One of the many great aspects about College Golf Camps®is the information you receive from college coaches and industry experts. Junior golfers and parents have the amazing opportunity to listen and learn about so many different topics including NCAA guidelines, raising junior golfers, reaching peak performance, swing instruction, etc. One of the topics frequently raised is “how to contact college coaches?” What are the NCAA rules, when should you contact them, etc.
It’s a complicated world we live in. Junior Golf families complicate it even more by trying to create the “perfect” email or the “perfect” resume or even better the “perfect” golfer. You already know this, however we are here to tell you that “perfect” doesn’t exist in golf. So, since we are not telling you anything you don’t already know, in terms of “perfect”. Here are 4 basic components that your emails need to include when contacting college golf coaches.
Always attempt to KEEP IT SIMPLE
#1 – Who are you?
Coaches need to know your name, year of graduation, home state, email and contact phone. Every email you ever send a coach should include those 5 basic points. They don’t need to know you started playing golf at age 2 or that you dream of playing college golf or that your daddy was the club champ since 1993….some things are obvious, right? At some point, you will need to share more information like GPA, SAT/ACT scores, etc. Until then, send those 5 basic points, ALWAYS!
#2 – Indicate that you’re paying attention
Let us be the first to tell you that MASS emails or copying and pasting are not attractive. General emails to coaches typically go right to the circular file…….For example, coaches often get emails addressed to the wrong coach or a different university….not good…..So, take five minutes and research how the team is doing and where they are going. You need to indicate to the coach that you have a significant interest in their school, not just playing college golf. For example, “Coach, I noticed y’all played Shady Oaks GC last week, I played a qualifier there last year, amazing golf course, love the history of Ben Hogan.” or “Coach, congratulations on the high finish last week in South Carolina, I can’t wait to help a college team win a tournament.”
This simple statement demonstrates that you have a intimate interest in that University and the golf program.
#3 – Where you’re going
Coaches need to know what tournaments and golf camps you’re attending. Not because they intend to change their whole summer schedule. But they might be attending a tournament or camp that you happen to be participating in. We don’t suggest you send your whole summer schedule at one time, but rather send the month of June and then in another email send the month of July, etc. This demonstrates that you’re organized and forecasting. For example, “Coach, I will be playing in the AAAA Junior Golf Tournament in Dallas next month, this is only a few miles from your campus, I look forward to stopping by to introduce myself.” or “Coach, I just signed up for College Golf Camps®in Dallas next month, I notice you’re one of the coaches attending the camp, I am looking forward to meeting you.” Or whatever, make sense?
#4 What are you working on?
You’re not perfect, coaches know that you’re not perfect and you should not try to be perfect. Let the coach know what you’re working on. Tell them quickly, what you do well, what you need to do better and how you’re doing it. For example, “Coach, I have really gained a lot of distance with the driver over the past year. However, my accuracy has gone down a bit. Currently my instructor and I are tightening up my swing and looking at different shafts to get a tighter dispersion without losing my distance. He has me in a Oban White Shaft with a quarter inch tip. He also has focused on getting my chest through the ball, almost swinging left to help prevent a hard hook. I am excited for the added distance and continue to work hard finding that accuracy.” Again, be transparent, you’re not perfect, but communicate that you have a plan for improvement.
#keepcalmandplaycollegegolf
