Junior Golf Rankings

How much do you know about junior golf rankings? What are the major ranking systems out there? How do they work and calculate rank? What do I have to do to get ranked? How do I improve my ranking? What rankings do college coaches focus on? How much weight do they put on rankings?

All good questions. And fear not! This Hub article will describe the junior golf ranking landscape and provide answers to these important questions.

Before we get started, a note of caution. Here at the Hub we appreciate the importance of rankings, but do not believe rankings are either infallible or all-important. Occasionally, we see players so intent on "optimizing" their ranking that they neglect vital development opportunities, like playing in competitive tournaments, because the "strength of field" is not up to par. In our humble Hub opinion, this is penny-wise and pound-foolish. Prioritize your long-term development and the thrill of competition first. By all means, pay attention to your ranking, but don't make it your master.

Onward. Let's start with some basics.

The major junior golf rankings are:

• Junior Golf Hub (HUB)

• Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS)

• The AJGA Rolex Ranking

• The Universal Golf Ranking (TUGR)

There are other ranking systems (World Amateur Golf Ranking), and we will touch on that as well. Let's explore Junior Golf Hub (HUB) first.

Junior Golf Hub Rankings

The Junior Golf Hub Rankings (HUB) is without a doubt one of the most important rankings that college coaches look at. The reason? In one word: breadth. The Hub typically receives results for nearly 7,500 tournaments worldwide and then ranks north of 60,000 players at any one time, including national, state, and class rankings. Unlike the AJGA, the HUB system counts results irrespective of the tour you played on. Thus, your HUB rankings listing will cover and post results from every single tour you compete on — from 1-day events hosted by United States Kids Golf (USKG) to USGA qualifiers and championships and everything in between, i.e., the AJGA, Hurricane Tour, your local PGA Section junior tour, and so forth.

How it works:

65% of your rankings value comes from your tournament differential.

The remaining 35% is split across four additional factors:

• Scoring Average (10%)

• Top Finishes (10%)

• Event Participation (5%)

• Strength of Tournament (10%)

All four areas are weighted and multiplied based on a proprietary "level" system. To explain, take this example: a local, 9-hole USKG event for players age 12 and under would be one of the lowest tournament levels. A national invitational hosted by the AJGA would be one of the highest tournament levels. Points awarded to participants in each are multiplied by the factor of the tournament level.

To check out the HUB Rankings, visit this link: https://app.juniorgolfhub.com/rankings

Junior Golf Scoreboard (JGS)

The JGS ranking is based on a formula that reviews a player's record in 36-hole or longer tournaments over the last 365 days. A player must have four events within the year to be ranked.

Here is how the ranking itself is calculated:

Scoring Differential (65%): Scoring differential is simply your score on a given day minus the course rating. For example, if you shot 75 and the course rating is 73.0, then the scoring differential for that round is +2.0. If you shot 71, the scoring differential is -2.0. Junior Golf Scoreboard takes the top 75% of your scoring differentials and then averages this out to determine your scoring differential for calculating your ranking. Discarding the bottom 25% of your scoring differentials is nice, as it takes the pressure off a few bad rounds. This factor then contributes to 65% of the overall ranking. The important thing to note here is that the most important factor in the ranking is your score relative to the difficulty of the course. Makes sense!

Strength of Field (25%): Strength of Field measures how competitive the field was in each tournament you played in. How is this calculated? Beats us! This is a black box and proprietary to Junior Golf Scoreboard, but we can only presume that they consider the rankings of the players in the field. Higher ranked players = stronger field, lower ranked players = weaker field. This means that finding strong events to compete in can give your ranking an extra boost. This criterion counts for 25% of the ranking.

Strength of Finish (10%): Average finish of the competitor, with consideration given to the size of the field. This criterion counts for 10% of the ranking.

There are, of course, a bunch of other subtleties and complexities in the ranking (for example, how the system handles a tournament that waived a Rule of Golf). If you are interested in checking them out, visit this link:

https://www.juniorgolfscoreboard.com/rankings.asp

AJGA Rolex Rankings

The AJGA Rolex Ranking differs from other systems in a few important ways. First, the ranking limits itself to only AJGA tournaments and a smattering of elite junior events (US Junior Amateur, IMG Junior Worlds, Junior PGA, and others). Second, the AJGA uses (a) strength of field and (b) finish within the field as the core determinants of the ranking, meaning the scoring differential concept of other systems is thrown out. The ranking spans a rolling 52-week cycle.

Here are a few more details of how the AJGA Rolex calculation works:

Players are awarded points on a per-event basis. A player's total points are then divided by the number of events played to derive a points average. Players are ranked according to this points average. A minimum denominator of six is set, so a player who competes in fewer than six events during a 52-week period may still be ranked, but will not receive full credit for their performance.

Players are rewarded for playing tournaments with stronger fields. Each tournament's point values are based on the strength of the field for that event. Strength of field is measured by calculating the combined top-10 finishes (top-5 finishes for girls) of a given field over the past 52 weeks in events ranked by the AJGA. Certain Invitational events are locked in at the highest point level. Champions of those events are awarded 225 points. Champions of other events receive between 20 and 100 points.

Got all that? Admittedly, sometimes you need a degree in rankings to properly sift through the methodologies. For the intrepid among us, check out https://www.ajga.org/rankings for the detailed nitty-gritty. Here at the Hub we are very action-focused, so let's get right down to a few quick tips on helping your ranking.

1. Play in six events: The AJGA Rolex Rankings automatically divide the points you've gained from events by six, even if you've only competed in three events. So, to maximize your AJGA rank, it would be wise to play a minimum of six of their ranked events (if you can!).

2. Be aware of the hierarchy of events: It is useful to understand that certain events are locked in at high point values, and in general, there is a hierarchy of events in the AJGA schedule. Here's a quick rundown of both:

• Events that are locked in at high point values: About 16 events are locked in at the highest point value (225). These are the cream of the crop. Check out the link above to see what they are. Many of these are invitationals or very competitive junior events (US Junior). You've been warned! There are another ~27 events that are locked in at a higher-than-normal minimum point value. Check these out as well, and shoot to play in a few if you can.

• The general hierarchy of events: In general, Invitationals (events with stronger fields by definition) will be awarded the most points, followed by Open events, then Senior events, then Junior All-Star events, then Preview Series events.

Onward. In case you were hungry for more, there are two more rankings to take into consideration. These admittedly get less exposure and airtime, but some college coaches may check in on them from time to time.

TUGR Junior

The Universal Golf Rankings has a junior golf ranking, too.

The TUGR methodology is simple:

• Gather head-to-head scores, player-by-player, over the past 18 months.

• Let a powerful computer calculate rankings based on the matrix of head-to-head matchups.

• The output is relative strokes per round to the best junior player in the world.

TUGR is tour-agnostic and covers results from a wide range of junior events around the globe.

World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR)

With WAGR, we move out of the realm of competitive junior golf and into the expanded realm of all amateur golf worldwide. Quite a difference! The WAGR database currently processes information from over 4,000 counting events to accurately rank over 10,000 players from all over the world. Players are ranked on the basis of their average performance in those events over a rolling cycle of the previous 104 weeks. Events are graded based on strength of the field, with the number of points awarded being proportional to the event strength.

WAGR publishes a list of past and upcoming events to be included in their rankings. Do some research and try to sign up for these events if you can!

In summary, here's the Hub's quick punch list of tips for getting ranked and improving your ranking:

Play in ranked events: The fact is that if you want to get ranked, you have to play in ranked events. Check out the tournament pages to see which rankings cover certain events, and make sure to play in a minimum of 4+ ranked events per season.

Play well … against the course: Remember that a lot of your ranking is based on your score versus the course rating, meaning the most important determinant of your ranking is how well you play on any given course. If you have the luxury of selecting events at courses you know and are intimately familiar with, take advantage of it!

Seek out events with top fields: Admittedly, it's arguable whether some of your ranking should be determined by who you compete against. Whether you like it or not, though, it's a fact of life! When you are ready for it, actively seek out the better fields, tournaments, and events. An AJGA Invitational that pulls from a national field of ranked players will count more than your local PGA section event. Actively work to play in better events at the more prestigious tours to optimize for this variable. As we noted above, we do not, however, recommend neglecting events based on strength of field. In our mind, that just doesn't make sense. Focus on competing and your long-term development, and avoid the tendency to get too cute with your schedule.

Enjoy your Journey!