Dream of Turning Pro

[Old Pro]

Well I figured you wanted validation more than  advice. I was correct.  Good luck. 

[Vinsk]

57 minutes ago, Golfer6969 said:

Very interesting reading all the different takes, I have to say I got the responses I expected... and in a way that is what I waned. Nothing motivates me more than someone saying something is never gonna happen or is one in a million 🤷🏻‍♂️ At the bare minimum my journey should be able to take me to becoming a club professional - a job I’d absolutely love, and at the maximum  could prove you all wrong... anyone interested in having progress updates? I think I may surprise a few of you...

I would enjoy updates. Most of us would love to be proven wrong and I want you to believe this. I also just want you to know many here have a lot of experience on this issue. Confidence is certainly a positive state to have. But you also have to have a realistic mindset with solid research and plans. Becoming a club professional isn’t the bare minimum at this point. It’s not like it’s a simple and straightforward accomplishment. It’s absolutely a reachable goal for sure. There are people here who could get you going in the right direction and offer some great advice along the way. I admire your ambition and would love to see you progress and do something you love. So yes, updates would be great. Cheers and good luck!

[David in FL]

54 minutes ago, Old Pro said:

Well I figured you wanted validation more than  advice. I was correct.  Good luck. 

They always do...

[LMoore]

There is a reason I used Scott Parel (yes, I did play 100+ rounds with him) as an example. He was 32 when he turned pro, struggled on the web, and has found success in the last 2 years on the Tour Champions. Very much the exception. And he was spanking everyone in the Region Cup (local tour many years ago).

 If you turn out to be the exception, I’ll be your biggest cheerleader.

[rkim291968]

We have all seen this kind of 1st timer post.   Even the replies are repeating themselves.  

To the OP:  Enjoy golf.  If you can make a career out of it, more power to you.   Becoming a tour pro?  You need to have God given talent, a team of supporters (connections - good coaches, parents with $$$ to finance your career, etc.), must have started out early, and have a good work ethic/discipline (training 8 hours a day, every day).    If not, go back to enjoying golf.  

[Diece]

Do it man.

f*** being realistic.

What's the worse that can happen?

You try really hard and don't make it + you learn a lot about yourself and meet cool people?

Sounds like fun.

What's better?

Going to school, getting a "good" job, making money, while every time you drive by the course you wonder if you could have done something with golf.

Notice how none of these people responding are actually pros themselves and I don't mean teaching pros, or having played one time on the circuit. I mean full blown, Web.com or similar level players.

None are.

What the hell makes them qualified to give you advice?

Where has their "advice" got them?

Are these people even "successful" ? And I'm not talking making 100k a year, I'm talking more, is there anyone here that's a BIG DREAMER with a very STRONG VISION commenting on here?

Are these guys champions in their own lives?

No?

Then why the f*** listen to them.

They have no right to tell someone, especially someone young like you, what you should do.

In fact, I think it's asinine because you're being led down the same path.

Ask yourself, do I want to to walk in this guys shoes? Do I want to trade lives with them?

And if you don't.

Don't listen to them.

Remember what Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his rules for success.

"Don't listen to the naysayers."

Which unfortunately is 90% of people.

 

[David in FL]

9 minutes ago, Diece said:

Do it man.

f*** being realistic.

What's the worse that can happen?

You try really hard and don't make it + you learn a lot about yourself and meet cool people?

Sounds like fun.

What's better?

Going to school, getting a "good" job, making money, while every time you drive by the course you wonder if you could have done something with golf.

Notice how none of these people responding are actually pros themselves and I don't mean teaching pros, or having played one time on the circuit. I mean full blown, Web.com or similar level players.

None are.

What the hell makes them qualified to give you advice?

Where has their "advice" got them?

Are these people even "successful" ? And I'm not talking making 100k a year, I'm talking more, is there anyone here that's a BIG DREAMER with a very STRONG VISION commenting on here?

Are these guys champions in their own lives?

No?

Then why the f*** listen to them.

They have no right to tell someone, especially someone young like you, what you should do.

In fact, I think it's asinine because you're being led down the same path.

Ask yourself, do I want to to walk in this guys shoes? Do I want to trade lives with them?

And if you don't.

Don't listen to them.

Remember what Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his rules for success.

"Don't listen to the naysayers."

Which unfortunately is 90% of people.

 

Dammit, you’re right!  I’m a 5’9”, 60 year old dude with a 12” vertical, and want to play in the NBA.  I’m chucking it all to chase my dream, cuz, you know, it could happen!

Thanks for the encouragement!  

 

 

[Vinsk]

16 minutes ago, Diece said:

Do it man.

f*** being realistic.

What's the worse that can happen?

You try really hard and don't make it + you learn a lot about yourself and meet cool people?

Sounds like fun.

What's better?

Going to school, getting a "good" job, making money, while every time you drive by the course you wonder if you could have done something with golf.

Notice how none of these people responding are actually pros themselves and I don't mean teaching pros, or having played one time on the circuit. I mean full blown, Web.com or similar level players.

None are.

What the hell makes them qualified to give you advice?

Where has their "advice" got them?

Are these people even "successful" ? And I'm not talking making 100k a year, I'm talking more, is there anyone here that's a BIG DREAMER with a very STRONG VISION commenting on here?

Are these guys champions in their own lives?

No?

Then why the f*** listen to them.

They have no right to tell someone, especially someone young like you, what you should do.

In fact, I think it's asinine because you're being led down the same path.

Ask yourself, do I want to to walk in this guys shoes? Do I want to trade lives with them?

And if you don't.

Don't listen to them.

Remember what Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his rules for success.

"Don't listen to the naysayers."

Which unfortunately is 90% of people.

 

You don’t know anything about us friend. Take caution in your assumptions. I’ve got my own story so yes, I’m successful as I became something from nothing. How’s your Mckenzie Tour dream coming along?

[LMoore]

14 minutes ago, Diece said:

Do it man.

f*** being realistic.

What's the worse that can happen?

You try really hard and don't make it + you learn a lot about yourself and meet cool people?

Sounds like fun.

What's better?

Going to school, getting a "good" job, making money, while every time you drive by the course you wonder if you could have done something with golf.

Notice how none of these people responding are actually pros themselves and I don't mean teaching pros, or having played one time on the circuit. I mean full blown, Web.com or similar level players.

None are.

What the hell makes them qualified to give you advice?

Where has their "advice" got them?

Are these people even "successful" ? And I'm not talking making 100k a year, I'm talking more, is there anyone here that's a BIG DREAMER with a very STRONG VISION commenting on here?

Are these guys champions in their own lives?

No?

Then why the f*** listen to them.

They have no right to tell someone, especially someone young like you, what you should do.

In fact, I think it's asinine because you're being led down the same path.

Ask yourself, do I want to to walk in this guys shoes? Do I want to trade lives with them?

And if you don't.

Don't listen to them.

Remember what Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his rules for success.

"Don't listen to the naysayers."

Which unfortunately is 90% of people.

 

You don’t know me. You don’t know what level of success I might have achieved professionally, athletically, or financially. And it’s doubtful you know a thing about the other members of this site.

But it’s a safe bet that the foolish advice of telling a 25 year old 5 handicap to “f@#& it”, and go for it, and ignore reality, reveals quite a few things about you.

 

 

[Sandy Divot]

You ought to try to get a job working in the pro shop of a course. You don't need to be a pro to work a summer job behind a counter. I will give you an idea of the day to day of working at a course. Regardless of playing ability, the road to become a head pro can be long and difficult. Be prepared to work long hours, for low pay as an assistant. Courses where I have worked, and in later life, the pros really didn't play much golf. I think it could be a great career, but it's going to hard work.

[Buckeyebowman]

On 4/9/2019 at 8:58 AM, SPJr said:

He said himself "most likely a club professional".

I believe the answer probably is:

• Club Professional: Maybe, but not likely.
• Touring Professional: No chance.

Others will have better insight than me. So take it for what it's worth.

Sounds like you're playing at a high level @golfer6969. I know many golfers (myself included) that would do some awful things to have the game you have. So, congrats!

I noticed that myself and was going to mention it if no one else did. My questions for a club pro job would be, how are your people skills? How good are you at retail merchandising? How good are you at running tournaments? And, how good are you at teaching golf? That's a lot to take on!

[3jacker]

Having worked at a golf course long ago, I much prefer being a paying member than being on the other side of things.  I like playing golf, not working it.  God, just thinking about the drama around the Women's Golf Assoc tournaments makes me cringe. 

Teaching - now that sounds interesting, rewarding and like something I could enjoy in the golf business. But when I was making decisions, it was expected you become a PGA Professional, and no way was I going to spend years in a pro shop selling gloves, listening to members and guests whine about the course or service (or even better, fight with each other), being responsible for the antics of the cart attendants... no way.  Seems you have to do all that just to be a teacher.  Which I think is a career in and of itself and deserves complete focus when coming up thru training. 

The clicker was I knew I could never write those numbers in the squares neatly on the scoring sheets in that neat font that you only see at golf tournaments - which is always the same. That was the deal-breaker.

[Pretzel]

41 minutes ago, 3jacker said:

The clicker was I knew I could never write those numbers in the squares neatly on the scoring sheets in that neat font that you only see at golf tournaments - which is always the same. That was the deal-breaker.

The trick is to use a chisel tip pen/marker, that's what creates that distinctive looking font. Letters are pretty easy to practice and get super near because there's only ten of them, but the trick to writing out names that neatly is that you always use all capital letters. Still takes some time to get them looking nice, but it makes things easier than if you also used lowercase letters since most capitals have more straight lines and fewer curves.

[MacDutch]

On 4/10/2019 at 3:44 AM, Golfer6969 said:

At the bare minimum my journey should be able to take me to becoming a club professional - a job I’d absolutely love, and at the maximum  could prove you all wrong... anyone interested in having progress updates? I think I may surprise a few of you...

I would love to see progress updates. Of course your chances are slim, but I like these ‘chasing a dream’ threads. Hope you go for it and to hear from you again. 

[iacas]

On 4/9/2019 at 10:12 PM, Pretzel said:

A club professional is a realistic aspiration. It requires you to shoot no more than 15 strokes above the course rating over 2 days of competition, meaning shooting 79 or better twice on a standard difficulty par 72 course.

It's usually closer to 154 to 155, because the course rating is often about 70, 69.8, 70.3, etc.

And it's 36 holes on the same day.

[Pretzel]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

It's usually closer to 154 to 155, because the course rating is often about 70, 69.8, 70.3, etc.

And it's 36 holes on the same day.

Correct, I specified standard difficulty to mean a course with a rating similar to its par, but I can understand most courses aren't that way.

36 holes on the same day is only an issue for those with some sort of disability or who are very out of shape, because the PGA requires the use of golf carts for the PAT currently (https://www.pga.org/articles/playing-ability-test-pat-policies-and-procedures). 

 

[Golfer6969]

On 4/20/2019 at 7:51 AM, MacDutch said:

I would love to see progress updates. Of course your chances are slim, but I like these ‘chasing a dream’ threads. Hope you go for it and to hear from you again. 

I’ll post updates for anyone who is ready to listen! Am about a fortnight in now and have been working hard for 6-7 hours every day and have seen some marked improvements and made some pretty significant swing changes. Main changes are driving accuracy and distance, as well as chilling proximity to the hole decreasing hugely due to a change in technique. I played 18 holes this morning at a course called Richings near Slough. It’s relatively tight in places, but measures only about 5.7k off the yellow tees (which I played as was with two high handicapper friends). The average par 4 was probably about 330-340 yards long, so Driver wedge. Off a 5 handicap I made 7 birdies and an eagle - my previous best birdies in a round was 5 and no eagles. I shot -3 with 3 lost balls off the tee (one of which I then birdied off the tee to make bogey). Whilst I appreciate its a short course, that’s a drastic improvement in a fortnight, and has given me huge motivation. I also played 9 holes later in the day at my home course which is about 6.3k yards and shot -2 through 9 holes. Maybe it was a freak day but I think it was a result of the hard grind at the start of my process. It’s a billion miles from tour standard, but it’s a big leap in two weeks... 

On 4/19/2019 at 2:02 AM, LMoore said:

You don’t know me. You don’t know what level of success I might have achieved professionally, athletically, or financially. And it’s doubtful you know a thing about the other members of this site.

But it’s a safe bet that the foolish advice of telling a 25 year old 5 handicap to “f@#& it”, and go for it, and ignore reality, reveals quite a few things about you.

 

 

I’m 22 🤷🏻‍♂️

[iacas]

On 4/21/2019 at 12:32 AM, Pretzel said:

Correct, I specified standard difficulty to mean a course with a rating similar to its par, but I can understand most courses aren't that way.

36 holes on the same day is only an issue for those with some sort of disability or who are very out of shape, because the PGA requires the use of golf carts for the PAT currently (https://www.pga.org/articles/playing-ability-test-pat-policies-and-procedures). 

I don't understand the need for your post.

You were wrong about two things. The courses are typically played at about a rating of 69 to 70 (from the yardages played), and you said "over two days." It's over one day.

I'm aware of the PAT policies…