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October 3, 2017

How we develop the NHSGA High School Golf Rankings

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We are proud to provide state and national high school golf rankings now for three full high school seasons and want to ensure it is very clear how the rankings were developed. We pride ourselves on building the most accurate and robust National Rankings for high school golf. Feedback, ideas, errors or suggestions, email Rankings@highschoolgolf.org.

How do the rankings work?

Our National Rankings are run on a calendar school year basis. For example, the 2018-2019 rankings are for the state golf tournaments that took place between September 2018 and June 2019. Rankings for the current season (Fall 2019-Spring 2020) will start to be aggregated at the beginning of the fall season. Starting in 2018, the NHSGA staff is providing free software for high school golf administrators to upload their scores and use our software to administer state tournaments in real-time. Rankings will be updated as soon as state golf administrators upload their results from the tournament.

Rankings are compiled using our best accurate benchmark of all the high school state golf tournaments. Currently, we ONLY use state tournament scores since tracking and scoring at the regional and local level is not systematic.  Since some states run one-day tournaments and other states sanction two-day events we calculate all rankings on a per-round basis. For example, if a player competes in a two-day state tournament, the average score is calculated per round. Beyond benchmarking the state tournament scores, golf course difficulty is taken into consideration by using the USGA handicap formula which will give us an average differential score ((Gross player score by day-rating) * 113/slope). The team and players with the lowest differential will be ranked highest. Just like USGA handicaps, weather and course conditions are not factored into the calculated average differential.

Who gets ranked?

Every high school state golf tournament, no matter the division or type of school. If a high school golf team does not make the state championship, this team will currently NOT be ranked.  We have worked hard to obtain the complete information (scores, tees, yardage, slope, and rating) from every single state high school golf tournament, but unfortunately, some states/divisions are unable to be ranked. Below cites why a tournament would not be ranked:

  • No accurate slope/rating – Even though we have tried numerous attempts to obtain this information, some golf courses or directors of state tournaments do not have an accurate slope, rating, tees, or yardage for a tournament. Unfortunately, without complete information, we cannot benchmark an event accurately.
  • Incomplete tournament scores – After numerous attempts working with high school coaches, golf courses, and state athletic associations, no one has the results from the State High Golf Tournament. If a state has incomplete information on a state golf tournament, we will upload as much information which is available and accurate.

Team Rankings

Team rankings vary depending on the state. Most team rankings are calculated using the top 4 of 5 scores each day in a state golf tournament, but some states use a top 2 of 3 OR top 3 of 4 system. If a team does not have enough players compete in a state golf tournament, their team will not be ranked, but individual scores for those players will still appear in the national rankings. You will notice that in some states there is no team leaderboard given there were only individual results. These players will only be ranked on the Player Rankings tab. Many states allow individuals to play in-state high school golf tournaments. These players will be found in the player’s rankings nationally and by state individual rankings.

Regional Results

Starting in fall 2018, the NHSGA began showcasing and celebrating regional high school golf tournaments on state pages. Unfortunately, due to a lack of results from tournament directors and high school athletic associations, these tournaments are not able to be factored into the national or state rankings due to a lack of consistency from state to state. Have regional results that you’d like to share? Please email results to Mike@highschoolgolf.org and we would be happy to get them up as soon as possible.

**Please note, rankings are based on data provided by local state golf and high school athletic associations. If incorrect data is discovered, rankings are subject to change. For example, sometimes there are substitute players mid-tournament and the NHSGA does not know about these changes unless told by the local state golf administrator. We will do our best to update rankings accordingly if an error is found.

Questions, ideas, suggestions? Please contact us at Rankings@highschoolgolf.org


Posted By: Kris Hart |

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