On addressing a coach in a letter or email I feel like "Coach Thurmond" is better than "Dear Matt." Would you be okay with "Coach Thurmond"?
Either way is great with me.
March 2012
16 posts
With the travel schedule that your team or any other golf team has is it hard for the players to keep up with their school work and get good grades? I have been told that golfers need to pick either golf or academics to focus on as it is hard to focus on
I just got our Winter Quarter grades today. The team did great. It is very challenging to do golf and school really well. That is why we work so hard in recruiting to find the guys that have the discipline and will to do both well. Athletics departments offer many resources to help (tutors, advisors, early scheduling, proctored exams, etc). It can be done and can be done well. Interestingly, two of our very best GPAs are two of our very best players. I’ve seen this over and over again in our program. Those that are great at one thing are often great at other things. The discipline and skill it takes to be a great golfer carries over to the discipline and skill it takes to be a great student. This is why college sports are so effective at producing extraordinary people and leaders. You absolutely don’t need to pick one or the other as a focus and don’t let anyone (especially a coach) tell you otherwise. You can do both well if you are committed.
DEAR COACH:
I continually get emails from recruits that start “Dear Coach.” This is a very poor first impression. While I like the title “Coach” from those who know me, what the email is really saying is “I am sending this same email out to many coaches and I have no particular interest in your school more than any other school.”
If it takes too much time to look up the coach’s name and add something about your particular interest in their program you are communicating to too many coaches. Quality is far more important than quantity. The shotgun approach doesn’t work.
Know the coach’s name. Identify which schools you really want to communicate with, and why. Tell them why you are a great fit and why they should take particular interest in you. Show them that you know what their program is about and that you are a good fit. Then, you can expect a sincere response from them in return.
When you scout at an event do you tend to specifically watch a few players or do you try to watch as many players as possible?
I do both things depending on what I’m trying to accomplish. Sometimes I want to see everyone in the field to find new potential recruits. More often, however, I like to focus on a player or a few players and really get a feel for their game and style.
Does a student get help from the coach or advisors in selecting classes that are more conducive for schedules and or better/ easier professors?
Yes. They get lots of help with everything like that.
If a golfer receives a scholarship for something like 'Outstanding Charity Work', or for volunteering, can that get in the way of a sports scholarship?
No. You can receive other scholarships and I highly recommend seeking them out. The key is to communicate what those are with the school so there are no issues. Also, you can’t receive scholarships (outside of those offered through the golf program) for your golf skill. Scholarships that are purely based on leadership, academics, community service, etc. are okay as long as they aren’t because of golf ability.
Do coaches often restrict what fields their players can major in?
I’ve not ever heard of this. That being said, some majors may make daily practice more difficult if the classes are only offered in the afternoon or something. I can’t really imagine a coach telling a student-athlete that they can’t major in a certain field. If they would say that I’d be quite troubled.
What should a girl wear to an unofficial visit?
I think whatever she would normally wear to school would be fine. Maybe golf attire if you feel more comfortable. If there is any plan to visit the courses at a school I would wear golf attire. Sometimes it is awkward when visiting a “no jeans” course with a recruit or parent wearing jeans.
How important is the U.S. Junior Amateur. Do coaches judge recruits a lot based on their performance in that one event? If a recruit does well in other large tournaments but never qualifies for the U.S. junior, is that a bad thing?
Many coaches attend the US Junior and it is probably the most important event in junior golf. It is a huge opportunity for any golfer who competes. Coaches will notice a great performance.
That being said, it isn’t that big of a deal if you never attend the US Junior. Of the four guys I have coming into our program next year none of them ever played in the US Junior. Chris Williams, a Walker Cup player on our team never played it either. It’s a great opportunity if you can play it, but the failure to play it won’t hold you back if you play well in other events.
How are schedules set? Are there tournaments that all teams in a conference play? Are there other tournaments that are optional at the coamch's discretion? I am trying to figure out if it really matters which conference I focus on? I am looking at sch
Each coach makes their own schedule. There is very little conference commitment in scheduling except for the official conference events. Still, teams are often invited to the tournaments of their fellow conference schools. So you do end up playing within the conference quite often in many cases. We’ve played in seven events so far this year and have played against USC in six of them. We’ve seen UCLA and Oregon five times, and so on and so forth.
It may not matter as a rule and I would just recommend looking at the schedule of any teams you are looking at. Ask the coach about his/her philosophy regarding scheduling. Ask them how they schedule and why. It will be an enlightening answer on many levels and could give you some good thoughts on whether or not that is the right fit or not.
Is it a good idea for junior golfer start home schooling to earn more time to practice ?
That’s a highly subjective answer and I just don’t know how I feel about it. I can see positives and negatives with it. Each parent and child will have to figure this one out on their own based on their goals.
Do colleges accept home school 's athletes by the rule?
Colleges accept home school students if they meet the admissions requirements. I don’t think there is any bias against home school students.
As a senior in high school what type of tournaments do you suggest my son play in prior to playing in college. He will be playing for a high level D1 school and is planning to play in some junior invitationals and qualifiers but what else?
Great question. This is always a really tough time to understand what tournaments to play in. Just this week I had a long chat about this with one of the parents of an incoming recruit. Usually it is time to move into amateur tournaments.
Ideally you will get into the best amateur events. However, often juniors have a hard time being invited into those events. So it is a matter of getting into whichever events you can and those you can afford. Any big local amateur events would be the first place to look.
For bigger tournaments I’d recommend looking at the www.scratchplayers.com website. They have an amazing World Amateur Calendar. Study that often, select some events, and try to get into them. You want to contact the tournament directors and send them a resume. You will have success in some of those events and won’t be considered in others.
After a successful year in college it becomes much easier to get into the events you want. Because I don’t know where this question comes from geographically I can’t give ideas on specific events.
Play anything you can to get you ready to be competitive and comfortable on Day 1 on your college golf experience.
How often does one of your guys struggle? What do you do / whAt do they do to get out of the slump? Any suggestions to a struggling
Golfer?
There is always someone struggling on any team. This is golf. Even more often, someone is struggling with something off the course (life, school, family, girlfriend, health, etc). I just try to really know, understand, and care about my players. If I’m in tune with their lives I should be able to really help them through those difficult times. The answer would be different for every situation. In all difficult times perspective and patience are the most important.
What is the typical golf season for practice and competition? What are the limits for hours of practice and do teams take holidays off i.e. Christmas, Spring break, Thanksgiving or are they expected to attend team practices/tournaments?
Our season typically starts around Sept 10 and goes until November 1. During that time we are only allowed to mandate 20 hours of golf-related activities per week. We must give one day off per week and never exceed 4 mandatory hours of team-required activity per day. In the “off-season,” which for us lasts until mid-January, we only have workouts or an occasional meeting. The guys practice on their own and have Thanksgiving and Christmas off.
The season starts up again in mid-January and goes through the NCAA Championships (hopefully) which ends around June 1. During that whole time we are work within the same parameters detailed above.
Of course, usually the best players practice often when not required to by a coach. For us, I don’t have to “require” much at all because our students want to practice. If anything, they often need to be encouraged to spend a little more time studying.
Spring Break is off a lot of years and sometimes we are traveling to an event.
