College Golf 101

Congratulations, you're playing golf in college. What have you gotten yourself into? Okay, seriously, though. What is the college golf experience like? What are the basics? Depending on your school, division, or coach, answers will vary greatly. However, there are many commonalities, and that's what we'll cover here.

Let's get started!

Seasons

Most college golf programs play two seasons: fall and spring. The fall season lasts from September to early November, and the spring season lasts from late February to late May. Most schools play roughly 4-5 tournaments in the fall and anywhere between 4-8 tournaments in the spring. The spring season is generally regarded as the more important of the two, as it contains the conference tournament, which is the most important tournament of the year and can lead to an NCAA tournament bid. Lastly, in the off-season, most programs strongly encourage the team to both work out and practice on individual time over the winter months, and to play a competitive summer tournament calendar.

Practice

Two words come to mind as it relates to practice: Big Commitment. Many golf teams will practice 5 times a week, for roughly 3-6 hours at a time at the home course or practice facility the team uses. Technically, the NCAA specifies 20 hours of total practice time per week; however, here at the Hub, we've heard that the time commitment can exceed this in practice. Practices can vary greatly depending on the coach and the facility being used, but most practices consist of 1-2 hours of player-chosen practice on either full swing, short game, or putting, then 2-4 hours of playing on the golf course. Over the weekend, many programs will allow both days off, while others will designate either Saturday or Sunday as a "Play Day," traveling to a course a little farther away that allows more time for players to travel and play 18 holes for practice. One day a week on the weekend is typically reserved as a rest and recovery day.

Tournaments

When a tournament is approaching, or to set the lineup at the beginning of the golf season, teams will often hold inter-squad qualifying for the starting five, although this can vary by team. Teams and coaches develop a system to determine which spots in the starting five are available, when, and to whom. We recommend checking with the coach to determine exactly how the starting five is set.

The starting five (plus any individuals chosen by the coach) travel to the location of the tournament. There is almost always a practice round for players, typically on either a Friday or a Sunday. The next day is 36 holes of stroke play, shotgun start. You will play with two to three other players, all from separate teams, and you'll all carry your own bag for 36 holes. The day after this is 18 holes of stroke play, same format, and the winning team is announced after that round. After each round, the low four scores from the starting five are taken and added together. This process is repeated for each of the three rounds, and the team with the lowest three-round aggregate score is crowned the champion. There is also recognition given to the individual winner of the tournament. In all tournaments except the conference championship, the result goes toward the school's record; however, if a team wins Conference, they advance to Regionals. If the team wins Regionals, they go to the National Championship for their division.

For almost every golf program out there, if a player places well in a tournament, they will be rewarded by staying in the starting five for the next tournament. If they didn't play very well, their spot may be up for qualifying, and they will have the opportunity to earn a spot again.

Workouts

Given the importance of performance, most teams will adhere to some golf-specific workout program throughout the year. However, workout programs can vary tremendously between teams and depending on the season. The number of workouts per week will vary depending on the time of year, with winter experiencing the most workout time and the in-season period experiencing the least. For example, at some programs, the in-season workout is typically one hour long and only once a week, while out-of-season workouts last one hour and can happen two to three times a week. Workouts are typically early in the morning, before class. Most teams will work with a specific workout instructor, with workouts incorporating a mixture of flexibility, mobility, and strength exercises. We recommend asking your coach about the workout program both in-season and out-of-season, and in particular, whether the team has a coach certified in, or with expertise in, golf conditioning.

Academics

Going to college also has a huge academic component that college golfers can't forget about. If you drop below a certain GPA, you can become academically ineligible. Coaches can also have individual team standards for GPA and class attendance that, if not followed, could result in being kicked off the team or not being in the starting five. As a result, time management and serious effort need to be devoted to academic work.

For many college golfers, their classes will necessarily fall from 8:00 a.m. to roughly 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Classes will vary based on the day, and the number of classes per day will depend on your major, the number of classes taken, and your class choices. After practice (typically around 7-8 p.m.), homework and studying are expected from student-athletes. Weekends are also prime times to do homework, study, and prepare for the classwork or tests in the week ahead. For many freshmen, and even sophomores, a designated amount of study hall time is required. This involves a college golfer going to the designated study hall building, signing in, doing homework or studying for the required study time, and then signing out.

Eligibility

Traditionally, when you started as a collegiate athlete, you were given four academic years of eligibility to play college golf. Unless you redshirted your freshman year, your eligibility coincided with this four-year rule, and taking extra semesters that pushed you past your four-year eligibility window meant you could no longer play for the team.

That's how it has traditionally worked. However, this is changing: the NCAA Division I Cabinet recently approved a new age-based eligibility model, replacing the old system of sport-specific rules, season-of-competition limits, redshirt rules, and waivers. Student-athletes now get up to five years of eligibility if they enroll in college no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday.

Timeline:

• Fall 2027 and later: Age-based model only, no exceptions.

• Fall 2026 enrollees, plus current athletes with eligibility remaining past 2025-26: Get whichever model (old or new) is more favorable to them.

• Athletes who used their final season in 2025-26 under the old rules: No additional eligibility, no matter which model applies.

• Exceptions: Pregnancy, active-duty military service, and official religious missions can pause the eligibility clock — but only if the athlete doesn't compete during that time. The NCAA Eligibility Center administers these centrally.

• Waivers: Under the new model, waivers (hardship, season-of-competition, delayed enrollment) are eliminated entirely. Athletes still under the old rules had until July, 2026 to submit any waiver requests tied to 2025-26 or earlier circumstances — that deadline has now passed, so waivers under the old rules are no longer available going forward.

• Why: NCAA leadership framed this as simplifying an overly complex, litigation-prone rulebook, and aligning athletic eligibility with normal college enrollment and graduation timelines.

Week in the Life

To give you an idea of what a typical weekly schedule looks like, based on the components discussed in this article, see the schedule below. It may seem like a lot, but once you get used to it — and use the tips discussed in our time management article — it becomes very manageable, and even fun!

Week in the Life

To give you an idea of what a typical weekly schedule is like based on the components talked about in this article, see the graph below. It may seem like a lot, but once you get used to it and use tips talked about in our time management article, it becomes very manageable and a fun time!