If you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’re curious as to how to set more effective goals or wondering why the goals you’ve set in the past haven’t worked for you. Whatever the case may be, this article was aimed to spark your imagination and clear your vision of the future by creating more effective PROCESSES and designing your SYSTEM. So what are goals, and why are they “secondary”, you ask? Great question. A goal is a written plan designed to achieve the desired result or outcome. 5 Problems of Focusing on Goals 1) Most people only set outcome goals, and even worse, they forget about the go ..read more

The Emergence of the Transfer Portal  By Michael J. Smith, ForeCollegeGolf  In October 2018, the NCAA modified the rules for transferring from “permission to contact” to “notification to transfer”, which has made it much easier for student-athletes to freely transfer from school to school. Essentially, in order to initiate the transfer, all a player has to do is notify their athletic department they would like to transfer and within 48 hours the school is required to add them to the online transfer portal. The recent rule change removes the step where the Coach has to “give permissio ..read more

In a very competitive world of junior golf, there seems to be much confusion and frustration hovering around the question; When is the “right time”? The right time, however, is subjective to each and every player. For some players, it might make sense to start taking visits to Power 5 conference schools (SEC, ACC, Big10, Pac12, Big12) during their freshman year. Other players, for example, might not start the basics of the process, like organizing a list of schools to reach out to, until their sophomore year or possibly even later. This article will help you understand how to stay ahead of the ..read more

During Mid-March 2020, many college golf programs “closed the books” on their Spring seasons with heartfelt messages posted on various social platforms. The NCAA canceled all athletic activities for the remainder of the Spring season. Professors were instructed to go home and move their courses online. University presidents asked freshmen and anyone living on campus to vacate university property. The NCAA verbally committed to reinstating eligibility to athletes who were affected in their Spring sport. Many college golf coaches were sent home to be with their families. Most Coaches u ..read more

By Michael J. Smith, ForeCollegeGolf November 1st, 2019 College coaches have been under the watchful eye of athletic department administrators ever since the beginning of college sports. Most have been advised at some point in their careers to “perform well or lose your job”. This has led to college coaches feeling more pressure than ever before to stay atop the GolfStat rankings. As a byproduct of these heightened expectations and added pressure, we have seen many coaches implementing more aggressive recruiting strategies. In recent years, we witnessed many verbal offers being extended t ..read more

Is it essential for Juniors to travel and compete in tournaments during the winter months? My research and experience say – no!  There seems to be an overwhelming sense of ‘playing paranoia’ with juniors and junior golf families. Many I speak with are under the impression that if they don’t play tournaments year-round they will not be recruited to play college golf. This is an inherent flaw and understanding in junior golf. However, if you live in a warmer climate and are still planning to play tournaments during the winter months, you’ll want to make sure you’re fully prepared and ready ..read more