For college golfers, it’s become OK to stay in school longer.
“What’s the rush?” says Cole Anderson, a Mainer who's about to start his fifth season at Florida State.
In recent years, several factors have combined to create this new normal of longevity among college golf eligibility. Staying in school — sometimes via the transfer portal — is a great way to hone one’s game under user-friendly conditions.
The NCAA gives college golfers five years to complete four seasons of competition, with the fifth year considered a redshirt year.
But the college golf world is still being impacted by the NCAA’s decision, after the Fall 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to grant an extra year of eligibility to all athletes. Many of those “COVID fifth years” are still being used.
