The Five Best College Golf Programs

The average salary for a college graduate from the class of 2015 is just under $49,000. Definitely not a bad haul but not as much as it seems considering there’s anywhere between $30,000 and $140,000 or more in student loans to repay. Comparatively, Jordan Spieth earned over $12,000,000 in prize money for 2015 while even 100th ranked Patrick Rodgers had a $1,038,000 year. The underlying statement – if you’re gonna go to college, golf isn’t a bad major.

By attending a college with one of the top golf programs in the U.S, players will not only receive the training and tutoring to be a successful golfer – they’ll have the resume too.

Four years at one of these top college golf programs may or may not lead to a berth on the PGA TOUR, but it will definitely open the doors to lucrative careers both in golf as well as outside of the sport. Best case scenario, you’ll have to decide whether to graduate in late May or play the AT&T Byron Nelson.

That said, here are our five best college golf programs that might just help make that dream a reality:

Stanford

Tiger Woods and Tom Watson are Cardinal Alumni and the school has won an impressive eight National Championships overall. Head coach Conrad Ray is a fellow alumnus (’97) and one of the most revered leaders in all of college men’s golf.

Perhaps most importantly though, the school has a perfect graduation success rate the past 10 years and is one of the most respected universities in not only the U.S., but the world.

Back-to-back Pac-12 champs. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Men’s Golf (@stanfordmgolf) on Apr 29, 2015 at 3:45pm PDT

Texas

Perhaps the biggest allure of attending Texas is learning at the same spot where world #1 Jordan Spieth perfected his game. Not only that, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Justin Leonard, and Mark Brooks are a few of the other PGA TOUR vets who have raised an index and pinkie finger and proclaimed “Hook ’em Horns!” As an added bonus UT is also located in Austin, TX, one of the fastest rising cultural hotspots in the United States.

Alabama 

The Crimson Tide golf team is proving that Alabama is much more than a football school as the university recently won back to back national titles in 2013 and 2014. 1976 U.S Open winner Jerry Pate is Alabama’s only major winner but that could change real quick as current upstarts Bud Cauley and Justin Thomas have the game to accomplish that feat.  Other Tide alumni with Tour wins under their belt include Steve Lowery (3), Jason Bohn (2), Dicky Pride (1), and Michael Thompson (1).

Here is your 2015-16 @AlabamaMGolf team! #RollTide #BuiltByBama A photo posted by Alabama Men’s Golf (@alabamamgolf) on Aug 24, 2015 at 6:41am PDT

Georgia

It seems that Georgia is the unquestioned hotbed of golf talent currently on the PGA TOUR.  Bubba Watson is perhaps the most famous alumni with two green jackets but there are eight other former Bulldogs playing on the tour basically full-time.

Coach Chris Haack is doing something right as Brendon Todd, Patrick Reed, Harris English, and Chris Kirk can attest.

Squad. #DawgsOnTour pic.twitter.com/ZME6j9mlMz

— Georgia Golf (@UGAGolf) October 2, 2015

Augusta University

If a future Masters Championship is a dream for incoming Freshmen, then why not study just nine minutes away from Augusta National at Augusta University?  The school is about much more than location though, as evidenced by back-to-back national championships in 2010 and 2011.

A photo posted by Augusta University (@aug_university) on Aug 13, 2014 at 9:43am PDT

These college golf programs can give you the knowledge and experience to create a legitimate career in the golf world.  Just throw in a fair helping of hard work and perseverance and you can make it a reality.

Cover Photo via @stanfordmgolf on Instagram