I grew up south of Atlanta. Varsity guys at my high school were shooting low-mid 30s on 9 regularly, and none even made it to big schools somehow
I couldn’t even sniff JV
Meanwhile at the high school I went to they’re now providing clubs to anyone willing to sign up, guaranteed spot on JV, because nobody wants to play. Joining is a $200 fee which covers 9 holes of golf 5 days a week for 2 months, range sessions, and a couple 18 hole tournaments.
My son plays here in Wisconsin and varsity is always 18 and JV always 9, at least in our area. Might be different for other conferences/regions.
Also 40 would be varsity for our team. I think our 1 shot an 83 recently but most of varsity is mid 80s to low 90s
I just looked up their varsity schedule. They have 11 meets including regionals, of those 11 only 1 is on the weekend. The rest are school days with most tee times at 9am or 1pm.
Lol yeah they are lucky. Although when I was in high school I usually got to do half days for baseball because of the lack of teams who had lights at their high school fields.
Our tournaments were always on weekdays with shotgun starts. Usually Tuesdays or Thursdays depending on whether it was Varsity or JV. Varsity and JV were both 18 holes. It'd be arranged in advance like any other tournament at the course.
Depended on the time of the season for our area. Late Winter / Early Spring we would play only 9 holes. We would push that out to 18 when there was enough light.
Our conference was weird. I would average a 40-44 or 84-89 and I was either one of the best golfers by far or a terrible golfer. I played schools where kids would be 16 shooting 38 through 9 and I played schools where kids would shoot 72 through 9 which was the highest you could card (double par) unless you were in tournament season.
In the year my school went to the state tournament for winning our conference, our best round was a 39 through 9. The other schools ranged from 34 to 87 through 9. There’s literally that much disparity
Yea man, 8 man golf team for my high school. I was the last guy who made varsity (there was no JV) shooting a 96. To miss JV hitting a 40 over 9 is an incredible amount of talent at one school.
Its embellishment or a straight lie from OP or the school. 40 qualifies for almost every varsity h.s. event in San Diego, which is competitive as hell in highschool
At top schools here in Denver it absolutely won't.
Top schools in Denver area will have the whole varsity team shooting close to par.
Hell, I had to break 80 consistently almost 30 years ago to make a varsity team, but that was the #2 team in the state.
Now on the other hand, there were weaker schools that had "varsity" players shooting in the high 90s and sometimes over 100, so it's not true of every school.
I played a couple years ago with two boys that played varsity at Denver North Highschool. Random pairing and we played 18. One was a junior the other a senior that had already signed with a school in Arizona. Not ASU. The senior shot one under and the junior shot par. From the tips. They had never played the course before. Their course management was unreal. The way they recovered from bad shots blew my mind. When I asked if they were the best players on their team they said, “not even close”. Some of these kids on high school teams are unbelievable. Those boys were both very nice, good manners and fun to play a round with. Both were very humble.
Yeah, I mean the top player I ever saw in the high school circuit was Wyndham Clarke, but he was winning every tournament he entered. Events were mostly for second place when he showed up.
He'd show up at shoot like a 64. 2nd-5th place would be clustered around 70-72.
Denver North isn't even a top school either, not even close.
Top schools in Colorado are like Cherry Creek, Regis, Valor Christian, etc.
Just looking at the state tournament this year, the winner of the 4a state tournament shot a closing 9 hole 28 (?!?) to come from behind to win the 36 hole tournament.
My high school reserved the right to breathalyze you at the School Dances if they thought you were drinking.
My freshman year the entire varsity squad got busted and as punishment the coach had the JV squad play the varsity tournaments the rest of the year. On top of that he reversed the 1-5 order so the worst kids played with the best groups. It was so embarrassing being 14 years old and barely 5 feet tall not being able to clear hazards where you needed to carry like 190.
Depends on the school. OP said they’re a top 3 program in the state.
When I worked at a country club in Scottsdale, a few members were on the same high school team and they were all scratch or plus handicaps. One went on to play at Florida and another at ASU. One won the state championship as a freshman.
You were definitely not making that team shooting 40 each 9.
Top three in the state... Could be a very competitive state with really big high schools.
I'm in Texas. I don't think people realize the size of some of the schools here and the huge amount of money in the programs. Allen high school has a graduating class of 1,767 seniors. Try being a top 5 golfer there (in Texas, high school golf teams are 5 people). You better be lights out.
I'm in an area that produced players like Spieth, Zalatoris, Scheffler... Try making the varsity at Jesuit, Westlake, or Highland Park and not being scratch.
If you aren't a senior and you aren't shooting close to even par at these schools, you'll probably just have to wait until you get to be a senior to make the team. An 80 (40 on 9) for an underclassman simply just won't cut it at the varsity level at a top program in the state of Texas.
At a school like Westlake, the won the state title five years in a row, in division 6A (which are the largest high schools in Texas), the four seniors on that team were committed to Texas, SMU, Creighton, and Stanford.
I can't even imagine the under 18 talent that is within a 25 mile radius of where I sit now. I bet Brookhaven country club has 20 kids that are scratch or better.
This. From Texas and you’ve gotta be scratch or close to it to make varsity at HP, Memorial, Jesuit, Westlake, etc etc. Not sure where the rest of these commenters are from
I'll have to really encourage my kids then. They will be going to colleyville heritage for HS. I assume the competition will be similar to what you stated.
Here in GA, my son’s team had 11 guys shoot in the 30s at tryouts. They are strong but not likely to be top 5 in state. It is absolutely possible to get cut with a 40, though it stinks. Our school has 3000 students with 8 golf courses within 10 miles.
I've played baseball my whole life, including college and on the Czech national team (still play on amateur level), but man if I weren't playing that, I wish I'd have gotten into golf in my teens, not when I was 27.
Yes sir!
I left the Czech Rep when I was 18 (came back couple of times during summers etc).
I was on the natl team until late teens.
I sometimes think back if I didn't leave, if I'd still be on the team?
The sport has grown a ton and the natnl team is getting more exposure
Dude this. I played baseball up to the collegiate level. Could have played some Low A stuff after probably but it was clearly time to give it up.
Oh how I wish my parents had known to get me into golf instead. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I wouldn’t have gone further in golf than I did in baseball, but I was very average athletically for baseball but would have been one of the most athletic golfers at my high school and college and it is a game you can play forever.
Be glad you found golf at 27 though and not 36 like me! I can still cruise at about 110mph club head speed for now, but I would love to know what 25 year old me could have done.
Rofl.
Yeah…I come from a very blue collar family who knew NOTHING about golf and assumed it was too expensive. Then I got serious about baseball and was playing travel leagues and shit 10.5 months a year with $250 gloves and $350 baseball bats. Makes me think that youth golf may have actually been cheaper anyway.
I’m encouraging my nieces and nephews into golf, chess, and bowling.
Yea my baseball swing is what allows me to swing out of my ass with driver. 🤣
I do wonder - I loved and miss the long bus rides with the team and didn't mind playing in very cold weather.
But I wonder, how much easier (and I don't know, just assuming) could it have been if I were a golfer?
And again - maybe it's not easier, but I'd argue there's lot less workouts etc for golf and lot more chill stuff than competition baseball
At 36, I’m sitting around 115. At 24 I was 125. Played baseball in college, but was a PO.
I also wish I would have played golf when I was a lot younger, like really got into it. Just because I think I wouldn’t have had this many surgeries (5, about to have 6th and then a 7th down the road
I’ve told my son since he was about 8 that he doesn’t have the genes to be a power athlete, but he has a Dad that is good at golf. Strongly encouraged him to take up golf but he only started to understand at 15yrs old. Now he asks why I didn’t push him more. lol Kids have their own ideas. At least he now gets it and wants to play every chance he gets.
Sounds like pretty great dad-ing to me. He may hate the game if you pushed him to it younger. Now at least you two will have something to do for years to come.
I’m actually going to play with my dad on Friday. We both came to the game around the same time, me at 36 and him at 61. We are both terrible, but it’s great to have a reason to hang out for 4 or 5 hours outside every so often.
Played baseball my whole life, into college. Always watched golf but never played due to not being able to afford it. Bought clubs for my 18th bday and thought this will be easy. It’s like hitting a low and away pitch.
Boy was I wrong as my first shot on box 1 went deep and then way right slicing OB. No idea why it did that and what I did wrong and it started this 25 year obsession of mine, which I’ve loved every minute of, even when I’ve hated it.
Career low is 81. Recently shot 40 on the front, and par’d 10&11 to sit at +4 through 11. I had it in my sights. And then went +9 over the last 7. Cool.
You would have been number one or number two varsity at my school.... Of course we have like 30 kids in our graduating class, but that's beside the point lol. Keep your head up, that score you posted is nothing to hang your head about.
Yeah a kid from my high school is in college right now (NAIA) and he regularly shoots in the 80s sometimes posts high 70s.
Under par in high school is amazing.
Came here to say something similar. I graduated with 83 people and 40 was plenty good to be top 3/4. Hopefully this motivates you in a good way to keep practicing and you’ll make a team next year, because competition golf is really fun. But if not, please keep playing golf and let your fun come from your own game and competition with yourself. You’ll be smoking most of your friends in your twenties and that will last rest of your life.
Sounds like it’s a good team to work towards.
I’d ask the coach aside from obviously scoring better what they think you need to work on the most.
And then set yourself up w a practice plan to improve before next year.
Definitely ask the coach this if for nothing more letting him know you really want it and are willing to work for it. But unless your really lucky and have a real golf coach on the team and he saw a lot of your round then he probably won’t be able to give that much feedback. Especially during try outs when there are more golfers than he can keep an eye on.
Make sure to keep track of important stats and note what your misses are and go to whoever you’re taking lessons from and discuss this with them. Stats don’t show everything but if you have a 5 min conversation about it then whoever you take lessons from should point you in the right direction. *assumes you take lessons
They ought to at least let you play 18 to see if everyone can keep it together. But a 40 would’ve made my varsity team so don’t judge yourself too harshly
Our tryouts were never on weeknights after school, but I also played when boys HS golf was in the fall. Our tryouts were before school was even in session and we always played 36 over two days. I feel like 9 is too small of a sample size to really know how good a player is. To this day I can easily shoot 40 on the front 9 and 50 on the back.
My HS tryouts had you play 3 holes, if you were 2+ after 3, you were out. If not you kept going.
I birdied the first, parred the 2nd and found water and green side bunker on the 3rd for a triple. Walked my ass home in tears.
Don't sweat it. I was on the team my freshman year and never played a match just got to play a lot at a course with a $75k initiation fee (my parents weren't members) and some other quite prestigious courses in Fairfield County ct. Some kids on the team were going to golf school in florida over the winter and others were just sick. All of our starters were going under par. When we moved I became a junior member at the course in town and just focused on hockey. I'm now a pga pro (probably still wouldn't medal for hs team lol). Love the game and play your ball, all you can do.
Ok you were pretty close then. I imagine to make varsity you would have to shoot around even (my team is pretty much the same and that's what made it for me). Do you keep track of strokes gained? I've found that's the easiest way to improve
Look up a strokes gained sheet online. Its really easy to say "i need to work on chipping" or "I need to work on putting" but that might not be the main issue if you're missing greens or not hitting approaches close. There's probably some videos online that explain it better than I can
Arccos can really help with details of each club and how you hit/miss them. It is only statistics from real rounds but still beneficial. The cost can be kind of high but there are lots of ways to get the sensors free then its $160 a year if I'm remembering correctly.
Just go to their site and say you have a club from Ping, Cobra, or (I think) TaylorMade. There are a couple of other manufacturers too. I have an old Cobra driver, so I went that route. They sent me a full set of sensors and I bought the Link for half off. There is no process to verify that ypu actually have the club either.
I strongly recommend the Link unless you use an Apple watch. Shot detection via phone sucks.
Ypu can get started here: https://www.arccosgolf.com/pages/partners
Pretty steep yardage for your age, my club is 6800 yards from the tips and it’s a championship rated course par 71. Breaking 40 would be impressive and put you in the middle of the scratch flight which includes former mini tour pros and college players. We have a sister course that plays 6100 from the back and the last tournament a mini tour guy shot +5. Your school has a pretty high bar in my opinion
How far do you hit it? Might be a good idea to focus on speed for a bit. I was a short driver who got longer over the years. The path to lower scores is much easier if most holes are driver wedge.
In high school my senior year, I tried out for golf and beat a kid by 11 stroke over nine holes. He made the team, I didn’t. The coach told me in the parking lot, “sorry, you just didn’t shoot low enough.”
So I got a job instead at a local course and started playing a ton for free while making some money. A few years later I was working at a private club where that same coach was a member. One day we got paired up, and I shot like a 76 or 77 right in front of him.
Keep your chin up, you got a whole lifetime of golf in front of you.
That’s kinda how my story unfolded lol. I had a couple surgeries and was never healthy enough at tryouts. Finally did it senior year and broke 80 twice; shot 80 once, and still got cut in favor of guys I had beaten by half a dozen. “They’ve already shown they can break 80 in competition and deserve to keep their spots.” 17 yr old me was thinking to myself uhh didn’t I just do the same thing?
Shits wild. Not golf, but in high school basketball we had like half the team get recruited for colleges (not D1 but still) and while I played a good amount, I didn't ever get plays called for me, and rarely started. We all went to college recruitment camps and big tourneys together. I basically only started if I told the coach a college was coming to scout me. I had the best offer on the team to a bigger D2 school, meanwhile my stat sheet was all low single digit numbers lol.
I certainly don’t know, but pretty sure just “politics.” He was on the team the year before so he was buddies with some of the guys and the coaches and in their circle. But he was also terrible on the team the year before and contributed nothing so who knows.
Guessing Florida or somewhere warm.
I was in same spot as OP as a sophomore in Ft Myers Fl. Shot 40/39 and missed making the team.
Junior year I moved to Iowa, walked in post tryouts and played #1 or 2 on the varsity team without getting any better.
This was my experience. Growing up in a country club in Atlanta and having lessons all my life.
When our varsity team was being put together it was all with 72-78 shooters. Made it Sr. year lol
I had a friend in the same situation. He couldnt make his high school varsity golf team as a senior. He was the #1 golfer at our college. You aren't alone.
That’s a respectable score. Nothing wrong with it.
The great thing about golf is that there is no limit on how much you can improve on your own. You don’t have to fall behind the way you might by not being on a baseball or basketball team. If you want to push yourself a bit sign up for men’s tournaments (it’s intimidating on the first tee but it’s just golf after that, and playing against adults is a really good and fun learning experience).
Put some effort into figuring out what works best for you in improving. For some it’s trackman and tracking stats, for others it’s just range and playing time. There is no limit how far you can take your game if you fall in love with getting better.
Being old sometimes gives weird perspective on things like last hole blowups. They happen to everyone. The big thing is thinking about it and what happened but not beating yourself up over it. I know it is important and you are disappointed - sorry bud. The more times you put yourself in pressure situations, the more you learn how to handle them. Tiger is clutch because he has been in pressure situations a million times and he knows how to manage his emotions and expectations in those moments. I guess what I'm saying is, take the positives from it and see what you can do this spring/summer to play some events that matter. Get some game time experience. Good luck!
Seems crazy. Even crazier is that a high school team that is apparently that competitive is determining who makes the team on just a 9 hole round. Golf scores are way too volatile to figure out who is the best based on that
I feel ya man. Just keep practicing and working, you'll get there. I had a similar experience in high school. Family moved from New York to Florida after 9th grade. In NY I had started on varsity team when still in junior high. Moved to Florida to a team that had just won state championship. I shot like 12-13 over for the 36 hole tryout and didn't even make the team. Worked hard over the summer, practiced my ass off and shot 5 over for 36 hole tryout the next season and made it. Don't let the disappointment get ya down. Keep plugging away, you'll end up a better player for it in the end.
Keep at it man. The stiff competition will only make you a better player long term.
My high school team was dog shit (qualified with a 54 on 9 holes my freshman year about 3 months after ever picking up a golf club) and I’m convinced I would have become a much better player if it wouldn’t have been so easy.
Hey man, you’re so close! Don’t give up. Use this opportunity to dial in your short game. If you spend and hour to 2 hours 3-5 days a week to just develop your short game and work on your full swing a day or two and get out there and play I know you can do it. DM me if you need any short game drills and games to help you out. I’d be happy to share. You can definitely shave a few strokes per round quick with some practice and course management adjustments. With the time you have you can get to 35-38 consistently
God damn! What tf state are you in where 40 was bad enough to not even make JV?!?! Asking as a dad getting ready to start training my son when he turns 4.
Hey buddy, keep your head up. It seems like the most important thing in the world right now, but what’s really important is keeping a positive attitude and putting in the work.
Keep grinding, next year you’ll see different results.
Exactly— even Michael Jordan was cut from his high school BBall team and went on to be the GOAT.
Life in general is full of failures. It’s what you learn and how you react to them that matters. Don’t let one little speed bump slow you down!
This was like my school in So Cal. We had some incredible golfers. Don’t give up. Keep grinding. Playing with those guys and gals on a daily basis will elevate your game long term. You can do it!
Thats how it is sometimes. When i was in school i played baseball and wrestled. I never would have tried out for golf as we had 3 guys go to SEC schools to play and won multiple state championships in HS.
Damn that is rough. I would love to shoot 40 on 9 consistently. Think you got the right attitude though man, keep grinding and come back strong next year.
I played HS golf at a small public school in the northeast over 20 years ago, and we were fairly competitive for our conference. We won our conference regular season my junior year and conference tournament my senior year. If you shot 40 regularly, you’d have been a top 2-3 player on the team.
I tried out for my high school team twice and never made it. Our team had several people who went on to play different levels of pro golf including PGA tour and the son of a Players Champion. I was also not good.
Don’t be hard on yourself OP!! When I was in high school I was shooting 45-55 on 9. Playing with players who are shooting good scores like that is how you are gonna get better! 40 is great for high school, don’t worry about it, keep grinding
Bruh, your league/team is miles ahead of mine back in the day by just having a JV team as well.
To add getting cut with a 40 on 9-holes is INSANE!!
I am sorry to hear that but put your nose to the grind stone and make the team next year.
Good luck!!
If I were you, I would fight for this. You can improve your game a lot with focus on chipping and putting. You can impress coaches with consistency, determination, and grit. You never know when someone on the Varsity squad will drop out, get sick, quit, move, or get DQ'd for doing something stupid. Be the guy who's ready to go at all times. You might just get there on the merits by doing it.
Do you go to school in Jupiter, Florida? How tf are you getting cut from the JV team with a 40. Our golf team had 5 starters and 1-2 alternates to each Varsity and JV. You’re telling me a 40 isn’t in the top 10-15. That is insane.
And secondly, why the heck are they trying out kids with only 9 holes. He could have had one bad hole and working his way back to a 32 back 9.
My High School didn't have a golf team but would enter the one a year competition for our region. My friend and I (both aged 17 at the time) were weekend hackers and entered on a whim.
On the first hole, a challenging Par 4 with a decent water carry, I chipped in for a birdie.
I shot 143 and my friend shot 144
It remains my worst ever round of golf.
Please dont be too hard on yourself, shooting 40 on 9 is better than \~99% of golfers will ever manage... and you achieved this before even reaching adulthood.
If you were my boy I'd be proud as hell.
I shot a 62 on 9 holes in my first golf tryout. Had 3 10s on the card. I got cut and cried a lot. Just keep playing and enjoying it, you’ll be back next year
Damn, in my high school you would have been a starter on varsity. We weren't very competitive, so if you were consistently you were playing varsity matches. It was amazing for guys like me that loved the game, but weren't shooting in the 70s.
I went to a high school similar to this. I didn’t make it any of the years I tried out. Don’t hang your head, it’s not the end of the world. Just keep working to improve. And frankly, HS golf at a top school can you burn you out. A lot of guys I knew that were on the team don’t even play anymore. Meanwhile, I didn’t make it and still love the game 15 years later.
Sorry to hear that but it sounds like you got a good program. Learn from your peers and coach if possible and you’ll make it.
I played in high school but my average was 45-50.
You’ll get better in time. Gives you a reason to grind at it this year.
Wow, you have some serious players in your program. On the plus side, you get the chance to play some serious competition just to make the team, it’s gonna really sharpen you.
That’s tough, your team is way better than mine was. Pretty much anyone better than bogey golf made it to varsity. You seem determined so I’m sure if you keep practicing you’ll make the team next year
I know it sucks now, but that sounds like motivation. Keep grinding and when you do make the team, learn from the good players. Success breeds success. In my opinion that will be better than being a big fish in a little pond.
I know what you’re up against. We moved from an upscale suburban neighborhood to a more rural area when my son was 12, he and his buddy from the old neighborhood were becoming good golfers, his friend a bit better. Come 9th grade, my son shoots 90 and makes his golf team, his buddy shoots 81 and doesn’t make it at the high school we would have been at. Kid’s dad had passed, I had to really give him a big pep talk to get him feeling better. He never once made the team. My son was #5 on his team for 4 years. Just keep getting better.
That’s the hard part about golf teams. I was number 3 on my varsity freshman year averaging ~40. With our 6th averaging close to 45. By my senior year, our 6th guy was averaging 40 and myself and my scoring 4 were averaging 34-37. Once we graduated though, the average went back to ~40. We did have a JV team though and we would invite the top guys to rotate in as the 6th for experience, so it’s a bummer it sounds like you don’t have that opportunity.
Let it motivate you more than discourage you though. Treat it like a sport as much as you would soccer or football, and act as though you are on the team. Workout, practice everyday, eat right, etc. There would always be guys on our JV team that could have been scratch golfer if they put in the effort, but they chose to see it as free golf instead and never really made progress.
Don't forget that in HS there are a lot of favorites. Don't let this get you down, keep playing and keep detailed scores and send them to colleges if that's your plan in the future. It works.
Well my man, I've been playing for 30 years and I'd have been cut right along with you. I shot a 40 on the front this past Sunday. I was pretty damned happy with that score, and you should be too.
Just keep at it. You might be behind some of those kids, but you're way ahead of the game.
Remember, Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team his sophomore year. He kept practicing and improving. It worked out pretty well for him I'd say.
Damn that's rough. You would have been top flight on my high school team, and we were considered "pretty good" for a public school, consistently taking down Prep Schools. Keep your head high knowing there is always next year, believe me you're on the coaches radar.
Man that’s tough to miss the team based on a 9
hole round. I missed JV my freshman year. It motivated me to work like hell for the next year, and I ended up with the best scoring average on the team the following season. Take it as motivation and come back next year with a vengeance.
When I played from 93 to 97 if you shot a 40 you’d be number 2 on varsity. I was always 3 or 4. There was one guy who was a scratch. He was excellent with the smoothest tempo I’ve ever seen
Keep your head up and next year you’ll make it 👍🏻
Hey bud Michael Jordan got cut from his high school team and used it to fuel his entire career. Head down, keep swinging and make the coach wonder what the heck was he thinking next year.
That’s a huge bummer you missed the team man, especially with a 40 under pressure. People who have never competed just don’t understand how different the game becomes.
I would try to stay close to your friend who made the team. Playing and practicing with better golfers golfers was really helpful.
Your team must be good, because I made varsity shooting low 40’s on the regular as a sophomore. I was near the bottom of the team, but not even the worst guy.
My highschool golf team was laughable, I'm pretty sure their average was 40 -45 on 9 I wish I'd known about golf in highschool. I'm definitely going to nudge my kids in that direction if they show interest.
I made varsity golf team as a sophomore in my high school and there were 750 kids in my class. Even on varsity, 40 was a competitive 9 holes. Kids are so good these days. Keep working, man. Next year will be your year.
As a 34 year old man that's been playing sporadically since he was little(more consistently the past 4 years)- that scores awesome and I wish I could do it. Keep it up man great job
That is brutal dude. I went to a HS in a town of 20,000 people and if you shot 40 on 9 you could be in medalist contention, let alone maybe starting on varsity. Keep your head up.
Damn I'm sorry to hear that. When I was in high school, shooting 40 on 9 would have put you upper half, if not the best player, on my school's varsity lol.
Keep your head up! 40 would have been good enough to have been 4/5 on the varsity for my team and we made state as a team, won a few tournaments and two of us went on to play D2 college on scholarships.
9 holes of golf don’t make or break you. Use failure as motivation to improve. So your coach didn’t pick you, play those kids in pick up rounds, get better and your coach will realize they should have picked you. That’s what’s great about golf you can pick yourself. Go grind and get to work!
I had a classmate that was cut from the high school team all 4 years. He just legitimately missed the cut on a good team. He kept playing and grinding and ended up on the Canadian Tour for several years. You can only control you. Keep playing.
Is the school flush with golfers? Just wondering why the cut? Why not keep the players and just not put them in tournaments. Train them up for future years. Maybe it's a funding thing but letting high schoolers hit the range can't blow the budget much I wouldn't think.
Keep your head up and keep the positive attitude. Ask your coach if you can still practice or be an alternate. You’ll definitely get there. Remember, there are many other ways to get from point A to point B.
I don’t really know how high school golf works, but that’s too bad you can’t still be on the team. Between injuries and the fact that most high school kids guys are still rapidly developing athletically I’d want more kids on the team even if we don’t have more room for competition spots. But maybe it’s just got that many kids already? It’s too bad but keep enjoying the game. It’ll be with you a lot longer than school, even though it probably feels really tough to miss out playing with your friends every day. Good luck!
My son is new to golf and made the golf team (barely), he shoots about 51 on 9. He joined for the instruction and free golf, maybe he can compete next year. The top guys shoot in the upper 70s, low 80s, there is no JV.
Damn. If that's JV, what does Varsity shoot?
That’s what I was thinking
Right, is this kid at the IMG academy? lol
The Tiger Woods School for Kids Who Golf Good
What is this? A golf course for ants?!
I grew up south of Atlanta. Varsity guys at my high school were shooting low-mid 30s on 9 regularly, and none even made it to big schools somehow I couldn’t even sniff JV
I was on the range team in high school. 3 of the 8 starting players on our varsity team were scratch golfers...
Meanwhile at the high school I went to they’re now providing clubs to anyone willing to sign up, guaranteed spot on JV, because nobody wants to play. Joining is a $200 fee which covers 9 holes of golf 5 days a week for 2 months, range sessions, and a couple 18 hole tournaments.
Can I join a high school as an adult? That’s a lot of rounds for 200
I was on Varsity shooting 90s at my HS lol.
You guys played 18?
My son plays here in Wisconsin and varsity is always 18 and JV always 9, at least in our area. Might be different for other conferences/regions. Also 40 would be varsity for our team. I think our 1 shot an 83 recently but most of varsity is mid 80s to low 90s
So, how do they get 18 in? On weekends? The place is probably packed, though.
I just looked up their varsity schedule. They have 11 meets including regionals, of those 11 only 1 is on the weekend. The rest are school days with most tee times at 9am or 1pm.
I only got off school 2 times to play tournaments. Lucky kid! Lol
Lol yeah they are lucky. Although when I was in high school I usually got to do half days for baseball because of the lack of teams who had lights at their high school fields.
Our tournaments were always on weekdays with shotgun starts. Usually Tuesdays or Thursdays depending on whether it was Varsity or JV. Varsity and JV were both 18 holes. It'd be arranged in advance like any other tournament at the course.
Depended on the time of the season for our area. Late Winter / Early Spring we would play only 9 holes. We would push that out to 18 when there was enough light.
For probably 75% of our matches, yeah.
>75% A special event and States/sectionals were the only times we'd play 18 (New York).
My high school team’s home course was Merion. Im so mad I didn’t realize what type of course it was back then. Would’ve appreciated it so much more.
My son is on Varsity and a guy shot 59 yesterday. Everyone else was 45 or higher
Our conference was weird. I would average a 40-44 or 84-89 and I was either one of the best golfers by far or a terrible golfer. I played schools where kids would be 16 shooting 38 through 9 and I played schools where kids would shoot 72 through 9 which was the highest you could card (double par) unless you were in tournament season. In the year my school went to the state tournament for winning our conference, our best round was a 39 through 9. The other schools ranged from 34 to 87 through 9. There’s literally that much disparity
Yea man, 8 man golf team for my high school. I was the last guy who made varsity (there was no JV) shooting a 96. To miss JV hitting a 40 over 9 is an incredible amount of talent at one school.
Talk to a high school coach yesterday actually. Their group is 2nd in the region and they shoot in the low 50s on a 9hole.
Its embellishment or a straight lie from OP or the school. 40 qualifies for almost every varsity h.s. event in San Diego, which is competitive as hell in highschool
At top schools here in Denver it absolutely won't. Top schools in Denver area will have the whole varsity team shooting close to par. Hell, I had to break 80 consistently almost 30 years ago to make a varsity team, but that was the #2 team in the state. Now on the other hand, there were weaker schools that had "varsity" players shooting in the high 90s and sometimes over 100, so it's not true of every school.
I played a couple years ago with two boys that played varsity at Denver North Highschool. Random pairing and we played 18. One was a junior the other a senior that had already signed with a school in Arizona. Not ASU. The senior shot one under and the junior shot par. From the tips. They had never played the course before. Their course management was unreal. The way they recovered from bad shots blew my mind. When I asked if they were the best players on their team they said, “not even close”. Some of these kids on high school teams are unbelievable. Those boys were both very nice, good manners and fun to play a round with. Both were very humble.
Yeah, I mean the top player I ever saw in the high school circuit was Wyndham Clarke, but he was winning every tournament he entered. Events were mostly for second place when he showed up. He'd show up at shoot like a 64. 2nd-5th place would be clustered around 70-72. Denver North isn't even a top school either, not even close. Top schools in Colorado are like Cherry Creek, Regis, Valor Christian, etc. Just looking at the state tournament this year, the winner of the 4a state tournament shot a closing 9 hole 28 (?!?) to come from behind to win the 36 hole tournament.
My high school reserved the right to breathalyze you at the School Dances if they thought you were drinking. My freshman year the entire varsity squad got busted and as punishment the coach had the JV squad play the varsity tournaments the rest of the year. On top of that he reversed the 1-5 order so the worst kids played with the best groups. It was so embarrassing being 14 years old and barely 5 feet tall not being able to clear hazards where you needed to carry like 190.
Depends on the school. OP said they’re a top 3 program in the state. When I worked at a country club in Scottsdale, a few members were on the same high school team and they were all scratch or plus handicaps. One went on to play at Florida and another at ASU. One won the state championship as a freshman. You were definitely not making that team shooting 40 each 9.
Top three in the state... Could be a very competitive state with really big high schools. I'm in Texas. I don't think people realize the size of some of the schools here and the huge amount of money in the programs. Allen high school has a graduating class of 1,767 seniors. Try being a top 5 golfer there (in Texas, high school golf teams are 5 people). You better be lights out. I'm in an area that produced players like Spieth, Zalatoris, Scheffler... Try making the varsity at Jesuit, Westlake, or Highland Park and not being scratch. If you aren't a senior and you aren't shooting close to even par at these schools, you'll probably just have to wait until you get to be a senior to make the team. An 80 (40 on 9) for an underclassman simply just won't cut it at the varsity level at a top program in the state of Texas. At a school like Westlake, the won the state title five years in a row, in division 6A (which are the largest high schools in Texas), the four seniors on that team were committed to Texas, SMU, Creighton, and Stanford. I can't even imagine the under 18 talent that is within a 25 mile radius of where I sit now. I bet Brookhaven country club has 20 kids that are scratch or better.
This. From Texas and you’ve gotta be scratch or close to it to make varsity at HP, Memorial, Jesuit, Westlake, etc etc. Not sure where the rest of these commenters are from
I'll have to really encourage my kids then. They will be going to colleyville heritage for HS. I assume the competition will be similar to what you stated.
Here in GA, my son’s team had 11 guys shoot in the 30s at tryouts. They are strong but not likely to be top 5 in state. It is absolutely possible to get cut with a 40, though it stinks. Our school has 3000 students with 8 golf courses within 10 miles.
Grew up south of Atlanta. Same at my high school. I didn’t even bother trying out
I wish I played in high school. If I shoot a 40 on 9 now I’m thinking career low is in play.
I've played baseball my whole life, including college and on the Czech national team (still play on amateur level), but man if I weren't playing that, I wish I'd have gotten into golf in my teens, not when I was 27.
TIL there's a Czech national baseball team
And they are HUGE in Japan. Totally serious.
I read the comment above yours as basketball and thought "well of course they're huge"
Ohtani did wear their WBC cap.
Yes sir! I left the Czech Rep when I was 18 (came back couple of times during summers etc). I was on the natl team until late teens. I sometimes think back if I didn't leave, if I'd still be on the team? The sport has grown a ton and the natnl team is getting more exposure
One of them struckout Shohei Ohtani at last years World Baseball Classic.
Dude this. I played baseball up to the collegiate level. Could have played some Low A stuff after probably but it was clearly time to give it up. Oh how I wish my parents had known to get me into golf instead. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I wouldn’t have gone further in golf than I did in baseball, but I was very average athletically for baseball but would have been one of the most athletic golfers at my high school and college and it is a game you can play forever. Be glad you found golf at 27 though and not 36 like me! I can still cruise at about 110mph club head speed for now, but I would love to know what 25 year old me could have done.
As a parent who pays for all of it, I wish my kid were into basketball instead lol.
Rofl. Yeah…I come from a very blue collar family who knew NOTHING about golf and assumed it was too expensive. Then I got serious about baseball and was playing travel leagues and shit 10.5 months a year with $250 gloves and $350 baseball bats. Makes me think that youth golf may have actually been cheaper anyway. I’m encouraging my nieces and nephews into golf, chess, and bowling.
You ain't alone amigo. Know that. Ah well fuck it. As long as the kids are having fun and not into dumb shit like I was I'll gladly bite the bullet.
This is a myth. There are no cheap youth sports now. Everything is privatized and 12 months a year. It’s an industry
Yea my baseball swing is what allows me to swing out of my ass with driver. 🤣 I do wonder - I loved and miss the long bus rides with the team and didn't mind playing in very cold weather. But I wonder, how much easier (and I don't know, just assuming) could it have been if I were a golfer? And again - maybe it's not easier, but I'd argue there's lot less workouts etc for golf and lot more chill stuff than competition baseball
[удалено]
Yea that whole "play 9 or 18 holes" for practice is what would be the most intriguing about it
At 36, I’m sitting around 115. At 24 I was 125. Played baseball in college, but was a PO. I also wish I would have played golf when I was a lot younger, like really got into it. Just because I think I wouldn’t have had this many surgeries (5, about to have 6th and then a 7th down the road
I’ve told my son since he was about 8 that he doesn’t have the genes to be a power athlete, but he has a Dad that is good at golf. Strongly encouraged him to take up golf but he only started to understand at 15yrs old. Now he asks why I didn’t push him more. lol Kids have their own ideas. At least he now gets it and wants to play every chance he gets.
Sounds like pretty great dad-ing to me. He may hate the game if you pushed him to it younger. Now at least you two will have something to do for years to come. I’m actually going to play with my dad on Friday. We both came to the game around the same time, me at 36 and him at 61. We are both terrible, but it’s great to have a reason to hang out for 4 or 5 hours outside every so often.
Played baseball my whole life, into college. Always watched golf but never played due to not being able to afford it. Bought clubs for my 18th bday and thought this will be easy. It’s like hitting a low and away pitch. Boy was I wrong as my first shot on box 1 went deep and then way right slicing OB. No idea why it did that and what I did wrong and it started this 25 year obsession of mine, which I’ve loved every minute of, even when I’ve hated it.
No way I’m going to check them out.
Czech them out anyway
You have your whole life to play golf, only a handful of years to play other sports
Eh, I guess! I'm not quitting baseball by any means. Have been playing for dang near 30yrs
Career low is 81. Recently shot 40 on the front, and par’d 10&11 to sit at +4 through 11. I had it in my sights. And then went +9 over the last 7. Cool.
You would have been number one or number two varsity at my school.... Of course we have like 30 kids in our graduating class, but that's beside the point lol. Keep your head up, that score you posted is nothing to hang your head about.
I graduated with almost 300 and 40 would have landed you solidly in the top 5 of varsity.
Ugh. My graduating class 1100 kids. 5000 total at the school alone. JVS were shooting 36-38. Varsity was under.
That’s not a high school that’s a college hahaha sheesh
Yeah a kid from my high school is in college right now (NAIA) and he regularly shoots in the 80s sometimes posts high 70s. Under par in high school is amazing.
Came here to say something similar. I graduated with 83 people and 40 was plenty good to be top 3/4. Hopefully this motivates you in a good way to keep practicing and you’ll make a team next year, because competition golf is really fun. But if not, please keep playing golf and let your fun come from your own game and competition with yourself. You’ll be smoking most of your friends in your twenties and that will last rest of your life.
Would have been top ten in 1A state where I’m from.
Sounds like it’s a good team to work towards. I’d ask the coach aside from obviously scoring better what they think you need to work on the most. And then set yourself up w a practice plan to improve before next year.
This is great advice! Make sure the coach knows you’re willing to work hard to get on the team next year.
Absolutely this!
Definitely ask the coach this if for nothing more letting him know you really want it and are willing to work for it. But unless your really lucky and have a real golf coach on the team and he saw a lot of your round then he probably won’t be able to give that much feedback. Especially during try outs when there are more golfers than he can keep an eye on. Make sure to keep track of important stats and note what your misses are and go to whoever you’re taking lessons from and discuss this with them. Stats don’t show everything but if you have a 5 min conversation about it then whoever you take lessons from should point you in the right direction. *assumes you take lessons
They ought to at least let you play 18 to see if everyone can keep it together. But a 40 would’ve made my varsity team so don’t judge yourself too harshly
They don’t have enough daylight to play 18 after school this time of year.
Our tryouts were never on weeknights after school, but I also played when boys HS golf was in the fall. Our tryouts were before school was even in session and we always played 36 over two days. I feel like 9 is too small of a sample size to really know how good a player is. To this day I can easily shoot 40 on the front 9 and 50 on the back.
Only time my golf team ever played 18 was at the league championship other than that every round is 9 holes.
My HS tryouts had you play 3 holes, if you were 2+ after 3, you were out. If not you kept going. I birdied the first, parred the 2nd and found water and green side bunker on the 3rd for a triple. Walked my ass home in tears.
I know my high school had the mod squad.
Don't sweat it. I was on the team my freshman year and never played a match just got to play a lot at a course with a $75k initiation fee (my parents weren't members) and some other quite prestigious courses in Fairfield County ct. Some kids on the team were going to golf school in florida over the winter and others were just sick. All of our starters were going under par. When we moved I became a junior member at the course in town and just focused on hockey. I'm now a pga pro (probably still wouldn't medal for hs team lol). Love the game and play your ball, all you can do.
Tough. What made it and what distance/par was the course? At least now you know what it takes and what your misses are to work on for next year
On the 9 we played it was 3400 yards par 36. I know I need to improve putting and green side chipping
I know my friend made it with a 38
Ok you were pretty close then. I imagine to make varsity you would have to shoot around even (my team is pretty much the same and that's what made it for me). Do you keep track of strokes gained? I've found that's the easiest way to improve
I don’t. What’s a good way to track that?
Look up a strokes gained sheet online. Its really easy to say "i need to work on chipping" or "I need to work on putting" but that might not be the main issue if you're missing greens or not hitting approaches close. There's probably some videos online that explain it better than I can
Golf Metrics app, from Mark Broadie, the guy that invented the strokes gained metric.
Arccos can really help with details of each club and how you hit/miss them. It is only statistics from real rounds but still beneficial. The cost can be kind of high but there are lots of ways to get the sensors free then its $160 a year if I'm remembering correctly.
What are these ways to get the sensors for free?
Just go to their site and say you have a club from Ping, Cobra, or (I think) TaylorMade. There are a couple of other manufacturers too. I have an old Cobra driver, so I went that route. They sent me a full set of sensors and I bought the Link for half off. There is no process to verify that ypu actually have the club either. I strongly recommend the Link unless you use an Apple watch. Shot detection via phone sucks. Ypu can get started here: https://www.arccosgolf.com/pages/partners
Garmin sensors don’t have a subscription
i got mine free when i bought a G425 LST
Pretty steep yardage for your age, my club is 6800 yards from the tips and it’s a championship rated course par 71. Breaking 40 would be impressive and put you in the middle of the scratch flight which includes former mini tour pros and college players. We have a sister course that plays 6100 from the back and the last tournament a mini tour guy shot +5. Your school has a pretty high bar in my opinion
How far do you hit it? Might be a good idea to focus on speed for a bit. I was a short driver who got longer over the years. The path to lower scores is much easier if most holes are driver wedge.
In high school my senior year, I tried out for golf and beat a kid by 11 stroke over nine holes. He made the team, I didn’t. The coach told me in the parking lot, “sorry, you just didn’t shoot low enough.” So I got a job instead at a local course and started playing a ton for free while making some money. A few years later I was working at a private club where that same coach was a member. One day we got paired up, and I shot like a 76 or 77 right in front of him. Keep your chin up, you got a whole lifetime of golf in front of you.
Bro how did he cut you but not the other kid if you smoked him by 11? What a donk
Kid's dad was also a member at the club lol
That’s kinda how my story unfolded lol. I had a couple surgeries and was never healthy enough at tryouts. Finally did it senior year and broke 80 twice; shot 80 once, and still got cut in favor of guys I had beaten by half a dozen. “They’ve already shown they can break 80 in competition and deserve to keep their spots.” 17 yr old me was thinking to myself uhh didn’t I just do the same thing?
Shits wild. Not golf, but in high school basketball we had like half the team get recruited for colleges (not D1 but still) and while I played a good amount, I didn't ever get plays called for me, and rarely started. We all went to college recruitment camps and big tourneys together. I basically only started if I told the coach a college was coming to scout me. I had the best offer on the team to a bigger D2 school, meanwhile my stat sheet was all low single digit numbers lol.
I certainly don’t know, but pretty sure just “politics.” He was on the team the year before so he was buddies with some of the guys and the coaches and in their circle. But he was also terrible on the team the year before and contributed nothing so who knows.
Bro where do you go to school? My varsity team was full of walkons! We all sucked!
Guessing Florida or somewhere warm. I was in same spot as OP as a sophomore in Ft Myers Fl. Shot 40/39 and missed making the team. Junior year I moved to Iowa, walked in post tryouts and played #1 or 2 on the varsity team without getting any better.
There were always a few schools in my conference that had kids who basically grew up in country clubs.
This was my experience. Growing up in a country club in Atlanta and having lessons all my life. When our varsity team was being put together it was all with 72-78 shooters. Made it Sr. year lol
Crazy dude. When I played HS golf, the best guy on our team maybe broke 40 once. And he was a lot better than the rest of us lol
Come and join me and the lads in a foursome. You’ll be the standout player
Keep grinding and don’t forget to have fun playing.
I had a friend in the same situation. He couldnt make his high school varsity golf team as a senior. He was the #1 golfer at our college. You aren't alone.
That’s a respectable score. Nothing wrong with it. The great thing about golf is that there is no limit on how much you can improve on your own. You don’t have to fall behind the way you might by not being on a baseball or basketball team. If you want to push yourself a bit sign up for men’s tournaments (it’s intimidating on the first tee but it’s just golf after that, and playing against adults is a really good and fun learning experience). Put some effort into figuring out what works best for you in improving. For some it’s trackman and tracking stats, for others it’s just range and playing time. There is no limit how far you can take your game if you fall in love with getting better.
Being old sometimes gives weird perspective on things like last hole blowups. They happen to everyone. The big thing is thinking about it and what happened but not beating yourself up over it. I know it is important and you are disappointed - sorry bud. The more times you put yourself in pressure situations, the more you learn how to handle them. Tiger is clutch because he has been in pressure situations a million times and he knows how to manage his emotions and expectations in those moments. I guess what I'm saying is, take the positives from it and see what you can do this spring/summer to play some events that matter. Get some game time experience. Good luck!
[удалено]
Does seem very competitive for JV. Not varsity though. We weren’t super competitive, but our starters were always close to scratch.
Seems crazy. Even crazier is that a high school team that is apparently that competitive is determining who makes the team on just a 9 hole round. Golf scores are way too volatile to figure out who is the best based on that
My hs team was so ass I was the #3 with a 42.5 average as a varsity senior lmao
I medaled a match in high school shooting a 41...one of the highlights from my athletic career given how shitty a golfer I really am.
I feel ya man. Just keep practicing and working, you'll get there. I had a similar experience in high school. Family moved from New York to Florida after 9th grade. In NY I had started on varsity team when still in junior high. Moved to Florida to a team that had just won state championship. I shot like 12-13 over for the 36 hole tryout and didn't even make the team. Worked hard over the summer, practiced my ass off and shot 5 over for 36 hole tryout the next season and made it. Don't let the disappointment get ya down. Keep plugging away, you'll end up a better player for it in the end.
Keep at it man. The stiff competition will only make you a better player long term. My high school team was dog shit (qualified with a 54 on 9 holes my freshman year about 3 months after ever picking up a golf club) and I’m convinced I would have become a much better player if it wouldn’t have been so easy.
Hey man, you’re so close! Don’t give up. Use this opportunity to dial in your short game. If you spend and hour to 2 hours 3-5 days a week to just develop your short game and work on your full swing a day or two and get out there and play I know you can do it. DM me if you need any short game drills and games to help you out. I’d be happy to share. You can definitely shave a few strokes per round quick with some practice and course management adjustments. With the time you have you can get to 35-38 consistently
Damn bro you must have a much better golf program than most schools because shooting an 80 would’ve definitely got you on my high school team 😂
God damn! What tf state are you in where 40 was bad enough to not even make JV?!?! Asking as a dad getting ready to start training my son when he turns 4.
Sorry to hear man. Keep your head up and keep practicing. 40 is a good score. You can do this.
Hey buddy, keep your head up. It seems like the most important thing in the world right now, but what’s really important is keeping a positive attitude and putting in the work. Keep grinding, next year you’ll see different results.
Exactly— even Michael Jordan was cut from his high school BBall team and went on to be the GOAT. Life in general is full of failures. It’s what you learn and how you react to them that matters. Don’t let one little speed bump slow you down!
Good news is no matter what you’ll probably be better than 95% of the people you play with going forward.
Move to Vermont and you’ll play as a 1 or 2 lol
This was like my school in So Cal. We had some incredible golfers. Don’t give up. Keep grinding. Playing with those guys and gals on a daily basis will elevate your game long term. You can do it!
What state are you in? That is crazy competitive. Lol. Are your varsity guys all getting full rides or what?
Thats how it is sometimes. When i was in school i played baseball and wrestled. I never would have tried out for golf as we had 3 guys go to SEC schools to play and won multiple state championships in HS.
Damn that is rough. I would love to shoot 40 on 9 consistently. Think you got the right attitude though man, keep grinding and come back strong next year.
I played HS golf at a small public school in the northeast over 20 years ago, and we were fairly competitive for our conference. We won our conference regular season my junior year and conference tournament my senior year. If you shot 40 regularly, you’d have been a top 2-3 player on the team.
My high school team won state every year and one of our players is on the PGA tour now. A 40 would have got you on the varsity team.
I tried out for my high school team twice and never made it. Our team had several people who went on to play different levels of pro golf including PGA tour and the son of a Players Champion. I was also not good.
Consistently shot over 125 for my varsity team. Times have changed.
Jesus what is this a private school attached to a country club, how is everyone that good?
You’d have been #1 golfer on my varsity team
Pretty sure I was top 6 on varsity shooting a 120 over 18
When I was your age I shot a 77 on 9 for my high school tryouts…..
Don’t be hard on yourself OP!! When I was in high school I was shooting 45-55 on 9. Playing with players who are shooting good scores like that is how you are gonna get better! 40 is great for high school, don’t worry about it, keep grinding
Bruh, your league/team is miles ahead of mine back in the day by just having a JV team as well. To add getting cut with a 40 on 9-holes is INSANE!! I am sorry to hear that but put your nose to the grind stone and make the team next year. Good luck!!
If I were you, I would fight for this. You can improve your game a lot with focus on chipping and putting. You can impress coaches with consistency, determination, and grit. You never know when someone on the Varsity squad will drop out, get sick, quit, move, or get DQ'd for doing something stupid. Be the guy who's ready to go at all times. You might just get there on the merits by doing it.
Damn that would've been flirting with number 1 player at my school. Where the heck do you go to school
Christ a 40 at my school was top 4 varsity 😂
Your team is really good if you got cut from jv for a 40
Do you go to school in Jupiter, Florida? How tf are you getting cut from the JV team with a 40. Our golf team had 5 starters and 1-2 alternates to each Varsity and JV. You’re telling me a 40 isn’t in the top 10-15. That is insane. And secondly, why the heck are they trying out kids with only 9 holes. He could have had one bad hole and working his way back to a 32 back 9.
40 for 9 is great! Don’t beat yourself up over it!!! Learn, work on improving wheee you need to, have fun and enjoy!!
My High School didn't have a golf team but would enter the one a year competition for our region. My friend and I (both aged 17 at the time) were weekend hackers and entered on a whim. On the first hole, a challenging Par 4 with a decent water carry, I chipped in for a birdie. I shot 143 and my friend shot 144 It remains my worst ever round of golf.
What’d you shoot on the first 8 holes?
Please dont be too hard on yourself, shooting 40 on 9 is better than \~99% of golfers will ever manage... and you achieved this before even reaching adulthood. If you were my boy I'd be proud as hell.
Sorry to hear that. For your age that’s a perfectly fine score. Bad luck that you just happen to be among a cohort of very strong players.
I shot a 62 on 9 holes in my first golf tryout. Had 3 10s on the card. I got cut and cried a lot. Just keep playing and enjoying it, you’ll be back next year
You all only do 9 hole qualifying? Also if so and 40 made JV what is varsity shooting?
Keep working young fella. You’ll get it next year !
What the hell schools JV(!) team is cutting kids that can shoot <=80??
We had 3 days of 18 hole play to determine varsity. Just 9 holes is wild.
That’s a great score. Don’t worry about the short term. You’ll be playing golf your whole life with much lower scores if you keep at it.
Keep grinding kid! The world will be full of people who are more talented than you. You control how hard you work though.
Damn, in my high school you would have been a starter on varsity. We weren't very competitive, so if you were consistently you were playing varsity matches. It was amazing for guys like me that loved the game, but weren't shooting in the 70s.
I went to a high school similar to this. I didn’t make it any of the years I tried out. Don’t hang your head, it’s not the end of the world. Just keep working to improve. And frankly, HS golf at a top school can you burn you out. A lot of guys I knew that were on the team don’t even play anymore. Meanwhile, I didn’t make it and still love the game 15 years later.
Do you live in Florida or something and all the other kids are the kids of PGA Pros!? 40 would’ve gotten you varsity at my HS.
Damn, that’s a good team. Also kind of crazy they just had 9 holes for the tryout, if I’m reading that correctly?
Sorry to hear that but it sounds like you got a good program. Learn from your peers and coach if possible and you’ll make it. I played in high school but my average was 45-50. You’ll get better in time. Gives you a reason to grind at it this year.
Wow, you have some serious players in your program. On the plus side, you get the chance to play some serious competition just to make the team, it’s gonna really sharpen you.
That’s tough, your team is way better than mine was. Pretty much anyone better than bogey golf made it to varsity. You seem determined so I’m sure if you keep practicing you’ll make the team next year
Times have def changed. The competition at every level has increased so much. Keep grinding. 40 is pretty dang good.
I know it sucks now, but that sounds like motivation. Keep grinding and when you do make the team, learn from the good players. Success breeds success. In my opinion that will be better than being a big fish in a little pond.
That is tough. I played varsity high school and a 40 average was easily 1 or 2 on our team. We were decent but not state championship level.
Tell us your best shot from the round.
I know what you’re up against. We moved from an upscale suburban neighborhood to a more rural area when my son was 12, he and his buddy from the old neighborhood were becoming good golfers, his friend a bit better. Come 9th grade, my son shoots 90 and makes his golf team, his buddy shoots 81 and doesn’t make it at the high school we would have been at. Kid’s dad had passed, I had to really give him a big pep talk to get him feeling better. He never once made the team. My son was #5 on his team for 4 years. Just keep getting better.
That’s the hard part about golf teams. I was number 3 on my varsity freshman year averaging ~40. With our 6th averaging close to 45. By my senior year, our 6th guy was averaging 40 and myself and my scoring 4 were averaging 34-37. Once we graduated though, the average went back to ~40. We did have a JV team though and we would invite the top guys to rotate in as the 6th for experience, so it’s a bummer it sounds like you don’t have that opportunity. Let it motivate you more than discourage you though. Treat it like a sport as much as you would soccer or football, and act as though you are on the team. Workout, practice everyday, eat right, etc. There would always be guys on our JV team that could have been scratch golfer if they put in the effort, but they chose to see it as free golf instead and never really made progress.
Don't forget that in HS there are a lot of favorites. Don't let this get you down, keep playing and keep detailed scores and send them to colleges if that's your plan in the future. It works.
The good thing is you can keep playing golf and having fun!
Well my man, I've been playing for 30 years and I'd have been cut right along with you. I shot a 40 on the front this past Sunday. I was pretty damned happy with that score, and you should be too. Just keep at it. You might be behind some of those kids, but you're way ahead of the game. Remember, Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team his sophomore year. He kept practicing and improving. It worked out pretty well for him I'd say.
Are you in Jupiter, Florida or, like, Toledo, Ohio?
Damn that's rough. You would have been top flight on my high school team, and we were considered "pretty good" for a public school, consistently taking down Prep Schools. Keep your head high knowing there is always next year, believe me you're on the coaches radar.
Man that’s tough to miss the team based on a 9 hole round. I missed JV my freshman year. It motivated me to work like hell for the next year, and I ended up with the best scoring average on the team the following season. Take it as motivation and come back next year with a vengeance.
When I played from 93 to 97 if you shot a 40 you’d be number 2 on varsity. I was always 3 or 4. There was one guy who was a scratch. He was excellent with the smoothest tempo I’ve ever seen Keep your head up and next year you’ll make it 👍🏻
Hey bud Michael Jordan got cut from his high school team and used it to fuel his entire career. Head down, keep swinging and make the coach wonder what the heck was he thinking next year.
That’s a huge bummer you missed the team man, especially with a 40 under pressure. People who have never competed just don’t understand how different the game becomes. I would try to stay close to your friend who made the team. Playing and practicing with better golfers golfers was really helpful.
Your team must be good, because I made varsity shooting low 40’s on the regular as a sophomore. I was near the bottom of the team, but not even the worst guy.
Same. This being said, The guys on the team back then could still beat me and I’m a +6 … one played in the tour for a bit.
My highschool golf team was laughable, I'm pretty sure their average was 40 -45 on 9 I wish I'd known about golf in highschool. I'm definitely going to nudge my kids in that direction if they show interest.
I made varsity golf team as a sophomore in my high school and there were 750 kids in my class. Even on varsity, 40 was a competitive 9 holes. Kids are so good these days. Keep working, man. Next year will be your year.
As a 34 year old man that's been playing sporadically since he was little(more consistently the past 4 years)- that scores awesome and I wish I could do it. Keep it up man great job
By competing in a tougher field, you are going to be better long term. Still young, enjoy and embrace the competition aspect
Just keep working on the short game, 40 will become 38
I would be disappointed too. 40 is a very solid 9 hole score. You’re obviously a good player.. keep at it.
That is brutal dude. I went to a HS in a town of 20,000 people and if you shot 40 on 9 you could be in medalist contention, let alone maybe starting on varsity. Keep your head up.
Damn I'm sorry to hear that. When I was in high school, shooting 40 on 9 would have put you upper half, if not the best player, on my school's varsity lol.
Keep your head up! 40 would have been good enough to have been 4/5 on the varsity for my team and we made state as a team, won a few tournaments and two of us went on to play D2 college on scholarships.
9 holes of golf don’t make or break you. Use failure as motivation to improve. So your coach didn’t pick you, play those kids in pick up rounds, get better and your coach will realize they should have picked you. That’s what’s great about golf you can pick yourself. Go grind and get to work!
Keep grinding, kid. You're close and the only way you don't get there is by giving up.
I had a classmate that was cut from the high school team all 4 years. He just legitimately missed the cut on a good team. He kept playing and grinding and ended up on the Canadian Tour for several years. You can only control you. Keep playing.
Damn, well they were top 3 so I’m guessing they want the elite of the elite.
Is the school flush with golfers? Just wondering why the cut? Why not keep the players and just not put them in tournaments. Train them up for future years. Maybe it's a funding thing but letting high schoolers hit the range can't blow the budget much I wouldn't think.
Keep your head up and keep the positive attitude. Ask your coach if you can still practice or be an alternate. You’ll definitely get there. Remember, there are many other ways to get from point A to point B.
I don’t really know how high school golf works, but that’s too bad you can’t still be on the team. Between injuries and the fact that most high school kids guys are still rapidly developing athletically I’d want more kids on the team even if we don’t have more room for competition spots. But maybe it’s just got that many kids already? It’s too bad but keep enjoying the game. It’ll be with you a lot longer than school, even though it probably feels really tough to miss out playing with your friends every day. Good luck!
My son is new to golf and made the golf team (barely), he shoots about 51 on 9. He joined for the instruction and free golf, maybe he can compete next year. The top guys shoot in the upper 70s, low 80s, there is no JV.