Everything You Need to Know About AJGA Rankings

If you’re a junior golfer, or the parent of a junior golfer, you’re probably familiar with the AJGA and heard mention of AJGA rankings a time or two. In this article, I’ll explain everything you need to know about the AJGA Rolex Ranking system so that you can better navigate junior golf and set yourself up for a more successful recruiting process.

What are the AJGA rankings?

The AJGA Rolex Rankings are a point-based ranking system that allows junior golfers to compare their performance against peers. The rankings are determined by points earned from competing in AJGA tournaments and about a dozen other top national events that are approved and recognized by the AJGA.

Rankings are sorted by gender, and can also be filtered by graduation year and state.

How are AJGA rankings calculated?

The AJGA calculates rankings by assigning points to each event based on the strength of its field and other factors. The more competitive the tournament, the more points that can be earned. The higher you finish within the tournament field, the more points you earn. A player’s total number of ranking points is determined by their best five finishes in tournaments within a 12-month period.

In addition to these five tournaments, players can also earn points for non-tournament activities such as attending AJGA Leadership Links and completing community service projects.

Strategies for improving and building a strong AJGA ranking

This part is pretty straight forward… the best way to improve AJGA rankings is to participate in as many AJGA and other approved events as possible. Playing in more tournaments will give players the opportunity to accumulate more points, which can help increase their ranking.

The obvious challenge is that it can be hard to gain access to AJGA tournaments, and that playing in better events makes it harder to shoot lower scores and have a strong finish within the tournament field.

This is why, for the most part, my advice to junior golfers is to NOT focus on rankings… too much. Yes, they matter to an extent, but there are other factors in your junior golf journey and recruiting process that matter a lot more. More on this later.

But first, let’s talk more about how rankings DO factor into the recruiting process.

How do college coaches use rankings?

I get this question from pretty much every parent. Yes, is the answer. When I was a coach at Harvard, the first thing I did when a prospect emailed was to look up his or her ranking.

The next question parents ask is “which ranking system do coaches care about more ? AJGA? JGS? WAGR? Something else??”

We used Junior Golf Scoreboard. And we liked it because it includes a lot more than just the tournaments that the AJGA recognized. Same for WAGR.

Here’s what I was looking for when I looked up a player’s junior golf ranking:

1. The ranking itself — it’s an easy way to quickly gauge how good someone is.
2. Tournament score — is this a player that can “go low”? Quality of tournament matters somewhat, but not hugely. I wanted to see red numbers.
3. The full list of tournaments a prospect had played — how much is this player competing and did he or she omit any results on his or her resume? That was a bit of a red flag.
4. Quality of events — I wanted to see at least some highly competitive events.
5. Scoring trend — is this a player who is getting better and has potential to keep getting better in college? Can this player bounce back after a difficult round or tournament?

For all of these reasons, JGS rankings tended to be more helpful.

Now, all that said, I know a lot of coaches who care more about AJGA rankings. And their reason is pretty simple — they know that if a player has a good AJGA ranking, they are legit. They don’t need to dive much deeper than that, until they decide to watch a prospect play in person.

What is the difference between AJGA rankings and JGS rankings?

The main difference between AJGA rankings and JGS rankings is that AJGA rankings are based solely on points earned from competing in AJGA tournaments and other top national events that are approved and recognized by the AJGA, while JGS rankings take into account results from all junior golf tournaments meet a slightly different set of factors.

And ultimately, the biggest difference is just how many junior golf tournaments are recognized by JGS.

So while AJGA tournaments are very important in terms of rankings and college recruiting, I find that JGS rankings can provide a better overall view into a junior golfer’s performance and improvement over time.

If you’re interested in learning more about Junior Golf Scoreboard and their ranking calculation, check out my post on Everything You Need to Know About Junior Golf Scoreboard.

Advice for navigating rankings throughout the recruiting process

My best advice is to not let rankings take away from the bigger picture. Yes, they are important and can help you get noticed by college coaches, but focus on improving your game first. When you focus on continuing to improve, you will like what happens to your scores and your ranking. Trust me. The process takes care of the outcome.

College coaches want to see that you are continuing to improve and learn throughout your junior golf journey –– so put in the work, compete in tournaments that are right for your skill level and challenge you, and don’t be too concerned with rankings. Once you have made improvements to your game, then start thinking about which tournaments will give you the best opportunity to continue challenging yourself and climbing the rankings.

And remember that coaches want to see results from all types of tournaments, not just AJGA events.

Play local and regional events that give you the opportunity to sleep in your own bed, practice at your home course, and play courses you know and love. These tournaments also provide you with a great opportunity to go low, build your confidence, and impress college coaches.