Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2014 - 18

(MGA Q&A
)
Prep Work
There is help for high school
golfers trying to wade through
the college application
quagmire.
By Joseph Oberle
T
hey say necessity is the mother of invention, and that
pretty much describes the situation for Ellen Kuenster,
the mother of junior amateur golfer Celia Kuenster. Ellen
Kuenster began the process of a college search for her talented
daughter and found little information out there on how to go
about it. So she created a resource for others.
Together with club professional Brent Snyder, Ellen Kuenster
learned how to pull together all the information-college applications,
a golf resumé, tournament selection, stats compilation,
scholarship availability and different college program information-to
help her daughter (the reigning Minnesota Women's
State Amateur champion) decide which college to attend next
season. They learned so much that Ellen Kuenster and Snyder are
now offering their knowledge and services to parents of aspiring
college-level players.
College Golf Advising, a fee-based service that began last fall,
includes the golf instruction side with Snyder and the collegesearch
and application side with Ellen Kuenster, who spoke
about the program with Minnesota Golfer.
Q Celia started training with Snyder five years ago, but how
did you get to this point with your consulting program?
A We found that there is no resource to go to for information
on how to compile your stats to create a resumé, how to start
targeting schools or looking at tournaments. There are all these
different things to look at and no one resource. So for Brent's golf
students, I am trying to become that resource.
Q What services do you offer?
A Along with Brent's golf instruction, there are two sides to it:
college communications and tournament planning. I help students
put a golf resumé together, write cover letters and identify
their best attributes in terms of golf and putting that in the cover
letter to help capture the coach's attention. I am also working
with players as they go on college visits, helping them prepare for
that visit, identifying what questions they want to ask, etc.
[In the early stages], I can help them identify what kind of
schools would fit, assisting them in going through a college interest
inventory-do you want to go to a big school or small school,
big city or small town? All those things any high school student
has to go through to begin wading through the college decision.
Celia Kuenster
Ellen Kuenster
Q What about tournaments?
A I help the golfers plan their summer schedule of tournaments
thoughtfully-coming up with a schedule of tournaments that
makes sense. We look at all kinds of national junior tours and
important local and regional events. We put together a Plan B if
they don't qualify for bigger events-there are certainly plenty of
other options.
Q Celia is playing for the University of Minnesota golf team.
Is there a lot of scholarship money out there for other girls?
A There are a lot more opportunities for girls than boys because
of Title IX, and in part because there are fewer girls who play golf.
So there is more opportunity for players of a variety of calibers.
With boys, I think that if your scoring average is in the 80s you
might have a harder time winning a scholarship. If a girl is shooting
in the 80s, she can land a scholarship.
Q What did you learn during the process?
A The school that Celia chose was not even on her radar when
we started. So you don't know. You just go through the process
and it kind of takes care of itself-in the end it works out. As a
parent, certainly you don't want to make the decision for them;
it has to be theirs. You want to have opportunities presented to
them and whittle them down from there. Ultimately, for a lot of
kids it comes down to the relationships and the people who will
be involved, and that certainly was in her case.
16
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2014
www.mngolf.org
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Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2014

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