Where college students go for golf

We all know that golf, at times, can be a slow sport. It is one of the slowest paced games out there, yet it is also one of the most widely played sports. There is the waiting on the tee box for the group in front of you, waiting in the fairway to hit your approach shot and sometimes waiting in the line at the restroom when making the turn. The waiting can be one of the worst parts of a college golf round.

My name is Brandon Harrold and I am the new president of the NCCGA. I am very passionate about the #clubgolf movement and the impact it has on its golfers. As the president for 2015, I will act as the voice of the 10,000+ college golfers around the nation. I will listen to your opinions, comments, and concerns in hopes to make a better all-around experience for you. In addition to this, I will be working with our student leader team and twenty-eight regional coordinators to ensure a successful season.

Golf is a notoriously a male dominated sport, but Eva Warburg, Alexa Douglas, and the Bentley Women’s College Golf Club team won’t be intimidated. This spring the team will be making their NCCGA debut in the New England Region, and want to prove that golf is not just for men, joining Wake Forest and Marquette in fielding a men's and women's college golf club team.

While it may feel like the NCCGA season is right around the corner, there’s still time to improve your game before the college golf season begins. While for most people this means grabbing their golf clubs and heading out to the range or first tee, there's another method that can help you improve your game. You don't even have to pick up a club for it to work either.

With potentially over 20 teams competing in our New England Region this fall, we explored the possibility to start a Southern New England Region to accommodate new teams starting up in Connecticut. With teams such as UCONN and Quinnipiac coming together in early September just before our first Student tournaments, we needed someone to step up and be the Student Ambassador to help these new teams get involved. Joe Catalina of Southern Connecticut willingly stepped up and ran two fantastic tournaments this fall.

Golf is more than a sport, we love to say, it's the game of life. Those words which are Mantra for organizations such as the First Tee ring true to me stepping back from fall 2014 Nationals. Be it the gentlemanly acts of sportsmanship, perseverance through difficult weather, organization of our student leadership team, or opportunity to experience new cultures, I learned a lot at Dancing Rabbit.

It typically takes a few semesters to get a club golf team established, let alone making it to our National Championship. The University of Florida club golf team upended this trend when they made it to Nationals in their first semester this past spring, and The University of Colorado Boulder has accomplished the same. We had the chance to catch up with Matt Lull, the guy who pulled this all together.

As the #RoadtoRabbit comes to a close and the participating teams and rosters have been finalized, check out the below guide for the host golf course and local area.

With over 50 #ClubGolf and #GolfStache tweets and Instagram posts in October, Duquesne Club Golf took home the #ClubGolf October prize of a Cleveland wedge and 8 NCCGA #Player shirts. There will be one more monthly winner in November for the best #ClubGolf and #GolfStache tweets and instagrams leading up to the National Championship November 15-16. Iowa State, Duquesne, and the November winner will all be finalists to win the grand prize of free team dues for the spring 2015 semester. Below are six reasons why Duquesne took home the October honors:

Last spring, Uconn was the biggest school in New England that didn't have an active competing team in the NCCGA. We worked with students to help start a club team this fall and even hosted the first ever Southern New England Regional at Windham Golf Club, UCONN's home course. Serving as Vice President of UCONN's club team and delivering some of the finest college golf in the country this fall was Mike Thibodeau, a mechanical engineer who will be making the #RoadToJersey as an individual.

The number of MBA competitive NCCGA programs doubled in the past year to two. Yes, that's right, MIT Sloan joined Babson MBA as the only other active MBA club golf team in the NCCGA. I had the chance to catch up with John Mahler, the club president of the team to see how their experience went this fall.

Red Tail Golf Course in Devens, MA is easily one of the top 3 public golf courses in Massachusetts. Located out by Fort Devens, between 30-45 minutes outside of Boston, the course is named for the frequent Red Tail Hawks you can see flying overhead.

If you type in college golf on google, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Golfweek is one of the first websites to appear. Golfweek has been golf's authoritative source for college golf over the past decade and has been covering the NCCGA closely.

The Texas Region is one of the most competitive in the country. The region has quickly grown and it now includes 10 teams. Regional Tournament 1, played at Cross Timbers Golf Course in Azle, Texas, lived up to the hype. Defending National Champions Baylor were only able to come up with a 3rd place finish. Led by Carson Stepler, firing (-3) for the weekend, UT Austin was able to secure the 1st place finish. The other team to finish ahead of Baylor: Golf Academy of America - Dallas.