Where Ambition Blurs Reality!!!

[Big Johnny69]

http://www.torontogolfnuts.com/showt...ewpost&t=70836

Some lofty goals, don't you think???

[goochy]

I dunno...I think it all depends on how old our friend is and where he is based. If he is still young and lives where he can play year round, then why not?...given time.

I just read Annika Sorenstam's book...she said she was a very average junior...shooting in the mid 90s when she was 15-16years old, despite taking up golf when she was very young. She turned out OK

I think if you have time and a positive attitude then why not give it a shot..you might make it, you might not, but at least you won't spend the rest of your life asking "what if?"

[rtto5588]

I just read Annika Sorenstam's book...she said she was a very average junior...shooting in the mid 90s when she was 15-16years old, despite taking up golf when she was very young. She turned out OK

But Annika didn't turn pro after 3 days in Texas working with Haney's right hand man .

I personally think the dude's delusional. It's one thing to chase your dream. It's another thing to be reasonable about it. If he said he's a 5 capper now and wants to be a touring pro in a few years, I'm sure he'll get more supportive responses. The guy went to Texas and worked with a swing coach for 3 DAYS and already is talking about becoming a touring pro once the season begins. I know when I make strides with my game within a short amount of time, I don't thing 'Gee, I can do this for a living'. That's what is ambitious about the whole thing. I wish him all the luck, but a lot of the posts are basically telling him to be realistic, and he's laughing it off.

[Break68]

More power to him, but he is not Brett Waldman.

[quinner]

I am going to agree with goochy on this one. If he's young enough and if money isn't a problem then he very well might stand a chance. People can do remarkable things if they put their minds to it. Without knowing anything about him, you never know!

[Big Johnny69]

I don't think people read the thread closely enough. I'm not saying he can't do it, I'm saying he can't do it this year. The guy thinks because he spent 3 days with an instructor in Texas he is now ready to be a pro...this year!! He's going to go from a 5 capper to a pro in a matter of months?? I highly doubt it. And as for the age thing, he has 1969 in his username, maybe the year he was born? If so, making a run at being a pro at 41 is even more difficult.

[Big Johnny69]

Edit: He never says "this year" but that is the impression he gives.

[spackler]

It's hard to tell whether it's a realistic expectation when there's no background to his story. That said, wasn't Poulter a 4 or 5 when he turned pro? It's possible.

[Big Johnny69]

It's hard to tell whether it's a realistic expectation when there's no background to his story. That said, wasn't Poulter a 4 or 5 when he turned pro? It's possible.

Possible??? Sure, with lots of hard work, not after 3 days in Texas with one of the instructors from Hank Haney's stable.

[spackler]

That's why I said it's hard to tell if he's serious without any background info. He never says that's the sum total of his experience or that it's all the work he plans to do. So without knowing that, who knows. Anyway, he's probably a troll just trying to wind people up. Looks like it was a success!

[Big Johnny69]

That's why I said it's hard to tell if he's serious without any background info. He never says that's the sum total of his experience or that it's all the work he plans to do. So without knowing that, who knows. Anyway, he's probably a troll just trying to wind people up. Looks like it was a success!

I think that as well. There is a guy over on TGN that keeps signing back up each time he's banned and just wants to stir the pot.

[nokids]

Some lofty goals, don't you think???

I thought everybody had that same goal.
Every shot for me is practice for Augusta.

[HoganWoods]

That guy isn't being serious or is a bit light in the head. I think it's a joke.

[Kilroy]

Just a troll who somehow managed to get a rise out of people on two forums, without even posting on one of them.

[leftylucas]

I thought everybody had that same goal.
Every shot for me is practice for Augusta.

Does that include the skulled chip shot across the green??

[leftylucas]

Let's all turn pro this year, No Kids has the best chance if last year's reduced HC index is any indication, he could be at +8 by year's end.

[leftylucas]

For someone who is a low capper he sure does not know much about the process and he should get himself a caddy that can spell check.

[bNeill]

As aforementioned it's called trolling. If you don't understand go to 4chan.org

[nokids]

Does that include the skulled chip shot across the green??

That's mild compared to some of the 'lowlights' from this year. It's not as bad as the shot I hooked so badly it almost boomeranged back to me. Or the tee sign I hit. Or that time I almost hit you with my tee shot at Manderley. Or the putt I hit fat and took a small divot. Or when I mistook the 9th green to be the 18th green at EC. Or the . . . you get the idea.

I'm getting all the bad shots out of my system before the TV crews arrives.

[leftylucas]

Lowlights always come before highlights, I saw a lot of really good shots from you this year, keep it up

[Husband]

I'm getting all the bad shots out of my system before the TV crews arrives.

This made me laugh so hard. I'm gonna use that line.

I've had similar goals in life. Goals don't have to be realistic, and really all it takes is a lot of hard work and a little luck.

[kilmidyke]

It's hard to tell whether it's a realistic expectation when there's no background to his story. That said, wasn't Poulter a 4 or 5 when he turned pro? It's possible.

Poults turned "assistant club pro of 4cap" and then had to work his arse off on the course and in the pro shop to get good enough. Huge difference between club pro and touring pro.

I have a few mates back in blighty that are unbelieveable golfers but all say the same thing.....good but nowhere near good enough!

[kilmidyke]

Was looking on another forum (PT) and came across a thread by a mini tour player. That thread was about a practice regime really (and is quite interesting in it's own right), but I asked him a couple of questions and gave a basic explaination of the topic of this thread, ie; how do you know when you are good enough, what was his cap when he turned pro, how tough is it on the mini tours, etc. and here is his reply....

Liam,

Unfortunately, I think the gentleman on the other forum has a long way to go. My handicap index when I turned pro was somewhere between +3.5 and +4. It was established through some tournament scores but mostly scores on my home course where the rating is right around 71, so it took a lot of 65s to get it down there. I turned pro when I was 26. I think I got to scratch when I was 18. I started playing when I was 14 so it took about 4 years to get to scratch but 8 years to get down in the +3 or +4 area. I have wanted to play professional golf for as long as I can remember, even before I really started playing golf. I have also taken a much different route to professional golf than most everyone else. It's a long story that I will definitely share somewhere down the line, for now let's just say I had some unexpected detours that kept me from turning pro until I was 26.

The best suggestion I would have for the guy from the other forum (or anyone who has goals of turning professional) is to play as many tournaments as possible. The difference between high level tournament golf and a weekend round with friends is almost indescribable. Because of the detours I spoke about earlier, I missed out on a lot of tournament golf experience and I'm really playing catch up and trying to learn how I personally can be most successful in a tournament setting. In my opinion, the mind is really what sets the most successful pros apart. Everyone at my level or higher can strike the ball well and has the requisite skills to be successful. I have lost the mental edge over my last 2 seasons and it has caused me to really take a beating. Mechanical thoughts are crippling (at least for me) when you're trying to execute a shot and it means the difference between making a check for the week or being out $1500 plus for the week with nothing to show for it.

I'm rambling now and I'm not sure if I've answered any of your questions. I am happy to and enjoy talking about any of this stuff so please feel free to ask anything you're wondering about. I will do my best to answer. Thank you for the well wishes!

Chris

You can read the full thread here.... http://puttertalk.com/community/index.php?topic=27013.0

Mods, I appologize if I have crossed any boundaries with this post. If there is a need to remove the post or the link then please do so.

I believe Chris to be a great guy, and will certainly ask him to sign up on here too. I think it would be fun to read some posts or even to ask questions about what it's like out there trying to grind out a living on the mini circuit.

Liam.

[spackler]

Poults turned "assistant club pro of 4cap" and then had to work his arse off on the course and in the pro shop to get good enough. Huge difference between club pro and touring pro.

I have a few mates back in blighty that are unbelieveable golfers but all say the same thing.....good but nowhere near good enough!

I said possible, not probable.

The last post in that thread on TGN was made by Gawain Robertson, who is the tour rep for Accra. He would know better than most what it takes because he sees it week in and week out. He is definitely on the 'tempering expectations' side.

[Steel]

Someone thinking about turning pro should play and talk to a to any top amateur or university/collegiate player to get their input. I had the pleasure of playing for many years with a US University golfer and he really opened my eye's to what "Good" and "Professional" is. My Friend used to play U golf out of the US, he told me an interesting story one day when I asked him why didn't he try to make the tour. He was team Captain, small University, led the NCAA's one year after the first day, 2 rounds on the first day. Went out the next day, all the sudden, media following, big galleries, he did not have a good round, he said those 3 foot putts may as well have been 30 footer's it was that bad. He knew then he didn't have the head for it, said he couldn't go through life teaching people how to play, how many times can you tell someone with no skill to keep his head down, now he's an insurance broker, makes great $$, plays when he wants and with who he wants, wouldn't have it any other way.

[nokids]

The best suggestion I would have for the guy from the other forum (or anyone who has goals of turning professional) is to play as many tournaments as possible.

In my opinion, the mind is really what sets the most successful pros apart.

That's what I thought.

[quinner]

Someone thinking about turning pro should play and talk to a to any top amateur or university/collegiate player to get their input. I had the pleasure of playing for many years with a US University golfer and he really opened my eye's to what "Good" and "Professional" is. My Friend used to play U golf out of the US, he told me an interesting story one day when I asked him why didn't he try to make the tour. He was team Captain, small University, led the NCAA's one year after the first day, 2 rounds on the first day. Went out the next day, all the sudden, media following, big galleries, he did not have a good round, he said those 3 foot putts may as well have been 30 footer's it was that bad. He knew then he didn't have the head for it, said he couldn't go through life teaching people how to play, how many times can you tell someone with no skill to keep his head down, now he's an insurance broker, makes great $$, plays when he wants and with who he wants, wouldn't have it any other way.

I too had a buddy who actually turned pro, didn't like the idea of trying to make it or listening to snobby members so he became an elevator repair man, making tons of moola and now works to play golf. Said he would not recommend it to anyone unless it is a no brainer....and that doesn't happen very often...especially up here with the four seasons.

[Shivas Irons]

This thread makes me think of two books - Outliers & Driven.

In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell claims that to become a true 'expert' at anything requires 10,000 hours of practice/training. I'm not sutre if I buy that, but many people do.

In Driven (a year at Leadbetter's Academy) the ugly truth of the dreams of becomming a tour pro are exposed. In the book, Leadbetter claims there are few, if any tour pros that come 'out of nowhere'. In this day & age all pro athletes are groomed from a very young age. Ledbetter is wrong about many things, but I think he's right about this.

If you're college age or beyond, and are just beginning to consider playing pro golf as a career you're dreaming. It just isn't going to happen. Nothing wrong with dreaming though.

[jeffc]

This thread makes me think of two books - Outliers & Driven.

In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell claims that to become a true 'expert' at anything requires 10,000 hours of practice/training. I'm not sutre if I buy that, but many people do.

In Driven (a year at Leadbetter's Academy) the ugly truth of the dreams of becomming a tour pro are exposed. In the book, Leadbetter claims there are few, if any tour pros that come 'out of nowhere'. In this day & age all pro athletes are groomed from a very young age. Ledbetter is wrong about many things, but I think he's right about this.

If you're college age or beyond, and are just beginning to consider playing pro golf as a career you're dreaming. It just isn't going to happen. Nothing wrong with dreaming though.

I buy the 10,000 hours of practice, though its not only that, you still have to be really, really good at what you do and perhaps even a bit lucky. Lots of people can practice for 10,000 hours and still not even be close.

[sensfan63]

If you're college age or beyond, and are just beginning to consider playing pro golf as a career you're dreaming. It just isn't going to happen. Nothing wrong with dreaming though.

Parsing your words a little bit more, I'd say that if you aren't a really good player by the time you're college-aged, then it's very unlikely that you're going to make playing golf a career. You should at least be playing high level amateur and collegiate events with some degree of success.

However, you don't have to be a college all-american or superstar to play professional golf. Look at Kingston's Matt McQuillan as an example. I think he only spent two years in college, and I don't think he was ever considered among Canada's best juniors or amateurs (top 5). He was always a good player, but never dominant.

And now he's on the PGA Tour.