Odds of Getting a Girls Golf Scholarship

I lot of girls playing golf in high school in even younger wonder what the odds are of getting a girls golf scholarship.

Well, there are two ways to answer this question. One is the conventional answer that you might read somewhere (like here) that can be calculated rather straightforwardly. The other is more specific to an individual's current situation and more difficult to calculate, but a figure can be zeroed in on.

First, I'll briefly run through the methodology of the more broad calculation. The most basic way to calculate the odds that a person gets a girls golf scholarship is simply to divide the total number of people with girls golf scholarships by the total number of people. Like this:

Total number of girls golf scholarships / Total number of people = Odds of getting a girls golf scholarship.

This simple calculation is pretty silly for a couple of reasons. The most obvious is that it includes boys (in the "Total number of people") and obviously they're not going to get girls golf scholarships.

So we can immediately improve the relevancy of the results simply by making this quick change:

Total number of girls golf scholarships / Total number of women = Odds of getting a girls golf scholarship.

This is better, but it still leaves a lot to be desired.

At this point we'll start making some assumptions to narrow down the parameters.

For starters let's assume that it's safe to say that nearly all (if not all) of the people who have girls golf scholarships are not only women (obvious), but also played varsity high school golf.

Certainly there could be exceptions and just because a girl didn't play golf for her high school team doesn't automatically exclude her from being allowed to play golf for a college team. There could be a really unusual circumstance where a girl went to a high school that didn't have a golf team, or she just started playing golf when she was 18 and was a miracle phenom.

At any rate, for our calculation purposes let's just narrow the field to females who played varsity golf in high school.

As recently as 2010 it was estimated that there are about 600,000 women playing golf in the US between the ages of 6-17. Obviously only a relatively small percentage of that population actually made the cut (or is old enough) to play on a girls high school varsity golf team.

As a side note: the number of boys in the US playing golf between the ages of 6-17 is about 1.9 million as of 2010. Assuming there are as many boys golf scholarships as girls golf scholarships the figures immediately indicate that it's likely more than three times as hard (based strictly on the sheer volume of competition) to get a golf scholarship as a male than as a female.

Getting back to topic the new equation would look more like this:

Total number of girls who play varsity high school golf / Total number of female golf scholarships = odds of getting a girls golf scholarship

If you want to narrow the parameters even further to suit your own personal situation, you can narrow the fields even more by factoring in a number of points that describe your situation. Some of these factors might include parameters like:

• girls who play varsity high school golf and have a handicap below 5
• girls who play varsity high school golf, have a handicap below 5, and were all-state
• girls who attended golf camps that increased their exposure to college golf coaches

The list goes on and on.

At the end of the day the most important aspect of this exercise isn't to nail down a precise percentage, but to identify the traits that give you the best chance of achieving your goal of getting scholarship money to play golf in college.

The most obvious thing is that the better you are at golf, the better your chances are of getting a scholarship. However, beyond that you might find other attributes while doing your research that can help. Reading this website and getting as much information as possible is a great sign that you're the sort of person who is going to give yourself the optimal chance to succeed.

As was briefly mentioned earlier some other important things you can do simply besides being good at golf involve competing (and doing well) in tournaments, visiting golf camps, getting exposure to coaches, etc.

It's really up to you to market yourself as well as you can. Make it easy for the coaches/recruiters to know you're out there and give them reasons to say yes to you, like by being a good student in addition to being a strong golfer. Show leadership abilities in other organizations, and demonstrate that you're a coachable golfer who would be a great asset to most any college golf team.

Read more...

Golf Scholarships For Girls

Golf scholarships for girls are a blessing for many families trying to save money on college tuition. Fortunately these athletic scholarships exist and are a great find for the parents as well as the children that get to enjoy the financial benefits.

There are actually numerous reasons to go after golf scholarships for girls besides the obvious monetary boost. I'll quickly list a few of those reasons and then go into greater detail about them. If you're simply looking for direct information on how to get in contact with female college golf coaches, looking to understand what score does a girl need to shoot to get a girls golf scholarship or just have general questions like what's the best advice for a girl to improve her golf score all of those questions can be answered in other posts on this blog.

Reasons to be on a college golf team:

1. Scholarship money. This one is obvious but I had to list it first because it's the first thing on most of my readers minds. Dollars pay the bills and although college athletes are amateurs in some since they are getting paid to play their sports in the form of scholarship money that often can equate to saving tens of thousands of dollars a year, and that's before factoring in all the interest that would be paid on student loans over many, many years.
2. Make friends. It's been my experience that the young ladies on college golf teams are generally exceptional women with strong backgrounds. Think about it, these are the sorts of girls that (a) want to go to college, (b) had access to golf growing up, and (c) are strong women with self-confidence as a result in excelling in their sport to the point of being able to play it in college.
3. Future career boost. Lots of businesses rely on relationships and relationship building. A lot of this relationship building is done on the golf course. In the old days it was mostly men, but now women are taking over. Think about the difference from a competitive business standpoint to be a woman who can beat or at least hang with the executive men, or to be the gal that's embarrassing herself on the golf course or missing out on networking opportunities because she's too shy to go out there and play with the boys. Would you rather be the woman that all the executives want on their scramble team or the person relegated to just driving the cart.
4. Job interview ammunition. With so many resumes out there it's hard to stand out. One of the best ways to do so when applying for jobs is to (a) have something that the other applicants don't have on their resumes that catches the interviewers attention and (b) be into the same things as the person hand picking candidates and doing the interviewing. Being a college golf team is an excellent way to nail down points (a) and (b). As a former college athlete myself I can't tell you how many interviews I've been on that where driven conversationally by my experience playing sports in college. Employers doing the hiring like to know that they're getting well rounded people who even more importantly can handle multiple tasks (like school and sports in college), are team players, and can perform under pressure.

I hope you found this post helpful. Feel free to check out the rest of the site and come back soon for regular updates. Hopefully, you'll come across at least one piece of information motivates, sparks a connection, or in just some general way plays a part in living a more enriched life by landing a girls golf scholarship.

Read more...

Girls Golf Scholarships

I was surprised we didn't already have a page on this website called "Girls Golf Scholarships" but it turns out the confusion was because I was thinking of the first post called girls golf college scholarships.

Before I get into the real substance of this post I'd like to point out that the first post on this blog is from back in November of 2009. That means that later this year this blog will reach it's 3 year anniversary of helping young women achieve their goals of getting girls golf scholarships. That's a feat we're quite proud of, and not surprisingly one we bring up at parties or basically any opportunity we get to boast about ourselves and spread the word about the helpful content on this blog. In fact, if you find this information helpful or know either a young female golfer or someone with a daughter interested in golf please do us all a favor and forward or share this information with them. After all, if our message isn't getting out, we're just spinning our wheels.

There are really three main things on the minds of both aspiring college female golfers and their families that want to see them be successful.

1. Can you get money for college by playing girls golf
2. How good to you have to be at golf to get money for college
3. How can I get good enough to get a golf scholarship for girls

Interestingly, as we've outlined in other parts of this blog there are lots of girls golf scholarships unused every year. This is because despite the fact that the game is a great lifetime sport, there are typically more available spots that go unused than are actually filled.

A big reason why so many girls golf scholarships go unused is because not everyone has access to golf courses on a regular basis. It stands to reason that almost everyone can compete in a sport like track and field or find a basketball hoop somewhere, but golf not only requires expensive equipment and access to golf courses (generally also expensive), but countless dollars spent on driving range balls, possibly money spent on professional coaching from golf pros at local courses, etc.

It's a great game, but no one is arguing that it's cheap. Certainly, it can be done in an affordable manner for most household budgets, but compared to some other sports there are clearly more barriers to entry.

In some parts of the country and in society in general golf isn't considered a cool sport for kids to play. Tiger Woods changed that to some extent, but Tiger has aged and his indiscretions off the course have made him even less popular with America's youth today, and particularly young women.

Are America's best female athletes playing golf?

Not really. However, all that means is that it can be easier to excel in this sport because the competition is lighter. It's like the old saying that "the fishing is best where no one else is fishing." While there are certainly some flaws in the logic in this old saying the gist is that it's easier to thrive in environments or places that have less competition.

Is there more competition for a girl's basketball scholarship than a girl's golf scholarship?

Yes. Because more girls are playing basketball. However, the actual value in terms of scholarship money to a college or university is the same whether a young lady is playing basketball or golf.

Those are just some things to keep in mind. Please come back to visit this blog for more information and continuous updates.

Read more...

Best Advice For Getting A Girls Golf Scholarship

Practice everything from 100 yards and in.

That's the best way to quickly improve your score aka the bottom line.

Read more...

Golf Scholarships For Girls

A lot of people ask what score does a girl have to shoot to get a college golf scholarship?

The short answer is, it depends.

So what does it depend on? Well, the short answer to that question is that it depends on a number of factors.

Okay, I'll stop playing a game of semantics and get right to the point and tell you exactly what you want (and NEED) to hear.

Basically, there's a difference between the lowest golf score you've ever shot and being able to consistently shoot well, especially when the pressure is on. College golf teams don't just want to head someone tell them how low of a score they shot one time, they want to see actual results from tournaments and things of that nature.

It's no secret that almost every girl with a college golf scholarship played on her high school golf team. In reality this isn't that much different than getting a basketball scholarship or when boys get football scholarships (yes - I know there have been a few female college kickers).

In short, you need to impress with consistently good scoring in tournament conditions (and without the help of the occasional foot wedge).

In addition to the actual final number on your scorecard after it's tallied and signed universities will consider how difficult the courses you're playing on are. Not surprisingly slope rating is factored into the equation because someone who can shot par on an incredible easy course might actually struggle to break 100 on an extremely challenging course.

In addition to actual scoring you can do other things to improve your odds like network and demonstrate your friendly demeanor and willingness to be coached. Of course your actual golfing ability and potential will carry the most weight in the eyes of women's college golf coaches, but keep in mind that there are lots of girls competing for these spots who put up similar scores to yours. The difference maker, whether you like it or not, could come down to your personal connections and personality. Teams need leadership and they don't need cancerous attitudes that make things harder on teammates. Coaches are aware of and look for these things. It makes there teams better and their jobs easier.

Being a well-rounded person with good grades, solid test scores, and an involvement in other activities will help your college applications in general. I'm not saying you need to be the president of your high school chess team, because again your actual golfing ability is what'll earn you a spot on a team.

I'll close by saying that the golf score you need to shoot to get a college scholarship varying depending on the college. Obviously the colleges competing for Division-I national championships are going to require a lower score and higher caliber of golfer than lower tier colleges on the collegiate golf totem pole.

Generally to go to the most competitive schools you'll need to shoot around par and maybe have a handicap of around 2.

Read more...