reality check. odds on making the Nationwide Tour

[tuq]

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

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brick, this is being discussed in the Sports forum. I see my ligga made an identical post. I am TiVoing it. I guess I can skip the first hole now. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[ZBTHorton]

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

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Not really. I was never a scratch golfer, and got myself down to that level in 6 months during the spring/summer of one year. I played all the time with people who had played on tours around the world, and as I said earlier. Tee-> Green we were basically the exact same players. They putted better than me, and got up and down a few more times. That was it.

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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?

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I remember alot of rounds around 80, yes. But it wasn't a big deal. I remember the first time I broke par, that was a big deal I guess. But your blowing these things way out of proportion.


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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 don't understand this at all. An 8 handicap is a golfer who averages shooting 8 strokes over the courses rating that they are playing. So if the OP is playing on a par 72 course, with a 72 rating, he is shooting an 80. On average. GHIN doesn't take "guessing" or carrying a "legit card" into consideration as far as I know.

[ZBTHorton]

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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.

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It sure would make for a interesting couple years and I do feel that I could find another real job in the future.

Anybody have advice one where/how I should do this?

Perferably, I need cheap golf, cool weather and inexpensive real estate all in one place.

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Obviously you need to move to the south(I don't know where you live now). It's going to be hot wherever you play, but you need course access 11-12 months a year if you really wanna try it. I live in Dallas, we have hella cheap Real Estate and Golf. But it's 100 degrees for 3 months of the year.

[tuq]

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I was never a scratch golfer, and got myself down to that level in 6 months during the spring/summer of one year. I played all the time with people who had played on tours around the world, and as I said earlier. Tee-> Green we were basically the exact same players. They putted better than me, and got up and down a few more times. That was it.

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This is incomplete data because I don't know how much you played or practiced during this time. However, there is one thing in your paragraph that's gold to the OP: playing with people better than you. Not just because you're seeing better swings, but the pace of play and etiquette is usually better as well. When I was at my best I was being challenged by a 0-1 HDCP friend of mine, but then he moved out of town and I am the best in my group again.

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I remember alot of rounds around 80, yes. But it wasn't a big deal. I remember the first time I broke par, that was a big deal I guess. But your blowing these things way out of proportion.

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If I am, then so is everyone else I know. A bunch of friends of mine have improved markedly over the years - most started around a ~20 HDCP and are now around ~12-14. All of them grinded over their hurdle-clearing rounds (breaking 90 and then 80 in their case), and many of them imploded at least a couple of times in the process. Also, I could not break 70 to save my life for the longest time, and then I finally did it...and then did again the next day...and the week after that.

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I don't understand this at all. An 8 handicap is a golfer who averages shooting 8 strokes over the courses rating that they are playing. So if the OP is playing on a par 72 course, with a 72 rating, he is shooting an 80. On average. GHIN doesn't take "guessing" or carrying a "legit card" into consideration as far as I know.

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No. A proper handicap takes someone's BEST ten scores out of their last twenty, then multiplies that average by 0.9. So your HDCP is actually lower than the average of your ten best. I believe this is done to prevent sandbagging.

If you were averaging an 80 on an "average" par 72 (i.e. an 8.0 rating), your ten best would probably average ~77 (this obv depends on the distribution of their scores - so more consistent players actually benefit). Now we're at a 5.0 rating, * 0.9 and the person is actually a 4.5 HDCP. Huge difference which annoys the hell out of people who carry a legit card because in that case they're giving up 3 1/2 strokes because of someone else's ignorance.

[redickulous]

the difference between scratch and "nationwide tour" huge. there are many guys trying to keep their nationwide card so they dont have to drop down a tour where there are zero fans watching. the average handicap on the nationwide tour is probably +4 and the contenders are close to +10. every shot after scratch is that much harder to drop as the better you play the less room you have for improvement. If you are going to chase ur dream, stay on the putting green for the first month and if you cant make 10 flat 12-15 footers in a row at the end of the month i would find something different to put your time to.

[Shoot59]

8 handicap + 2 years = 0 /10,000 chance

I don't mean to be negative, but shooting ~80's on a typical golf course (as an 8 would) is Light Years away from shooting 67-68 on tough setups under tournament pressure (eg monday qualifiers for the nationwide tour) or getting through 2 rounds of Q-School. I'm not saying an 8 handicap would never make it, but def. not in two years. Trust me.

[cardsharkk04]

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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 low 70's and high 60's every round by the end of Sept then I shouldn't try this.

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Seriously you have to be a + Handicapper to be good enough to play on the tour. I have a friend who is a +1 and he is having a lot of trouble qualifying for hooters tour events.

And the guy who says that the best players on the Nationwide Tour are +10 handicappers, I think you are overestimating their skill just a bit.

[funkymunky]

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the difference between scratch and "nationwide tour" huge. there are many guys trying to keep their nationwide card so they dont have to drop down a tour where there are zero fans watching. the average handicap on the nationwide tour is probably +4 and the contenders are close to +10. every shot after scratch is that much harder to drop as the better you play the less room you have for improvement. If you are going to chase ur dream, stay on the putting green for the first month and if you cant make 10 flat 12-15 footers in a row at the end of the month i would find something different to put your time to.

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+10??? I think that's in the ballpark of what they calculated Tiger's tournament handicap around the time of the US Open at Pebble Beach. You know, when he played almost perfect golf?

I agree with +4, but I think +10 is few and far between (depending on what courses you're talking about)

[Chicago]

I've read a number of the posts and not to be negative I'd probably say it's closer to 1/100,000. But I am all for living the dream and I think you should do it or try to if you have the means.

I think the consensus of the board is pretty good but I will say the naysayers like me should be fuel for your fire and if there is any inspiration I will say this:

My high school team was one of the best in state and I was cut two years in a row Sohphomore and Junior year, I loved the game worked my ass off and eventualyl made the team Senior year and got a scholarship to a Division I college after a strong summer of tournament success. I headed to school and struggled the first two years, worked my ass, and had the same ambitions that you did, and the hard work paid off and was all conference my junior and senior years but even then I knew I wasn't good enough to be one of the top tier players though on any given day I could beat anyone in our conference. That level between me and the next level though small by number was very big mentally. So now I coach.

If I were you I would try to latch on with the PGM program or become a certified PGA Teaching Professional. It takes a few years to go through it all but I've known very good players go that route to stay in the game instead of paying the bills doing something they hate.

Chicago


One last story: I had a friend that I played with that was scratch to +2 and he went out to Pinehurst for media day to play the course and a guy that dominated courses from the tips shot a 89 and didn't play golf for a month. Very humbling experience for him and his dreams.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

can you make a good living on this tour?

or is the real goal to just try to make it to the pga tour?