Everything you need to know about Junior Golf Scoreboard

 

What is Junior Golf Scoreboard?

The Junior Golf Scoreboard is an organization that compiles the results of nearly all 36+ hole junior golf tournaments in the United States, as well as select international tournaments, that meet the following criteria:

• scheduled for at least 36 holes of stroke-play competition that is conducted under the USGA rules of golf on a USGA rated golf course,
• has a minimum of 5 competitors that complete all scheduled rounds,
• is played from a minimum of 4,500 yards and not shorter than the forward most USGA rated tees
• is not using a maximum score variation (ie, pick up after double-par), and
• is not using the local rule allowing a drop for out of bounds or lost ball.

Using these results, Junior Golf Scoreboard has a system by which they rank all junior golfers who have played in at least four junior golf tournaments (that meet the criteria above) within the last 365 days. This is the Junior Golf Scoreboard’s primary mission: to rank all competitive junior golfers in the United States.

The rankings are calculated on a national basis — meaning, you can see where a junior golfer ranks relative to all junior golfers in the US — as well as by state and graduation year.

 

How are the rankings calculated?

There are three main criteria, each with a different “weighting” used to determine rankings:

• Individual Scoring:  65% of a player’s ranking calculation.
  • Using each round individually, JGS uses 75% of the player’s lowest round scoring differentials. This is simply the average difference of their individual round scores compared to the USGA rating of the course. Essentially, your worst rounds get tossed out.
• Strength of Field: 25% of a player’s ranking calculation. 
  • JGS uses a proprietary ranking formula that determines a score for all the tournaments played by an individual. Playing a competitive schedule (in the same field as players who are better than you are) helps you.
• Strength of Finish: 10% of a player’s ranking calculation.
  • Computed based on the number of players in the field and the strength of the tournament. Winning, finishing top 5, etc. helps you.

Understanding these three criteria will give you a solid grasp on how the rankings work. There are a few nuances and corner cases that are hard to take into consideration, for example what happens if a player withdraws from an event or gets disqualified. Or how Junior Golf Scoreboard treats events that are shortened due to weather constraints and therefore don’t meet the 36+ hole criteria. JGS has a system in place for dealing with each of these scenarios. If you’re interested in learning more about these situations, check out the Junior Golf Scoreboard website. In my opinion, these instances aren’t worth worrying about too much.

One new factor that the Junior Golf Scoreboard has just started taking into consideration is called the “Course Condition Adjustment”. The CCA is part of the Strength of Field calculation, and basically what it does is look at how the field’s scoring differential compared to what you would expect the players’ in the field to score. For example, if you take the same field of players and have them compete in Florida in July, and then you compare that to how the same field of players would compete in Massachusetts in April, the scoring differentials would be WAY different. The entire field in Massachusetts is going to play worse. That doesn’t mean they are worse players. It’s much more a result of the conditions. So that’s what the CCA tries to take into consideration.

TANGENT: In Australia, this kind of an adjustment is called the “Daily Scratch Rating” and it’s a part of handicap calculation. It works like this… let’s say I go out to play in a competition. For the sake of the example let’s pretend that I’m a 2 handicap. Par for the course is 73 and the course rating is 75. So if conditions are “normal”, and I go out and shoot 77 that means I am “playing to my handicap”…. 

But what if the conditions aren’t normal? What if it’s a really perfect day — no wind, greens are nice and soft? Or what if the weather is crazy — rainy and tons of wind? Surely on those days I shouldn’t be held to the same bar…? This is where the Daily Scratch Rating kicks in. The Daily Scratch Rating is calculated at the end of the round. Taking all players’ scores and handicaps into consideration, on average, how many shots higher or lower did the course play on a given day? On a really difficult day, the Daily Scratch Rating might be 4 shots higher than the course rating. All of a sudden, that means that my 77 isn’t playing to my handicap… it means I’ve just outplayed my handicap by 4 shots! My handicap will go down as a result, even though I technically scored higher than my handicap.

This is the gist of what Junior Golf Scoreboard is trying to accomplish with the Course Condition Adjustment.

One more quick point before getting back to Junior Golf Scoreboard… the concept of a Course Condition Adjustment or Daily Scratch Rating is one that I highly recommend all junior golfers (and their parents) internalize. “A good score,” whatever that means to you, SHOULD vary SIGNIFICANTLY depending on a whole bunch of factors, including weather, time of year, course conditions, even yardage. It’s really important that you don’t define success by some objective measure of score that holds constant. It’s not making excuses, it’s recognizing the real factors that are at play that impact scoring. Ask yourself, “is this extenuating circumstance something that impacts the entire field? If the answer is no, find a way to move on, and if the answer is yes, find a way to deal with that setback or advantage better than everyone else! 

Alright, back to Junior Golf Scoreboard…

 

Why do junior golf rankings matter?

There are three reasons why rankings matter. 

First, it’s comparative and gives you a sense of how you stack up against nationally. I see a lot of kids in the northeast, for example, who are great golfers and think they should have a certain set of college options because of how strong they are locally. But the reality is that there are a lot of junior golfers throughout the country. You might be a big fish in a small pond and not realize it. Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings provide some perspective in this regard.

Second, it’s a fun way to measure your progress! I like and hate rankings as a way to measure progress. I like it because generally speaking, progress is the name of the game — getting better should always be one of your goals. I don’t like it because rankings aren’t totally controllable, and by nature rankings compare you to other people. I always push kids to measure against themselves, not other people. So if you’re like me and you don’t love rankings because of their external comparative nature, focus on trying to improve your differential. That’s a great way to measure your progress throughout a season or from one summer to the next. This completely compares you to yourself.

And third, college coaches use rankings to learn about prospects. As much as I dislike it, a fact of life is that it matters how you stack up to other people. College golf recruiting is a great example of this. Most coaches are looking to recruit two kids each year… and you’d better believe they are looking for the best two kids they can find each year. In this sense, you are directly compared to your peers. So how you quite literally stack up matters. More on how coaches use rankings a bit later.

 

How do I get ranked?

All you need to do is play in four junior golf tournaments that meet the Junior Golf Scoreboard criteria laid out at the start of this post within a 365 day period. You don’t need to report anything to JGS or sign up for a profile — all you have to do is compete in qualifying events.

 

How do I know for sure that a junior golf tournament will be included on Junior Golf Scoreboard?

The simple answer here is to ask the tournament organizer. They should know (and often post on a signup page) whether their results will be included on Junior Golf Scoreboard. The only reason they might not know in advance is because of signup numbers. Some tournaments are meant to be listed but don’t end up receiving the minimum number of participant entries to qualify.

 

How do college coaches use Junior Golf Scoreboard Rankings?

I’ll use myself as an example here. When I was coaching at Harvard, I’d set aside 6-10 hours a week to answer recruiting emails. Yes, 6-10 hours a week. Philosophically, we believed in answering 100% of the emails we received, even emails from students who weren’t qualified. We believed in providing clear feedback to help prospects in their college search, no matter what. Also keep in mind that I was also helping out with recruiting for both the men’s and women’s golf teams. In total I was sorting through a couple hundred emails a week.

I’d sit down at the computer and open up email, our recruiting tracking database, and Junior Golf Scoreboard. My routine was:

Open email. 

Copy prospect’s last name. 

Search for prospect in our database. 

Do we have him/her already? If yes, review. If not, add. 

Search for prospect’s rank within graduating class on Junior Golf Scoreboard.

Update ranking in class in our database.

Click to view scores recorded in Junior Golf Scoreboard.

View results, noting any especially low numbers.

I’d take into consideration a prospect’s class year, where they were from, and how much they were competing. 

Then I would read their email.

And based on all of this information, I’d start to craft a reply. 

Even if an email from a prospect was part of a chain of emails, meaning we’d previously corresponded, I’d still always go through this process. I wanted to see their most recent ranking, as well as recent scores. Which — side note — is why it’s worth sharing all of your results with coaches! We can find them even if you don’t tell us, and it reflects a lot better on you if we hear it from you first. 

All this is to say that Junior Golf Scoreboard was an essential part of how we learned about prospects. The Director of Golf often said that our annual Junior Golf Scoreboard subscription was the best $30 we spent in our whole budget.

Now, you’ll notice that I’ve just shared our process for looking kids up on Junior Golf Scoreboard, but I haven’t talked a ton about the actual rankings themselves. 

 

How do college coaches use junior golf rankings in recruiting?

So, how do coaches really use the rankings themselves? They are good data points and coaches pay attention to that. If a prospect was ranked in the top 100 in their graduating class, we were going to be interested. Top 50, top 10, even more interested. 

But we didn’t stop there. We always dug deeper, looked at the scores/tournaments that contributed to the ranking, looked at the scoring trajectory, and looked for low numbers. And we cared a lot more about low numbers than high ones. Most college coaches feel similarly. Scores matter more than rankings, and it just happens that places like Junior Golf Scoreboard, which ranks junior golfs, also provides some of the best scoring history.

One of the best things you can do for yourself during your junior golf career and recruiting process is to forget about the rankings entirely. If you are working on the right stuff, the rankings will take care of themselves, and at the end of the day, there are other factors that college coaches care about a lot more than rankings.

 

How can I improve my ranking?

While it can be counter-productive to focus too much on rankings, because college coaches use rankings as a factor in the recruiting process, it’s worth putting a little thought into what you can do to maximize your ranking.

Look for one-day events, especially early in the season. Because Junior Golf Scoreboard only includes tournaments that are at least 36 holes, 18-hole tournaments are a “freebie” as far as rankings are concerned. So if it’s early in the season and you’re just getting back into tournament golf, take things slowly. Looking for a single-round event to help you knock off some rust and get back into “tournament mode” if a great strategy.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew. A lot of people think that they need to play in “the best” events in order to have a strong ranking (and get recruited). This just isn’t true. Certainly, playing in AJGA and similar level tournaments are great opportunities to develop your game and get exposure, and if you are a top-level golfer you will want to play in these events at some point. But they get built up a lot, and a lot of people jump into the AJGA before they are ready. This can lead to scores that are uncharacteristically high, which can really do a number on your ranking.

Embrace local events. The biggest factor in the rankings is your score, plain and simple. Because this is the case, one way to boost your ranking is to play in events where you feel really confident in your ability to go low. Local tournaments are often played from shorter yardages, sometimes easier courses, and often courses where you have a greater ability to play a practice round leading up to the event. Plus, the stakes often feel lower at local events, and when you’re relaxed (often paired with friends and people you know well) you tend to shoot lower scores. Add on top of that the fact that limited travel is required and local events offer a fantastic opportunity to improve your ranking (and confidence).

Now from a recruiting perspective, I always advocate for balance. You want to have a mix of tournaments — some where you feel really confident in your ability to go low (and boost ranking) and some where you’ll get great experience and exposure. This is a great combo that will set you up well for continued development of your game as well as a strong ranking and resume of scores to share with college coaches.

The question “what should I play in this [fall/winter/spring/summer]” is one of the most common questions I hear from families. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have this question and want to discuss your situation!

 

Junior Golf Scoreboard is more than just rankings!

In addition to ranking junior golfers and providing scoring history, Junior Golf Scoreboard has some really great additional resources. 

One of my personal favorites is their annual list of college signees and I recently wrote a post about why this list is so helpful.

Throughout the year, Junior Golf Scoreboard compiles a list of where each senior has signed to play their college golf. This list is a great way to learn about what level of play is required to get recruited to play golf at a given school. In fact, these lists, which include each player’s ranking and differential, were part of what inspired the PSACC School & Scholarship Finder. Being able to see the level of play needed to play at a given school is so helpful, and often so elusive. Junior Golf Scoreboard recently added their historical data to this part of their website; you can now view all of the signees from the last 4 years! Be sure to sign up for the School & Scholarship Finder if you want to see how your ranking compares to the rankings of previous junior golfers who have committed to colleges.

 

Conclusion

Junior Golf Scoreboard is a great resource for junior golfers of all ages who want to measure their progress on the national and state level, see how they stack up within their class, get exposure to college coaches, and learn more about college golf recruiting. While being ranked is an important part of getting recruited to play golf in college, coaches care about a lot more than just your ranking! Your scores and your trajectory matter just as much, if not more.