Timing (Recruiting)

THE COLLEGE GOLF RECRUITMENT PLAYBOOK: INSIGHTS FROM OVER 50 COACHES

CHAPTER 10 | Timing

This is the tenth chapter in a series on college recruiting. You can find the first nine chapters in the hyperlinks below. All of these posts will be available in full to paid subscribers.

1. The introductory email

2. How to get a coach’s attention

3. Which schools to email

4. Social media

5. Coaches evaluations and perception of skills

6. Parents’ involvement / help with recruiting

7. What is the number one red flag in a recruit?

8. What is the number one mistake recruits make when choosing a school?

9. Open-ended recruiting advice from coaches

10. → Timing ←

11. Summary

    Subscribe now

Timing in your recruiting can be everything. It could be playing in a tournament where the coach from your dream school is in attendance, being paired with a future teammate, making a connection with an alma mater by chance, or posting a swing video on social media that reaches the right people.

We certainly cannot control the timing of our recruiting. There’s some chance involved in the recruiting equilibrium - where the player and the coach both find what they’re looking for. However, there are some general guidelines we can cover on the timing of your recruiting. In this chapter, we’ll discuss a few rules-of-thumb regarding timing in recruiting. The guidelines are very general and fluid and are meant to simply give you a starting-point. All of the scenarios in this chapter revolve around two things:

1. UNDERSTANDING NCAA RULES

2. READING INTO THE COACH’S SITUATION

MORE THAN TWO YEARS OUT

Recruiting in golf used to be less regulated. Coaches couldn't call the youngest prospective student-athletes (PSAs), but they could talk freely if a PSA called them. Recent legislation has changed this. The new contact date is June 15th following your sophomore year. For international players, this means June 15th, two years before college enrollment. For a 2027 high school graduate, coaches can communicate freely starting June 15th, 2025.

Before this date, coaches can still show interest indirectly. They can invite you to camps, send questionnaires, watch you at tournaments, or follow you on social media. They can "like" your posts but not comment or send direct messages. Understanding these limitations is important.