The most exciting time of a junior golfer’s career is the day he or she commits to play at a college.  The summer months that were filled with traveling, practicing, and playing competitive golf have finally paid off and the golfer can focus on his next step: college-level golf. College golf is an amazing experience and hopefully these tips will help junior golfers prepare for what lies ahead.

1. Distractions are everywhere: For most, college is the first extended time away from home and it is easy to get carried away with the new college experience and get off track with schoolwork. My best advice is to stay motivated and on top of your classes; the less stressed you are in school, the better your game will be.

2. Get to know your professors: This is crucial for new freshmen. College golf tournaments are often held on weekdays, meaning you will miss classes and tests. If your professors know your face, they will most likely be more understanding about late work and it will help your grade in the long run.

3. Your junior golf career matters little when you get to college: Winning AJGA’s or other tournaments are great for you, your confidence, and getting recruited but this does not matter as much when you get to school. Everybody on the golf team is a good player and you will have to earn your spot in the starting line up

4.  Learn how to score: I have heard frequently, most notably from Oklahoma State standout Peter Uihlein, that college is where golfers learn how to score. This is so important because you may not always hit it your best in tournaments and qualifiers, but being able to get up and down can make or break a round of golf. If you can rely on your short game, you will be far ahead of many incoming freshmen.

5. Be prepared to play a lot of golf: This may sound obvious, but it is misconstrued by most junior golfers. Most teams have practice five days a week and play 10 tournaments a year. Don’t look past the fact that college golf is a huge time commitment.

6. Your putter is your best friend: Similar to No. 7, but I can’t stress enough how important this club is. It doesn’t matter how you do it, all that matters is that you can repeat it and it goes in the hole. Coaches love good short games because this can be the difference between tournament wins and losses.

7. Don’t make severe changes to your golf swing: When a junior golfer gets to college, his swing is ingrained due to the amount of practice he has put in before he got to college. You should definitely work on your mechanics or other fixes, but making a drastic change is not beneficial to you or your coach.

8. Bond with your teammates: You will be spending four years (ideally) with the 10 or so members on your golf team, so building relationships is very important. Get to know the other members during team downtime or play casual rounds of golf withhem. Good team chemistry is key for team success.

9. Learn how to balance social, golf, and student life: Learning how to do this is important to get the full college experience. It may be difficult at times to balance all three of these, but if you find a happy medium you will likely get all that you want out of college.

10. Most importantly, enjoy college golf: The four years spent in college will be the most fun you ever have. Don’t add any excess pressure on yourself; just go to practice everyday and get things accomplished. This will help insure success for you in your four years as a collegiate athlete.

Being a college golfer is challenging but so rewarding. Go out and play with college golfers and pick their brains about what they suggest for a smooth transition to college. Amateur tournaments such as a State Amateur are also good to play in so you can see where your game stacks up against other collegiate and amateur players in the state. Following these 10 suggestions will help start your college career on the right path. Good luck!