The National High School Golf Association (NHSGA) has proudly been ranking and recognizing high school golfers across the United States for almost three years now. Last year alone, we were able to rank over 20,000 high school golfers, both boys and girls, across the county. Our goal is to continue to grow our rankings and recognition as we capture more and more events on our state leaderboards. So just how do our high school golf rankings work? Let’s take a closer look.
State Tournament Results
We rank and record every state high school golf championship that takes place throughout the country. These state tournaments are what we currently use to determine a team or individual’s NHSGA state and national ranking. Given that each state is different when it comes to their format for the state finals, ex.) some states are 18 hole and other states are 54 hole championships, 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.
Golf Course Difficulty
In addition to looking at the state tournament scores for the NHSGA rankings , 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 – course rating) * 113 / slope). The team and players with the lowest differential are ranked highest. Just like USGA handicaps, weather and course conditions are not factored into the calculated average differential.
Regional Tournament Results
Starting this fall, the NHSGA has started recording and bench-marking regional high school tournaments throughout the country. Each state is unique, where some call their lead up tournament to state finals regional tournaments, where others may refer to them as sectionals or districts. In short, we are showcasing and recording the tournament leading up to the state finals in a respective state. Due to the inconsistency of getting full results for each regional event, these tournaments are not currently used in determining a team or individual NHSGA rank.
As we continue to grow our rankings and exposure of high school golfers, we ask that high school athletic associations, golf associations or PGA chapters who assist in running regional and state events work with us to ensure every golfer who competes in these tournaments in recognized. If you have specific questions or suggestions on ways that we can continue to improve our state leaderboards and rankings, feel free to contact me directly at: chris@highschoolgolf.org