College Golf Camps

Think fast. What do the following colleges have in common: Stanford, UCLA, Georgia, Dartmouth, Texas A&M, Baylor? All great programs for sure. And they all have a summer college golf camp. But what are college golf camps? How do they work? What are the pros and cons of camps? Will they help me get recruited?

To start, college golf camps come in all shapes, sizes, and forms (overnight camps, partial-day camps, and full-day camps, etc.). In general, though, the format focuses on a few themes, including: (a) skill development — putting, chipping, pitching, full swing, shot-making, course management, fitness, and more; and (b) college readiness and recruiting — an overview of college golf and the basics of the recruiting process (dependent on the camp and on whether it's age- and skill-appropriate). Camps can range in cost from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on the length and type of program involved. University golf coaches are generally in attendance, and the camps are held throughout the summer months.

Here at the Hub we believe that camps can be very beneficial to a junior golfer and potential recruit, albeit with some limitations. In particular, camps can help you with the following:

• Get on a coach's radar: Camps are an opportunity to meet the coaching staff in person, spend time getting to know them, and showcase your skills.
• Stay on a coach's radar: If you're already being recruited by a particular coach, then attending the camp is also a great opportunity to spend more time with the coach and stay on their radar. The coach will love to see your genuine and continued interest in their program.
• Visit the campus: Camps are a great chance for you to spend some significant time on campus. Consider it like an unofficial visit!
• Build skills and focus on college readiness: Camps typically involve instruction from the college coaching staff, and some camps include separate sessions on college recruiting and life as a college golfer. This can be great from a college prep perspective.

One additional important point is that signing up for and attending a college camp may or may not make an impact on whether you are ultimately recruited. If your skill level isn't up to par (no pun intended), college camps will not, in actuality, boost your recruiting prospects. Of course, they are a good opportunity to work on your game and build skills, but remember to be realistic. Don't travel the world going to golf camps to get recruited if your skill level isn't there. A good rule of thumb: if you're not winning locally or regionally, there's a good chance you may not get recruited after the camp. While this may be the case, going to a college camp can still be a great way to show a college coach that you really want to play golf for their team. Who knows — you could very well improve your scores, or work with the coach to potentially redshirt or take a gap year before joining the team, making the camp very much worth it!

Also please note: for NCAA Division I, there are restrictions on when recruiting conversations can take place between players and coaches. General recruiting communication between a prospect and a college coach isn't permitted until June 15 following the player's sophomore year of high school — golf camps are actually one notable exception to this rule. Camps are one of the only settings where junior golfers and their families can permissibly interact with and receive coaching from college coaches even before that June 15 threshold, which is part of what makes camps such a valuable and unique recruiting opportunity. 

A Note on Exposure Camps: In the past few years, a newer style of camp — the multi-coach "exposure camp" — has taken off alongside the traditional single-school camp model described above. Rather than attending a camp hosted by one university's coaching staff, players attend alongside a group of coaches from multiple different programs at once. CGX (College Golf Experience) is a leading example of this model, running formats like their Top25 Camps (featuring top-ranked programs), State Exposure Camps (organized by region), and an Academic Series. Over 1,400 junior golfers have gone through a CGX exposure camp, and a typical camp brings together anywhere from 4 to 12 college coaches in one place.

The core appeal of the exposure-camp model is efficiency: instead of separately building relationships with each program one at a time, players get simultaneous, direct access to a whole slate of coaches — including practice sessions and tournament rounds with real-time on-course feedback, recruiting-process seminars, and meals or one-on-one time with coaches — all in a single trip. For families managing limited time and travel budgets, this can be a meaningful way to gain broad exposure without needing a jam-packed individual tournament schedule to get noticed.

As with any camp, exposure camps are a complement to — not a substitute for — being a strong player. The same caveat above applies: a coach can only get excited about a game they see performing, no matter how many coaches happen to be in the room.

We hope this was a helpful overview of college camps. Make sure to say hello to our college coach friends at the summer camps!

Enjoy your Journey!