curious about my talent level.

You need competition to tell you  the truth.  Not the internet.

Post a swing under the My Swing thread on the forum and we can see how good you are. It is impossible to say your claims are right because we have never seen you swing.

Before you step foot into the realm of competitive tournament golf you need to prepare yourself for playing much worse than you usually do.

I played my first tournament with a handicap of 24. The two people in my group were a 2 and a -.7, both shooting under par both days. My scores were 116 and 108, as opposed to my usual mid-90's score. But the tournament really taught me some important lessons for both golf and life. Before you foray out into competition, remember these things:

1) If you start to think that you're having a bad day, you're going to have a bad day

2) If you see a playing partner pull an 8 iron when you have a 6 iron from the same area, stick to your guns.

3) Distract yourself as much as possible between shots. I guarantee you can't focus with enough intensity for 5 hours continuously.

4) Get familiar with the rules so that they don't bite you later

5) Course management tip: Sometimes the best option is just to take an Unplayable Lie and move on to the next shot.

6) They're called your playing partners for a reason. They aren't your enemies, the course is.

7) Have fun! If you're a serious kind of guy, then don't worry about seeming gruff to your playing partners since that's just the way you are. Conversely, if you're like me and are more laidback or relaxed you don't need to worry about having a small bit of conversation on the side as you walk down the fairways provided you aren't talking while others are hitting.

That last one is what got me for the first two years of tournaments. I would go out and try to be serious, never talking and always trying to act professional. It only made me more tense over each shot rather than giving me a feeling of confidence like it gives others. I'm a friendly person and can't help but talk to someone or sing quietly to myself as I walk down the fairway, and it's something that helps distract me until it's time to focus. Doing that also makes me feel excited when I get to my shot since it's been a minute or two since I thought about golf seriously and allows me to relax even in pressure situations.

Get yourself a handicap and enter your clubs comps/tournaments/ first, it's a lot different that social golf.

THIS. This is not a knock on you, but many good players could probably out play you with 200 yard drives. It's all about getting the ball in a perfect spot on the fairway. Then all you have to do is stick it close to the pin ;)

Keep up the hard work!

I agree 300 yard drives are awesome (if that's what they truly are) but one of the things I've noticed over the 30 years of playing golf, most people, especially high handicappers, over-estimate how far they hit the ball, not saying you do but most people I've played with that say they average 300 yards on their drives rarely do.  I've been playing a long time and hit the ball fairly long and rarely play with many folks that out drive me, but I bet I average 270-280 off the tee.  But unless you are hitting them straight every time, it's better to be in the fairway and hit lots of greens then to hit it 300 yards offline.

I've learned the 1 yard equals 1.37 internet yards and 1 yard equals 1.14 clubhouse yards. Until I figured that out I thought people were just lying.

sliceoflife has made a formula...

If you have been reading the forum, you would understand that the long game is more important than the short game.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/14930/is-the-long-game-more-important-than-short-game

http://thesandtrap.com/t/58816/65-25-10-practice-ratios-where-to-devote-your-practice-time

As for equipment, a good variety of wedges is important. I recommend at least two wedges, but I am more of a one wedge for 80-90% of my shots type of guy.

I know this is off topic but........

ITS NOT AN OPINION!!!!!!!

Nope, the world was never flat.  Some people just mistakenly thought that it was.....