August 02, 2007
The Texas A&M men's and women's golf programs are ranked among the nation's best in Golf Digest's third annual College Golf Guide, which is featured in its September issue.
The Aggie men's program, led by Head Coach J.T. Higgins, is ranked as the best in the Big 12 Conference and No. 15 nationally. The A&M women, under first-year Head Coach Trelle McCombs, is rated second among Big 12 schools and is No. 20 nationally.
Both programs are rated among the top 10 percent in the nation in facilities/coaching and scoring average, and are among the top 20 percent for climate.
The College Golf Guide is designed to help high school students find the right school for their needs. There are three separate rankings that comprise the Guide: Balanced ranking, for students who place equal emphasis on school and sports; Golf First ranking, for students with dreams of playing golf professionally; Academics First ranking (available exclusively online), for students who are focused on education but still desire to play competitive golf. The ?Balanced? ranking is the best indicator for the majority of young men and women heading off to college.
Five criteria form the basis of the rankings: a college golf team?â„¢s adjusted scoring average, Player Growth while on the team, academics, climate and facilities/coaches. These rankings differ from playing polls in four distinct ways:
>> 1. The Golf Digest rankings examine the entire school and the opportunity it
>> affords a student-athlete;
>> 2. They measure beyond an individual season;
>> 3. They are designed to make student-athletes better aware of the choices
>> available when researching schools;
>> 4. They place all three NCAA divisions on equal footing because most students
>> research colleges in multiple divisions.
In establishing the rankings, Golf Digest rated almost 800 NCAA men?â„¢s colleges and more than 500 women?â„¢s colleges in the five categories mentioned above, grading each category on a 100-point scale to determine overall scores:
> * Team Adjusted Scoring Average: (Balanced: 24.5%; Golf First: 40%; Academics
> First: 15%). Spans last four seasons and applies the formula used by NCAA
> committees to select postseason teams. (Source: golfstat.com).
> * Player Growth: (Balanced: 12.5%; Golf First: 19.5%; Academics First: 7%).
> Determines the percentage of players on the roster during the last four
> seasons who improved their adjusted scoring averages over the previous season,
> as well as the combined improvement or decline of players who met a minimum
> number of rounds. (Source: golfstat.com).
> * Academics: (Balanced: 36.5%; Golf First: 14%; Academics First: 58%).
> Utilizes statistics from U.S. News & World Report?â„¢s 2007 guidebook America?â„¢s
> Best Colleges. In order to equally evaluate schools in the NCAA?â„¢s three
> divisions, the metric does not include peer assessment, alumni giving rank or
> other calculations made by U.S. News & World Report within its ten college
> groupings.
> * Climate: (Balanced: 12%; Golf First: 12%; Academics First: 10%). A 30-year
> average of number of playable days between September 1-May 31. Allows for play
> in poor weather but not in extreme, dangerous or snow-covered conditions.
> (Source: Longitudes Group).
> * Facilities/Coaches: (Balanced: 14.5%; Golf First: 14.5%; Academics First:
> 10%). Measures quality, difficulty and proximity of campus-affiliated courses
> used for non-tournament practice rounds; quality of up to seven additional
> courses used by a team; practice facilities at home courses and stand-alone
> facilities on or near campus; other resources; coaches?â„¢ experience and past
> performance. (Sources: Golf Digest?â„¢s Coaches?â„¢ Survey; collegegolf.com;
> individual colleges; America?â„¢s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, as ranked by Golf
> Digest).
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