Newbie AJGA Question

[tiger1873]

17 minutes ago, mrshinsa said:

AJGA has recently changed their star system so that particpation does not deduct any stars.

What has everyone's experience been?

My observations has been that this puts newer incoming kids at a disadvantage and the veterans an advantage.

 

I thought you lose 4 stars for every event? When did this change? If if it did it means there are less kids playing and AJGA knows they need to keep kids in their system.

 

Not losing stars would make it a lot easier to gain status in my opinion.

Edited June 22, 2022 by tiger1873

[tiger1873]

I guess I wasn't paying much attention here is the new status. I was just thinking kids had tons of stars. This obviously makes AJGA more of pay to play system then performance.

 

https://www.ajga.org/performance-based-entry/step-6

 

 

 

[heavy_hitter]

25 minutes ago, mrshinsa said:

AJGA has recently changed their star system so that particpation does not deduct any stars.

What has everyone's experience been?

My observations has been that this puts newer incoming kids at a disadvantage and the veterans an advantage.

It is more Pay to Play than ever before.  I think it is a horrible policy.  My kid is well above average in rankings, but does not have a ton of stars.  He can't get into an Open event even over kids not ranked as high, but have more stars.

 

It is a Rich get Richer system.

[mrshinsa]

21 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

It is more Pay to Play than ever before.  I think it is a horrible policy.  My kid is well above average in rankings, but does not have a ton of stars.  He can't get into an Open event even over kids not ranked as high, but have more stars.

 

It is a Rich get Richer system.

My thoughts exactly.  If a kid A has 20 stars and kid B has 10 stars, kid A will be able to play 5 AJGA tournaments before kid B even gets a chance to play.  

[heavy_hitter]

2 minutes ago, mrshinsa said:

My thoughts exactly.  If a kid A has 20 stars and kid B has 10 stars, kid A will be able to play 5 AJGA tournaments before kid B even gets a chance to play.  

I sent an email to AJGA this weekend about it.  He has buddies playing AJGA that he is ranked better than, but he can't get in unless he Monday qualifies.  Had they had stars taken away, he gets into a couple of them.

[tiger1873]

3 minutes ago, mrshinsa said:

My thoughts exactly.  If a kid A has 20 stars and kid B has 10 stars, kid A will be able to play 5 AJGA tournaments before kid B even gets a chance to play.  

 

No doubt the fields will be a lot worse than it was before.   When you lose 4 stars unless you are in the top 50%  you see a lot more kids getting a chance to play. 

 

I used to see kids burn through stars in a couple of tournaments because they were not good enough to be in the top 50%.   This ensured that new blood in every tournament which is a good thing.  I am seeing the same kids play AJGA now a lot them are from academies. 

 

It's a disaster for 2023 and probably hurts 2024 kids.  But I think may actually help 2025 and 2026 kids because there about to earn the bulk of stars over the next few years.  It keep out the younger kids as well.

[Medson]

54 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

It is more Pay to Play than ever before.  I think it is a horrible policy.  My kid is well above average in rankings, but does not have a ton of stars.  He can't get into an Open event even over kids not ranked as high, but have more stars.

 

It is a Rich get Richer system.

I was talking to a parent whose kid is on the young side of AJGA. His point is there are limited ways to earn stars, and he does not think the earning rate can keep up with the star inflation rate. 

 

Both @heavy_hitter & @mrshinsa nailed it. 

[Noles]

So happy to not be involved with AJGA at all this summer and looking forward to being completely done with junior golf in a few weeks.  When my son started playing, junior golf was my favorite thing.  Now I just hate it.  So many things done wrong, rules not followed or bent, I could go on and on.  

[tiger1873]

11 minutes ago, Noles said:

So happy to not be involved with AJGA at all this summer and looking forward to being completely done with junior golf in a few weeks.  When my son started playing, junior golf was my favorite thing.  Now I just hate it.  So many things done wrong, rules not followed or bent, I could go on and on.  

 

While I agree there are lot issue with junior golf the biggest problem is there is not enough volunteers and staff to go around and a few bad apples are causing the problems. Everyone knows who they are including the tours. I wish they ran a few of them off though.

 

The key is finding the better players and play in the same tournaments who actually value rules and focus less on rankings. It makes a huge difference.

 

[heavy_hitter]

41 minutes ago, Noles said:

So happy to not be involved with AJGA at all this summer and looking forward to being completely done with junior golf in a few weeks.  When my son started playing, junior golf was my favorite thing.  Now I just hate it.  So many things done wrong, rules not followed or bent, I could go on and on.  

I 100% feel you.  I am burnt out on it after doing it for 10 years.  

[joshrad_golf]

On 5/25/2022 at 11:48 AM, ncalgolf said:

Been reading about AJGA - if you wanted to make a run at a high ranking what age would you get them going? - I see they can start playing at 12 but at such a young age looks like it would cost a fortune to travel and to grind it out for so many years seems kind of wild to me.   what would you consider the most important ages to play well, rankings, college etc?

 

I have read the other threads on if it is really necessary or not to play ajga but if we do choose to do the whole AJGA thing in the future was curious on peoples thoughts.

I agree with some of the others, here. Spend most of your time competing locally until he/she can learn to win. However, throw in a few AJGA qualifiers or something to see how they respond, mentally. Are they intimidated? Nervous? Do they fold and play worse than normal? Do they rise to the occasion and play better than normal because they're pushed to do better? To me, so much of it is about breeding confidence and self belief when it comes to entering junior events. If your child has aspirations to play in college and professionally, they need some exposure to the national level to see what it takes. But then you need to sit back and watch how they handle that. Let them develop a plan they have confidence in. A plan they believe will make them the best player they can be. Even if you disagree with them, let them give it a shot and learn for themselves if they need to adjust the plan. So much learning and growth comes from experience, trial, and error on the junior's side. Encourage them to study the different tours and do the homework and come up with a plan they think is best. Then let them roll with it.

[mrshinsa]

1 hour ago, joshrad_golf said:

I agree with some of the others, here. Spend most of your time competing locally until he/she can learn to win. However, throw in a few AJGA qualifiers or something to see how they respond, mentally. Are they intimidated? Nervous? Do they fold and play worse than normal? Do they rise to the occasion and play better than normal because they're pushed to do better? To me, so much of it is about breeding confidence and self belief when it comes to entering junior events. If your child has aspirations to play in college and professionally, they need some exposure to the national level to see what it takes. But then you need to sit back and watch how they handle that. Let them develop a plan they have confidence in. A plan they believe will make them the best player they can be. Even if you disagree with them, let them give it a shot and learn for themselves if they need to adjust the plan. So much learning and growth comes from experience, trial, and error on the junior's side. Encourage them to study the different tours and do the homework and come up with a plan they think is best. Then let them roll with it.

 

It's our first year at playing AJGA, and here's the issue most kids will face.  It's really not up to you whether you can play, and you can't just sign them up just to see.  
AJGA advertises 12-15 as the age to start playing AJGA.  The truth is, 12/13yo have ZERO chance of getting into a qualifier, let alone a preview qualifier.   

 

For example, our first perview qualifier only the Seniors and Juniors got in.  On our second qualifers, Seniors, Juniors and handful of sophomores got in.

Again, this is for the preview series, not even the open or all-stars.

If we move unto Open, you need minimum double digit stars to get in.  Not enough stars?  Then qualifiers are again by seniority.

 

Moral of the story is if your kids are 12/13, save the $200 application fee and wait. 

At age 13, be competitive enough to win local tournaments that give out stars, and you'll be leg up on your peers.  

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by mrshinsa

[Noles]

17 hours ago, mrshinsa said:

 

It's our first year at playing AJGA, and here's the issue most kids will face.  It's really not up to you whether you can play, and you can't just sign them up just to see.  
AJGA advertises 12-15 as the age to start playing AJGA.  The truth is, 12/13yo have ZERO chance of getting into a qualifier, let alone a preview qualifier.   

 

For example, our first perview qualifier only the Seniors and Juniors got in.  On our second qualifers, Seniors, Juniors and handful of sophomores got in.

Again, this is for the preview series, not even the open or all-stars.

If we move unto Open, you need minimum double digit stars to get in.  Not enough stars?  Then qualifiers are again by seniority.

 

Moral of the story is if your kids are 12/13, save the $200 application fee and wait. 

At age 13, be competitive enough to win local tournaments that give out stars, and you'll be leg up on your peers.  

 

Even if you were able to earn a few stars at that age, they expire after the next season so if you didn't earn enough to get in to a tournament, they are useless.

[joshrad_golf]

20 hours ago, mrshinsa said:

 

It's our first year at playing AJGA, and here's the issue most kids will face.  It's really not up to you whether you can play, and you can't just sign them up just to see.  
AJGA advertises 12-15 as the age to start playing AJGA.  The truth is, 12/13yo have ZERO chance of getting into a qualifier, let alone a preview qualifier.   

 

For example, our first perview qualifier only the Seniors and Juniors got in.  On our second qualifers, Seniors, Juniors and handful of sophomores got in.

Again, this is for the preview series, not even the open or all-stars.

If we move unto Open, you need minimum double digit stars to get in.  Not enough stars?  Then qualifiers are again by seniority.

 

Moral of the story is if your kids are 12/13, save the $200 application fee and wait. 

At age 13, be competitive enough to win local tournaments that give out stars, and you'll be leg up on your peers.  

 

Sheesh, I didn't realize that the tournaments fill up so it's not even possible to play qualifiers. I guess I understand sorting the field by seniority, but that just doesn't seem fair for some of the younger ones with tons of talent. I think it would be better to just accept entries on a first come, first serve basis. 

 

As much as that stinks, college coaches will recognize and find talent. If your junior is winning everything locally but can't get into an AJGA event because of age, they'll be just fine. Scores talk to those college coaches. While the national level and AJGA is ideal, consistent under par scores will still catch a coach's attention.

[jigsaw1011]

23 hours ago, mrshinsa said:

 

It's our first year at playing AJGA, and here's the issue most kids will face.  It's really not up to you whether you can play, and you can't just sign them up just to see.  
AJGA advertises 12-15 as the age to start playing AJGA.  The truth is, 12/13yo have ZERO chance of getting into a qualifier, let alone a preview qualifier.   

 

For example, our first perview qualifier only the Seniors and Juniors got in.  On our second qualifers, Seniors, Juniors and handful of sophomores got in.

Again, this is for the preview series, not even the open or all-stars.

If we move unto Open, you need minimum double digit stars to get in.  Not enough stars?  Then qualifiers are again by seniority.

 

Moral of the story is if your kids are 12/13, save the $200 application fee and wait. 

At age 13, be competitive enough to win local tournaments that give out stars, and you'll be leg up on your peers.  

 

The trick with younger kids is to play in a qualifier for a Junior All-Star.  An open and preview qualifier is filled with 50% of the field with  upper level grad years.  There are also Junior All-Star Preview tournaments which are not based on stars but grad year.  If you use your 12/13 year old season gathering stars in these events and playing non-AJGA events you can earn enough for your 14 year old season.  This is the route we took for my son.  In his 14 year old season he played three AJGA events and other non-AJGA events and had 24 stars entering his present season.  He has gained entry into all the AJGA events he wanted this season with that amount of stars. 

 

That being said AJGA tournaments are not the be all and end all.  Once you get to be around 14/15 you can start to play local Am events.  My son qualified this year for his first professional event which garnered him some attention.  Also,  there is a story ( I am pretty sure it is true) where Cameron Young didn't play an AGJA until he was already accepted at Wake Forest.  He played his local AM/pro events and played impressively.

 

Edited with another thought.

 

I also think the importance of AJGA events vary by region.  States like Florida, California, Texas have strong fields in non-AJGA events.  Where we live our fields are not the strongest and it has been valuable for my son to play outside his region to see the level of competition on a national/international level.

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2022 by jigsaw1011

[tiger1873]

On 6/24/2022 at 6:10 PM, mrshinsa said:

 

It's our first year at playing AJGA, and here's the issue most kids will face.  It's really not up to you whether you can play, and you can't just sign them up just to see.  
AJGA advertises 12-15 as the age to start playing AJGA.  The truth is, 12/13yo have ZERO chance of getting into a qualifier, let alone a preview qualifier.   

 

For example, our first perview qualifier only the Seniors and Juniors got in.  On our second qualifers, Seniors, Juniors and handful of sophomores got in.

Again, this is for the preview series, not even the open or all-stars.

If we move unto Open, you need minimum double digit stars to get in.  Not enough stars?  Then qualifiers are again by seniority.

 

Moral of the story is if your kids are 12/13, save the $200 application fee and wait. 

At age 13, be competitive enough to win local tournaments that give out stars, and you'll be leg up on your peers.  

 

I hope everyone with younger kids reads this post.

 

If you kid is younger 12-14 you just paying membership fees to get a tag and a hat.

 

i would go even further unless your has a better then 50% chance of breaking 75 in a tournament (maybe lower for boys) don’t even bother with AJGA.  Your better off doing other stuff

[tiger1873]

3 hours ago, jigsaw1011 said:

The trick with younger kids is to play in a qualifier for a Junior All-Star.  An open and preview qualifier is filled with 50% of the field with  upper level grad years.  There are also Junior All-Star Preview tournaments which are not based on stars but grad year.  If you use your 12/13 year old season gathering stars in these events and playing non-AJGA events you can earn enough for your 14 year old season.  This is the route we took for my son.  In his 14 year old season he played three AJGA events and other non-AJGA events and had 24 stars entering his present season.  He has gained entry into all the AJGA events he wanted this season with that amount of stars. 

 

That being said AJGA tournaments are not the be all and end all.  Once you get to be around 14/15 you can start to play local Am events.  My son qualified this year for his first professional event which garnered him some attention.  Also,  there is a story ( I am pretty sure it is true) where Cameron Young didn't play an AGJA until he was already accepted at Wake Forest.  He played his local AM/pro events and played impressively.

 

Edited with another thought.

 

I also think the importance of AJGA events vary by region.  States like Florida, California, Texas have strong fields in non-AJGA events.  Where we live our fields are not the strongest and it has been valuable for my son to play outside his region to see the level of competition on a national/international level.

 

 

 

The problem is most of the younger kids will not even get into a qualifier. If you do get in one it is because no one is doing it

 

you also have to be willing to travel a lot.

 

Unless your able to expect to win a qualifier and do well in The actual tournament you are wasting your time.  
 

see so many parents sign up kids who have no chance and they end up with no stars and travel expenses.

 

save your money and do local events.

Edited June 26, 2022 by tiger1873

[heavy_hitter]

There are plenty of what I call One Off tournaments that kids can play.

 

Bubba Conley

Future Master's

Optimist

Publix Doral

Orange Bowl

North/South

USKG Teen World

Southern Junior

Western Junior

 

I am sure I am missing a ton.

[Pinewood Golfer]

9 hours ago, heavy_hitter said:

There are plenty of what I call One Off tournaments that kids can play.

 

Bubba Conley

Future Master's

Optimist

Publix Doral

Orange Bowl

North/South

USKG Teen World

Southern Junior

Western Junior

 

I am sure I am missing a ton.

There absolutely are. And there are great regional tours as well. We made the decision we wouldn’t “chase” stars. My stance has always been to put him in good events and if he’s good enough to earn enough stars then he will be good enough to compete once there. He’s earned 11 so far this year, and will probably end the summer around 20, which will be plenty for him to play whatever JAS event he wants to next year as well as Opens in the summertime. 
 

as they fit in our schedule and budget, we will play them. 
 

also, on your point, looks like The Gator will be back next year

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

On 6/22/2022 at 3:57 PM, heavy_hitter said:

I 100% feel you.  I am burnt out on it after doing it for 10 years.  

So glad we decided years back never to even look into AJGA.  Son could have done it in the past but now being in college.  We have done some of the state AM events.

 

We are almost doing a fourball event and a regular stroke play.  The stroke play is just before he goes back.  Hopefully, as a tune up before college practice starts.

 

My daughter has always loved PKB.  What a great org.

[tiger1873]

15 minutes ago, TripleBogeysrbetter said:

 

 

My daughter has always loved PKB.  What a great org.

 

Peggy Kirk used to be really good.  But in the last year it really seems like it is shrinking almost worth not playing anymore.  It seems like you pretty much to live in NC or Virgina to play regular events and when there are tournaments to play you need a priority level to get in.

 

I think we could jump though the hoops to get into those bell national events but honestly it doesn't seem worth it and better to focus on AJGA for travel.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

3 minutes ago, tiger1873 said:

 

Peggy Kirk used to be really good.  But in the last year it really seems like it is shrinking almost worth not playing anymore.  It seems like you pretty much to live in NC or Virgina to play regular events and when there are tournaments to play you need a priority level to get in.

 

I think we could jump though the hoops to get into those bell national events but honestly it doesn't seem worth it and better to focus on AJGA for travel.

My daughter has no desire to play in college or pro.  She likes just completing with other girls and playing golf.  PKB has given her the best op in my opinion.  The other tours numbers have been down in post covid.

[tiger1873]

Just now, TripleBogeysrbetter said:

My daughter has no desire to play in college or pro.  She likes just completing with other girls and playing golf.  PKB has given her the best op in my opinion.  The other tours numbers have been down in post covid.

 

Don't get me wrong Peggy Kirk is great just disappointed we can't play more of them.  I honestly they could rival AJGA for girls if they had more tournaments in Florida.

[Jkhogbear]

On 6/22/2022 at 2:57 PM, heavy_hitter said:

I 100% feel you.  I am burnt out on it after doing it for 10 years.  

I’m surprised people are so miserable going to junior golf tournaments.  I wouldn’t trade my time going to these for anything.  Road trips to different places, courses have been fun and we have met a lot of great new people.  

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

16 minutes ago, Jkhogbear said:

I’m surprised people are so miserable going to junior golf tournaments.  I wouldn’t trade my time going to these for anything.  Road trips to different places, courses have been fun and we have met a lot of great new people.  

Still your first year? 😉

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

17 minutes ago, Jkhogbear said:

I’m surprised people are so miserable going to junior golf tournaments.  I wouldn’t trade my time going to these for anything.  Road trips to different places, courses have been fun and we have met a lot of great new people.  

Honestly, I joke.  My son's junior golf was a blast.  We took several road trips.  The main issue for us was the home budget office.

 

If we did local it was great.  We came across a few families that were out there.  Probably from California or something.

 

We come across some families that thought their junior was the next coming of christ and tiger combined.

 

His last year I tried just watch and really enjoy watching him.  Not worry about a rules official not seeing the kid hitting it from OB or the parents walking in the fairway with their kids.

[heavy_hitter]

1 hour ago, Jkhogbear said:

I’m surprised people are so miserable going to junior golf tournaments.  I wouldn’t trade my time going to these for anything.  Road trips to different places, courses have been fun and we have met a lot of great new people.  

Didn't say miserable.  Putting words in my mouth.  I said "Burnt out".  The same routine over and over for a road trip gets stale.  Has nothing to do with the Junior Golf Tournament.  Tired of Packing, loading the car, packing snacks, then getting home and rewind.  If I could just show up and watch without all the other stuff, it would be awesome.  Can't wait until college because after doing this with son and daughter for 10 years I am tired of it.  The Tournament is the fun part.  It is everything else.

 

Then you have rankings, scheduling, is this or that the right tournament, practice rounds, not sleeping in own bed.  Scheduling much tougher for a guy.  Worrying about equipment, balls.  Just tired of all the other parts.

Edited June 29, 2022 by heavy_hitter

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

3 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

Didn't say miserable.  Putting words in my mouth.  I said "Burnt out".  The same routine over and over for a road trip gets stale.  Has nothing to do with the Junior Golf Tournament.  Tired of Packing, loading the car, packing snacks, then getting home and rewind.  If I could just show up and watch with all the other stuff, it would be awesome.  Can't wait until college because after doing this with son and daughter for 10 years I am tired of it.  The Tournament is the fun part.  It is everything else.

100%.  College tournament golf is great as you know.

 

I watched one event.  It was close by to their university so most kids drove.  Son and I ate dinner at the clubhouse and talked after the round.  He wanted to talk golf.  I was just so happy to see him.  I showed up 30 minutes before tee off and left after dinner.

[Jkhogbear]

I get that.  Especially when you have to fly, it’s such a pain to get clubs, push cart, and bags through an airport and rent a car.   We drive if at all possible but certain big ones it’s just not possible.  I did talk to one parent that drove from California to the east coast for a tournament last year.  I was in shock.  

[heavy_hitter]

48 minutes ago, TripleBogeysrbetter said:

100%.  College tournament golf is great as you know.

 

I watched one event.  It was close by to their university so most kids drove.  Son and I ate dinner at the clubhouse and talked after the round.  He wanted to talk golf.  I was just so happy to see him.  I showed up 30 minutes before tee off and left after dinner.

Meanwhile, you didn't have to worry about all of the other garbage that went into getting him there.