🕰️Time to talk rankings
(from the parent's perspective)
With the busy summer season drawing to a close, the junior golf
rankings will likely settle in. We will still see movement as kids play in fall tournaments, but changes in ranks might not be as dramatic. You'll also see a big shift when the Class of 2025 names are officially removed, since they're now amateurs.
This movement is natural but it occurred to me that not all of us may
understand the ins and outs of junior golf rankings and what it means in the junior golf world. So let's back up a little.
The basics of rankings
The major rankings come from the Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS), American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), Junior Golf Hub (JGH),
and The Universal Golf Rankings (TUGR). As data mining has become so much more sophisticated over the years, so have the rankings. Each organization has its proprietary system for generating a rank and each one may argue theirs is more accurate versus another. Whatever the case, I'll let them figure out the technical side of it!
I personally have a love/hate relationship with the whole notion of rank. On one hand, the number does matter because many invitationals use specific rankings as part of their criteria (such as JGS or AJGA). So if you have any aspirations of college golf, then you feel the pressure of getting into bigger tournaments with higher ranked kids. And these tournaments are how you get noticed by college coaches. In other words, you do have to pay attention to it if you're trying to play certain events.
I've also heard mixed messages from coaches regarding the role of rankings. Some schools consider rankings more than others, while some coaches feel like the numbers are what they are, but they're considering many other aspects as well.
On the
other hand, it's an emotional roller coaster for the parent and child to watch this number change on a weekly basis. I know for a fact it doesn't always accurately reflect someone's ability or where they are in their development. Then if you add in the differences between each of these ranking systems it will drive you nuts.
Let me give you a real example. Here are the current rankings for the week of 09/18 for our son Hamilton:
JGS: 31
AJGA: 7
JGH: 233
TUGR: 17
This isn't to brag to you. It's to illustrate how different each of these can be and how each system has its nuances. Which one is most accurate? How are we even supposed to know? If we focused on each of these each week, then we might miss how far our junior golfer has come over the years, not since last week.
The reliance on rankings changes over time
As junior golf parents, we've experienced the full gamut of the relationship with rankings. We literally had no idea rankings existed until our son was playing in the U.S. Kids World Championship one year and someone showed us Hamilton's name on the JGS website. We felt like we were the last to find out about them!
Then, we started paying closer attention to them and I would argue, maybe a little too much. I found it's easy to get caught up in the thrill of seeing your child's name climb higher and higher on the list. But it's equally frustrating when the number stays the same or you see a major drop.
As Hamilton's junior golf career progressed, his rankings steadily increased overall — but not every week. Some tournaments have a bigger impact on the number than others. And yes, there were weeks where his numbers dropped because he didn't have the highest finish, yet he was playing in a very tough tournament with an incredible field. Did the dropped number accurately reflect his progress?
Now we are on the other end of the spectrum since he's on the tail-end of the junior golf experience and committed to a college golf program. We rarely look at the rankings. But this doesn't mean others in the Class of 2026 are done trying to improve their standings either. From his personal recruiting experience, I can tell you the tournaments played the
most crucial role but as you play among different fields, it will naturally impact rankings, for better or for worse.
If it sounds like it's round and round, well, I think it is.
The bottom line for us as parents
So what does all of this mean? If anyone were to ask my advice, I would tell them not to get caught up in the number each week. If you let a ranking dictate what tournaments you enroll in or where your son or daughter will have a better chance of improving a rank, then you will be miserable. Instead, consider it over the course of a season or a year.
I would also like to point out that almost everything is out of our control when it comes to rankings: how each system works, how others are ranked, what colleges look at what, etc. We have zero influence on some of these. In other words, we can't let a number define where we think our child's game is headed, when so many factors fall into it.
Ultimately, the only thing your son or daughter has control over is how they play the course and their attitude. I do not think any of us should spend time chasing a ranking. Let the number fall where it falls while they focus on improving their game and getting the most out of it. Eventually it will more accurately reflect your son or daughter's hard work.
We'll keep talking about how rankings impact junior golfers and other important aspects of it, so stay tuned!
