With the generous support of the American Junior Golf Association and players from the 2018 Evian Senior Showcase in Las Vegas, Nevada, we were able to collect data on the development pathways of 97 junior golfers.

The survey, which had 7 questions, meant to provide some basic insights into what the average junior golfer is doing in terms of practice, tournament play and coaching. Here are the questions and results.

At what age did you become serious about golf? The average answer to the question was 12 years old with only 7% stating that they started seriously before age 7 versus 39% which started at 14 or later. The youngest age reported was 2 years old and the oldest was 16 (reported by 6 people).

Do you play high school golf? 81.44% of respondents indicated that they do play high school golf. The data suggests while some think negatively about high school golf, it plays a significant role in the golfers and most junior golfers DO participant.

How many events do you plan to play this year? 95 players responded to the question with an average of 18 events. When looking closer at the data the distribution is normal with approximately 68% of the students reporting to play between 15 to 20 tournaments.

How would you rate the quality of your home golf course on a scale of 1-100? 96 players responded to the question and the average score was 67. Approximately 30% of respondents gave their home facility a score of 80% or better (with 5 reporting 100%), while 7% reported their home facility deserved a score of 20% or lower.

How would you rate the quality of the players at your club on a scale of 1 to 100, where 100 would be PGA Tour Players? The average score was 45. 37.5% of junior golfers gave their home club a score of 20 or less here with 3% reporting having PGA tour professionals.

How would you describe access to your course using a scale of 1-10, where 1 is very limited access and 10 is unlimited access? 96 junior golfers responded with an average score of 6.3. When looking closer at the results, they are very polarized with 36% reporting a score of 1 or less (incredible bad access) while nearly 50% report a score of 8.5 or better (meaning virtually unlimited access).

How many times per year do you see your coach? 96 players responded with an average answer of 36 times. 2 players reported not having a coach, while 15% reported seeing their coach either less than 10 times per year or more than 70 times per year, while 6% reported seeing a coach 100+ times per year.

What percent of your time is spent on the golf course versus the range? 96 junior golfers responded to this question with the average being about 50-50. When looking closer at the data, 85% of respondents do about 50-50 with a standard deviation of about 15%.

So, what? This information provides excellent insight into the average American junior golfer, who according to the data started playing about 12 years old, plays high school golf and another 18 events per year. They are a member at good course, with decent access but not too many people to play with and see their coach a couple times a month. When they are at the course, they like to split their time between playing and practicing.

During the holidays, I did a more in-depth survey with elite golfers; players with international records, many of whom have represented their country and are currently playing college golf. In the coming weeks, I will compare this data to the data collected about these players to highlight key differences, which will hopefully help junior golfers better understand their pathways to elite golf!