Luckily, golf scholarships are easier than making a hole-in-one.
Golf always has been a CEO favorite. It's no secret, yet a multitude of advertisements focus on football and basketball scholarships, not golf. Don't worry, the lack of advertisement doesn't mean there's a lack of funds. The presence of generous institutions such as the LPGA or the Evans Scholars Foundation make finding money for college convenient for golfers and golf aficionados.
NCAA Men's or Women's Golf Scholarships
The NCAA is the largest provider of athletic scholarships in the USA. The NCAA provides about 4.5 golf scholarships per school each year. However, unlike most scholarship foundations, the NCAA does little of the decision-making about the distribution of these funds. It gives each of its supported schools a fixed amount of money, and the schools then distribute the funds to their athletes how they see fit. The coach in charge of scholarship distribution decides on a case by case basis whether the golfer will receive a full scholarship, partial scholarship or nothing. The distribution of scholarship funds from the NCAA is the same for golfers as it is for basketball players and football players. For a list of schools supported by the NCAA, visit ncaa.org.
For Division I athletics, eligibility is based on a sliding scale of relative GPAs with a corresponding minimum SAT score. For a 2.0 GPA, a minimum SAT math/verbal combined score of 1010 is required, for 3.0 a minimum of 620 combined score is required. For Division II athletics, a GPA minimum of 2.0 and SAT two-part total of 820 is required.
If you are interested in an NCAA scholarship, contact the coach at schools that interest you. Do not contact the NCAA directly because it does not choose the recipients, the schools do. There is no specific award amount because each award is distributed to each individual at the coach's discretion.
Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship
The Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship is available to students who work as caddies in a Western Golf Association (WGA) club. You can't apply for the scholarship directly; your WGA club needs to nominate you. The Evans scholarship is based on four factors: a strong caddie record, the demonstration of financial need, an excellent academic record and outstanding character. To apply, you need to have a track record of two years or more as a caddie with plans to work at the club during the summer preceding your first year of college. There's more information at evansscholarsfoundation.com.
LPGA Scholarships
For female golfers, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has your back. It offers The Dinah Shore Scholarship for high school seniors playing golf who don't plan on continuing at the collegiate level. One student can get this $5,000 scholarship every year. For high school girls planning on playing golf at the collegiate level, the LPGA also offers the Marilynn Smith Scholarship to five winners every year. Furthermore, the LPGA also provides one need-based award to women of recognized minority groups who demonstrate financial need and also plan on continuing golf at the collegiate level.
NAIA
The NAIA is the second-largest national-level association of colleges (after the NCAA) that organizes college-level athletic programs. The schools that participate at NAIA-level conferences tend to be smaller institutions and because of this the competition is not as fierce.
To be eligible for an NAIA scholarship, you must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0, have a minimum ACT score of 18 or SAT score (two-part composite) of 860, and you must rank in the top half of your class. For more details and a list of schools in the NAIA, visit naia.cstv.com.
Tags: collegiate level, Caddie Scholarship, Chick Evans, Chick Evans Caddie, combined score