour and top 3 in all the others he didn’t win. We have finally got into a one qualifier for the Sergio event in Austin in March. But how the AJGA advertises that Previews are for kids with no PBE status portrays as it as you’ll get to start there and you actually probably won’t. 

 

No one tells you this but AGJA is basically a waste of money for kids under 14.

 

kids that are 12-15 should be playing 2 day events and there are plenty of regional tours you can play.

 

once you get to the point that you can win those regional events or place well then look at AJGA.

 

can kids win between 12-15 of course they can but the money and effort will be a lot do that.   Chances are if they win the regional events they will be getting just as much exposure for their age.

[Ray Jackson]

5 minutes ago, tiger1873 said:

 

No one tells you this but AGJA is basically a waste of money for kids under 14.

 

kids that are 12-15 should be playing 2 day events and there are plenty of regional tours you can play.

 

once you get to the point that you can win those regional events or place well then look at AJGA.

 

can kids win between 12-15 of course they can but the money and effort will be a lot do that.   Chances are if they win the regional events they will be getting just as much exposure for their age.

We were put off by the Tour he was winning at the 12yr old level as the 13-18 all play the same yardage of 7,000, so we thought it would be stupid to play par 4s as driver fairway/hybrid all day. So we didn’t sign up for Spring schedule but now with the limited choices we will for summer. He’s gotten longer anway and hits it 280 total so he can give 7,000 a try in summer conditions. We won’t do AJGA in 2023. 

[tiger1873]

12 hours ago, Ray Jackson said:

We were put off by the Tour he was winning at the 12yr old level as the 13-18 all play the same yardage of 7,000, so we thought it would be stupid to play par 4s as driver fairway/hybrid all day. So we didn’t sign up for Spring schedule but now with the limited choices we will for summer. He’s gotten longer anway and hits it 280 total so he can give 7,000 a try in summer conditions. We won’t do AJGA in 2023. 

 

Not sure where you live but for most people within 400 miles there is more then one tour you can do.    You should be able to find a decent tournament and on courses that are nice with the correct distance near you.  

 

Junior tours are so dependent on who is running them. I been both pleasantly surprised and also horrified at how tours can change when directors change.

Edited February 28, 2022 by tiger1873

[Ray Jackson]

We are in the Dallas Metro area - we have tried to get into NTPGA Legends tour events with no luck so far, as they also seem to be defaulting to the older kids in my sons age range, which is a shame as that is the appropriate distances for 13yr olds, plus the AJGA events.

 

So we will now go back to NTPA All American Tour (if he wins on that tour in the 13-14 he could get into Legends next year) and the longer yardages and also some TJGT events.

 

Was trying to stay focused on one/two circuits but it appears we will have to bounce around. 

[tiger1873]

2 hours ago, Ray Jackson said:

We are in the Dallas Metro area - we have tried to get into NTPGA Legends tour events with no luck so far, as they also seem to be defaulting to the older kids in my sons age range, which is a shame as that is the appropriate distances for 13yr olds, plus the AJGA events.

 

So we will now go back to NTPA All American Tour (if he wins on that tour in the 13-14 he could get into Legends next year) and the longer yardages and also some TJGT events.

 

Was trying to stay focused on one/two circuits but it appears we will have to bounce around. 

 

 

If your in Dallas you have a lot choices there is TJGT and even I believe a Texas Oklahoma series that you can play.  The Legends tour I believe only has a few events and may not be something you can play a lot.   Looks like for TJGT you just need to sign up early.

 

  I  would look at playing some the stuff down in the Hill country or houston to fill up the schedule.  

 

You lucky because Texas is one the few places you don't even have to leave the state to find good tournaments.

 

Texas is so large people tend to not think about other states. But  SJGT in Alabama may actually be closer to Dallas then some those tournaments in far flung Texas cities.

 

I would pull up a circle on far your willing to travel and see if any junior tours in others states have tournaments worth playing. Also I would plan on leaving Texas in July and August to play up north because summers are brutal there.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by tiger1873

[heavy_hitter]

On 2/26/2022 at 9:28 PM, Ray Jackson said:

We didn’t know this (and maybe we should have asked more questions before signing up for our first membership this year) but if your at the young end of the age range for events more than likely you won’t get in. My son turned 13 in December and we have been trying to get into age specific Previews and he is like the 80th alternate as they take the oldest kids first and then down. So he is a 2027 graduate, and he won 4 tournaments last year (36 hole events) on North Texas All American tour and top 3 in all the others he didn’t win. We have finally got into a one qualifier for the Sergio event in Austin in March. But how the AJGA advertises that Previews are for kids with no PBE status portrays as it as you’ll get to start there and you actually probably won’t. 

 

You need to sign up for AJGA Junior All Stars.

[jigsaw1011]

In an Open Preview AJGA gives preference to older grad years.  In a Jr. All Star preview you may have gotten in as it is for 12-15 year olds with one or no playing opportunities.   Your best bet is try to focus on accumulating PBE's in other tournaments by winning/placing in non-AJGA events that grant them.  Playing AJGA qualifiers are another way of gaining PBE's.  When my son was that age that is what we concentrated on so when he was 14 he was able to gain entry into any AJGA he wanted. Another tip for the qualifiers is to try to play ones in your home state since the AJGA gives preference to players in the state where the event is held.  Hope this helps. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by jigsaw1011
typos

[Ray Jackson]

On 3/4/2022 at 10:10 AM, jigsaw1011 said:

In an Open Preview AJGA gives preference to older grad years.  In a Jr. All Star preview you may have gotten in as it is for 12-15 year olds with one or no playing opportunities.   Your best bet is try to focus on accumulating PBE's in other tournaments by winning/placing in non-AJGA events that grant them.  Playing AJGA qualifiers are another way of gaining PBE's.  When my son was that age that is what we concentrated on so when he was 14 he was able to gain entry into any AJGA he wanted. Another tip for the qualifiers is to try to play ones in your home state since the AJGA gives preference to players in the state where the event is held.  Hope this helps. 

Yeah it seems the qualifiers are the only thing we can get into. Just tried to get into an All Star and unsuccessful there too. So a nope on Previews and All Stars so far. He’s playing in his first qualifier March 16. After that we will focus on NTPGA All American Tour for the rest of 2022. AJGA was a waste of time and the membership fee. 

[heavy_hitter]

On 3/5/2022 at 9:17 PM, Ray Jackson said:

Yeah it seems the qualifiers are the only thing we can get into. Just tried to get into an All Star and unsuccessful there too. So a nope on Previews and All Stars so far. He’s playing in his first qualifier March 16. After that we will focus on NTPGA All American Tour for the rest of 2022. AJGA was a waste of time and the membership fee. 

AJGA expects you to leave your state to play.

[tiger1873]

49 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

AJGA expects you to leave your state to play.

 

It costs about $2-3k a tournament to play AJGA once you include travel and tournament fees. If you play the average 3-5 tournaments for the average  AJGA player it costs around $10-$15k a year to play.   

 

Most parents don't want to spend that but if you just play local you are not going play many AJGA tournaments.   You really have to look at what you want to accomplish in your kids goals and understand it will cost some money to play at the highest levels.

 

The alternative to playing AJGA is to play regional events and even travel a few times to Amateur and Junior Events you can get into.   You will save a lot money going this route.

 

A personal can debate if AJGA or any other tournament is needed for a junior.  The truth is there really  is not any tournament out there that your kid has to win to play in college or even go pro.  There are many paths to get what you want.

Edited March 8, 2022 by tiger1873

[Mr. Grumpy]

AJGA is not useless, not even for those not in the top 100. It's expensive and each family will need to weigh this in with their decision to do or not to do, but to say that AJGA is useless is sourly reckless. Other tours offer a ton and are worth it as well, especially since some or most, depending where you live, will offer AJGA qualifying points. 

 

 

[wildcatden]

According to AJGA:

[tiger1873]

5 minutes ago, Mr. Grumpy said:

AJGA is not useless, not even for those not in the top 100. It's expensive and each family will need to weigh this in with their decision to do or not to do, but to say that AJGA is useless is sourly reckless. Other tours offer a ton and are worth it as well, especially since some or most, depending where you live, will offer AJGA qualifying points. 

 

 

 

 

I don't think anyone says to play AJGA is useless. I certainly think it is worth playing.  I do think however far too many people think it needed and if they don't play AJGA they might as well quit and forget about playing at a high level.

 

If you play regional events and do well you will most likely get to play college somewhere if your good.  Once you in College you will get access to Amateur events that help you on WAGR which is in will help you play golf at a high level.

 

AJGA isn't worth joining until your kid in High School. At 12-15 you should be focused on Regional events.  

[machine_cat]

2 hours ago, tiger1873 said:

 

It costs about $2-3k a tournament to play AJGA once you include travel and tournament fees. If you play the average 3-5 tournaments for the average  AJGA player it costs around $10-$15k a year to play.   

 

Most parents don't want to spend that but if you just play local you are not going play many AJGA tournaments.   You really have to look at what you want to accomplish in your kids goals and understand it will cost some money to play at the highest levels.

 

The alternative to playing AJGA is to play regional events and even travel a few times to Amateur and Junior Events you can get into.   You will save a lot money going this route.

 

A personal can debate if AJGA or any other tournament is needed for a junior.  The truth is there really  is not any tournament out there that your kid has to win to play in college or even go pro.  There are many paths to get what you want.

The cost really depends on location. I find at least 5 AJGA open or all star tournaments in 2 hour driving distance, maybe 10 if you want to drive 4 hours. Considering some of our PGA section junior tournaments need to drive 90 minutes, the cost definitely is not an issue for the parents in my areas.

[tiger1873]

45 minutes ago, machine_cat said:

The cost really depends on location. I find at least 5 AJGA open or all star tournaments in 2 hour driving distance, maybe 10 if you want to drive 4 hours. Considering some of our PGA section junior tournaments need to drive 90 minutes, the cost definitely is not an issue for the parents in my areas.

 

That doesn't mean you are going to get into them.   Just having them close means nothing.   Most kids fly all over the country to play.  

 

The one thing I found out is playing AJGA is not cheap for anyone.

[machine_cat]

28 minutes ago, tiger1873 said:

 

That doesn't mean you are going to get into them.   Just having them close means nothing.   Most kids fly all over the country to play.  

 

The one thing I found out is playing AJGA is not cheap for anyone.

I am new to this, so that is one thing I do not understand yet. 

If you can play qualified round to get into AJGA tournament, you can just play the AJGA around you. If you cannot pass the qualified round locally, why do you travel a long distance to play AJGA?  Are you just able to play 5 AJGA open and all star a year? 

[tiger1873]

48 minutes ago, machine_cat said:

I am new to this, so that is one thing I do not understand yet. 

If you can play qualified round to get into AJGA tournament, you can just play the AJGA around you. If you cannot pass the qualified round locally, why do you travel a long distance to play AJGA?  Are you just able to play 5 AJGA open and all star a year? 

 

First thing about AJGA is you need to be accepted to play anything even qualifiers.  For qualifiers I believe 2023 is priority then it based on if you played before or not with the ones who played they least getting first shot after that they look for kids who are closest to the qualifier.

 

What all this means is if you a kid starting out or a 2023 you will get into qualifiers much easier.  Once you play a few AJGA events the chances diminish to get into a qualifier that is in demand. So playing AJGA too early when a kid is young actually makes it harder to get into an event.

 

So for instance here in florida the first few AJGA tournaments of the year are in high demand. You will not get in unless you are exempt player and the qualifier is mostly filled with 2023.

 

The fist couple of months  you are out of luck unless you are exempt or have an insane amount of stars.  For a kid starting out you will need to look at playing events in the summer which has a lot less demand. I've seen kid with 60 stars not get into some events. 

 

When it comes to playing AJGA you will burn through stars very quickly if you don't place well enough. Seen younger kids burn though 20-30 stars over a season and end up worse off than those who didn't have a bunch of stars.

 

You can chase stars but I have come to the conclusion is you need to do is play tournaments that are similar setups as AJGA and start  to score well enough to place well at those events to become exempt. If you can do that then at that point you just need to play enough events to make it happen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by tiger1873

[Wasted_Talent]

21 hours ago, tiger1873 said:

 

That doesn't mean you are going to get into them.   Just having them close means nothing.   Most kids fly all over the country to play.  

 

The one thing I found out is playing AJGA is not cheap for anyone.

 

 

My Godchild flies around playing AJGA and big non-ajga tournaments.  I envy his life.

[Jkhogbear]

On 3/8/2022 at 10:11 AM, Mr. Grumpy said:

AJGA is not useless, not even for those not in the top 100. It's expensive and each family will need to weigh this in with their decision to do or not to do, but to say that AJGA is useless is sourly reckless. Other tours offer a ton and are worth it as well, especially since some or most, depending where you live, will offer AJGA qualifying points. 

 

 

This is accurate 👏 

[Jkhogbear]

On 3/8/2022 at 12:55 PM, tiger1873 said:

 

That doesn't mean you are going to get into them.   Just having them close means nothing.   Most kids fly all over the country to play.  

 

The one thing I found out is playing AJGA is not cheap for anyone.

Not really accurate.  We’ve driven to nearly every AJGA.   Having them within driving distance makes them pretty similar to other tours in cost.  Look at the costs of a Texas Junior Golf Tour tournament that don’t even include a practice round.

[leezer99]

7 hours ago, Jkhogbear said:

Not really accurate.  We’ve driven to nearly every AJGA.   Having them within driving distance makes them pretty similar to other tours in cost.  Look at the costs of a Texas Junior Golf Tour tournament that don’t even include a practice round.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience with AJGA events instead of making a wholly false comment on what 'most' others do.  Like yourself, we have experienced no problems getting into AJGA events locally.  Plus, if 'most' players are having to travel doesn't that mean that if I looked at the results board that I would see more out of state players in every event regardless of where it was held?

[leezer99]

Answering OP's question of whether or not AJGA's are worth it, I'll just reference Tiger's HOF speech from 3/9 where he spoke about his parents taking out a second mortgage so that they could afford for him to play in AJGA events.  

[tiger1873]

9 hours ago, Jkhogbear said:

Not really accurate.  We’ve driven to nearly every AJGA.   Having them within driving distance makes them pretty similar to other tours in cost.  Look at the costs of a Texas Junior Golf Tour tournament that don’t even include a practice round.

 

Try to get into any AJGA tournament in Jan through march in Florida or Texas.

 

the demand outstrips supply.   That pretty much means were traveling to northern states or the midwest in the summer.

 

Hotels are also more expensive because it during prime season and your staying  4-5 days vs a weekend.

 

at the end of the day it costs about double for any AJGA tournament. 

[tiger1873]

2 hours ago, leezer99 said:

 

Thank you for sharing your experience with AJGA events instead of making a wholly false comment on what 'most' others do.  Like yourself, we have experienced no problems getting into AJGA events locally.  Plus, if 'most' players are having to travel doesn't that mean that if I looked at the results board that I would see more out of state players in every event regardless of where it was held?

if you play Only AJGA locally you don’t understand AJGA.

 

It a national tour that requires extensive travel to gain any status.

[Ray Jackson]

On 3/8/2022 at 8:11 AM, Mr. Grumpy said:

AJGA is not useless, not even for those not in the top 100. It's expensive and each family will need to weigh this in with their decision to do or not to do, but to say that AJGA is useless is sourly reckless. Other tours offer a ton and are worth it as well, especially since some or most, depending where you live, will offer AJGA qualifying points. 

 

 

I am pretty sure i didn't use the term 'useless'. What I was saying is that i wish i had known that at 13yrs old the chances of getting into an event were very slim, whether it be in my home state or travelling around. That is why i said the membership fee was a waste. Maybe when he's 16 we will be back. 

[heavy_hitter]

46 minutes ago, Ray Jackson said:

I am pretty sure i didn't use the term 'useless'. What I was saying is that i wish i had known that at 13yrs old the chances of getting into an event were very slim, whether it be in my home state or travelling around. That is why i said the membership fee was a waste. Maybe when he's 16 we will be back. 

He is referring to my statement.  Other than the top 1% to 5% of girls, AJGA is useless.  There is no reason to chase stars to get into an AJGA event.  Useless may not be the correct terminology.  Those top girls can get to a D1 college without ever playing an AJGA event. 

 

Even with the boys, you can have 50 stars and never play an event unless you do so through a qualifier.  Right now, if you look at all the events in Florida and Texas, unless you are Fully Exempt the only way to get in is through the qualifiers.  

 

Would I have my kids play in them if they get in?  Sure.  Not going to chase stars to do it though.

Edited March 10, 2022 by heavy_hitter