Key takeaways
- A JGS ranking has three published parts: scoring counts 65%, strength of field 25% and finishes 10%. JGS does not publish how they combine into one rank.
- The scoring part averages your lowest 75% of round differentials (your score minus the USGA Course Rating, no slope) from tournament rounds in the last 365 days.
- You are ranked automatically once JGS has four qualifying events with 8 completed 18-hole rounds in 365 days, under one name and hometown, with your graduation year on record. That lasts until August 15 after you finish high school, unless you declare a GAP year.
- The field-size and yardage rules apply to your age group, not the whole event. The lists are recompiled daily.
Junior Golf Scoreboard's published ranking method
How are Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings calculated?
JGS builds the overall and graduation-class ranks from three parts. It describes the scoring part step by step. For the other two it gives only the inputs.
How a JGS ranking is put together
Differential
Score minus USGA Course Rating, each roundLowest 75%
Tournament rounds, last 365 daysScoring65%
The average of thoseJoined here by
Strength of field25%
Not published
Proprietary; lower means stronger opponentsFinishes10%
Not published
Valued by field size and strength
Combine
Not published
How the three parts are scaled and joinedRank
Boys and girls lists, redone daily
This differential is not a handicap differential. JGS uses score minus Course Rating and no slope. The World Handicap System's Score Differential, which the glossary calls a scoring differential, also uses the Slope Rating and a playing-conditions (PCC) adjustment (USGA: What is a Score Differential?).
The scoring part, worked through
The 65% part on eight hypothetical rounds. 75% of eight is six, so the two highest differentials drop out.
| Round | Score | Course Rating | Differential | Counts? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 74 | 72.1 | +1.9 | Yes |
| 2 | 71 | 71.4 | −0.4 | Yes |
| 3 | 76 | 73.0 | +3.0 | No |
| 4 | 73 | 72.6 | +0.4 | Yes |
| 5 | 79 | 72.2 | +6.8 | No |
| 6 | 70 | 71.8 | −1.8 | Yes |
| 7 | 75 | 73.5 | +1.5 | Yes |
| 8 | 72 | 70.9 | +1.1 | Yes |
- Scoring input, best 6 of 8Before any Course Condition Adjustment. Not a rank.
- +0.45
- Raw stroke average, all 8Same rounds, none dropped.
- 73.75
- Rounds droppedThe two highest differentials.
- 2
The raw average counts strokes. The differential measures each round against the course.
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How do you get ranked on the Junior Golf Scoreboard?
- Play events that meet JGS's criteriaMulti-day stroke-play tournaments or multi-round match-play qualifiers, meeting the conditions in the table below.
- The tournament sends its results to JGSJGS does not organize tournaments. People involved with each event send the results. JGS describes no way for a player to submit rounds for the ranking.
- Keep your name, hometown and graduation year consistentResults must list you under one name and hometown, and your record needs your high school graduation year. JGS asks families to email a missing year.
- Reach four events and eight rounds inside 365 daysFour qualifying events with 8 completed 18-hole rounds in total. You are then ranked automatically, with no account, fee or resume.
- Stay inside the age limitYou must be in high school or younger before August 15 after graduation, unless you declare a GAP year in writing. That is open to uncommitted rising seniors and seniors and needs a purchased JGS resume. You stay ranked while not enrolled or committed, until August of the year after graduation.
| Condition | Applies to | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Youngest age 10 or older | Your age group | A 10-11 age group qualifies. A 9-11 group does not. |
| At least 36 holes scheduled | Your age group | Played under the USGA Rules of Golf on a USGA-rated course. |
| At least 5 finishers | Your age group | Five or more finish every scheduled round. |
| At least 4,500 yards | Your age group | And no shorter than the forward-most USGA-rated tees. |
| Standard scoring | Your age group | No maximum-score format (Rule 21.2), no drop rule for out of bounds or lost balls. |
| Split-week events | The event | With rounds days apart and an overall competition, register for all rounds in advance. Then all count. |
| Independent high school invitationals | The event | One not run by a state high school athletic association or its designee counts only if it meets every rule above, has individual stroke play, sends results with real hometowns, allows no on-course coaching and is certified by email by a USGA-qualified official who was there. |
| If | What JGS does |
|---|---|
| You miss a cut | Completed rounds count, if in your best 75%. |
| Weather shortens an event scheduled for 36+ holes | All completed rounds count, if in your best 75%. |
| A round is shorter than 18 holes | It sets your finish but never enters your differential. |
| You start but withdraw, are disqualified or do not finish | Completed rounds count, if in your best 75%, only where the organizer adopted this 2019 policy, at the officials' discretion. |
Sources: JGS: Understanding the Rankings, JGS: Tournament Services and JGS: GAP years in the Rankings, read Sep 23, 2026.
What JGS does not publish about its rankings
JGS publishes the inputs to each part, but not all of the math.
| Part | Published | Not published |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring (65%) | The average of your lowest 75% of round differentials from the last 365 days. | How 75% is rounded when rounds do not divide by four. |
| Strength of field (25%) | Built from the other players' differentials. Lower means stronger opponents. | The formula, which JGS calls proprietary and changed in 2019. |
| Finishes (10%) | Wins, plus Top 5 credit (2nd to 5th with 10+ finishers in your age group) and Top 10 credit (6th to 10th with 20+), one per event. Valued by field size and strength. | How a finish is turned into a value. |
Also not published: how the three parts are scaled and combined into one rank; how ties are broken; the statistical test behind the Course Condition Adjustment.
Every JGS fact on this page comes from JGS's own public pages, linked beside it and read on Sep 23, 2026. JGS dates none of its method pages. If a JGS link shows a welcome screen, open it again. CAMPUS wrote this page; it is not a JGS publication (editorial policy).
JGS ranking vs a CAMPUS profile
| Question | JGS ranking | CAMPUS profile |
|---|---|---|
| What the number is | A rank from scoring (65%), strength of field (25%) and finishes (10%) | A scoring average: a plain average of your scores, with no course rating or slope |
| Adjusted for the course? | Yes, against the USGA Course Rating, with no slope | No |
| Which rounds | Your lowest 75% of tournament rounds in the last 365 days | The rounds on your profile. None are dropped for being your worst. |
| Your JGS rank | Published on JGS's boys and girls lists | A "JGS Ranking" number you type in. CAMPUS does not check it against JGS, does not say whether it is an overall or a class rank, and does not use it in the match score. |
To set your own average against college teams, see what college teams actually shoot, by division and gender.
JGS ranking myths, checked
What you will hear
JGS ranks you by your handicap.What JGS says
JGS says it is "not computing handicaps". It compares each round with the USGA Course Rating and does not use slope.What you will hear
Every tournament round you play counts.What JGS says
Only your lowest 75% of differentials from the last 365 days count. A round under 18 holes never enters them.What you will hear
Winning your age group always counts as a win.What JGS says
Not inside an overall combined-age competition. Then only the overall winner gets one.
How do you get ranked on the junior golf scoreboard?
Play four qualifying events (multi-day stroke play, or multi-round match-play qualifiers) with 8 completed 18-hole rounds inside 365 days. The results must reach JGS under one name and hometown, with your graduation year on record. JGS then ranks you automatically, at no charge, until August 15 after you finish high school unless you declare a GAP year.
What are the current US junior golf rankings?
JGS publishes separate boys and girls lists and recompiles them daily. Anyone can see the overall list and search it by last name; sorting by graduation year or state is for JGS subscribers. This page does not reproduce the lists: see JGS: Rankings.
