Question for the 2ish Handicappers

[TinCupTampa]

Just curious... What is your next step... Are you playing mini tours... Do you still have your amateur status... Have you gone to Q School... Played in any Nationwide, etc qualifiers?

[rusek]

Just curious... What is your next step... Are you playing mini tours... Do you still have your amateur status... Have you gone to Q School... Played in any Nationwide, etc qualifiers?

I think your perception of a 2capper is quite wrong.

A 2capper is a decent Publinx player, plays in State Opens, maybe USGA events (if under 1.4 USOPEN qualifiers). If you meant +2, then you are a top amatuer at the state level, play in the local USGA events, and such. You may be able to turn pro and play some small minitours at +2, such as hooters tour. Expect a PGA player to be +4 or better. Tiger has been calculated to be anywhere from +10 to +13.

[Chris5573]

Would someone who is a scratch player or close to it have a chance at Q-School or on the mini-tours? I know at Q-School if you can get past the 2nd stage you would have status on the Nationwide Tour...is there any chance of a scratch player doing that, or is that just ridiculous?

[doublesuited77]

Would someone who is a scratch player or close to it have a chance at Q-School or on the mini-tours? I know at Q-School if you can get past the 2nd stage you would have status on the Nationwide Tour...is there any chance of a scratch player doing that, or is that just ridiculous?

pretty ridiculous. remember that most tough courses or tourneys/qualifiers have course ratings between 75-77. so a scratch golfer if he plays to his handicap would be a few over per round where you need to be a few under to win.

[Dent]

Read Paper tiger, you guys will have a whole different perception of Q-School. He mentions about how there are 3 stages, The first, the second, and finally the last, where all the previous tour pros who have lost their tour status regain their card.

I also quote from Tom Coyne " Scratch is shit "

[rusek]

I'd say minimum of +4 to even think of turning pro full time if you want to make a living.

[Chris5573]

I'd say minimum of +4 to even think of turning pro full time if you want to make a living.

Wow, a +4 to even

consider turning pro? I had no idea someone would have to be that low in order to even consider it. With your handicap being a 1.6, do you think you'd ever have a shot at getting to a +4 or close to it? For me personally, I never thought I'd get my handicap into the single digits...now I am trying to get under a 5. Would you say that for me to get from a 7.3 to a 5 is a huge jump?

[Dent]

Wow, a +4 to even

With a +4, you will barely make it. Maybe not even.

[Franco!]

Wow, a +4 to even

The lower you get, the harder it is to drop down.

Unless you're just naturally gifted and you continue to get better every time you go to play.

[MrKadash]

Just curious... What is your next step... Are you playing mini tours... Do you still have your amateur status... Have you gone to Q School... Played in any Nationwide, etc qualifiers?

I have two younger brothers who are indexes below 2, and they are both content with being class A professionals and work as such at their respective clubs. They play in state tournaments, but have not shown an interest in qualifying for anything more. They seem to enjoy spending a majority of their time giving lessons, working with juniors, and running club events. Then again, they are aged 25 and 21, so they might change their minds.

[rusek]

Wow, a +4 to even

For me to get to a +4 I'd have to dedicate a rediculous amount of time to practice. I have other aspirations so most likely I'll never get there, though

[nlowplacez]

i tried to qualify for the open two years ago just for the experience. i was about a .8 or .9 at the time. it was way tougher than i thought. i actually bogeyed the first two holes and doubled the third. and just about quit. i ended up shooting a 41 on the front and parred the back for a 77. and i actually thought i played really really good. even on those first holes as far as ball striking goes. i missed qualifying for secs by six strokes, so lookin back if i coulda parred those first three, and made up two strokes somewhere else(like the four foot bird put on 18) i coulda went on. but thats how it always is. your alwas lookin back and thinkin u coulda done this or that and history would change and you would have won the open probably and be famous and rich. haha. damn golf hates me. anyway to answer original post kinda, I'm at almost +2 right now (was better than +2 but i guess i peaked and am getting worse at 23 yrs old) and i have a normal day job but give lessons on the side. and i still hit tons and tons and tons of range balls, just because that is what i actually enjoy (even more than playing). i still have am status so i play in a lot of local tourneys and scrambles and stuff and win a few and place in almost all of em. i do have aspirations to someday be a pro golfer (the touring variety) but realistically im not sure it will ever happen, because i cant make myself practice short game. i believe i have the ball striking abilities of at least half the guys on tour, but my short game is prolly worse than the worst tour pro. anyway, i probably didnt answer your question to well, and it may sound like im bragging because i am a little bit. but thats my current career status and aspirations as a + handicapper

[Ben]

With a +4, you will barely make it. Maybe not even.

Nah, a +4 would make for a dominator on a mini-tour, or a low level PGA Tour player. I was playing one or two events a month and making a little bit of dough with a +1.5. If I decided to go full time I may not start cashing right away, but getting that playing experience under my belt would elevate me sooner or later. We'll have to see what I'm in for once I'm healed and ready to go.

[iacas]

Expect a PGA player to be +4 or better. Tiger has been calculated to be anywhere from +10 to +13.

No, not quite.

With a +4, you will barely make it. Maybe not even.

A link for both of you:

http://thesandtrap.com/the_numbers_g...es_of_the_pros

[artfulgolfer]

Dent is right, even at +4 you might be living out of your car driving from mini-tour even to mini-tour event scraping out a living. Scratch is only good enough to win a Club Championship perhaps.

To answer your question about how hard it is to keep getting lower, I think it's just as hard to get from 16 to 8 as it is from 8 to 4, 4 to 2, 2 to 1, 1 to scratch. I got to 8 my first year, 4 my second, and it's now taken a little over another year to get to 2.5. For me, it's been really hard to keep improving from here. I still have tons of room for improvement -- putting and accuracy from 100 yards in -- just takes more time than I have available for practice. Maybe when I retire in a few years.

[rusek]

No, not quite.

I don't see how I was wrong...barely keeping his card guy was +4.3, and I said expect the tour players to be +4 or better... Also, there was a calculation for tiger from his home course that showed a double digit cap.

[iacas]

Also, there was a calculation for tiger from his home course that showed a double digit cap.

That's where you were wrong: Tiger's about a +8 (+8.5 in that article). He has not been calculated to be +10 to +13 as you said.

[TinCupTampa]

Nah, a +4 would make for a dominator on a mini-tour, or a low level PGA Tour player.

You are absolutely correct. The fact that someone said a +4 couldnt make it is a stretch.

If I am correct you have to be in the top 120 on the money leaders to keep your card. Last year, Alex Cejka was number 120 at the end of 2007. Lets assume from Iacas? response that he would be around the +4 handicap. Well ... he made over 860K last year. IMO... thats making it. So yes a +4 would dominate on any mini tour and could make more than a decent living. Hell, the top money leader on the Tarheel tour in 2007 made over 81K. I would highly doubt they were a even close to a +4 handicap.