With the generous support of the American Junior Golf Association, GolfWRX was able to design a survey given to competitors at the 2019 AJGA Senior Show Case. The goal of the survey was to understand the players’ perspectives on several parts of the recruiting process. In this article, we will outline the findings of the survey.

The first question we asked the 33 participants was what is the best way for a coach to reach you? Participants were given four possible responses: text, phone, email, and social media. 16 of the 33 respondents suggested that the best way to reach them was either text or email, while one of the respondents suggested the best way to reach them was via phone. None of the participants suggested the best way to reach them was via social media.

Sparked by the results, I sent a similar question randomly to 10 different coaches across a spectrum of D1 to NAIA. The mean age of the coaches was 33 years old. 9/10 coaches responded that they would prefer to communicate to recruits via phone.

For prospective student-athletes, this is an extremely relevant finding and demonstrates that in the initial conversation, recruits should expect and be prepared to speak on the phone. While this can be nerve-racking for many young adults, keep in mind that most coaches are extremely gregarious and will carry the conversation with a combination of speaking about the program and their background, as well as asking you questions. In preparation for the conversation, a prospective student-athlete should do some basic research on the school and golf team and be able to talk about their golf and academic records. I would also recommend having a least a couple of questions prepared, as it is likely that coaches will ask if you have any. Finally, if you don’t already; set up the voicemail on your phone.

Please note: one of the most common places a coach tries to find contact information is through the AJGA website. All prospective athletes who are members of the AJGA would be wise to double check these details.

The next question asked participants how far from home would they be willing to go to attend school Participants were given 3 choices; 0-200 miles, 201-800 miles and 801+ miles. 4 of the 33 participants suggested that they would not attend school more than 200 miles away, while 24 of the students suggested that they would be open to going 801+ miles away from home.

The third question we ask participants was who will have the biggest influence on where you attend? Participants were given the option of four response: parent, swing coach, high school coach or friends. Nearly 70 percent of respondents suggested that their parents would have the biggest influence, followed by swing coach (24 percent), friends (6 percent) and high school coach (none).

Next, we asked participants how many coaches they have reached out to in the recruitment process. Of the 33 respondents, the average answer was 20, but 18 of the respondents reported reaching out to 10 or less, while 4 suggested that they had reached out to 50 or more. When reviewing this data, I was a little shocked; we know from previous years that seniors have reported spending about 30 hours communicating with potential schools looking for opportunities. Although we don’t have the exact number of schools, it is likely that people who are successful in the process are doing a good job in their research, casting a wide net and meticulously following up.

The fifth question asked participants: If you have two similar offers, what would be the biggest factor in your decision between coach, team chemistry, academic ranking, scholarship and golf ranking. Nearly 40 percent of respondents suggested the biggest influence would be academic ranking, followed by coach (36 percent), team chemistry (12 percent) and golf ranking and scholarship tied at 6 percent.

The final questions asked female and male players individually what percent scholarship would be a reasonable offer? The mean of the male’s response was 36 percent and the mean of the female responses was 45 percent.

GolfWRX readers, what are your biggest take away from this data? What surprised you or didn’t? Let’s hear your comments below!