reality check. odds on making the Nationwide Tour - Page 2

brick · #11 08-18-2006, 11:10 PM

I'm off to practice some putting.

Flip_Dog · #12 08-18-2006, 11:31 PM

I am aiming for the champions tour.

stadler · #13 08-18-2006, 11:33 PM

it could be doable if you dedicate yourself to the game and just keep working on your game. all it takes to qualify for the Nationwide Tour and be fully exempt is finsh between 36th-60th at the final stage at Q-school. but this envolves going thru two stages to get to the final stage. If you were to try it, it definitely wouldnt be easy, and realistically it probably wouldnt happen. If you were mabye a 1 or 2 handicap then I think it might be possible. Even though it sounds like you have a lot of talent from how you described your game but i just think that trying to become a pro when you are an 8 handicap is a very tall order. I dont mean to destroy your hopes of possibly doing this but i just think it would take so much time to improve, since when you are a good player it is so hard to take even a shot off of your scoring average. I think if you were a 1-3 handicap and you didnt practice then it might be possible. Since you do not practice regularly, trying to practice frequently might bore you and you might lose interest in the game because it might no longer become fun to you if you are just practicing and are getting the results you expect.

tuq · #14 08-18-2006, 11:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
practice is part of the equation, but the other part is do you have 'it'? 'it' is the variables, the ability to perform under pressure (hardest part about golf, anyone can play good with their boys, but how do you play in front of a gallery?)

[/ QUOTE ]
That's a great point. I rambled a bit in my original post. I'm making this one to ask the OP: I assume you've read "A Good Walk Spoiled" by John Feinstein? It chronicles one pro's grind to the Tour after another.

What it fails to detail though are the much more numerous failures, or ones who tread on lesser tours for years, just getting by, holding onto the dream. I see those now with a lot of my friends - early 30s, no resume to speak of, and finally realizing they must get a "real" job.

The great news for you is you appear to have the ways and means to give it a shot AND a marketable job history. That being the case, I think you'd be a fool to not try.

tuq · #15 08-18-2006, 11:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
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. The sick heater I'd have to go on at my level of skill couldn't sustain itself over two rounds of qualifying.

beenben · #16 08-19-2006, 12:24 AM

the other problem is, when start having to practice 6 hours a day, and have to play tournments, etc. it becomes a job, a grind.

upncoming · #17 08-19-2006, 01:06 AM

i've got 10 in hcp and i dont play too much, but i have a friend thats really talanted in anything that has to do with a ball. hes a scratch player but only plays 3-4 times a year. and i use to play some rounds with him. and im not even close to be as good as him, and i never will. he could easily make the tour got the talent, hes stepmother is a proplayer and he plays in the nhl so hes got the right mind for it.
what im trying to say is that is sooo much that has to fall in the right place. but then again, you might have it. and its better to try and fail then wonder what if.

i wish you all the luck

p.s excuse my bad english

Hopey · #18 08-19-2006, 01:09 AM

The odds of you making it are extremely slim. However, if this is a dream of yours, you definitely should give it a shot. You don't want to wonder "what if?" for the rest of your life. You're still young, you (presumably) don't have a family to support, and you appear to have the financial means to do this.

Go for it. You only live once.

LBJ · #19 08-19-2006, 01:22 AM

[ QUOTE ]
The odds of you making it are extremely slim. However, if this is a dream of yours, you definitely should give it a shot. You don't want to wonder "what if?" for the rest of your life. You're still young, you (presumably) don't have a family to support, and you appear to have the financial means to do this.

Go for it. You only live once.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm all for inspirational speeches, but this is really close to impossible. An 8 handicap is pretty huge. That is shooting around 80, and 80 is not very good. Most people don't fathom how hard it is to go from improving 6 strokes from an 8 to a 2. It is not the same as going from 14 to 8 or 20 to 14, it's ridiculously harder.

FWIW, I'm an 8 handicap too (I'm 17) and I know I couldn't make any tour even if I devoted my entire life to it.

Raul Wong · #20 08-19-2006, 01:28 AM

The biggest thing you have going against you...

You most likely do not have the oppurtunity to play championship calibure golf courses. Playing to a 8 handicap on your local 6500 track with easy pins, flat greens, and no rough probably means that you cant break 90 on the the courses on tour. I am not saying that is you...but a majority of the '8' handicaps I know cant even come close to breaking 80 on silly little golf courses that a professional would shoot 60 on everytime.

You also have to have a natural talent and the ability to win. If you cant win then there is no point. I will never forget teeing off in front of ~25 people at a high school golf match when I was a freshman. I was shaking and having a little trouble breathing! I still striped that motherbitcho(then shot something like a 52,lol) but its like starting fresh...like the first time you ever teed off on #1 in front of two groups of weekend warriors.

You also need to hit that ball a lot farther than 300! When I used to play everyday I used to hit my 2-iron 240 off the tee.