Understanding the NCAA Recruiting Calendar

For most of us, it’s an overarching challenge to know all of the NCAA rules and understand how they apply to junior golfers and college coaches alike.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

WATCH VIDEO (5min)  

Here’s what you need to know:

• The recruiting calendar (below) and associated NCAA rules are for Division 1 Men’s Golf ONLY.

• Women’s Golf does not have a recruiting dead period. Therefore many Women’s Coaches will recruit at events like the Dixie Amateur, Orange Bowl, Doral Publix, Orlando Amateur, Silver Belle, the Sally, and Honda Jr.

• The NCAA restricts D1 Coaches from:

  • Evaluating prospects in tournament competition

  • Inviting prospects to campus for official & unofficial visits.

• These restrictions currently only take place during the months of November and December each year.

• Phone Calls, Zoom Meetings, DM’s/Messages, and Emails are allowed at any time!

What does the typical calendar look like for a college golf team?

Fall Semester:

• End of August: Begin Classes, Team Meetings, Qualifying

• September-October: NCAA “In-Season”, typically most college golf teams travel to play the entirety of their Fall schedule, 4 or 5 events, in September & October

• November: Most College programs are considered “out of season” as soon as they finish their final event of the Fall. During this time, teams can only have 8 hours of regulated practice, team meetings, and workouts (compared to 20+ hours in-season)

• December: Exams and Christmas Break.

Spring Semester:

• January: Begin Classes Mid-January, “out of season” practice

• February/March: College Teams go “in-season” at different times, which usually depends on the timing of the Team’s 1st event in the Spring season and the location of the school geographically. Most northern schools, start their Spring schedule a bit later due to weather limitations but there are many Power-5 & top Mid-Major programs that travel South to practice and compete in states like FL, CA, TX, and HI during the months of January and February.

• March/April: College Teams compete on Spring Break and typically play 4-5 regular season events in their Spring Schedule, not including their conference tournament, which typically takes place at the end of April.

• May: Exams, NCAA Regionals, and beginning of summer break

• June: NCAA Nationals, summer recruiting begins

Key dates for the 2023-2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Recruiting Calendar:

Nov 6-9 - Dead Period for NLI Signing Week 📝

Nov 23-26 - Dead Period for Thanksgiving 🦃

Nov 27-Dec 22 - Quiet Period 🤫

*Dec 5-7 - Evaluation Period only at AJGA Senior Showcase, otherwise Dead Period

Dec 23- Jan 1 - Dead Period for Christmas 🎅🏼

Terms to Remember

- Contact Period(s) - Coaches can have in-person, off-campus meetings with prospects as well as invite them on campus for Official or Unofficial visits

- Quiet Period(s) - Coaches can make in-person contact with a prospect but it has to be on the school’s campus. During this time, coaches can NOT evaluate prospects in tournaments or meet with them otherwise off-campus

- Dead Period(s) - Coaches can NOT make contact on or off-campus with prospects. Campus visits of any kind and tournament evaluations are NOT allowed during this time

2023-2024 Recruiting Calendar for Division 1 Men’s Golf

** Additional considerations -

- Women’s NCAA D1 Golf doesn’t have a recruiting calendar, but each year National Signing Week is also a Dead Period for D1 Coaches in Women’s golf. Women’s Coaches are not restricted in December.

- December 5-7th is an evaluation period in conjunction with the AJGA Senior showcase and the GCAA Coaches Convention in Las Vegas. This is an annual exception to allow D1 Coaches to evaluate prospects during tournament play.

- Tournaments like the Jones Cup Junior or Doral First Tee Open are during the Quiet period in December. This means D1 Coaches will NOT be in attendance. Tournaments like the Jr. Orange Bowl moved to January specifically for this reason.

We hope this article helps you understand the yearly NCAA restrictions and positively impacts your scheduling decisions during the holiday months for campus visits and tournaments.

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#ncaagolf #ncaarecruiting #recruitingcalendar #recruitingdeadperiod #ajgaseniorshowcase #collegegolfcoaches

Thanks for reading,

Michael J. Smith

Founder, ForeCollegeGolf

ForeCollegeGolf is a college placement and recruiting business where Mike aims to apply his background in competitive golf and recruiting education to help educate players, their families, and coaches about the college recruiting process.  



If you have any questions about the article above, any feedback, an article idea you would like to provide; you can contact us at mike.smith@forecollegegolf.com or www.ForeCollegeGolf.com.

PGA Tour U: “A Pathway to the Pro’s”

Since 2020, golf has had a new meaning at the collegiate level. 

The PGA Tour has recognized that success at the elite level of college golf is a strong indicator of a player’s potential as a professional. Therefore, the PGA Tour has made major moves to open these opportunities to college golfers as it battles with LIV golf.

Going forward, the Top PGA Tour U Player will earn a PGA Tour membership, and the Top 5 college Seniors in the country will earn Korn Ferry Tour status and have a realistic chance of streamlining their way to the PGA Tour within a few months of finishing college, the Top20 players will have “status” on a PGA affiliated tour.

College golf is EVOLVING right in front of our eyes.

ELIGIBILITY, REQUIREMENTS & RANKING

• A player must compete in NCAA D1 

• A player must complete all 4 years in college (Outdated in 2022) ***New as of Nov 2022: Underclassmen, can now earn PGA Tour membership through a new program called PGA Tour University ‘Accelerated’. Players will accumulate ‘points’ as underclassmen, if 20 points are earned by the end of their 3rd year of NCAA Eligibility, they will immediately be eligible for the PGA Tour.

• A player must compete in at least 9 events in each of their final 2 years of college, 18 total 

• Only Seniors will be eligible for the traditional PGA Tour U ranking each year.

• All collegiate players in D1 will be eligible for PGA Tour U Accelerated

• Official Ranking – based on WAGR #’s, weightings TBD

  • Counting Events – College events and PGA Tour Events, including majors

  • Non-Counting Events – other Amateur events & non-PGA

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

A. Winner of PGA Tour U - PGA Tour membership and eligible for all open, full-field events after the NCAA Championship in May, starting with the RBC Canadian Open

B. Finish Top 5 – Korn Ferry status, exempt into 8-9 open full-field events, starting the NCAA Championship thru the final event of the current year Korn Ferry Tour, players will also be exempt into the final stage of Q-School (if needed)

C. Finish 6-10 – Conditional Korn Ferry status

D. Finish 11-20 - Earn status on PGA Tour Canada/Latino America and also exempt thru 2nd stage of Q-School (if needed)

Here’s an example of the point structure:

• Haskins Award - Most Outstanding Collegiate golfer - 3 points

• Hogan Award - GCAA award for outstanding play and academics - 3 points

• Nicklaus Award - Best ranked player in college golf - 3 points

• Mickelson Award - Most outstanding freshman - 2 points

• WAGR ranking - Up to 5 points for the Top 5 best career rank

• Individual Tournament Wins - US Amateur, NCAA Individual Championship, Western Am, British Am, & others - up to 3 points

• Team Appearances - Walker Cup (2pts), Palmer Cup, World Am Team Championship

• Top Finishes in Major events or PGA Tour events -

  • Top20 in a Major - 2 points

  • Compete in a Major - 1 point

  • Top-10 Finish in Tour Event - 1 point

  • Made Cut - 1 point

• Therefore, if a player were to finish T-12 in the 2023 US Open, he would earn 4 points. 1 point for competing, 1 point for a made cut, and 2 points for a Top-20 finish.

According to the PGA Tour, since 2010, only 5 players would have earned membership thru PGA Tour Accelerated: Can you guess them?

• Patrick Cantlay at UCLA

• Justin Thomas at Alabama

• Patrick Rodgers at Stanford

• Gordon Sargent at Vanderbilt (Class of 2025)

• Luke Clanton at Florida State (Class of 2026

Additional Note: In our transfer portal article, we noted Eugeno Lopez-Chacarra who transferred from Wake Forest to Oklahoma State and now is seeing success playing as a rookie for LIV Golf.

WHAT ARE OTHERS SAYING?

“It’s an exciting opportunity for college players to be able to earn some professional status because of good play on the course. Over the last few years, it’s clear that the top college players have games that can compete on tour so it’s nice they will be given an opportunity to compete in events without having to qualify or wait until the fall for Q-school. I think it’s definitely a great move by the PGA tour.” Corey Connors, PGA Tour Player, Kent State University (2014)

“Looking back, PGA Tour U could have saved me 4 or 5 years getting to the PGA tour. The inclusion of PGA Tour U is a great move by the Tour and I fully support the idea of opening up the Korn Ferry Tour to top college Seniors, but obviously, some tweaks and adjustments will need to be made as we progress forward. PGA Tour U will hopefully take an unbiased approach instead of only handing out exemptions to players with the strongest connections or the most qualified agents.” Dylan Frittelli, PGA Tour Player, University of Texas (2011)

“I love the new PGA Tour U program. Rewarding the best college golfers will bring a new level of excitement to the Korn Ferry Tour and ultimately the PGA Tour, faster than ever. College golf is very strong, and college teams regularly play PGA Tour course setups. Yes, the Mid-Major players will need to win more head-to-head matchups and take advantage of weaker fields in college golf but ultimately the best players, regardless of their conference, will rise to the top” Lanto Griffin, PGA Tour Player, VCU (2010)

OTHER PATHWAYS TO THE PGA TOUR

· Korn Ferry Tour 

· Korn Ferry Q-School 

· PGA Tour Latino America

· PGA Tour Canada - Mackenzie 

· PGA Tour China

· Sponsor’s Exemptions

· European Tour

· Challenge Tour

· Other tours across the world 

In the past, we’ve seen a trend of top college players leaving college, vanishing from the spotlight, then emerging on the big stage a few years later. This is mainly because of the complexity and difficulty of the PGA Tour qualifying process. In most cases, players start with little or no status and have to work their way up on the smaller tours or go thru Korn Ferry pre-qual, 1st, 2nd, and final stage for qualifying “school”.

This particular trend has become a real concern for college coaches, many of whom have players questioning whether they should forgo their final year(s) of college in lieu of starting their pro careers at an earlier age. 

While it’s too early to tell if the emergence of the new ranking will put more focus on the top college golfers and keep them in school for 4 years, I believe this is a great move by the PGA Tour and will prove to be advantageous for the up and coming stars of the next generation and their pathway to the PGA Tour. 

Thanks for reading, 

Michael J. Smith

Founder, ForeCollegeGolf

ForeCollegeGolf is a college placement and recruiting business where Mike aims to apply his background in competitive golf and recruiting education to help educate players, their families, and coaches about the college recruiting process.

If you have any questions about the article above, any feedback, an article idea you would like to provide; you can contact us at mike.smith@forecollegegolf.com or www.ForeCollegeGolf.com

Taking the Final Step ... Signing the NLI (National Letter of Intent)

The second Wednesday in November is always a special day for high school seniors, many prospective student-athletes, and families across the globe.

This day signifies the opening of the National Letter of Intent (NLI) signing window and the first-day high school seniors can sign the NLI for college golf. Most of the top nationally-ranked junior players sign an NLI very early during the signing period.

Typically, these student-athletes have made verbal commitments to coaches anywhere from six months to a year prior to signing. 

National Letter of Intent

With the current NCAA rules and legislation, prospective collegiate golfers can sign the NLI anytime between the 2nd Wednesday in November until August 1st before they enroll at a college or university.

What is the NLI?  

The National Letter of Intent is a legally binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution. D1 & D2 athletes typically sign the NLI to formally STOP the recruiting process with other schools. D3 & NAIA schools do NOT sign the NLI, instead, they sign a “celebratory form,” which is non-binding. It’s also important to remember that the NLI is a one-year agreement and most scholarships will be renewed year-after-year.

What you need to know about signing the NLI…

• Only High School Seniors sign the NLI

• The NLI Signing Period is a “window” that begins on the 2nd Wednesday in November and stays open through August 1 of the following summer 

• NLI is a legal, binding 1yr agreement between the SCHOOL and the player, not a Coach and player 

• Only D1&D2 athletes receiving athletic scholarship will sign the NLI 

• Walk-ons & non-scholarship athletes will NOT sign the NLI 

• D3 athletes will NOT sign the NLI, instead they sign what’s called a “celebratory form” 

• Players have 7 days after receipt to sign the NLI 

• Players need to be registered (not certified) with the NCAA Eligibility Center before signing the NLI 

• Signing the NLI will officially “stop” your recruiting process 

Interestingly enough, once the top prospects sign their NLI each year, a “domino effect” begins when other schools, who may have missed out on securing their top prospects, will offer the remaining uncommitted players, creating new recruiting opportunities for players who have yet to commit.  

For this reason, it’s important to stay patient during the recruiting process and ultimately select the best-fit school, rather than rushing into a decision. Remember, choosing the right school is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life and it will have a significant impact on your future. Be patient, make informed decisions, and choose the school that best-fits your goals and priorities and one where you are confident that you can succeed both athletically and academically. 

Hear what College Coaches are saying…

For our program at North Georgia, the NLI allows us to have the security and satisfaction of securing a student-athlete, many of which we have spent a great deal of time recruiting. The process, although extended now, allows us at the D2 level to find any prospects that may be “late bloomers” or “falling through the cracks” and haven’t committed. After we sign who we target, we turn our focus to future classes. Signing the NLI early allows us to develop closer relationships with the guys we’ve signed. Coach Bryson Worley, North Georgia (D2), Head Coach

Signing an NLI is a major accomplishment for any athlete and should be celebrated. It’s exciting for both the player and the school on what lies ahead. The NLI marks the start of a new level of competition, hard work and dedication for an athlete. It is a reward for the success already achieved and the promise of what’s to come. Coach Carter Cheves, James Madison University (D1), Head Coach

Overall, our process at Furman officially closes the book on the incoming recruiting class. As Coaches, we can then move on to recruit the next graduating class. However, the transitional process to recruit the next class typically begins when we receive our last verbal commitment for the prior recruiting class. At Furman, we take our verbal commitments extremely seriously and the student-athletes we recruit operate that way as well, but the NLI signing day does take that necessary next step in the commitment between a school and an athlete. More than anything, it is a day to celebrate the incoming players for that recruiting class and publicly welcome them to your program. It’s a memorable day in the process for coaches and students. Coach Matt Davidson, Furman University (D1), Head Coach

 For us, the NLI is relatively new only having athletic scholarships for the past three years. Signing the NLI has been a game-changer for the Eckerd program. Having signed players brings better players to the program. I’ve lost too many players over the years because of lack of scholarship and have relied on walk-ons for so many years with random results. Coach Bill Buttner, Eckerd College (D2), Head Coach

Contact us if you would like us to provide an assessment on your current situation or qualified advice regarding commitments and NLI signings in college golf.

Many thanks for reading,

Mike

Michael J. Smith

Founder, ForeCollegeGolf

Mike Smith is the founder of ForeCollegeGolf, a college placement and recruiting business where he applies his background in competitive golf and recruiting education to help educate players, their families, and coaches about the college recruiting process. 

If you have any questions about the article above, any feedback, an article idea you would like to provide; you can find me at mike.smith@forecollegegolf.com or www.ForeCollegeGolf.com.

Prepare like a “Pro” for Practice Rounds

Arnold Palmer once said “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening - and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.”

At ForeCollegeGolf, we believe that golf is an extremely variable risk-aversion game.

Let’s break that down…

The conditions of golf courses are extremely variable, and we rarely see the same shot twice, ever! Our competitive environment (golf course) is very different from our practice environment (driving range), and therefore, we shouldn’t treat them the same.

Risk aversion explains how the best players can recognize a risk and how to make the proper decision in each moment. Making the proper decision isn’t only about being informed, it’s about being disciplined. The best players have learned to implement proper strategy under pressure, time and time again. It doesn’t matter if you are a junior golfer or a tour pro, establishing a solid game plan and a strategy should be a top priority because it’s one of the most overlooked areas of performance!

Playing a practice round while being hyper-aware of a few things will allow you to create an effective game plan for each tournament, have more confidence going in, and be more ready to handle the pressure, stress, and nerves of competition. Additionally, if players create purposeful preparation habits early on in their junior golf career, they will be more prepared for higher-level events on even harder golf courses in the future.

·       Do you go into tournaments second-guessing your strategy?

·       Do you feel like you forget everything you learned in your practice round?

·       Do you feel unprepared after only seeing the course one time?

·       Do you think you could gather better information, like a tour caddie?

Tour pros have caddies that scope out the conditions of the course over a few days, sometimes even a few weeks, before the event begins. These professional caddies gather as much quality information as possible to give their player a slight edge during competition. Fractional shots matter here, so hitting one more fairway or one more green or taking one less penalty stroke could mean the difference of winning and losing. Caddies are hyper-aware of things like the firmness of the greens, pin locations, landing areas, and expected weather conditions for the week. Commonly, you will see them on the golf course testing ground conditions, rolling putts to see the break of the green, or testing things like rough depth or sand density. Caddies also set up drills, practice training stations, carry gear or prepare their player with things like towels, gloves, food, hydration, etc. The best players/caddies understand that shaving 1 shot off their scoring average could mean the difference between being 50th on the money list and 126th and losing their Tour card each year, essentially keeping or losing their job.

So how can we “Prepare Like a ‘Pro’…with a Tour Caddie”? Here are some simple, yet often overlooked, ideas to incorporate BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER your practice rounds:

Before the Practice Round

·       Order a yardage book (w/ USGA green maps) – Puttview or Strakaline are great options

·       Use Google Maps or Google Earth to view the general layout of the course, shape of the holes, greens, and landing areas off the tee.

• Make initial measurements for “boundaries” (distance between penalty areas at your carry distance) and fairway widths. Pencil-in these measurements into your yardage book for reference during the practice round.

• Write down which clubs you’ll be hitting into the Par 3’s and 4’s and begin to consider the risk/reward tradeoff is on the Par 5’s.

·       Check the prevailing wind direction and weather forecast for the week ahead and be sure to monitor it as the tournament gets closer.

·       Pre-round workout, warm up, and stretch!

Day of the Practice Round

·       Full workout, warm-up, and stretch. Just like you plan to warm-up on tournament day.

·       Check the wind for the day and compare it to the predicted wind for the next few tournament days.

·       Test the speed/break of the greens with a digital level to confirm what your eyes are seeing (or feet are feeling).

·       Keep your yardage book handy to confirm specific targets and where the widest “landing zone” is off the tee.

·       Locate the proposed hole locations or “dots” for the tournament rounds and ask yourself “based on the approach shot yardage and foreseeable challenges, where should I aim and where do I want my ball to end up?” (Short left of a back right hole location OR add 3 yards to the shot because of a deep bunker)

·       Games/Ideas: 

• Full Swings:

  • Hit a shot or two from the rough, fairway bunker, and/or green side bunkers during the practice round to ensure you are comfortable with the effect these conditions may have on the golf ball. PGA Tour average is 9 FWRY’s and 12 GIR’s per round, prepare for the unexpected!

  • Play worst ball on the 3 easiest tee shots, and best ball on the 3 hardest tee shots

  • After you hit your approach shots, walk up to the green and observe your surroundings

  • Write down each approach shot you hit, how far it went, and the wind direction. This extra information may become useful in subsequent rounds.

• Around the green:

  • Spend most of your time on & around the greens establishing a feel for the firmness and speed of the greens.

  • Locate a proposed hole location that’s close to the edge of the green (within 5yds) and hit 30+ ft speed putts on the “fat side of the flag” and hit difficult chip shots on the “short-side”. Watch how chips/pitches react on their first bounce.

  • Use a digital level or the TourRead app to measure slopes near hole locations, while testing your green reading.

After the Practice Round

·       Take a break to refresh, relax, and have a meal/shower

·       Reflect on your experiences that day and ask yourself:

• What did you do WELL?

• What could you have done BETTER?

• How will you do it BETTER next time?

·       Review your gameplan from before the practice round and ask yourself: Do I need to make any adjustments to my yardage book or gameplan? i.e. Club changes off tees, targets, spots to “miss” around the greens”, tricky hole locations)

·       Create a final game plan off the tee by knowing the “boundaries” (distance between penalty areas) for par 4s and par 5s, and pick SPECIFIC targets for YOUR desired landing area, preferred shot shape, and tee location, especially on holes with potential hazards/doglegs. Tee shot “boundaries” on some holes may be fairly wide (80+ yds) and not include much risk, while other landing areas may be narrow (less than 40yds wide) and include deep bunkers, penalty areas, and/or doglegs requiring a much more risk-averse strategy.

Best of luck in preparation for your upcoming events, please reach out to us if you have any questions about the above information or if you have any ideas, games, or prep techniques that YOU would be willing to share with ForeCollegeGolf.

Mike, President & Founder, ForeCollegeGolf