Recruiting Questions

College Golf

Since leaving the College Golf Coaching profession and relocating to Norway two years ago, I’ve been asked about college recruiting almost daily. A lot of the inquires I receive from Norwegians are naturally about the basics of U.S. Universities and college golf. Players and/or parent might wonder how many tournaments a year a college team plays, what makes a school division I, or whether you actually need to stay in the dorms your first year or not.

Despite the fact that some of the answers to the basics being just a google search away, I try to help everyone out as any interest for college golf energizes me.

Beyond the basics though, there have been a handful of specific questions routinely come up where google or chat-gpt can’t give you a 1+1=2 type of answer. I thought I’d mention a few of these and give an as direct and straightforward answer as I can:

1. What do I say in my first phone call with Coach of X University?

   Be yourself. I know this is a dull answer, but the truth is that simple. College coaches can see through the over-edited and polished persona you’re portraying. Be respectful and have manners, yes. But be forthcoming about what interests you, what you struggle with, your emotions, etc. It’s okay to be nervous talking to a coach for the first time - it’s even okay to admit you’re a bit nervous during the call.
   
   Have a few questions prepared before the call. Make sure they’re not questions to which you can google the answers or find on the team’s webpage. When question-asking is natural during the call, I’d recommend asking something you’d actually learn and grow from. Questions I’d love to receive as a coach on a recruiting call:
   "What have you seen in the best players you’ve been around?"
   "What skills do you typically see freshmen lack?"

   "Did you make any mistakes in your own playing career?"
   "What do you read/Which podcasts do you listen to?"
   You get the idea.
   

2. What’s the ranking-range of schools I should look into?

   The short answer is I have no idea.
   There’s no algorithm I can give you where you provide your inputs such as scoring average and types of tournaments and I provide you a goldilocks zone of team ranking for your particular skill.
   There’s no one parameter that tells a college coach everything they need to know about the future skill level of the player. Even large generalized statements I could make such as "If you play in AJGA Invitationals-" or "Or if you are on a European national team- you’re a power-4 player" are right as often as they’re wrong.
   The exception is if you’re among the very best in the world by your class, I can tell you to look into the top-20, for example.

   The best way forward for you as a recruit, in my opinion, is to chose quite a large range of schools in terms of rankings/competitiveness. See where you garner interest.
   Make sure your large net doesn’t take away from your reseacrh of the schools and personalizing the emails. As we saw in the Recruitment Playbook, the #2 and #3 things coaches look for in an introductory email is that “the recruit knows something about my school” and “the email is personally written.”
   

3. How do I write my first email?

   While there is no cookie-cutter answer here, I have some strong opinions: Always personalize the email, show that you know something about the coach’s school and program, attach all scores and upcoming schedule as an attachment with easy-to-access links, link to your YouTube swing video to avoid tedious downloads, and keep the body of the email to the point.
   There are a few other things I like to point out too. Here’s the link to the 50+ coaches replies to what they look for in an introductory email I published last year.
   

4. How often should I update Coaches on my progress?

   In most situations, I’d say every couple of weeks. But they don’t need to be long - and can be varied. Sometimes, share a tournament evaluation with them. Other times, just send a swing video with a few words on what you’re working on. Send a short text when you have updates to your upcoming schedule. Consistency in updates is a great advantage.
   

5. Should I still update them when I play poorly?

   YES!
   Be honest. Provide some context. Not excuses - just context. What did you struggle with and why? How are you planning on attacking the problem/applying the learning at your next event?
   Coaches love this context. And they’ll find all of your scores regardless.

Do you have recruiting-related questions? Message them to me and I’ll cover them in a future newlsetter!

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