AI Answer
When choosing a college for golf, it's important to consider factors beyond just the school's ranking. You mentioned the importance of good course management and decision-making on the golf course, which are valuable skills that coaches look for. It's also essential to have a game plan for practice rounds and preparation, and then sticking to it when competing. You highlighted that it's not necessary to attend one of the top-ranked schools to succeed in professional golf. Many successful golfers have come from smaller or mid-major schools. So, don't be afraid to consider a school that may be viewed as lower level or not as high-ranked, especially if you have a good connection with the coach and the program fits your needs. Lastly, it's crucial to communicate with coaches and colleges early on. Your experience of having contact with coaches and discussing your options before the cut off started was beneficial. Make sure to continue those conversations and weigh your options carefully before making a decision.

Garrett Engle | Tennessee Chattanooga Golf

Like I think that's something that's super important because golf at the end of the day , you don't need to be the number one program in the country to play professional golf or to get to the next stage of your career , whatever that is like , you can go to a lower level , mid major or , or ad two school for that matter . Like there's plenty of professional golfers that have come from community college , Ducos D 3D 2 , like , all throughout . It's not just you go to the best , top 10 schools in the country or you're , you're , you're done .

Garrett Engle | Tennessee Chattanooga Golf

Um , so that was the hardest part for me is , you know , I had all these schools that I had talked to before and then I suddenly didn't know , where they stood at all and I come back my junior year and I was , you know , I didn't know what offers I would have or anything like that and it ended up working out well . Um , I had plenty of offers and plenty of , plenty of places to go and school is still interested , but it's just hard to stay calm not knowing . And I think that , that , that's something that , you know , someone who's a little bit of a late bloomer and doesn't really have any contact with coaches until they're , you know , a senior kind of goes through the same thing .

Garrett Engle | Tennessee Chattanooga Golf

Like there's plenty of professional golfers that have come from community college , Ducos D 3D 2 , like , all throughout . It's not just you go to the best , top 10 schools in the country or you're , you're , you're done . Um , and I think that's something really important if you like a coach at a smaller school .

Garrett Engle | Tennessee Chattanooga Golf

Um , because I had this stretch before , um , before I was a sophomore where I could talk to coaches . Um , and I was lucky enough to have a lot of contact with coaches and coaches were contacting me and , um , I was able to talk to a lot of colleges before the cut off started . But then , um , suddenly they changed the rules and I wasn't able to talk to any coaches at all my sophomore year .

Garrett Engle | Tennessee Chattanooga Golf

The pins are a lot harder , the conditions are a lot harder . So they're gonna pick a guy who has good course management and a little bit less ability over someone who has more ability and is making stupid decisions pretty much every round .