In 2005 I made my first trip to Jr. World with the HK Team and at that time it really opened my eyes to the recruiting of junior golfers by college coaches. The Junior World tournament at Torrey Pines is still to this day the largest recruiting site for college coaches to watch young talented golfers from all over the world. Many of the U.S. based players play events throughout the year where college coaches have the opportunity to watch them play but Junior World is the biggest stage for the young juniors from other parts of the world to show the U.S. coaches they have what it takes to play at the collegiate level.
With the help of our Junior and International Committee in 2008, the HKGA developed a plan to run a summer tour to help our best young players to gain exposure to the U.S. college golf programs and to play tournaments in optimal weather and conditions. The decision to combine and cultivate golf and education has been the road map to what the HKGA Team has become today. We currently have around 20 golfers taking part in higher education programs and many more in the recruiting process. As education is the core value of HK society we have found the vision forward to commit the players and parents to a long-term outcome in the sport.
To the aspiring junior golfer who dreams of playing college golf you need to get started early. At the age of 13 or 14 you need to start building your resume and develop a check list for the process. The Ping American College Golf Guide is a tremendous resource for the whole process.
It will give you detailed information on every college golf program such as coach names, addresses, phone numbers and scholarship availability:
- Email and fax numbers for more than 1,200 coaches
- NCAA, NAIA and Junior/Community College rules on eligibility, testing, letters of intent recruiting and detailed information on the NCAA Eligibility Center
- Campus visits and important questions to ask
- Link with Golfstat to include option for PING Guide
- Golfstat Interactive Score Conversion of junior scores to college tournament scores
- Letters to junior golfers and parents from college coaches at all levels of competition regarding schools, education, playing opportunities and scholarships/financial aid
- SAT/ACT average scores for recent freshman classes at most 4-year schools
- Information on junior tours, rankings and important websites
- Detailed information and requirements for international students
- Information on junior tours, rankings and important websites
There are also excellent recruitment companies in South East Asia to help players navigate through the process. Added Sport and ACDS have both been involved with helping HK players reach their college dreams.
To all aspiring college golfers: do your research, set your goals high and develop your roadmap to reach those goals.
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