Playing with the pros...

[DrBrown]

I live across the road from Firestone Country Club which hosted the NEC Invitational a couple weeks back. The monday following the tournament they were having a Nationwide Tour qualifier to see who was gonna play in one of the Ohio PGA tourny's. I saw the scores posted and was kinda shocked at how high scoring was.

So to get the point, I have ~6.5 handicap for 18 right now playing once every 1-2 weeks depending on soreness. I cant really get out there and practice because my left wrist has had a pulled muscle for months. Im hoping this fall it will be better and I can strart training again over winter and drop the handicap back down to scratch where it used to be. So if I wanted to try getting into a monday qualifier for a Nationwide tournament how would one go about doing this? I tried searching on PGA.com and didnt find any related info. I dont even know if I could qualify for a qualifier haha. But hey it would be worth a shot next year when/if I get my stuff together. I never thought there was a Q-School for the nationwide tour but I could be mistake. Anyway if anyone here knows the qualifying process please let me know. Im sure some others will need this info someday as well so it would be a good thread for searches later on. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

[obagain]

You can go to the pga q-school and if you don't qualify for the pga then the next 25-30 can play the nation wide tour.

You can also go to a monday qualifier.
The nationwide tour is much tougher than the pga in many respects. The guys there have to make money, very few have big sponsors so money runs out quick.

[EDSGolf]

It's open to all professionals and amateurs with a United States Golf Association handicap of 2 or less, plus the entry fee, I believe it's around $2,000.

[dave.]

The scores are high sometimes because the pins are in silly positions.

[DrBrown]

Well no wonder nationwide guys struggle so much! Coughing up $2k just to play a few days is crazy. With the expense of getting to the tourny, paying the entry fee, food, lodging and all the other misc stuff would be really expensive over time! Seems to me the tour is hard unless your a fully sponsored popular guy like Davis Love or Sergio. I know when they came to Akron for the NEC all their rom and board at the hotel was taken care of through NEC. But anyway thanks for the info, guess I gotta do some more homework and figure out how I could afford $2k entry fee heh. Being a broke college kid sucks!

[Playdead]

Hey wow a fellow Akronite!

Yeah I've wondered how some of these guys are able to do it without sponsors, traveling around, and no promise of a paycheck everyweek.

About the NEC. I missed out on it but a buddy of mine works for Bridgestone. Since they signed up to sponsor the tourney next year I'm hoping for a hook-up so I can finally go to one

[DrBrown]

You should definitely be able to snag some tickets, firestone practically throws them at anyone that will take them. Just some advice though, go on thrusday and friday when nobody is around. Its so crowded on the weekends that you rarely get to get close enough to actually learn anything from watching. I watched davis love and the big easy for about 10 holes on year and there was nobody following them because they were out of contention. So when a good player is going bad its a good time to see them play cuz they will try more risky shots since it doesnt matter. OK I just hyjacked my own thread haha.

Nice to see other Akronites around!

[obagain]

I stayed thru the wed practice round. Everyone is really loose and more ready to talk to you.

[MLGOLFNYC]

Let me help you a bit. To qualify for the PGA Tour you need to go to Q-School, That runs about just over 4 grand now. You also have to have 2 PGA pro's write you a recommendation with your application and now show some tournament scores.

Every Tournament either PGA or Nationwide has a monday qualifier. They charge $400 for each this year I believe. On the PGA Tour the top 4 scores qualify for the event. On the Nationwide Tour the top 14 qualify for the event. You will need to shot a 66 on a par 72 to usually have a chance, same with Nationwide. Your chances are better with Nationwide since there are more spots available. Even at the end of the year they might increase the spots to around 20 or 25. Most players run out of money and more spots are open. Sometimes you have to play the percentages!
The scores being high the day you attended can be misleading. I have a bunch of friends that play on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour and the course set-ups are very different than you may play everyday. I played alot of tournament golf and know that by experience. The rule of thumb when I played the tours in Florida was if you didn't shot 5 under everyday on a par 72 measuring atleast 7200+ it will be hard for you to make a living playing. I played most of my golf at Bayhill and Isleworth in Orlando. Isleworth is were Tiger lives and many other PGA Tour pros and other sports stars live.
If you need any further information or advice on anything feel free to email me or add another post.

Hope this helps!

[VtDivot]

MLGOLFNYC - Great post! Very informative.

[DrBrown]

Thanks for posting all that!

I know exactly what your saying about scoring. The North course at Firestone isnt overly tough BUT it was windy, the rough is MEAN and the pins were tucked so I can see why the scores were where they were. Lowest score was 67 and there was only one of those. Honestly I dont think I could make it as far as the PGA. I wouldnt even be in it for the money if I could make it there, I just love this game more than anything. But thats not always enough. It takes money to make money in this world! However this doesnt mean Im not gonna try to play on some tour at some time. I'm still young, single, run my own business and have lots of time to practice. Im only a ~6 handicap right now according the USGA and the course I play at now. So Im not good enough. Im going to train hard this winter and devote my life to it and see what happens. Worst thing I can do is fail, at least I will be able to say I gave it my best regardless of the outcome! Thanks for the info though, I may hit you up with an email.

-Dan