Dartmouth Women’s Head Coach Alex Kirk on campus with Claire Wan.

Dartmouth Golf Coach Alex Kirk’s first real encounter with golfer Claire came on a fairway. Her tee shot on a par 5 hole on the Whirlwind Course at Wild Horse Pass Golf Club in Chandler, Ariz., wound up on the edge of a bunker. The lefthander had to step into the bunker to hit the ball, which was about waist high. She managed a low running shot, good enough to set up a third to find the green.

“Coach Kirk drove his cart right up next to me, and I didn’t even notice,” said Wan of the Dartmouth women’s golf coach. “When I was taking a stance and about to hit the ball, he took a picture of me in the bunker. That’s what I like about him. I was nervous, but he was super down to earth and nice.”

Indeed, it was really the first encounter the two had, and it came at a College Golf Experience Camp in December of 2023. As it turned out, it would be the impetus of Kirk recruiting Wan to play for his Dartmouth squad in Hanover, N.H. And in April of last year, the senior standout from St. Stephens High School in Austin, TX, made an official visit and signed her letter of intent.

Next fall, Wan will start school at the Ivy League School, in an effort to continue her academic excellence (She scored 1520 on her SAT and had a near perfect GPA in high school) as well as continue to develop her golf game.

Would this have been possible had she not attended what was her second CGX camp? Sure, but would it have been likely? Connections like the one Coach Kirk and Wan made illustrate the opportunities found at CGX camps and how coaches and players are able to get to know each other in an atmosphere you won’t find anywhere else. It’s quality time spent on the course and in seminars and Q&A sessions with athletes and their parents, all in a comfortable, relaxed environment.

The camp gave them a chance to get to know each other much better than if they had just communicated by email or he had seen her play in a tournament. It gave them an opportunity to really connect, which is what the CGX camps are all about.

“I’m just a little kooky like that,” said Kirk of taking the photos. “I thought it was a funny picture.”

On a more serious note, though, Kirk said he looks at the camps as learning opportunities, both for the coaches and student golfers. It’s one thing to see them play in a tournament having to watch from afar and not getting to interact with them. It’s another to be able to meet them and their parents in a more casual atmosphere, get out on the course with them, and take part in the Q&A sessions that have proved so valuable in the CGX camps.

“The more I got to know her, I just liked her personality. She’s humble, and she’s very good academically,” Kirk said. “But I feel like it’s a two-way street. It also gives the players a chance to get to know us.”

Kirk was impressed with her demeanor, the way she conducted herself on and off the course. She also saw a lot of potential in her golf game, noting that Wan qualified for the 2023 U.S. Junior Girls Championship at the Eisenhower Course at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Wan made it to match play, where she lost to the eventual champion, Kiaro Romero, 2-and-1.

“I knew her golf was good,” said Kirk, who has coached at Dartmouth for 14 years. “I think she’s kind of sneaky long, being a lefty. And her arms are kind of long arms, too. She had a lot of good distance.”

For Wan, after getting to know Kirk at the camp, and later bonding with many of the players on her official visit, she knew that she would feel comfortable playing for him.

“I remember him being super honest about everything,” said Wan, the daughter of parents who are engineers and a twin to sister Audrey. “Like he would say, if you’re super wanting to play in college, and really love the game, that was a big part of it.”

CGX camps connect players and coaches in changing the landscape of college golf recruiting.

“Players and parents want to get in front of and access college coaches,” said CGX Founder and CEO Joshua Jacobs. “They want to learn about college golf and the recruiting process. Parents want to be able to provide opportunities for their kids to fulfill their dreams. That’s what these camps do. We are the connective tissue between junior golf and college golf. It’s our mission to be the leading source of college golf information on the recruiting process and everything from how to communicate with a coach, when to communicate to a coach and how to figure out where you fit.”