How to Contact College Coaches for Recruiting
If you want to play college golf, you need to start building relationships with coaches. The best way to do that is through email. It sounds simple, but most junior golfers send their first email without any preparation.
This guide walks you through exactly what to do before you write, what to include when you do, and how to keep the conversation going after you send it.
How to Email a College Golf Coach for Recruiting
Before you send any college recruiting emails to coaches, there are three things you need to take care of.
Build a realistic school list. Research programs that fit both your academic profile and your level of play. If you are not consistently finishing in the top five at your tournaments, your list should not be limited to high-level D1 schools. Being honest about your range will ensure that you get the best results.
Find one personalization fact for each school. This is something specific to that program that you find genuinely interesting, like a strong academic department or a recent tournament result. Include it in your email, as it shows the coach you did your homework.
Fill out the recruit questionnaire (if the program has one). Most programs have a recruit questionnaire on their websites, and you can typically find it on the team's website. Skipping it signals to the coach that you aren’t serious enough to spend ten minutes on a form.
Once those three steps are done, you’re ready to write.
Before You Write: Three Things to Do First
The key is to build a template you can customize for each school. Swap out the coach's name and personalization fact, and the core structure stays the same. Triple-check that you have the right coach's name before you hit send.
Here’s what to include:
Subject line: Your name and graduating year. Keep it simple.
Paragraph 1: Introduce yourself. Share your name, where you live, and which high school you attend. Add relevant academic details. If your strongest academic detail is your current GPA, include it. Coaches want to know they are talking to a serious student and athlete.
Paragraph 2: Share your personalization fact. Why are you reaching out to this school? This is also a good place to note that you completed their recruit questionnaire, if they have one.
Paragraph 3: Here’s where to get into your athletic accomplishments. What experiences and highlights stand out to you? What are you working to improve as you move through high school? If you have a private coach or trainer, describe what you work on together.
Paragraph 4: Show off any outside links or videos. Do you have a golf Instagram? Do you have swing videos? Share them here. If you don’t have media like that, link to your JGANC or JGS profile(s).
Paragraph 5: The key here is committing to staying in touch. Share your tournament schedule and keep coaches updated on your progress. They appreciate seeing your improvement, but may not have time to track all your results. Promise to keep in contact.
How Long Should A Recruitment Email to College Coaches Be?
Make your emails short, keeping them to 300 or fewer words.
Coaches get many emails and may not read long ones, so save any additional details for future emails or calls.
Clear and concise is the nam of the game.
What Happens After You Send That First Email?
Sending your first batch of emails is a real milestone. Take a moment to feel good about it, and then get back to work.
You should follow up with every school on your list every few weeks. If a coach replies, respond the same day or the next morning. Don’t wait to hit reply.
The recruiting process is built on consistent contact over a long period of time, which means that one great email is not enough. The junior golfers who get recruited are the ones who stay in front of coaches month after month.
For a full guide on how to write your follow-up emails, read our guide to writing follow-up emails to college golf coaches.
