As a college student, the end of summer can be bitter-sweet. It means leaving your summer job and hometown friends for college dorms and 8 am classes. But for those playing NCCGA golf, the end of summer also means a chance to play club golf with friends and teammates that you haven’t seen all summer.
Club golf across the country has over 10,000 participants of all skill levels, backgrounds and from all different schools. But despite the growth, there's still thousands of colleges that don't offer club golf as an option on campus. For students at these schools, they often come to the NCCGA with two questions:
- What if my school doesn’t have a club team?
- What are ways that I can start a team and continue to play competitive golf?
Those are a few questions that Judson Bro asked himself when he started college at Bradley University, and found out they had no club golf team on campus.
Bro wanted to continue to play golf at the collegiate level. After many years of junior golf and varsity at his high school, he turned to the NCCGA for help and guidance to understand just what it meant and how he could get involved.
Bro founded the Bradley club golf team on his campus, and ever since he has enjoyed playing golf more than ever before. I asked him a few questions of what the NCCGA means to him and how he can help others be involved too.
What helped you most in starting a team on campus?
“I think the biggest help in starting a club team came from both my club sports department and the guys at the NCCGA. They listened, they cared and most importantly, they wanted to help me accomplish my goal of playing competitive golf again.”
How do I start and where can I go for help?
“Just go for it. Use your rec center, club sports and college administration to your advantage. If you are willing to try, they are willing to help. I found that if you were willing to just go for it and if you want to play, the school and friends will help you out”
What is the best part of competition with the NCCGA?
“I think the best part of competing with the NCCGA is by far how much fun you will have. I have been able to not only continue playing golf but have made so many friends across the region and nationally at NCCGA events. I realized that through club golf, I have been able to experience so much and couldn’t imagine what college would be without it. From Nationals in West Virginia to competing regionally against other schools, the NCCGA has given me everything I wanted in playing collegiate golf.”
The NCCGA is the outlet for non-varsity golf at the collegiate level. What ultimately separates the NCCGA is the unwavering commitment to helping grow the game of golf on every college campus and to care about the passion that so many students have for the game. If you think club golf and the NCCGA sound like something that you want to be a part of, contact the NCCGA to get started!
