PAT

[Hass]

[ QUOTE ]
the PAT is not by any means easy, its a completely different ballgame. im in pgm too at penn state and however ridiculous it is about 10% of people pass each time its offered. i'd suggest once u get in midseason form in a month or so just go on the "pat tour" for a week when you feel good about your game

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't want to come across as a dik but what golf tournament can you play in, shoot 15 over the course rating and win, or even come close to winning. This was my mindset during my PAT. The rating was high on the course
I played and par was 73. My target score was 158. (79-79) If I was to shoot 79-79 in any tournament I ever played in, I would have been last place.

[TobDog]

Its not a tournament, to become a PGA member, you have to "prove the ability to play" clearly, most PGa professionals are not the superstars you see on TV, my old boss was a solid 7 handicap for most of his life, but you have to pass the 36 hole test which is 15 strokes over the course rating for 36 holes, there are no winners or prizes, its like a test in school.

tobdog

[Hass]

[ QUOTE ]
Its not a tournament, to become a PGA member, you have to "prove the ability to play" clearly, most PGa professionals are not the superstars you see on TV, my old boss was a solid 7 handicap for most of his life, but you have to pass the 36 hole test which is 15 strokes over the course rating for 36 holes, there are no winners or prizes, its like a test in school.

tobdog

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I understand that, I have taken, passed and am a PGA member. My argument was that I did not believe it was hard enough. I was explaning that what they ask to shoot would get you last place in any tournament that I have played in.

The reason that only 2% of people pass the PAT is because 90% of the people taking it shouln't be.

[THE JUICE]

its only difficult when taking at school imo, i simply dont play golf at school, i drink and get laid. for some kids im pgm they play every day hit balls etc. i do this in the summer is all i was stating and i agree the pat should be harder

[ghostface]

[ QUOTE ]
its only difficult when taking at school imo, i simply dont play golf at school, i drink and get laid. for some kids im pgm they play every day hit balls etc. i do this in the summer is all i was stating and i agree the pat should be harder

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT

I play 18 holes 3-4 times a week in the summer and at least 9 holes everyday when I work. At school I play 18 holes/month maybe. The only reason I took this PAT was because I was required to to remain in the program for next year. So basically I donated $100 to the PGA, not bitter about that as I will benefit from the experience, just saying tho.

[ghostface]

One last rant about the PAT. From tee to green I played great, hitting around 20 fairways and 25 greens on a par 70 course. But...

[ QUOTE ]
The PAT is conducted from the middle tees of the golf course with the flagsticks set on a generally flat area of the green.

[/ QUOTE ]

The pins were all in the exact middle of the greens, regardless of the difficulty of the slope found here. All three of the people in my group complained about the difficulty of some of the pin placements even though they were dead center. All of the pins were easily accessible from the fairways but some were impossible to putt to once on the green.

One hole we had the pin surrounded with 3 shots of 20 feet or less and all 3 of us 3 putted becuase the pin was seated on a substantial mound. Kind of unfair [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

But I'm not saying easier pins would have helped me, lol. This was the worst display of putting I've ever seen by anyone on my behalf. Oh well. My average putts/round is 28-30. In my first round I had 42 putts.

2 out of 29 people passed.

[AJay2000]

Ghost,

I passed mine in 6 or 7 attempts, after choking away two of them.

When I did pass, I had the shanks on the range, sat through two hours of fog, then shot 78 my first round.

I was feeling good, but took advice from a couple of mentors - just play golf. Play it like a tournament, not trying to shoot a TARGET score, but to shoot you best score.

I went out and just played golf the second round at shout 72 to pass. Great players can do it right off the bat, but a lot of those guys also have a ton of tournament experience, whether it's high level amateur tourneys or college level golf.

Keep at, get your books done, and most of all HAVE FUN!

- Jay

[LimitGod]

Tough 1, chin up. I had a buddy take the PAT 14 times before he passed.

[ghostface]

lol not worried a bit, i know someone whose number was in the high 20's