Tour Players Who Started Later in Life

[abrahamx]

Originally Posted by ejimsmith

don't you all know:  if you try hard and put your mind into it you can accomplish ANYTHING!   right now, i'm trying to figure out if i want to take up professional basketball (the lakers could use another top player), become the next george clooney, or stick with my dream of professional golf.  i'll be 42 in june, but again, the right mind set, and i can rack up at least a few majors before i'm 50!

Now THATS sarcasm.  Did I get it right?

[Sandy Trap]

*sigh*

This Harmonious guy keeps editing his posts.

The things I am responding to he has already changed.  The guy is obviously a turd.  A waste of time to respond to someone when they just edit their responses after the fact.

[Gresh24]

Originally Posted by Sandy Trap

*sigh*

This Harmonious guy keeps editing his posts.

The things I am responding to he has already changed.  The guy is obviously a turd.  A waste of time to respond to someone when they just edit their responses after the fact.

That's why you use the quote function...

[zipazoid]

It's not impossible. Therefore it's possible.

[shockingslicer]

Originally Posted by Th3R00st3r

You Need to put it in a bag first , then its easy

[shockingslicer]

or freeze it first even ,  allthough i can see cracks appearing in that idea

[vanpooten]

Hi Sandy to answer your original question, there is one Walter Morgan that I know at my course. He took up the game at 30 and then joined the Champions Tour later. He won three times and tied for the low score relative to par on the Champions Tour. You can see his wikipedia page here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Morgan_%28golfer%29

[TourGuy47]

I have a friend of mine who took up the game in his early 40's and within a couple of years was a scratch golfer.  IMHO, golf is unlike other sports.  It does not require the physical stamina of basketball, baseball or football.  I cannot imagine playing full court basketball at my age (over 50) and competing with men in their 20's.  Golf requires clearly the talent, but also the mental ability to remain focused and not get flustered by a bad stroke or hole.  There is a psychological dimension that is very unique to the game.  This is not only about avoiding bunkers and water.  This is about strategic thinking.

Although there are many professionals who began playing when very young, that does not preclude the possibility that someone who begins playing the game in his late 20's, 30's or 40's cannot become a professional golfer.  It will require a significant time commitment to learn the game at a much deeper level than the average weekend golfer who just want to enjoy a round or two.  Yes, I do believe that a younger person has an advantage with things like muscle memory, but a seasoned adult is not incapable of evolving and improving his swing.

Above all, what percentages of players who start young actually do become pros?  It is so minuscule that it is not statistically significant versus older adults who desire to become professional (I mean make it a life goal and not a daydream) which has to be a small group.  If a person later in life comes to discover that golf is his passion and wishes to become a professional, he need not keep it a dream if he is willing to do what it takes.  Why not go for it?

[Brakkus]

I believe talent does not obey the normal laws of what it takes to become a pro at this or that. Heck if golf pros followed the expectations of what it takes to become a pro they wouldn't be a pro. In my mind anything is possible if you put the time in. I believe if I had 4-6 hours a day of playing golf the sky would be the limit. I personally don't listen to anybody on the board who limits the potential of what I might achieve based on my age or playing time etc... That goes for the experts on here too. They are not me and I being put in a box is a human way of thinking which is designed to make us like everyone else. Think big better than thinking average

[k-troop]

How many professional golfers have quit the game completely from ages 15-26, then came back and managed multiple wins on the PGA tour?  Not directly responsive to the OP's question, but Will Mac's story is pretty cool.

William Ruggles MacKenzie (born September 28, 1974) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour .

MacKenzie was born and raised in Greenville, North Carolina . He was a golfing prodigy growing up but burned out on golf at age 14 and completely quit the game after high school. While in high school, MacKenzie was an all-state kicker as well as a standout soccer player but grades and test scores prevented him from receiving any scholarship offers. After a semester at a local college, Will took the money he earned washing dishes and selling grilled-cheese sandwiches at Grateful Dead concerts and moved out west. After a while working for Taco Bell in Jackson Hole, Wyoming , he spent the next five winters snowboarding while living out of a van in Big Sky, Montana . ^{[ 1 ] [ 2 ]} At one point, he spent 30 days living in a snow cave near Valdez, Alaska without showering and snowboarding the Chugach Mountains , before ending up with frostbite . ^{[ 2 ]} During the warmer months, he climbed rocks, and became a class V kayaker before working as a rafting guide in Montana and its Gallatin River , West Virginia and its Gauley River , and rivers around North Carolina . He returned to Greenville, North Carolina in 1999, making enough money selling Christmas trees to embark on a three month surfing trip to Costa Rica . Unfortunately, when he returned home and tried to make a living selling hammocks, he ended up in huge debt. However, a glimpse on television of his boyhood idol, Payne Stewart , winning the 1999 U.S. Open rekindled his love affair with the game, and he decided to play professionally. ^{[ 1 ]} He turned pro in 2000.

MacKenzie played on several mini-tours shortly after turning pro. He played on the Golden Bear Tour in 2003 and finished ninth on the money list. The next year (2004), he played the Hooters Tour and finished third on the money list with three wins. He also played on the Nationwide and Canadian Tours . 2005 was his rookie season on the PGA Tour. His first win came in 2006 at the Reno-Tahoe Open in his 47th career start on the PGA Tour . He won the 2008 Viking Classic in a three-way playoff on the second hole over Marc Turnesa and Brian Gay .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_MacKenzie

[Wisguy]

Originally Posted by Sandy Trap

*sigh*

This Harmonious guy keeps editing his posts.

The things I am responding to he has already changed.  The guy is obviously a turd.  A waste of time to respond to someone when they just edit their responses after the fact.

Sandy, I think you need to stop posting any more in this thread, since pretty much everything you have said has been unreasonable.  There is no excuse for stooping to this low level of namecalling.  I agree with Harmonious and did not find his opinions at all overly negative.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by Wisguy

Sandy, I think you need to stop posting any more in this thread, since pretty much everything you have said has been unreasonable.  There is no excuse for stooping to this low level of namecalling.  I agree with Harmonious and did not find his opinions at all overly negative.

Sandy hasn't been here since 10/26/12 I think he/she was done posting in this thread a long time ago.

[Wisguy]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Sandy hasn't been here since 10/26/12 I think he/she was done posting in this thread a long time ago.

Oh.  Nothing like yelling at the wall, then, I guess.  I didn't even notice that this was an older thread.

[andrew2494]

Hi my name is Andrew and I'm 18 years old I started picking up the game last year and ir been getting out alot and practicing almost every weekend. I just shot my best score of an 81, I really love the game so much and if I could I would play every second of the day. Really wanna start playing in tournaments, Is there any future of the sport if I keep playing? Thank you

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by andrew2494

Hi my name is Andrew and I'm 18 years old I started picking up the game last year and ir been getting out alot and practicing almost every weekend. I just shot my best score of an 81, I really love the game so much and if I could I would play every second of the day. Really wanna start playing in tournaments, Is there any future of the sport if I keep playing? Thank you

How woud we know?

[WUTiger]

Here's a Wall Street Journal story about longshots who worked their way onto the pro tour.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013004574517892268554388.html

One such person was Robert Landers, a farmer from Azle, Texas who hit balls in his back pasture, and joined the Champions Tour in 1995 upon turning 50. He was famous for playing in tennis shoes.

Also, there's Lee Trevino, who took the blue-collar path to the pro tour. He learned to play golf as a caddie at Dallas Country Club, and left school at 14 to caddie and work around the club. He joined the Marine Corps in 1956, and worked at the Camp Pendleton golf course. He and Orville Moody, an Army sergeant who later won the U.S. Open, competed against each other in military golf events in Asia.

The number of caddies who became tour pros started to fade out in the 1970s, as big-time college golfers became the dominant U.S. feeder track into the pro golf tour.

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by andrew2494

Is there any future of the sport if I keep playing?

I'm sure the sport has a future regardless of your participation. As to your place within it, I have no idea. Chances are, as a good weekend player.

[andrew2494]

[quote name="geauxforbroke" [quote name="geauxforbroke" thank you I just was wondering if almost breaking 80 in a year is something to completely stick with, I feel it's a huge improvement and I really want to try and put all my dedication towards, cause I'm loving this sport more and more everytime I play