reality check. odds on making the Nationwide Tour

[brick]

Thanks for your take. This gives me just a glimmer of hope that it might be possible.

I'm really suprised that most people think I should try it even tough it's a long shot.

[jthegreat]

One thing you guys are forgetting is that being a scratch golfer is still not good enough. You need to be able to consistently shoot UNDER par to even have a chance. The cuts at most nationwide tournaments are a couple strokes under par, and the leaders are well under.

[Razor]

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I'm just wondering what the chances are that I actually have "it".

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I'm pretty sure that a 27yr old guy who doesn't play often and has never played in a tournament doesn't have it.

[tuq]

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I'm a 8 handicap during months I don't play. Usually play scratch golf when I'm able to dedicate myself to playing for more than a couple of months at a time.

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Right. So you've "been there before". Scratch golf, that is. Huge difference between your situation and the OP.

Remember the mental hurdle you had breaking 80? Par? 70? How you'd crap yourself knowing you needed a par on 18 to reach your number? How the first couple of times you DID crap yourself and double-bogeyed or worse?

You've been through all that; OP hasn't.

And also per the GHIN system an 8 handicap doesn't average an 80 - that's a common misperception by people who don't understand how it works. An 8 would probably average an 83-84. I'm not sure if OP is actually carrying a legit card or just hazarding a guess.

Also, very good point by whoever mentioned the difficulty of courses of a weekend golfer vs. tournament setups.

[brick]

[ QUOTE ]


And also per the GHIN system an 8 handicap doesn't average an 80 - that's a common misperception by people who don't understand how it works. An 8 would probably average an 83-84. I'm not sure if OP is actually carrying a legit card or just hazarding a guess.

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I've decided that if I'm not shooting in the 70's every round by the end of Sept then I shouldn't try this.

[funkymunky]

Wow, good luck. But if you really work at it for a year and aren't close to scratch, you might be hard pressed. Tour players will make a scratch player look like .. well, not a hack, but ... unimpressive.

As others have said, you really need to have a plus handicap to have a shot. Grinding out 72's will get you nowhere. If anything, you want 72-75 to be your BAD days.

[chesspain]

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If you were mabye a 1 or 2 handicap then I think it might be possible.

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I am this person and I'm 100% sure I'd get run off the course by much better players.

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As someone who was never below a 20+ handicap, I never understood this. I mean, if you are a 1 or 2 handicap, you pretty much can do everything very well. Consequently, what keeps you from reaching scratch? No sarcasm intended, but do 2-handicappers just have a couple of brain farts per round, or something?

[funkymunky]

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As someone who was never below a 20+ handicap, I never understood this. I mean, if you are a 1 or 2 handicap, you pretty much can do everything very well. Consequently, what keeps you from reaching scratch? No sarcasm intended, but do 2-handicappers just have a couple of brain farts per round, or something?

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Could be anything, but most likely short game - possibly course management (actually, at this level, course management shouldn't even be an issue). The ball striking is there, so that shouldn't be the major issue. Prolly comes down to chipping and putting.

[tuq]

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If you were mabye a 1 or 2 handicap then I think it might be possible.

[/ QUOTE ]
I am this person and I'm 100% sure I'd get run off the course by much better players.

[/ QUOTE ]

As someone who was never below a 20+ handicap, I never understood this. I mean, if you are a 1 or 2 handicap, you pretty much can do everything very well. Consequently, what keeps you from reaching scratch? No sarcasm intended, but do 2-handicappers just have a couple of brain farts per round, or something?

[/ QUOTE ]
funkymunky pretty much nailed it, the scratch players make up the most strokes around the green. So the outcome is they grind out a ton of pars and then pick their spots for birdies.

I have to rely on hitting a ton of greens because my short game is marginal. FWIW when I was at my best and practiced 12 hrs/day my routine was about 60% chipping green/30% putting/10% range. That may be a bit extreme, but just a bit.

[brick]

did you see that putt tiger just made after 3 poor shots on #1?