Varsity High School golf for international student

[DoctorTee]

We are considering sending our son (junior Spanish golfer) to study 12th grade at a school with competitive varsity golf.
 

We wanted to ask you if there are public schools with golf of a certain competitive level or, on the other hand,there is no other choice to go through the private school. If the latter were the option, are there scholarships for athletes of a certain competitive level?

 

We do not want to send our son to a school where golf is a hobby (students sign up to try a sport and have never picked up a club in their lives) and we do not want him to lower the level he has achieved in his country of origin.

 

Could you recommend a boarding school with a medium-high level of golf?

 

Thanks in advance

[leezer99]

Do you want a public school or a boarding school?  If you want a public school then look into Torrey Pines HS.  Good luck making the team.

[Abh159]

Generally speaking... College coaches do not recruit a kid based solely on how he does in high school golf. Honestly, I'd say HS results probably account for less than 5% of what they factor in when evaluating recruits.

 

If you're thinking that sending him to a "competitive high school golf program" is going to be a guaranteed way to obtain a scholarship or roster spot in college then you're mistaken.

[DoctorTee]

40 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

En términos generales... Los entrenadores universitarios no reclutan a un niño basándose únicamente en cómo le va en el golf de la escuela secundaria. Honestamente, diría que los resultados de HS probablemente representen menos del 5% de lo que tienen en cuenta al evaluar a los reclutas.

 

Si está pensando que enviarlo a un "programa competitivo de golf de la escuela secundaria" será una forma garantizada de obtener una beca o un lugar en la lista en la universidad, entonces está equivocado.

 

I don't remember speaking about college golf; just getting through his last year of high school without losing the level of tournaments he plays in Spain (about 35 a year). Another thing is that he finally choose to stay to study your degree in the USA, although there are high-level universities in Spain.

 

[heavy_hitter]

You need to send them to an Academy for golf, not school.

 

There are rules and regulations in every state for Foreign Exchange Students in regards to Eligibility requirements for the respective state High School Athletic Associations.  

 

If I were a coach on a HS team, I would probably cut the player.  Nothing personal, but being on my team for a year doesn't help me develop the team for next year.  I think it sends a bad message to the kids who have already been at the school working.

[Abh159]

5 minutes ago, DoctorTee said:

 

I don't remember speaking about college golf; just getting through his last year of high school without losing the level of tournaments he plays in Spain (about 35 a year). Another thing is that he finally choose to stay to study your degree in the USA, although there are high-level universities in Spain.

 

 

My mistake. I assumed you were wanting to send him to the US in the hopes of him obtaining a golf scholarship to be able to play in college.

 

If that isn't the plan... Why send him halfway across the world just for one year of high school? It sounds like you have a good thing going in Spain where he is able to play the amount of tournaments you want.

 

FWIW no high school is going to play 35 tournaments a year. Most are going to be 10-15 max (with half of those being 9 hole "matches"). If you want to keep playing 30+ a year then he'll have to sign up for a lot of tournaments outside of high school golf.

[heavy_hitter]

3 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

 

My mistake. I assumed you were wanting to send him to the US in the hopes of him obtaining a golf scholarship to be able to play in college.

 

If that isn't the plan... Why send him halfway across the world just for one year of high school? It sounds like you have a good thing going in Spain where he is able to play the amount of tournaments you want.

 

FWIW no high school is going to play 35 tournaments a year. Most are going to be 10-15 max (with half of those being 9 hole "matches"). If you want to keep playing 30+ a year then he'll have to sign up for a lot of tournaments outside of high school golf.

And if this is his senior year, schools have already started.  We just started golf season in Florida.  By the time he gets here and paperwork turned in, it will be over.

[DoctorTee]

1 hour ago, heavy_hitter said:

Y si este es su último año, las escuelas ya comenzaron. Acabamos de empezar la temporada de golf en Florida. Para cuando él llegue aquí y entregue el papeleo, todo habrá terminado.

 

Sorry...obviously I'm talking about the 2023-2024 academic year

[DoctorTee]

1 hour ago, Abh159 said:

 

Mi error. Supuse que querías enviarlo a los EE. UU. con la esperanza de que obtuviera una beca de golf para poder jugar en la universidad.

 

Si ese no es el plan... ¿Por qué enviarlo al otro lado del mundo solo para un año de escuela secundaria? Parece que te va bien en España, donde puede jugar la cantidad de torneos que quieras.

 

FWIW ninguna escuela secundaria va a jugar 35 torneos al año. La mayoría serán de 10 a 15 como máximo (la mitad de ellos serán "partidos" de 9 hoyos). Si quieres seguir jugando más de 30 al año, tendrá que inscribirse en muchos torneos fuera del golf de la escuela secundaria.

 

Something doesn't add up...how is it possible that the best NHSGA players have an average of 69 strokes playing 9-hole tournaments...?

 

[heavy_hitter]

3 minutes ago, DoctorTee said:

 

Sorry...obviously I'm talking about the 2023-2024 academic year

I would look at something like this rather than shipping him somewhere to play High School golf.

https://www.mattdejohngolf.com/fulltimetrainingprogram

 

You may send him somewhere to play high school golf and he may not even make the team.  We had an Italian foreign exchange student last year.  He made the team, but did not make the playing roster.  We have another Italian foreign exchange student this and he was cut from the team.  We only keep 10 and he was not going to make the playing roster.  Being here for only a year doesn't help the program when the coach is trying to develop returning players for the next years team.

[heavy_hitter]

2 minutes ago, DoctorTee said:

 

Something doesn't add up...how is it possible that the best NHSGA players have an average of 69 strokes playing 9-hole tournaments...?

 

They will combine 9 hole scores to make 18.

 

Us as Americans don't even look at NHSGA.  To be honest, it is a joke.

[DoctorTee]

11 minutes ago, DoctorTee said:

 

Something doesn't add up...how is it possible that the best NHSGA players have an average of 69 strokes playing 9-hole tournaments...?

 

 

Sorry...the link

 

https://www.highschoolgolf.org/app/golf-tournaments/player-rankings/151-boys-2020-2021.151-boys-2020-2021?n_shown=100&order=asc&search_by=&search_text=&sort_by=avg_differential

[Abh159]

16 minutes ago, DoctorTee said:

 

Something doesn't add up...how is it possible that the best NHSGA players have an average of 69 strokes playing 9-hole tournaments...?

 

 

12 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

They will combine 9 hole scores to make 18.

 

Us as Americans don't even look at NHSGA.  To be honest, it is a joke.

 

Heavy is correct. High School golf in the US is more of a hobby. I can see how that could be confusing to people living in other countries since we (Americans) treat HS Football and College sports like a religion.

 

For example, when I was in high school my team won 4 straight state championships and I won back to back individual titles my Jr and Sr year. Not a single one of the colleges I was being recruited by cared about that at all. Those coaches are much more interested in how kids perform in non-high school tournaments (AJGA, US Jr Am, and etc.).

 

The point I'm trying to make is that I think sending your kid 5,000 miles away solely so they could play high school golf in the US is a bit silly. 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Abh159

[DoctorTee]

I deeply appreciate your answers. I will inform you of the decision made when the time comes.

[heavy_hitter]

18 minutes ago, DoctorTee said:

 

Sorry...the link

 

https://www.highschoolgolf.org/app/golf-tournaments/player-rankings/151-boys-2020-2021.151-boys-2020-2021?n_shown=100&order=asc&search_by=&search_text=&sort_by=avg_differential

Yes.

 

No one in the states look at this site.

[sheppy335]

Public school golf will have huge swings in ability. I have a child that is playing high school golf, they beat a team by 100 strokes playing 6 players. They are undefeated but last year they played in a higher bracket and got killed by some higher skilled teams.