College Golf Recruiting

I. Rules of Recruiting
II. NCAA Contact Information
III. College Golf Advisors
IV. Resources

Recruiting Overview

The AJGA is “dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college scholarships through competitive junior golf.” By offering competitive opportunities, the vast majority of AJGA members attend college, and most attend on some form of athletic scholarship. Juniors should be aware of the NCAA’s strict rules, so the following paragraphs are intended to provide basic information to assist juniors in this process.

First, understand that the AJGA is NOT associated with the NCAA in any way. Please do not contact the AJGA with recruiting questions. Call the NCAA directly at (317) 917-6222 or request a copy of the NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete free of charge at this number or on the NCAA Web site at ncaa.org.

I. Rules of Recruiting

The following tips about the Division I recruiting process can be found on the NCAA’s Web site, ncaa.org.

When you start ninth-grade classes, you become a “prospective student-athlete.”

You become a “recruited prospective student-athlete” at a particular college if any coach or representative of the college’s athletics interests (booster or representative) contacts you (or any member of your family) about enrolling and participating in athletics at that college. Activities by coaches or boosters that cause you to become a recruited prospective student-athlete are:

• Providing you with an official visit;
• Placing more than one telephone call to you or any other member of your family; or
• Visiting you or any other member of your family anywhere other than the college campus.

No alumni, boosters or representatives of a college’s athletics interests can be involved in your recruiting.

You (or your family) may not receive any benefit, inducement or arrangement such as cash, clothing, cars, improper expenses, transportation, gifts or loans to encourage you to sign a National Letter of Intent or attend an NCAA college.

Letters from coaches, faculty members and students are not allowed until September 1 at the beginning of your junior year of high school.

Telephone Calls

Phone calls from faculty members and coaches are not permitted until July 1 after the completion of your junior year. After this, a college coach or faculty member may call you (or your parents/legal guardians) once a week.

You (or your parents) may call a coach at your expense at any time. Coaches may also accept collect calls from you and may use a toll-free number to receive telephone calls from you on or after July 1 after completion of your junior year.

Contacts

A college coach may contact you in person off the college campus no more than three times on or after July 1 of your junior year. Any face-to-face meeting between a college coach and you or your parents, during which any of you say more than "hello" is a contact. Also, any face-to-face meeting that is prearranged or that occurs at your high school, competition or practice site is a contact, regardless of the conversation.

Coaches may not contact you off the college campus more than three times. A college coach may visit your high school (with the approval of your high school principal) only once a week during a contact period.

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Evaluations

An evaluation is any off-campus activity used to assess your academic qualifications or athletics ability, including a visit to your high school (during which no contact occurs) or watching you practice or compete at any site. Institutions have seven permissible recruiting opportunities (contacts and evaluations) during the academic year, and not more than three of the seven opportunities may be in-person, off-campus contacts.

Once you sign a National Letter of Intent, you may be evaluated an unlimited number of times by the college with which you have signed.

Official Visits

During your senior year, you can have one expense-paid (official) visit per college. You may receive no more than five such visits. You cannot have an official visit unless you have provided the college your high school academic transcript and a score from a PSAT, an SAT, a PACT or an ACT taken on a national test date under national testing conditions.

NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse

At the beginning of your junior year, you should sign up for the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse, which are minimum requirements to participate in Division I and II athletics. For registration materials, contact your high school guidance counselor or call the NCAA at (319) 337-1492.

For questions or more information on NCAA Rules and Recruiting Information, please call (317) 917-6222.

National Letter of Intent

A National Letter of Intent is an agreement signed by the prospective student-athlete, parent or legal guardian and the athletic director. The agreement states that the institution agrees to provide the prospective student-athlete, who is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules, athletic aid for one academic year in exchange for the prospect's agreement to attend the institution for one academic year.

Also, other institutions agree not to recruit a prospective student-athlete once he/she signs a NLI. The prospective student-athlete will no longer receive recruiting calls and is ensured an athletic scholarship for one academic year once the NLI is signed.

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II. NCAA Contact Information

For more information on National Letters of Intent, please contact:

National Letter of Intent
2201 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N.
Birmingham, AL 35203-3000
Phone: (205) 458-3000
Fax: (205) 458-3031
Questions@national-letter.org

To receive NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse registration materials from NCAA, call:
(319) 337-1492.

For other NCAA recruiting questions, call the NCAA:
(317) 917-6222.

Relevant Web sites:
ncaa.org
national-letter.org

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III. College Golf Advisors

West Coast College Golf Advisor

Ted Gleason
Road to College Golf
www.roadtocollegegolf.com
E-mail: ted@roadtocollegegolf.com
Phone: 323-823-4014

IV. Resources

The AJGA provides various resources for both parents and players to aid every player’s success on and off the course.

Recruiting-NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse

• At the beginning of his or her junior year, sign up for the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.
  For registration materials, contact his or her high school guidance counselor or call the NCAA at (319) 337-1492.
• Log on to www.ncaa.org for further information.

PING American College Golf Guide

• The PING Guide contains vital information on golf programs at over 1,000 colleges and junior colleges, with answers to many of the questions facing college-bound students. Among the information listed in the book are the coaches' names, addresses, phone numbers and tuition prices. There is a step-by-step procedure along with a calendar of what you should do from your freshman year through your senior year, and it contains sample letters and recommendations on writing resumes. The Guide also gives complete scores of more than 92 college conference championships as well as scores of regional and national college golf championships.

Access to GOLFSTAT

• For junior golfers interested in playing at the collegiate level, GOLFSTAT’s Prep Report is the most valuable resource currently available. This report provides each university’s rating by division; tournaments and rounds played; representation in Regionals and/or Nationals by individual or team; rounds played, scoring average, year in school for the roster and five most utilized players. GOLFSTAT is a great tool to use in determining which school is the best fit for every player.

AJGA Web Site

Parents can utilize the Web site in the following ways to grasp the most information:

• Latest News
• Apply to Tournaments & Qualifiers
• Withdraw from Tournaments and & Qualifiers
• Tournament and Travel Information
• Volunteer Information
• Update Contact Information
• Junior-Am Dates and Registration
• Online Donations
• Golf Shop
• Live Scoring

AJGA Memberships

• The AJGA offers three types of membership; the Junior Membership, the Junior Plus Membership and the Future Player Membership. The Junior Plus Membership is ideal for high school sophomores and juniors who are planning to attend college and play collegiate golf. It is available to all junior golfers, although seniors will not derive the full benefit of this membership. Younger players may wish to become Junior Plus Members in order to better prepare themselves for the recruiting process yet to come. This membership includes benefits beyond the standard Junior Membership, which aid in the recruitment of a player by college coaches. The following benefits are provided only to Junior Plus Members:

AJGA Player Profile

• The AJGA Player Profile is a service provided to aid in securing college golf scholarships. Junior Plus Members complete an online form provided by the AJGA that will allow juniors to highlight their academic and golf achievements. This form will be available to college coaches on the AJGA Coaches Corner Web site.

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AJGA Player Profile Swing Video

• The AJGA Player Profile Swing Video assists coaches in recruiting by evaluating AJGA Junior Plus Members' golf swings via the Internet. AJGA members and AJGA College Coaching members will have access to these swings on the AJGA website. Junior Plus Members can send in a video following the guidelines below.

Swing Video Tape Instructions

Please follow these guidelines when sending in a swing video: Swings should be taped from two views: behind and to the side of the junior. The junior should hit a ball, not just swing through the air. The junior should use a 5-iron. Include the entire junior's body in the frame when shooting their swing. The AJGA can take swing videos in QuickTime, VHS, VHS-C or mini-DV format.

Junior Plus Member Swing Video
American Junior Golf Association
1980 Sports Club Drive
Braselton, GA 30517

Mental Golf Workshop Profile

Use this unique profiling system to help you improve your mental game. It is used by the Titleist Performance Institute and recommended by highly regarded instructors Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott and many other top coaches, teachers and players.

NCAA College-Bound Student Athlete Preview

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