Road to the pros

[Youngun5]

its a huge stretch now, bigger than huge, but my game has come alive and i am dropping strokes quickly. down to a 5 from a 9. this will only be helped by me not switching equipment anymore, other than getting the only weak spots in my bag fixed (fairway woods) despite that i continue to lower my scores my game is the best its ever been, i'm longer and straighter with the driver than i ever thought imaginable, my fairway game was average with equipment not suited to me, i can't wait to see what new clubs do for that. my iron game is stellar right now, the ball just won't leave that poor flag alone. my wedge game is equally good. short game is unmatched by anyone i know, i feel like i have the confidence to hole one from anywhere, same goes for the flatstick which is on fire.

for once i feel excited for the h.s. golf season rather than nervous, i feel a new confidence unfelt before

if this continues in the h.s. season and i make a name for myself in the area, will colleges start throwing scholarships at me?

if in college, i continue my prowess to some degree what are the chances of me going pro. i'm not specifically talking the pga, which would be great, but whats the word on playin mini tours, can it be done working your way up?

i know this is a huge stretch but i think i have the potential and am willing to work hard.

i need your guys' thoughts, encourage me, shoot me down, downright embarass me if you feel it right.....

[VtDivot]

I think you are too modest, you need to work on improving your self esteem....

Good luck this season YG!

[obagain]

If you want to be noticed you need to play in some usga and you will be playing some very good compitition. If you are sucessful there you will get noticed.
If you play d1 you will be set up to play at least the nation wide tour.
It will not be easy. When you get to collage there will be big distractions, you really have to want it to make it.
It is there for the taking, how bad do you want it?

[Bash]

if you are serious about wanting to play college golf you need to join the AJGA right now!

high school golf does not really mean a whole lot to college coaches, unless you are going to a small school or a junior college....where you barely have to break 80 to play

college coaches will be looking for experience, and that is what the AJGA will give you........experience in big time tournaments with a field from a national, rather than a local, level

keep up the work and u can reach your goals!

[Youngun5]

OB, part of the inspiration is college, where i'm doing this PGM program qualifying you to be a teaching pro or something along those lines, i will have full access to facilities 24/7, all i will be doing in college is playing golf... i want this.

[dave.]

Yeah,good luck.I would just say don't ignore the 'mind',it can play havoc with your game below 5..For instance,breaking 70 for the first time is extremely difficult,simply because you will cack yourself when you get to 3 under going down the 15th.......................practice routines,pre-shot routine,mental game,fitness,diet,wedge play,etc etc etc,down below scratch,its almost a different game.
Good luck,I hope you make it

[MLGOLFNYC]

I would like to share with you a way to measure your game against the guys on The PGA Tour. This is a commen thought from the people I know (PGA Tour players)

If your home course you play at is atleast 7,000 yards or more with an above average rating/slope you should be able to shoot 5 to 6 under everyday, all day, even your bad days. If you can't, chances are you won't be able to make money playing golf for a living.

My good friend played in the PGA event in New York this year. He's ranked in the top 10 in the state. Won many, many local section pro events, played in 8 PGA Tour events and a US Open and never made a cut.

[dave.]

6 under everyday around 7000? Tiger couldn't even do that.Play to +4 over season maybe,but +6?

[MLGOLFNYC]

Keep in mind that the courses on Tour play much, much harder. So shooting 5 to 6 under on a regular golf course maybe equal to shooting 2 to 3 under on a Tour setup. Again, not proven science, just how the guys put it in perspective.

[dave.]

7000 is still the average length though,and shoot 66 EVERY round all year over 50ish rounds will earn you a decent living

[Bravo]

RE: Your desire to get a D1 scholarship. It makes a tremendous difference where you want to go to college.

I have four friends here whose sons/daughters got D1 college golf scholarships and the skill level required varied according to the school and its academic standards.

Here is a list of the schools where the kids got full D1 scholarships:

1) Dartmouth College
2) University of Virginia
3) Vanderbilt University
4) Auburn University

In cases where the kids attended Dartmouth, Virginia and Vanderbilt, these kids were very good players but not multiple regional/sectional tournament winners.

In the case of the kid who went to Auburn, he (frankly) was a much better golfer than the others.

So what is the conclusion?

Dartmouth, Virginia and Vanderbilt have extremely high academic admissions standards - well above Auburn's (which are still pretty good itself). These schools required an individual who was not only a very good golfer but someone who had an excellent GPA from an outstanding high school and high SAT scores. Would these schools take the golfer who had all of these academic qualifications and was also a killer player?

Absolutely.

But the fact of the matter is, there are few 'scholar/athletes' coming out of high school that meet both criteria: truly great players while at the same time with tremendous academic backgrounds. Therefore, these schools will take a player of lesser golf ability who qualifies academically for admission.

So what is the lesson to be learned here?

Your ability to earn a D1 scholarship from any given school will rise if you have an outstanding academic background. If you got to the end of your Junior year, and had an outstanding academic background, coupled with 1-2 index, you may likely be offered a scholarship at a school with very strict admissions requirements, but not at a "big golf school" such as Oklahoma State, Arizona State etc - where fielding a team of the very best golfers is their number 1 priority....If you expect a scholarship from a big golf school, you would likely need to have a healthy plus index and will have needed to have won 2-4 sectional events. And I agree that getting involved heavily in the AJGA and being prepared to have your parents drive you several states away for tournaments is an absolute must. You gotta get outta your home state and win to get on radar for a scholarship at a big golf school....

[MLGOLFNYC]

Yes, if you can average a 66 all year on tour you'll be the number one player. Tiger's average is around 68.5 this year which is almost a plus 4.
Craig Perks is at 72.7 and is 202nd on tour and that's about scratch.
Again, That's on Tour.

Shooting 66 on Tour and shooting 66 at your home course are two different things. Not even close. In 2003, Tiger was close to a Plus 8 at his home course in Islesworth.

The players thought is, if your a plus 2 at your home course, your might be playing to scratch or just over on tour. They kinda just double your handicap.

If you go onto the PGA.com website. They post the Monday Qualifier scores for that monday. You'll get an idea of what it takes to monday qualify. Or try one yourself when you get to a 2. $400 bucks gives you a shot and you can see where you stand. PGA takes low 4 spots, Nationwide takes 14.

[dave.]

No doubt.But +6 is still enough to earn a living from Golf

[MLGOLFNYC]

Tiger is about a Plus 4 this year. Yes, If you were a plus 6 you could earn a great living on tour, because you would be the top player. So if you were a plus 6 on tour, you'll probably be a plus 12 on a regular course.

Look for example this week at Disney. I use to live in Orlando and have played both course a bunch. The Disney courses are the Palm and Magnolia, they measure 7,500 plus and 7,000. They are not by any means hard courses and probably the easiest they play on tour. I would say they are average courses, the slopes and ratings are around 138/74.

The scores are always very low. It shows you what these guys would shot if they played your course. The leader is about 15 under for two days and the winner will be close to 28 under at the end of the week.
Play your home course 4 days straight and see if you can match 28 under? If you can, you could probably have a good shot at playing the tour.

I'm just giving you a way to compare your game to the guys on tour.

[bdcrowe]

But if I had a gallery to find my every ball in the rough/bushes/woods, I would be several strokes better per round. And, just comparing many of the courses they play as a casual observer, I see a LOT of very open courses with minor penalties for errant shots. The courses are also in absolute manicured conditions, and I'll bet these fairways give up tons of yardage in roll compared to the cow patures some of us play. The greens roll true and consistent, compared to some of the brillo pads we putt.

Also, if I were a scratch golfer playing twice a week at best and concentrating everything else on computer programming, busting tables or pumping gas, then what would that handi do when I started playing and practicing 10 hours a day every day?

I'm just saying that if someone has the skill to become scratch part time on a "goat patch" then they might have a chance eeking out a living going full time on manicured courses.