Where college students go for golf

Ohio University club golf is heading to the NCCGA National Championship for the first time in club history. I know that because I started the club back in my sophomore year, 2012. To say I’m happy is an understatement, but I know it means much more to the boys on the team now.

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill club golf team has come a long way to get to the National stage.

The Northeast Region has and always will be, one of the toughest regions to compete in the NCCGA during the spring season. With temperatures rarely rising above freezing in the weeks before the first tournament and late snowstorms a surprising, yet common, occurrence teams have little opportunity to get a real practice on the course. When they do finally get out for a few holes it is on a course with shaggy grass and wet lies.

The UGA club golf team has always been solid, but never quite the perennial powerhouse team that everyone in the region feared. Joe Reichard came in as club president and decided that needed to change.

“UGA is growing with all of its educational programs." Reichard said. "With so many students here, you know there has to be some great golfers on campus”.

Oregon club golf is back at the NCCGA National Championship for the 3rd time in only four semesters of existence.

The team has been perennial champions of the Northwest Region since the team formed, and they always maintain high expectations. Kevin Mackin is the co-founder and Regional Coordinator for the Northwest Region while CJ Sitton is the co-founder and current club president of the team.

The Northern Colorado team turned two years old this fall, and to celebrate they are heading to their first ever NCCGA National Championship.

Tanner Brown is the club team’s president and co-founder. Brown made the decision to give up his pursuit of playing collegiate baseball, and not long afterwards he found an old set of lefty golf clubs in his grandma’s basement.

Here at the NCCGA we hear all kinds of challenges that club golf teams face each season. One of the most common problems we hear about semester after semester is funding. Many teams don't receive funding support from the school, or only receive a small amount, leaving the team to foot the rest of the bill. Fundraising for your team can seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be!

We have seen and heard all kinds of great ideas from teams around the country. These ideas have ranged from extremely simple to execute, to moderately difficult (but financially worth it). These fundraisers do a great job of bringing in money to support the club's expenses, but are also fun to do as a team. After all, you can’t spell fundraiser without FUN (corny joke, I know).

Here are 6 fundraiser ideas we've heard from club golf teams across the country:

Interested in starting a club golf team but not sure what to do before school starts? It can seem tough to start a team during the summer, when the large majority of students are off-campus. However there are a lot of things you can do to really get the ball rolling and ensure your club will be up and running as the new semester begins.

Here are five steps to start your journey before school starts:

Are you ever walking down a crowded sidewalk and see someone and think to yourself, “that person has to be a golfer”? College campuses are loaded with groups of people that are easy to identify, but golfers may be some of the easiest to spot. Golf, especially club golf, is a lifestyle and knowingly or unknowingly, there are certain things that make you stand out in a crowd. Here are 4 obvious signs of a golfer on campus.