What it Takes to Go Pro

[pittpanther]

What a bunch of Debbie Downers you guys are. I don't think there's been a supportive comment in 8 pages of replies so far. Sheesh!

The guy posts that he's in college, has a single-digit HC, thinks he has good form, and the clincher - says he can get financial backing to try to be a pro golfer.

What's the point of telling him a dozen ways he might fail? I don't know how good he might be right now, and how could he might become with a year of focused practice. If he has financial backing, I say "Go for it, dude."

And to the guys that say "Don't drop out of college..." What a joke that is. College is great if you know what you want to do. Obviously lots of kids go into college knowing what they want to be (doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc). But sitting there aimlessly spending $20 grand a year trying to find your calling is a waste of your time and your parents money.

If he takes a year (or two) off to give the golf thing a try, what's the harm? You think no college will ever let him back in? Or he'll never be able to find a job, because he dared to take a year off to try to be a golf pro?

Hell, maybe he won't become a PGA pro, but the experience leads him towards becoming a Club Pro, or a teaching pro, or working for PGA or USGA in a corporate role. Maybe it clarifies his goals, so he goes back to college with renewed focus and a firm goal.

Believe me, if he gives golf a try and doesn't make it, there will ALWAYS be a cubicle somewhere waiting for him...

[denver_nuggs_15]

So, I have financial backing and the means and motive, you guys think It would be worth making it my life? (Nothing else is going on in it so far)

If you want to, do it. But, the chances of going pro are almost 0. As pretty much everyone before me has said, you have to get crazy good when you're young (you learn faster and better when younger). So, the time to get (much) better fast has probably already passed unfortunately. You won't drop 8 shots in under a year going from a 6. Maybe from a 36, but it's so hard to drop shots when your index goes lower even if you practice everyday.

And your last comment got me a bit. "I just don't believe its that hard..." Come on. If it weren't that hard, everybody who practiced a lot would be on tour. And that's not the case at all. I work with someone who is a legit +2/+3. He practices all the time...literally 7-10 hours per day. If it's not that hard, why isn't he on tour? He's been trying seriously for the past 6 years, started golfing since he could walk, was a very good HS/college golfer, and still can't make cuts on mini tours. Pros are unreal and unless you PLAY with one (not just see or watch on the range), it's hard to understand.

The guy posts that he's in college, has a single-digit HC, thinks he has good form, and the clincher - says he can get financial backing to try to be a pro golfer.

Yeah college is a joke. It only prepares you for a real job. Not a fantasy one. I want to drop out and only golf for the next year, but I know that college is how I'll get a real job. If you want to be a teaching pro, be a teaching pro. But, the chances of being a Tour pro are so slim that it's tough to throw away a potential real future for it. If you could go pro, you'd probably already know it. You'd have been scouted, written about, and all these other things that it would be obvious that you may have a future in pro golf. I don't want to crush dreams and I think it'd be awesome to golf everyday for a year straight, but you've got to be real.

[tofur99]

Well yeah I do understand how hard it is, and I am being very realistic and thinking critically about it. What I'm going to do is get coaching for the next few months, really work on my game and see what happens. I just know that I am sooo close to shooting real low, I'm on the edge I just need to get over this hump I have been stuck on. If I improve as much as I feel I can than maybe its worth considering, but I have to prove to myself I can do it, and I can't expect to do that by never practicing or getting lessons. Only time will tell, but I agree a college education is definitely necessary, and should come paramount to golf. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do both

[MiniMoe]

What does it take to go pro? Money, desire, willingness to learn, and the right mind. If you have enough money to take off work and practice and be able to shoot under par on every golf course you play, then be able to afford the tournaments and travel to play mini-tours, then you will be able to go pro. There are a lot of guys that have game and don't make any money playing tournaments because they don't have the mind for it. After all, at the top levels, the mind plays a bigger roll than the driver. Just look at David Duval.

Even if you have the game and the mind and the money, then you have to be able to spend a few years learning to play tournament golf. If you did not play in college, it will take a least two years of playing the mini-tours to find out if you even have a chance. Zach Johnson did not make a single cut his first year on the Nationwide Tour. Look at where he is now. Many guys would have given up after that first year thinking if they could not make a single cut, they have not chance in the future. it takes a lot of money to fight through those first few bad years.

[BigBoy]

But he definitely supports my belief that there is something special and different in the people who really make it. It was evident from the first time he picked up a club.

Check out the book - Talent is Overrated -

http://www.amazon.com/Talent-Overrat.../dp/1591842247 Its a great read, and the author takes a closer look at a lot of the myths that permeate western culture about child prodigies and "gifted" people. Mozart is an example he uses, as well as Tiger Woods. Both were perceived as being gifted beyond compare, but a closer look at their childhoods both include highly involved fathers that had the boys working on their crafts harder than just about any adult does, well before they turned 10 years old. As they grew into adults they became even more focused on effective and constant practice. I have not done the book justice in my above paragraph, I highly recommend the book, it is REALLY interesting and well written.

[2bGood]

Well yeah I do understand how hard it is, and I am being very realistic and thinking critically about it. What I'm going to do is get coaching for the next few months, really work on my game and see what happens. I just know that I am sooo close to shooting real low, I'm on the edge I just need to get over this hump I have been stuck on. If I improve as much as I feel I can than maybe its worth considering, but I have to prove to myself I can do it, and I can't expect to do that by never practicing or getting lessons. Only time will tell, but I agree a college education is definitely necessary, and should come paramount to golf. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do both

Why not go for it? Sounds like you don't have much to lose.

Best of luck to you, i hope it works out. Please keep us posted

[jshady]

Well yeah I do understand how hard it is, and I am being very realistic and thinking critically about it. What I'm going to do is get coaching for the next few months, really work on my game and see what happens. I just know that I am sooo close to shooting real low, I'm on the edge I just need to get over this hump I have been stuck on. If I improve as much as I feel I can than maybe its worth considering, but I have to prove to myself I can do it, and I can't expect to do that by never practicing or getting lessons. Only time will tell, but I agree a college education is definitely necessary, and should come paramount to golf. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do both

If you've got the financial backing and are willing to take the time there is really no reason not to do it. Just make sure those same resources are available for you to complete your degree if you decide that a life in golf isn't for you. There are way worse ways to blow a year...

[gir]

You can do it, even though those guys are pretty good. Look at those numbers they post up on hard courses, and they're regularly posting up sub 70 rounds 4 days a week! A bad round might be in the mid 70's or something. What's a bad round to the average golfer - something in the upper 90's? And that's on their home course. A pro might come in to someone's home course on a relaxed casual round, and shoot something real ridiculous.

At the same time though, as much as people say these guys are so good, when you watch them on TV, it seems like they're constantly making mistakes. Look at this years Masters - the guy who wins it, puts his tee ball into the trees on 18. Tiger was constantly driving into the trees there for awhile.

[tofur99]

yeah I feel like they do hit some bad shots, but they also hit a lot of good ones. And they always seem to be able to salvage their bad ones which is a handy trait to have.

[Robiola the Monster]

Find a good swing coach/teaching pro. You could practice 24 hours a day, every day, and never get better if you are not doing it right.

This guy has a point, i play off 4-5 and i hit the ball well enough to play off scratch but my putting game is off and i don't scramble enough. It's coming around though i just have to work at it.

As a ten marker you should be hitting around 6 greens a round, if you could convert 50% of the makeable birdie putts your well on your way to dropping a few shots, eliminate the doubles & take the safe route all the time, you might get it over the trees or lake etc. 75% of the time but does it pay-off? do you make birdie all the time when you take these risks? Just work on your short game and your management. One suggestion from me, don't stop, even when you feel your going nowhere or it's getting tough, don't even take a 2 week break, don't let frustration get the best of you. I've taken a couple of breaks some even around a month long & they did me no good, it didn't make me more determined or re-ignite my love for the game, that all came back through playing more.

[SubPar]

Set your sights on something more readily attainable that might be a stepping stone to golf stardom. Get your handicap down to a 1 and try to qualify for the US Open.

There are thousands, of stories of excellent amateur golfers who aspired to make a living as a touring pro, but never pulled it off. Where are most of the guys who finished second to Tiger when he was an amateur? There may be one story of a 20+ year old 4-8 handicapper who managed to make it onto the tour. If anybody knows that one story share it with me, because I can't find it.

Call me a downer if you want, but sometimes a dose of realism is called for. Someone wins a power ball lottery drawing now and then, but the odds are still 76,275,360:1 and it’s still a stupid investment. While you are giving up your life to work on golf every day you might want to also buy some lottery tickets each week.

Also, if you can’t handle people questioning your chances of success, you don’t have what it takes anyway. Take this as motivation in the form of a challenge to prove me wrong.


SubPar

[LongballGer]

Set your sights on something more readily attainable that might be a stepping stone to golf stardom. Get your handicap down to a 1 and try to qualify for the US Open.

Larry Nelson started playing golf when he was 21 years old. He also had a full time job. He made it on the pga tour when he was 26.

Zach Johnson was about a 4 handicap when he was in college. He also didn't make a single cut his first year on tour. My teacher used to play with Phil Mickelson when he was in his teens. He said he honestly wasn't that great. I've also played 9 holes with danny lee. We played a relatively easy course. He hit almost every fairway and every green, but couldn't buy a putt to save his life. He shot even par. That was on a pretty easy course with wide fairways and short holes. Those guys aren't super humans. They are simply guys that put in the hours. It's all about finding a repeatable swing and then practicing short game until your hands bleed.

[shankapotamus]

Larry Nelson started playing golf when he was 21 years old. He also had a full time job. He made it on the pga tour when he was 26.

That's what my stance is on this. Anybody can do it. But only the most dedicated, determined, among other qualities will.

[BirdIsTheWord]

Roy 'Tin Cup' McAvoy: You don't think I can knock it on from there?
Commentator: Let's just say it's a low-percentage shot.
Roy 'Tin Cup' McAvoy: Well, so am I! I mean, look at me, all right, what I'm wearing. I mean, I'm playing for Rio Grande Short-Haul Trucking, Briggs and Brown Sanitation, First State Bank of Salome, Woody's Smokehouse... You think a... you think a guy like me bothers to worry about the percentages?

[TN94z]

I say the first step is going to be trying to get rid of as many of the double bogies and bogies as you can and then worry about the birdie putts. Sure you should be taking advantage of the close ones, but don't let that be your driving force. You work on getting rid of the over par holes and that will make you consistent and still drop your scores. Then the birdies will come.

Short game is where its at....like mentioned above. Work on the short game!

[Leftygolfer]

The idea that anyone can be a pro if they work hard enough at it is insane. It is a sport. Not everyone can play pro baseball, be a surgeon, or be on the PGA tour. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and no amount of hard work can mask that. There is something that is special about the people that make it. There are millions of golfers and 95% never break 100. I've worked really hard at this game and have never gotten below a 7.8. I will get lower once I belong to a club and my son is older so I can dedicate more time to practice but I do not think anything below a 3 is realistic. But a 3 is a very good player and worlds away from being a tour pro.

[Writer's Block]

You can do it, even though those guys are pretty good. Look at those numbers they post up on hard courses, and they're regularly posting up sub 70 rounds 4 days a week! A bad round might be in the mid 70's or something. What's a bad round to the average golfer - something in the upper 90's? And that's on their home course. A pro might come in to someone's home course on a relaxed casual round, and shoot something real ridiculous.

The pros are not constantly making mistakes. They make an occassional mistake, followed by a brilliant shot. When Tiger (or most any pro) puts it into the trees, he doesn't have to aim sideways and put one into the middle of the fairway (like me), he can somehow go around/over/through the trees and find himself somewhere near/on the green.

These guys ARE that good. To say anything to the contrary is simply wrong.

[GTV8]

In my opinion you obviously need to be a very good golfer to consider going Pro, but more importantly you need to be a GREAT tournament golfer!! After all, Pro’s play tournaments and you need to play well in them to be successful. To me, the best indicator of some ones “potential” is how well they play in major "amateur" tournaments against all the other very good golfers out there. Who cares how low your handicap is or how often you shoot under par, if your not winning or placing well in these tournaments you will not be a successful Pro…