Play high school golf

How High School Golf Works

High school golf season is fall in some states and spring in others, because each state's athletic association sets its own calendar. Florida's 2026 season runs from July 27 to state championships in November, and Georgia plays in spring, with state championships May 17 and 18, 2027. Regular-season matches can be 9 or 18 holes, and in stroke play a team's lowest scores make its team score: Ohio and Texas count the best four. State finals in Georgia, Ohio and Texas are 36 holes.

How to Make Your High School Golf Team

Making a high school golf team means earning a spot through your school's own tryout, which the coach runs. Check the first practice or tryout date your state association publishes: in 2026, Florida's was July 27 and Ohio's was July 29, and Georgia's first practice date for spring golf is January 25, 2027. There is no national cutoff score, so ask the coach how qualifying is scored, and file your state's forms first.

Amateur Status Rules, Explained

An amateur golfer may accept prize money only in a scratch competition, and only up to the prize limit. Rule 3 of the Rules of Amateur Status sets that limit at £700 or US$1000 in value per competition, unless the player's national governing body has set a lower one. In a handicap competition an amateur may not accept prize money in any amount, but may accept another kind of prize up to the same limit. This guide quotes the Rule, shows what the limit covers, works through four hypothetical examples and lists the five actions that end amateur status.

NIL and Amateur Status for Golfers, as of October 2026

College golfers can be paid for NIL. The NCAA says student-athletes may receive compensation from third parties for use of their name, image and likeness, and golf's Rules of Amateur Status let an amateur accept that payment and remain an amateur. Those are two permissions from two bodies, and neither clears a particular deal. The NCAA also says what a deal may be and, for Division I, what must be reported and when, and a school, a state law or a high school association can add terms of its own. A student on a visa has a further question to put to the school's international student office before any deal. This guide keeps the three apart, as each source read on October 11, 2026.