What it Takes to Go Pro

[CarlSpackler]

So I'm a 6 index, 19 years old, have been mostly self taught with sporadic lessons for almost a decade, clubhead speed is 119-125 w/ driver, 100-110 with 6 iron, and I have "tour ballflight and spin"(my shots really do look the spitting image of pro's, I went to a PGA event for the first time a year ago expecting these god like shots, and was surprisingly un-impressed with the ballflight and spin, but it was their smooth swings that got me). I have been told by multiple people that if I took the game seriously and went anywhere near the practice green I would drop into the + range within months. I love golf and since someone injecting the idea of pursuing it as a career into my head I can't get it out. I also love competition and almost always play better in tournaments than meaningless practice rounds.

I would say it doesn't matter what we think, but what you think. Go spend some time working on your short game and get to +, then see where you stand. I've talked to several great players who could grind out a living on the tour, but they don't think that lifestyle is for them.

[SpringBokVol]

What an awesome story, thanks for sharing. That's my dream right there.

I agree. I am planning on getting my handicap down to 3 or lower by years end and then joining the Golf Channel's Amateur Tour in 2010. I would love to score well and qualify for anything major.

[eahollis4]

Some people on the forum think you have to hit the ball perfect inorder to go pro. I've seen pro's shank it, duff it, top it, hook it, slice it. Even the best at this game aren't even close to hitting the ball perfect. When you get to certain level it becomes a game of misses. All the pro's know their strengths and they use this into configuring their course management. It becomes a game of mathematics. If anyone here wants to know what it takes to make a living as a pro when your hitting it poorly miss the ball in the correct spots and when your hitting it great take advantage of it. And most importantly make everything you look at on the greens.

[Shorty]

So I'm a 6 index, 19 years old, have been mostly self taught with sporadic lessons for almost a decade, clubhead speed is 119-125 w/ driver, 100-110 with 6 iron, and I have "tour ballflight and spin"(my shots really do look the spitting image of pro's, I went to a PGA event for the first time a year ago expecting these god like shots, and was surprisingly un-impressed with the ballflight and spin, but it was their smooth swings that got me). I have been told by multiple people that if I took the game seriously and went anywhere near the practice green I would drop into the + range within months. I love golf and since someone injecting the idea of pursuing it as a career into my head I can't get it out. I also love competition and almost always play better in tournaments than meaningless practice rounds.

Not a chance in hell.

At the moment, on your handicap, you would be averaging bogeys on half the holes you play a lot of the time. You say nonsense like this:"I have tour ballflight and spin"(my shots really do look the spitting image of pro's..." Your game is obviously all over the place because you make the above boast but obviously can't score, and don't respect those who can. There is a huge difference between an honest 6 marker and a 6 marker who thinks he hits it like a pro. And......doesn't perceive differences between their ball striking and his own. You believe people who know nothing about the game when they say garbage like "if I took the game seriously and went anywhere near the practice green I would drop into the + range within months." You say that nothing else is going on in your life and do complete strangers think that becoming a golf pro might be worth a casual attempt. But mostly.......you asked the question "would it be worth making it my life?" If you don't know the answer to that question, it's not going to happen.

[Parker0065]

Since I never did turn Pro I guess I don't know what it takes. But I can confidently say there are some myths running around here!

I don't believe there's any merit to those that say you have to be a + handicap when your in Highschool to have any chance . I would say that would be true by the time you reach the end of College, but as far as Highschool, if you finish your Highschool career as a real, true, honest to God, + handicap then your probably going to be enjoying "Fenom" status of some type!

Basically it takes both talent and dedication to reach the level of touring pro!

[SubPar]

My guess is if one had the skills and drive to work their way into professional competitive golf they would not be asking about it here. They would already be doing it.

SubPar

[Bump-n-MI]

I have been told by multiple people that if I took the game seriously and went anywhere near the practice green I would drop into the + range within months.

From 6(ish) to + "within months"?

That is amazing....

[Leftygolfer]

From 6(ish) to + "within months"?

to go from a 3 to + in months would be amazing.

To go from a 6 to + in months would be impossible.

[Bump-n-MI]

To go from a 6 to + in months would be impossible.

Well, dam near impossible anyway. BTW, there was just a smidgen of sarcasm in my previous post.....

[TN94z]

I think one BIG misonception is how hard it is to improve the better you get. Going from a 10 handicap to a 5 and then going from a 5 to scratch are two totally different things. I couldn't imagine being a + handicap! That must be an amazing feeling

[tofur99]

Not a chance in hell.

Well, first off, I'm not trying to boast on here or make my game something that it isn't, I don't need that kind of ego support like a lot of people on here. And I wasn't kidding about my shots, I KNOW I can hit it like a pro because I have seen them hit and their shots are the same as mine. I would know because I hit them. I'm not trying to convince myself I am something I am not here. I am a very reserved person by nature and not one prone to showing off or blowing myself up to something I'm not. On the same note, I also don't think hitting it with the same clubhead speed, ball speed, trajectory and distance as the pro's should be all that difficult for a 6 index. You should be able to figure it out. (Now doing it perfectly every single shot is another thing, but that comes with thousands of hours on the range and a swing coach). I also haven't had a single lesson in well over a year nor practiced any short game substantially either, and I hold a 6 index. At the moment I go out and play the game because I love it, not because I'm trying to fight my index lower or work towards a goal or try to prove I can "shoot low". Maybe you should try it sometime. Oh yeah, and the person who told me I would drop to the + range within months has been playing since he was 5, was a 10 handicap at age 13, and he is 60 now, so I would tend to think he knows a little bit about golf. I'm not saying I could do it, it seems a little crazy to me believe me, but if I learned how to putt and chip correctly I know It would be a totally different game. Others who have told me I should take it seriously include club pro's, club fitters, and golfers who I know and respect, so it's not like random strangers are putting this in my head, I just ignore when they say stuff(usually because they have no idea what they're talking about, and it shows.) Also, when I asked is it worth making my life, It's because I am smack in the middle of college, not doing anything special with my life(as with most college students) and at a point where I could pack up and transfer to Florida and play every day indefinitely at someone else's charge on great courses. Seems like a semi important decision to make don't ya think? And lastly, I respect the hell out of people who can go low and post some crazy scores, It takes a lot of discipline and hard work to do it, I just go about playing the game a different way. That doesn't mean I can't, I just haven't put the effort in, which I will be doing now. Thanks for the negativity! I'll check back with you in two months with my index

[2bGood]

There are lots of ways to go "pro" some guys really do just have game and don't work that hard at it and can still compete, other can work their a$$ off and still not break 80.

So much of golf is your head, if you can't get that worked out no amount of practice or instruction will help. Look at David Duval, he worked his but, got to world number one and then fell apart as a golfer.

Look at Charles Barkley - the guy gets some of the best golf instruction in the world, practices like hell, has power to spare, but still i doubt he could break 110.

Plenty of pro's that take up the game 5 year old and other that don't start until their late teens.

If all the pieces fit you can go pro, if they don't they don't. For most of us, no matter how hard we work, we could never by on the PGA tour.

[Smarf]

There was a really good article here awhile back about the handicap index of the PGA's pro. Tiger, in 2006, was a +7.9 and JP Hayes, who was barely keeping his tour card was +4.0.

It's hard to qualify it though because they toughen up the courses for PGA events but don't change the slope/course rating.

Here's the link if you want to read it:
http://thesandtrap.com/the_numbers_g...es_of_the_pros

[iacas]

It's hard to qualify it though because they toughen up the courses for PGA events but don't change the slope/course rating.

The article you listed used revised slope and course ratings. They may be approximations, but a higher slope decreases the + index golfer's handicap index, so that's probably fine too.

[Meddle]

Also, when I asked is it worth making my life, It's because I am smack in the middle of college, not doing anything special with my life(as with most college students) and at a point where I could pack up and transfer to Florida and play every day indefinitely at someone else's charge on great courses. Seems like a semi important decision to make don't ya think?

Dude, obviously you are way better at golf than me, etc. But seriously, stay in college, get a degree and set yourself up for a career. You can do that and play golf at the same time, and if pro golf doesn't work out, you have something to fall back on. Please, don't screw yourself over by dropping out.

[Leftygolfer]

Well, first off, I'm not trying to boast on here or make my game something that it isn't, I don't need that kind of ego support like a lot of people on here. And I wasn't kidding about my shots, I KNOW I can hit it like a pro because I have seen them hit and their shots are the same as mine. I would know because I hit them. I'm not trying to convince myself I am something I am not here. I am a very reserved person by nature and not one prone to showing off or blowing myself up to something I'm not. On the same note, I also don't think hitting it with the same clubhead speed, ball speed, trajectory and distance as the pro's should be all that difficult for a 6 index. You should be able to figure it out. (Now doing it perfectly every single shot is another thing, but that comes with thousands of hours on the range and a swing coach). I also haven't had a single lesson in well over a year nor practiced any short game substantially either, and I hold a 6 index. At the moment I go out and play the game because I love it, not because I'm trying to fight my index lower or work towards a goal or try to prove I can "shoot low". Maybe you should try it sometime.

It is called being real. Take your best round of the year and make it your worst. That would be a heck of a feat. I don't know what your best score is this year, lets say 76. That be your worst to be a good scatch golfer. But to change that in a couple of months seems impossible. I know this game. I know how hard it is to be consistant and that is the difference. I 100% believe you have the ability to strike it like a pro, sometimes. But those other times you have to be able to score. And that isn't just a couple of months of practice. And the quality of your misses determine how good you are. Not your best shots.

Go to ghin, look up a name, say smith, any state. Find someone with a + handicap and look at there scores. There will not be much over 75. And if there is, they are losing there a*s in there bets to there buddies.

[whip_it_out]

I suggest you read "Paper Tiger" by Tom Coyne

"A Good Walk Spoiled" is a must read if you want to go pro. It gets you into the heads of some your pros, and shows you some of the very ugly aspects of Tour life. And all it did was make me want it even more.

[Shorty]

Well, first off, I'm not trying to boast on here or make my game something that it isn't...........

Yet you claim to hit it like a pro but can't putt or chip and presumably don't break 80 on a regualar basis.

Being a good player means grinding out a 69 or 70 to make a -2 cut when you are playing badly. Mortals like us say I had 76 but had an OB on the second and had two 3 putts.. implying that if it weren't for a couple of errors we would have been close to par. It's not how good your good shots are, but how good your bad shots are. Drop the idea that you have "pro like trajectory, ballspeed and spin." Which pro? If you thought that you had a one in 20 chance that you could play for free while you prepare to earn a few hundred thousand a year rather than having a boring, conventional job, you would go and do it. So what if someone says you could be better. We all could. It's like when people are selling their houses and all their friends say it's worth much more than the asking price, but it sits on the market for a year without an offer. There are a lot of "pros" who play off a + index, who would astonish you with the way they hit it who play "mini tours", a glamorous life where they cough up thousands to play with a chance to win their own money back. They sleep in their cars and wear the same clothes several days in a row. Don't underestimate how good you have to be to make it. There are +4 handicappers who don't break 85 in Tour School first stage.