Nicholas Schultz

[Brad Sparling @playgolfcollege]

Five to play five. Read this before you panic.

The NCAA changed a rule this week. Your feed is going to fill up with hot takes, and almost all of them will be about football. Let me give you the calm version and what it actually means for a junior golfer’s family.

For a long time, college athletes had five years to play four seasons. There was almost always a wasted year built in. A redshirt. An injury year. A season on the bench. As of this week, Division I moved to five seasons over five years.

That fifth season isn’t something you have to earn through a waiver anymore. It’s built in. The clock now starts after a player turns 19 or first enrolls full time, whichever comes first.

That one change reshapes the math of college rosters. Here’s what you need to see. The rosters just got older.

When every player can use a full five seasons, fewer of them leave early. Coaches keep their experienced golfers longer. Turnover slows down. The lineup your child is trying to crack in two or three years is going to be older, deeper, and more tested than the one on campus today.

This isn’t a doomsday headline. It’s a fact to plan around. The freshman who plays in the fall is becoming a rare story. More often, a newcomer spends a year or two earning their way into the lineup behind upperclassmen who aren’t going anywhere.

Which means fewer spots open each year. Simple math. If players stay five years and rosters turn over slower, fewer chairs open up each recruiting cycle. The top of Division I gets tighter. That pressure doesn’t disappear. It pushes down and out, toward Division II, Division III, NAIA, and junior college, where a lot of golf careers are quietly thriving.

So here’s the move. Get realistic about fit. This is the part I care about most, and it’s where calm parents win.

When spots are scarce, the worst thing a family can do is chase a logo. Reaching for a program where your kid would be the eighth man on a seven man travel roster isn’t ambition. It’s a recipe for a transfer, a year of frustration, and a player who loses the love of the game sitting in a parking lot after a tournament they didn’t get to play in.

The families who handle this well do something harder and smarter. They look honestly at where their child can actually play, contribute, and grow. A starting role at a strong Division II program will develop a golfer faster than four years on the bench at a big name Division I school. A great academic fit at a Division III where your kid competes every weekend beats a roster spot they can’t crack.

Fit isn’t the consolation prize. In this new world, fit is the strategy.

Talent gets a kid noticed. Honest self assessment gets them a career.

This week:
Sit down and ask one question together, out loud. Where can my child actually play? Not where do we wish. Not where it sounds impressive at a dinner party. Where can they be recruited, compete, contribute, and love it. Write down programs that pass that test. That list is worth more than any ranking.

The rosters got older this week. The smart families just got more honest.

This is the work I do with Elite families. I’m a performance coach for you and for your player on the things that really matter, and I manage recruiting start to finish. Everything your swing coach doesn’t touch.

If that’s the kind of guidance you want, you can learn more at https://t.co/JJDGWt66hA.

Be a lighthouse, not a tugboat.

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@Mike_kim714 How much do you think right place right time is a factor in success in professional golf?

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

Awesome guy! Played with him in the 2021 Optimist at Doral and have stay friends. Anders just loves the game and knows how to make birdies.

[Monday Q Info @acaseofthegolf1]

In 2023 I wrote about an unknown college sophomore from a tiny town in Minnesota who, out of the blue Monday Q'd for the John Deere in his first ever attempt at a Monday.

His name was Anders Larson.

Pine Island is a tiny town and Larson grew up playing a local muni. And how he found a coach to help with his swing, but that coach was 2 hours away. So two times a week his family would drive him there.

He still has the same coach. Last week Anders called me, said he was turning pro, was wondering about how to find sponsors, we talked for a good bit.

On Sunday he turned pro.

Today in his first attempt at a KFT Monday as a pro, he shot 63 and earned a spot in the field.

Pretty awesome.

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@jtschultz Number 10 is my number 1. Something special about that place.

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@cashflowgolfer @USGA The Ridge that year was brutal. It’s annoying but I sent in tournament scores when I was 15 years old cause I did something similar and they got back to me and cleared me no problem.

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@NUCLRGOLF Get on the ground.

[Stephen Hicks @StephenABC30]

Rick Scheidt has been named interim head coach @fresnocity following the retirement of Tony Caviglia.
Scheidt worked on Caviglia's staff for the last 27 years serving as both offensive + defensive coordinators at different times. @ABC30

[Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11]

Jesus defeated death so you can live.

[Monday Q Info @acaseofthegolf1]

In June of this year Cory Pereira’s wife Leah passed away after a battle with cancer at the age of 28.

Today Cory Pereira shot a 65 in the Monday Q for the Procore championship and will play in a pga tour event.

THIS is what Mondays are for. I hope that dude has logos all over his shirt and it funds his career for as long as he wants to play.

This week we should all be Cory Pereira fans.

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@Mike_kim714 What’s the process to pay a caddy? Like do they get employee by you and so they get a pay stub every week. No chance you just Venmo a guy every week

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@Mike_kim714 This reminds me of @BibleCaddie William Kanes story from Hawaii. @CGFtweet

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@PGA Tournament 68 Non Tournament 65

[Michael S. Kim @Mike_kim714]

Random golf thoughts:

When I watch guys like Clanton or any of the younger guys come out here and have success, it’s really cool and happy for them but I also feel a bit of jealousy. Not from their success. It’s the freedom and the confidence that you only have when ur young. The golf ball has generally gone straight for them so the doubts aren’t nearly there. It’s the power of innocence in a way.
But it just doesn’t last forever. EVERY player has their down turns from injury, pressures, swing flaws at a certain point. You even see it from the uber talented guys like Spieth, Rickie. The scar tissue inevitably builds inside the mind and body.
Once you lose that innocence, the problem is, we all work really hard to get it back. We desperately try to find that “feeling” but there is the issue. The harder you try and find a certain feeling, the further away it goes. The trick is being ok with the doubt and being ok with it not being as free, then the freedom comes closer to you. Instead of trying to get back to freedom, learn how to play under chaos.

I remember KJ once told me, ur career doesn’t start until you overcome ur first big slump. And everyone goes through it.

But I also realized that some just achieve a lot during that young stretch like Jordan haha

[George Takata @georgetakata]

BREAKING: Clovis East Boys Head Basketball Coach Adrian Wiggins has officially applied for the Fresno State Women's Basketball HC position, a job he held for eight seasons. Wiggins owns the highest winning percentage in FS WBB program history (.726).

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@Top100Rick Tournaments low was 71, Non Tournament was 68. Definitely Struggled this year on a couple different fronts. To many bogeys and doubles.

[Mike West🤘🏾 @HoustonHero713]

First off let's get this straight.

EVERYBODY IS NOT BUILT FOR JUCO😂.

Man don't let these folks gas yall up lmao you better go D2 or D3. That JUCO life is for savages only!

[DaShaun Stark @CoachStark_22]

2 yrs of JUCO — Associate’s Degree

2 of 4 yrs at NCAA institution — Bachelor’s Degree

Last 2 yrs at NCAA institution — Master’s Degree

A master’s degree for FREE on scholarship if you make smart decisions, & potential to MAKE money from NIL deals.

@JUCOadvocate am I crazy?

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@GolfweekRingler What was Beard connection to LSU for his odds to of been that? Did he play there?

[Nicholas Schultz @_nickschultz_]

@InvestingCaddy @jaredrhit3 Is that because you are not the one winning the money? So you are basically always paid in your home state?