If your junior has the goal of playing or competing in a college golf program, there are certain steps and actions that need to happen. The timeline begins when your junior is a freshman in high school. There are over 2000 college golf programs for girls and boys in the United States. There are Division I, II and III programs, NAIA and 2 year programs. There are scholarship opportunities in all divisions except for Division III, but often times those programs offer financial aid to those that qualify.

The top programs in the country have the financial means and time to recruit the top junior players in the country; however, there are many opportunities with schools that do not actively recruit. Coaches from all colleges will watch the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings, Golfweek rankings and the American Junior Golf Tour rankings. This is where coaches usually start their process. Next, coaches or their assistants will watch junior players play in local tournaments. It is very common for coaches to travel to major events where there will be a group of quality junior players competing.

If your junior has had success in events such as the American Junior Golf Tour, Southeastern Junior Golf Tour, USGA events or the Future Collegians World Tour, then your junior may already be on a coach’s radar screen. If that is the situation, your junior will start to get contacted by September 1st of their junior year. A school may not contact your junior until this time according to NCAA rules and regulations. Take the time to go to NCAA.org to get a full understanding of all the recruiting rules.

“The College Placement Program” offered by Jackie Cannizzo Golf is a program designed to help you and your junior start the process of being placed in a college program. Even though college coaches cannot contact your junior, we can contact them and guide you through the process.

The program starts with understanding where your junior may want to go to college. I urge juniors and parents to make a list of about 20 schools that he/she may want to attend. This process typically starts in a junior’s sophomore year. If we start then, we have an idea of what the junior needs to do to accomplish this goal. Having a few solid options will open you up to more opportunities as you move through high school.

For example, if your junior wishes to attend the University of Georgia to play golf (both the men’s and women’s programs are ranked in the top ten in the country), it is likely that your junior will need to be in the top 50 of the Junior Golf Scoreboard and scoring in the low 70’s in most events they play in. If your junior is not one of the top juniors in the country, then we may need to find the school that is an appropriate fit with their ability. Obviously you also need to consider the major your junior has selected, location and size of the school in addition to the fit with a college golf program.

Within “The College Placement Program”, I will:

• Conduct a search and provide recommendations for a list of colleges that match your junior’s golf ability with a college’s golf program.
• Develop a customized program that will help your junior get recruited by the golf programs of their choice.
• Contact college coaches at the schools your junior may want to attend.
• Send college coaches swing videos of your junior.
• Build a golf resume for your junior.
• Follow up with coaches, after initial contact, to determine the interest of the school.
• Follow up with coaches, if your junior is being recruited, with a letter of recommendation.
• Keep college coaches informed of your junior’s tournament schedule.
• Update college coaches on your juniors’ stats and performance in tournaments.
• Meet with coaches about your junior if the coach is open to the conversation.