Already scoring · 06
About 15–18
A player who can post a number from the right tees, and a family that still likes each other.
A week on this rung
2–3 weeknights
They own the nights. Pulse wedges, the little book, sleep. You don’t add a session because the last one ‘didn’t feel good.’
The weekend
The event, or high school, or a family 18 that is allowed to be just a family 18.
You, this week
Adult fitting. Period. Re-fit after growth spurts.
Course management notebook. Miss toward the fat side. A go-to 7-iron and a go-to 50-yard shot under a pulse.
The rest · 10 min · Course
A cheap notebook in the bag. After each hole: club off the tee, miss, what they’d do again.
They write. You do not edit. Patterns show up in a month.
If it becomes homework, it dies. Three words is a complete entry.
The rest · 20 min · Course
Ten 50-yard shots, but they jog 30 yards before each one.
Heart rate up, same routine. This is the shot they will have on 18.
Ten. Then a drink. Then go home.
Putting · 15 min · Course
A few 6–10 footers. They already have a stroke. This is feel, not a rebuild.
Watch Utley. Then roll 20 putts without a lecture. Hands can be in the stroke. You do not become Stan.
Twenty. If you start coaching shoulders, you sit down.
You are now travel secretary and emotional ballast. Recruiting is their email, not yours. If they do not want college golf, the game can still be theirs for 60 years — that’s the Play along finish, and it is a good one.
Skip anyone selling a guaranteed D1 ride. There isn’t one.