Amateur Tour to Mini Tour questions

I am fairly new to this forum, I have just recently added my profile, but have been reading over the forum for several weeks.

I currently play on an amateur golf tour, competition is pretty fierce and it is hard to win sometimes. My handicap hovers around a 6 or 7. I do practice quite a bit and I have swing coach I go see every once in a while (when I can afford it). The problem is no matter how hard I try I can't seem to get to the next level, I seem to be stuck. My goal is to be able to play on a mini tour within the next few years, but I'm not dominating my amateur tour enough to do so. I've been playing this tour for the last 4 years and have only won a handful of tournaments.

I know there could be hundreds of variables that are keeping me from stepping up, but I feel like my head is in the right place I'm just not scoring like I should.

If there are any professionals/mini tour players that would like to chime in that would be great, maybe give me a few pointers on practice, tournament play, fitness, whatever you want to say, anything that may help.

also, if you have any questions for me, feel free to ask!

thank you

hope this is in the right section!!

practice,practice and more practice,no offense but to even think about mini tours you are not close to good enough,im not even good enough for a mini tour.keep stats,make your bad stats your good stats and your good stats great stats.distance,accuracy,short game,putting.put in countless hours working on these.keep chopping that handicap.

I have just recently started keeping stats, I think its something that is going to help a great deal. do you parctice a lot on the range, or play for practice?

thanks for your input.

i much prefer practice rounds,when the course is empty i drop balls around the course and hit them i mean sometimes i like to drop balls in the trees and try to make par you cant practice that on a range and need to be able to do it.along with putting its more productive practice on the course,jmo though take it as you will.

I agree and I do love to practice. I just hope I'm practicing the right things.

You do realise that on mini tours the players put up their own money and try to win it back, don't you? To get from where you are at to a handicap that would make you competitive is light years away. You say you play off "6 or 7"? That would make you an average A Grader in an average club. Start breaking par consistently and get to a + handicap and then think about putting up $18,000 to try to win half of it back by shooting well under par under pressure.

Where in NC do you play and what tour do you play on? I only ask because I live in Concord (near Charlotte) and know of a couple tours in my area, and I also play on one.

actually the local pro tour here is $2,000 membership fee, $1,000 entry fee. and anywhere from $220,000-$300,00 total purse, with $30,000 - $50,000 going to the winner.

and a link: http://www.egolfprofessionaltour.com/

I play on the eGolf amateur tour. I bet its the same one you play in. I live just north of winston-salem.

they have a professional side called the eGolf professional tour. Thats were I want to be in 3 or 4 years.

just curious... I have played in the egolf tour, but now I prefer to play in pick-up 18 events... they just started this year and the nice thing about pick-up 18 is that there is no annual fee, you just pay for each tournament... and the best part being that you win actual VISA gift cards or something similar that CAN be used as cash, unlike the Edwin Watts gift cards that winners get on the egolf tour.

I guess since you're in Winston-Salem area, then egolf is probably all that is in town though. On a side note... I do know of the professional side of the egolf tour... and those guys can realy play. I think you need a 2.0 or less just to play.

What you said there has a lot to do with what it takes to get better at this game. I say just start playing in events in a scratch division. Try to find inexpensive ones, unless you are comfortable with paying up a bunch of dough for experience. That's how I've come up. When I started I was at around a 4hdcp. Its really all about getting comfortable playing at all levels. Out in CA we have a few good, relatively inexpensive tours that let anyone play in the scratch divisions. However where you are now, at a 6 or a 7, you're gonna be paying for a while, but, you will get better in the long run.

Of course, as others have mentioned as well, time to dedicate yourself to the correct amount of practice is essential. I like to practice until I get bored. Maybe be one bucket, and some putting. Or an hour chipping and hitting bunker shots. Or playing 9 holes, 18 holes. Its usually pretty different, but rarely goes longer then until I lose focus. Start reading about golfers you admire. Pick up a couple of good mental approach books too. I'm sure its all the same though, different guy talking about the same thing in a slightly different way. Get your hands on anything. I like Bob Rotella's stuff.

thank you, that means a lot, especially from some one with a very high skill level. I've got it in me to do well I just need to stay with it and I have an amazing girlfriend that is backing me 100%.

unfortunately the weather here is keeping the golf courses closed, but I have been hitting range balls since the snow has melted, I am striking the ball very well. I do work 40 hrs a week also, but when I'm not at work and its to dark to hit golf balls I have a good workout program I stick to for strength, balance and flexibility. I already have my amateur tour schedule prepared for 2010 which has me playing all over NC which includes a few pinehurst courses. My goal is 3 wins. the most I've ever had in 1 season is 2 wins (in 2008). I am playing in the A flight which is 6-10 handicap i believe. I hope that I can play good enough that my tour director will move me to the championship flight toward the end of the year. thanks again Ben and good luck to you in 10'.

Since you already have your schedule... may I ask if you are playing near Charlotte at all this year... if so, which courses and when? I'd be happy to go preview a course with you in my area if you want to play it before a tournament. I have another golf buddy whom I play with regularly (he played in college) and we usually have some fun matches.

I didn't have any charlotte tournaments planned, but to be honest I forgot that the charlotte tour was different than the triad/Raleigh/sandhills tour.

I wouldn't mind playing that tournament at the Warrior in June. but it looks like the other tournaments will conflict with the ones I had planned. If you want to get together and play the warrior sometime so i could get a look at it, that would be great. are you going to play any of the triad events??

I live about 15 minutes from the Warrior and usually play it 5-10 times a year... so you name a date and I'll most likely be a go. I don't know if I will play any triad area events because I am planning on just playing the pick-up 18 tour, but if they have something good at a Pinehurst/Sandhills course that I like, I may reconsider... in fact I will bounce over to the egolf site right now and look at the schedule.

i was in thomasville for chrisitmas just got back today

I just found the Egolf Amateur Tour for the first time last year (I live in Raleigh). I think I played 3-4 events, I just didn't have time to squeeze in any others. I want to play several of them this year.

sounds good, if we have any decent weather in January or February i will hit you up and we will play it. I'm looking forward to it.

I went and saw a local swing coach today and he was very impressed with my swing, but said i really need to focus on my short game..so practice, practice now. I'm pretty stoked, just need the weather to cooperate.

do you have any kind of link for this pick up 18tour?