When it comes to emailing a college golf coach, many times junior golfers aren’t exactly sure where to start. Making a good first impression in your email to a coach is crucial if you wish to catch their attention and be in the running for a spot on their team. Let’s take a look at the best practices and times to send introduction emails to college golf coaches.
Start with the assistant coach
A college golf team will usually have two coaches, the head and the assistant coach. Don’t make the mistake when sending out your intro email to only send it to the head coach. Typically the assistant coach will deal more with the preliminary recruiting matters than the head coach will. A good rule of thumb to follow would to be to email both coaches and address them individually.
Avoid Mondays
If there is a day of the week to avoid when sending emails to college coaches, it’s Monday. Usually coaches will be catching up on emails and other office work from the weekend, so it’s best to wait until mid-week to reach out to a coach. Pro tip: sending email between 4-7 p.m. local time in the evenings is typically the best time of day to contact a coach.
Look at their schedule
During the fall and spring golf seasons, coaches are their busiest and usually won’t have a ton of time to devote to recruiting. Look at their calendar and schedule before contacting a school you are interested in. Avoid a day they would be at a tournament.
Communication Rules
Keep in mind that YOU can always proactively reach out to a coach at any division level no matter what year in high school you are. However, there are rules on when the coach can contact you:
- NCAA Division 1 – An NCAA DI coach cannot proactively contact you until September 1st the start of your junior year
- NCAA Division 2 – An NCAA DII coach cannot proactively contact you until June 15th the summer between your Sophomore & Junior years
- NCAA Division 3 – There are no communication restrictions on when a coach can proactively contact you
- NAIA – There are not communication restrictions on when a coach can proactively contact you
Do not use the same email – personalize
A mistake that I see all too often is when a junior golfer will use the same email template and send it off to 50 schools. Don’t fall into this habit. Personalize and customize each email you send. Focus on answering two questions: Why do you want to go to that school? What can you bring to that coach’s golf team?
Attach your golf resume/tournament schedule
College coaches want to see you play in person but they need you to share your schedule in order for that to happen. If you have a handful of events coming up, be sure to attach your college golf resume and schedule to the email so a coach can plan on watching you play. The earlier you get it out to them, the higher chance they will be able to attend.
Timing is everything
The best time of the year to send emails to college golf coaches is the summer and winter months. Typically coaches will have more time on their hands to deal with recruiting matters, and won’t be traveling every week to golf tournaments as they would in the fall and spring. Do your best to avoid emailing coaches when they are in season. The amount of travel and tournaments coaches have, it will be difficult for them to get back to you in real time.
Below is an outline of what an introduction email to a college golf coach should look like:
Subject Line: Chris Noble – 2019 Golfer from MI – Video – 74 Tourn. Avg. – 793 JGS – 3.89 GPA
The introduction email you send to a college coach should be about 3 paragraphs.
First, introduce yourself and give the coach a couple of highlights or results/finishes that you are proud of, that will stand out in their mind.
Second, answer the question of why you want to go to school there (location,size,what you want to study etc.) and be specific, show the coach you did your homework. Also, why you would be a good fit for that golf team, use their current roster or results/scoring averages to your advantage.
Lastly, thank them for their time and ask some questions that would trigger a response from the coach. Avoid leaving the email open ended. Some questions that you could use: What evaluation criteria do you use when determining an incoming freshman (scoring avg. tournaments, JGS rank etc.) Would there be an opportunity to come over for an official visit? Would love an opportunity to meet with you and see the school/team in person. The main thing is that you are giving the coach a reason to respond to you.
Hopefully these above tips will give you the knowledge and know how to make a great first impression to a college golf coach that you are interested in! Further questions? Email me at Chris@highschoolgolf.org