The last decade has seen junior golf enter into the mainstream of athletic options for kids and an overwhelming amount of options to compete in. There is now a tournament for every child and skill level, the key is picking the tournaments that match your goals. While every director will tell you that their tournaments are for players of every skill level the guidelines below will help you to match your goals with the competitions you should be participating in.
First competitions- What you are looking for out of these events is for your child to test the waters and see if they enjoy competitive golf. It’s a huge difference between playing with friends or family members and playing with strangers and following the rules strictly. The events listed are great ways to introduce your child to competitive golf because they soften the initial shock of competition in different ways. In PGA Junior League they are playing a scramble with a teammate against a pair from a different team, U.S. Kids local events let the players have a parent as a caddy, Drive, Chip, and Putt lets the kids compete entirely on their own but they only have to hit 9 shots.
Consistently competitive- Once you know for sure your child is enjoying playing in a competitive environment then we can begin to move them into a more consistent tournament schedule that they play on their own. At this phase, all we are looking for is for the child to learn how to handle their nerves and continue to develop a passion for competing. The type of event they play in at this stage matters less as long as they are playing in a competitive environment at least 2-3 times a month while in golf season. The child should be competing in a handful of individual events at this stage.
Playing to compete- Hurricane Tour, local junior tour, state golf association events, high school
At this phase, we start to really track their scoring during competition. The passion for competition should be there, if you feel like you have to drag your child to these events then they are not ready for this stage. These events are where you will start to see a higher level of competition and your child will often be playing with kids years older than them. At this stage, you can begin to see how your child stacks up against the other players and also see if their game performs in competition as well as it does when they are not in a tournament. The more golf the better at this phase, tournament repetition is the name of the game.
Collegiate Hopeful- Two Day Tournaments, AJGA, USGA, National event
Now your child has expressed an interest in playing golf at a collegiate level, and they are putting in the time between tournaments to work on their game. The competitive focus needs to shift to two-day tournaments. The name of the game for college recruiting is getting as high up on the Junior Golf Leaderboard as possible. This is not the end-all-be-all of the recruiting process but it can play a huge role. To get ranked on the leaderboard you must play in 4 two-day tournaments in twelve months. Plan out your schedule so you have some downtime to continue to work on your game and reflect on where you need to improve, but the more tournaments you can play in the higher ranking you can get.
A note on high school golf, if you're looking to play in college it doesn’t matter. High school golf is great for recreational players or players who are just getting into the competitive phase, but if your child is serious about playing in college, high school golf will have little effect on their recruitment until the State Championship. It’s a quintessential experience for kids so I would not recommend skipping the high school season, but don’t let your kid burn out stressing over the big match they might have coming up. Let it be a fun break from the high stress of their tournament schedule.