Tour Dream - A Perspective From Close Up

[iacas]

It’s a bet.

[Herkimer]

1 minute ago, Vinsk said:

I’ll take that bet too. And you won’t need to give out your address because the money won’t be heading your direction.😉

Oh, no.  I see I'm becoming richer by the minute.  Karl will easily be in the top 25.  You'll see.  But, as I said, it may take 7 years depending on whether he finishes Stanford or, like Tiger, leaves early.  Let's meet back in this thread in 7 years. 😀😀

[iacas]

And today we learn how oblivious people are to history.

[Herkimer]

14 minutes ago, iacas said:

And today we learn how oblivious people are to history.

Meaning that golf is very hard and prognostication is only for fools, especially when it comes to seeing the future of a 17-year old golfer.  

But history has other lessons that you may learn from.  Try it sometime.  It's not that hard.

[iacas]

43 minutes ago, Herkimer said:

Meaning that golf is very hard and prognostication is only for fools, especially when it comes to seeing the future of a 17-year old golfer.

Should’ve taken your own advice. And realized how many can’t miss kids have missed.

[TRUCKER]

🤣

[Herkimer]

8 minutes ago, iacas said:

Should’ve taken your own advice. And realized how many can’t miss kids have missed.

Very true.  Karl is different and I can see it.  I've got 7 years to be proved right or wrong.  See you on this page in 7 years.

[Sandy Divot]

I recently played with a young guy trying to make it as a pro. He has had some success playing a mini tour, and several years ago, played in the NCAA finals, and won a very big amateur tournament. I'm a 4 handicap, the other guy in our group was the club champ, and on one hole, the young guy hit it 50 yards past us. He played pretty well in the first stage of Korn Ferry qualifying, but didn't make it through. When I see how good this guy is, it really makes me appreciate how good you have to be to make it to the Tour.

[Herkimer]

I totally agree.  There's tons of great players who couldn't make it on the PGA tour or even get on to it.  Karl won't be one of those.  

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, Herkimer said:

  Karl is different and I can see it.

Was it the Juniors President Cup that you saw this?

Edited December 15, 2019 by Vinsk

[Herkimer]

24 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Was it the Juniors President Cup that you saw this?

No, I missed that.  It's so many other tournaments, like Karl's Gold Medal at the Summer Youth Olympics and like winning the 2017 Men's Southern Amateur.  He is on the path to greatness.  

[Vinsk]

6 hours ago, Herkimer said:

No, I missed that.  It's so many other tournaments, like Karl's Gold Medal at the Summer Youth Olympics and like winning the 2017 Men's Southern Amateur.  He is on the path to greatness.  

I wish him all the best. The odds are against you both. But hope he proves me wrong.

[leftybutnotPM]

10 hours ago, Herkimer said:

Very true.  Karl is different and I can see it.  I've got 7 years to be proved right or wrong.  See you on this page in 7 years.

Karl Vilips is probably the equal of several hundred other guys in their teens who have aspirations and possibly talent to make it.

And he's a sensational golfer.  

He is not even close to Hovland, and I would bet not close to Rasmus Hojgaard.

Within the next 5 years there'll be players coming out of the woodwork you've never heard of who will be leap-frogging the current crop of potential future stars.

At the moment I wouldn't be betting $50 that he'll be on the PGA Tour in 2025, let alone top 25. Top 100 would be impressive.

And that's a comment on the depth of talent out there, not a comment on Vilips' game.

 

 

Edited December 16, 2019 by leftybutnotPM

[snapfade]

I  remember they said the same thing about Ty Tryon some years back and he never went anywhere except back to Q school a few times.I had the chance to caddie during a pro-am at Harbor Town and was in Fred Funks group. Watching him swing a club up close was a lesson in itself. Being up close at the Ryder Cup and Masters and seeing these dudes playing with their A game is unreal the amount of talent they have. But believe it not, somewhere out there is a some kid that will show up and take their place. 

[Ben]

On 12/5/2019 at 4:58 PM, leftybutnotPM said:

Rather than reviving a thread I thought I'd start a new one. 

The one I'm referring to is where a guy claimed to plan to "dominate" the Mackenzie Tour, without any knowledge of what good golf actually looks like.

My very recent (this week) experience just underscores how ridiculous this thread was.

I was at the Australian Open yesterday and followed a young player who is known to me. Phenomenal player.

The previous day we played in the same club competition .

In the Wednesday competition he had 29 on the back with  a bogey. 8 under for the round, I think, playing off +4. This is on a serious golf course, one of the top few in Sydney.

Fast forward 24 hours.

The drives I saw him hit at The Australian were just unfathomably good. 300m dead straight like shot from a canon.

He had 5 over in the first round. Virtually no way he's playing the weekend.

Last year this guy played on the Mackenzie Tour and made about $2,500.

So.....my point is....rather than 40 pages of posts about whether at 22 years of age with of a DIY handicap of 5 (without ever breaking 80) and asking if you can become a touring pro, understand this: The answer is no.

And, to anyone who has not seen these young guys in the flesh - forget about top 20 household names - go and watch ANY of these young college players and pros hit the ball IN REAL LIFE.

TV shows you nothing.

It's a tough way to (not) make a living.

eh

For the sake of referencing somewhere to start, Ill begin with reaffirming your belief that, playing mini tour golf is a tough way to make a living. 

From my own experience I understand how you came to the conclusions of just how hard it is for anyone to achieve golf excellence. 

Speaking from deeper depths of my experience, I can say that's where our common ground stops.  

Playing golf at its highest level isn't strictly about talent. Not about hitting 350 yard drives while shooting 29 for 9 holes against friends. Playing golf.at its highest levels is about belief. 

You mention the impossibility of a 22 year old with a 5 handicap ever doing anything with their game.

I was a 27 year old weekend golfer (I didn't even carry a legitimate handicap index) when I realized I hated sales jobs and landed a job at a private club, a club that offered no restrictions to the course if I wasn't on the clock. Not long after I discovered local mini tours. After a number of painful years donating my tournament entry fees to the purses, I started playing good enough to finish in the money. Not long after I was actually winning. 

My point being, there are a number of threads here, those of which detail the dreams of chasing golf greatness. Stories that offer and speak to the side of success. 

 

 

[Herkimer]

Accoding to the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Karl Villips is now in the 10th position.  

Karl Vilips - World Amateur Golf Ranking Player Profile

---

Player Profiles from the WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKING® with...

 

 

[iacas]

14 hours ago, Ben said:

Not long after I was actually winning. 

Mini Tour events, sure. I love ya man, but you weren't winning on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Let alone the PGA Tour.

And, even your modest level of success (as an older golfer) is an outlier. You know how hard it was for you to get where you got.

[Interested Party]

On 12/15/2019 at 5:06 AM, iacas said:

He also just got waxed at the Junior Presidents Cup, failing to win any points.

If you define "one of the top golfers in the world" as "inside the top 25" I'd be willing to wager $100 on that.

Just on the odds. And I know who Karl is.

Referring to Karl's results at the Junior Presidents Cup is is a bit raw of you. He was partnered up with a kid who despite being ranked 696 on the world amateur rankings, was grossly out of form. Those that watched saw Karl placing his Tee Shots down the middle of the fairway only to see his next shot be a recovery shot over and over again know that the result was none of Karl's fault. It was humiliating for the other kid who knew he was playing badly, but to Karl's credit he didn't ever remind his partner of just how badly he was playing. You could have put South Africa's top player with that lad and you'd have had the same outcome in the team component. In regards to the singles match, Karl played Michael Thorbjornsen- the highest ranked US Team member per the world amateur rankings and a MatchPlay specialist who won the 2018 US Junior Am and who then went on to make the Cut at the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach. The Presidents and Ryder Cup pairings are a lottery and the results of each player can be skewed accordingly.

What you're also possibly unaware of is that Karl has stated publicly that he has no intention of turning pro early like his counter-part Akshay Bhatia has done, and has chosen to play for Stanford instead. This is where he differs from many of the "Can't miss" prodigies who turned Pro straight our of high school. He's not pushing himself into tour starts and is (so far at least) choosing to follow the Tiger method and learning to dominate the junior scene whilst he still a junior. With him holding the number 1 ranking in every junior ranking system and giving himself a back-up plan of having a Stanford education in case the golf doesn't pan out as expected, perhaps Karl deserves a little more credit than what you're giving him.