If you could shoot even par regularly...

[kleraudio]

Would you consistently make cuts on a tour like the Hooters tour??

Theoretically, assume a score of even par all 4 days.

I know if you make the cut you get paid, just wondering how many cuts you'd make by just shooting even par...

Jim

[jamo]

short answer: no
long answer: right now i play high school golf and my average is 1 over-ish, but for the sake of arguement, lets say it is even. Of the three best players ever to go through my high school two are currently on the Hooters tour and one is an all american at Duke. The two on the tour were legends when they were here, shooting consistently under par. They now are struggleing to make cuts, while shooting under par. They have won their whole life, and cant now. Its that hard. The courses are hard without being Bethpage, and they play from the tips. So in the end you have to break par.

Sorry to burst your bubble

[golf_junkie27]

^^^^+1. And let's not forget there are some courses where even if you shoot under par, say -3, you still might not make the cut. I've seen this happen on almost every tour. Its just really that hard.

[Greg]

The courses the pros play and the fact they play from the longest tees would make it difficult to break par. Nice thought though, be just good enough to make some cuts and make a living playing golf, but very few ever get the chance to do that, maybe one out of several thousand ever get the chance to even play on something like the Hooters tour, let alone the nationwide or pga tour.

[kleraudio]

Sorry to burst your bubble

LOL, Look at my hcp, no bubbles bursting here!!

Thats interesting though, seems really really tough, I have a lot of respect for the guys out there that are grinding away, its a tough way to make an easy living....

[clubhousehero]

You would do real bad in almost every pro tournament but you would have a real good chance of winning a few majors if you could somehow get exemptions to play in them... assuming you would still shoot par in all 4 rounds.

To answer your question more realistically. Pretty bad. You have to remember that they usually set up the courses easier on the first 2 days so it would be almost impossible to make any cuts.

[pittpanther]

I went to the PGA Tour site, and looked at the final leaderboards for the first 5 tournaments of this year. Even par earned money on 4 out of 5 tournaments. Almost always at the very bottom of the leaderboard, but still in the money.

I did not look to see if even par made the cut after the first 2 days. But if you ignore this slight detail, then the answer appears to be that even par will earn you money, at least on the PGA tour.

Also, with even par you would have tied for ninth at the NCAA championships back in May.

Finally, a quick glance at a couple of Nationwide Tour events - looks like even par would put you firmly in the middle of the pack on the final leaderboard.

Looks like Even Par is no joke! If you could do it consistently, it looks like you could make a living.

[kleraudio]

Wow, thanks for looking into all those stats man, I thought that you could possibly do it, but the posters before you said it was impossible...

but your going on actual stats so I gotta take your side and believe it...

Even par is a damn hard thing to do still, but hey, its probably a whole lot easier than a 65!

I think with enough quality lessons, maybe a years worth, and enough practice time, anyone with coordination can achieve a steady stream of even pars...

After you can hit most of your GIR's or damn near close, its a game of chipping and putting...

[deronsizemore]

They would make some cuts, but I'm not sure how consistently. Hooters Tour was just here a few weeks ago and had a tournament at a course I've played twice this year. The cut for that tournament was -4.

I read an article a while back where someone had put together all of the stats and they told where a person would finish if they shot even par in every round they played in for the year on the PGA Tour. I can't remember the exact numbers so I won't quote the wrong thing, but it was surprisingly quite good. More than a million dollars won for the year, finished inside the top 125 to keep their card, etc. Plus, if you're shooting even par in every round (especially in Majors) you'll likely be near the top of the leader board.

[kleraudio]

Hey Sizemore, with your cap at +.2, would you make the cut at -4 over 2 days??

Thats 2 under each day?

Just wondering what a +.2 usually equates to?

Jim

[georgep]

As a club pro (and scratch player) once told me, the difference between a 0-handicap and a tour player is like the difference between a 5 handicap and a scratch player. A guy with a zip handicap might go out and shoot par on your typical "good" local course, but the tour player can shoot something more in the 65 or lower range. And those guys can go low regularly.

Now, if you could shoot par all the time on the PGA Tour, you would make a pretty good living. You'd miss some cuts, but you'd also finish in the middle of the pack a fair amount of times.

[golf_junkie27]

Just to put it in perspective how hard it is there are currently 193 players who have played a PGA Tour event, this year. Assuming that most course have a par score of 72, only 13 out of the 193 have a scoring average above 72. So, 7% of Tour Pros fail to average less than a par score .

The slogan is so true, "these guys are good."

[deronsizemore]

Hey Sizemore, with your cap at +.2, would you make the cut at -4 over 2 days??

I could definitely make the cut, but would I make the cut in a pressure packed tournament situation? Who knows. :) I've played that course twice this year from the tips and am +3 total for both days. The bad thing about both of those rounds is that holes 16 - 18 I've played terrible (two lost balls and one water hazard). Both rounds I was -1 after 15. So I could definitely do it but it wouldn't be guaranteed. My lowest tournament round was -2 earlier this year (actually the first big tournament I've played in since High School) on a Pete Dye course that they tipped at about 7300 yards that day, so I know I'm capable of handling the pressure. Your handicap indicates your potential and typically you'll only shoot your handicap less than 25% of the time which seems about right for me as I'll typically throw in an under par round about every four or five rounds. I actually thought about trying to Monday qualify for the Hooters tour event as it's only $100 to do so. But, if you Monday qualify for the tournament then you must pay $1000 to actually play in the tournament. Being realistic about my abilities I decided that it wasn't worth actually qualifying and taking a beating from a lot better players.

[leo3]

While you might make some cuts at even par, you would not be likely to earn enough to retain playing priveleges for the next year.

[pittpanther]

While you might make some cuts at even par, you would not be likely to earn enough to retain playing priveleges for the next year.

Well, I did my research earlier in the thread - can someone gather the following information?

1. The top 125 on the money list get to keep their card - How much was this last year? We will use that amount as an approximation for this year. 2. I already showed that even par will finish in the money at many tournaments. Can someone show just how much money you would earn if you finished at even par for let's say the first 5 or ten tourneys? 3. Then we can extrapolate. Assume you play every tournament - even the Fall series, and see if you would earn anywhere near enough money. (btw, my guess would be that about $500-$600 thousand would be necessary to keep your card).

[Lemay427]

Ya even par at the US Open alone would earn you enough money for the season.

[kleraudio]

Thanks for the replies guys, and especially sizemore...

I appreciate that input, I now know what a +.2 can equate to, also I never know that you average only 25% playing to your handicap.... How does yours stay so low if you only shoot under par every 4 or 5 rounds?? I guess it has to do with slope and rating...

You should definitely try to qualify man, I bet you could at least make your money back, and it would be a hell of an experience. I understand though, those guys kick some serious ass....

So what are their handicaps if you had to venture (Hooters tour players) somewhere like +2 or +3??

Thanks!

Jim

[deronsizemore]

Thanks for the replies guys, and especially sizemore...

Yeah, it's actually less than 25% since the handicap is there as an indicator of your potential, not your average score.

Course slope and rating factor into it. For example, if a course has a rating of 74 (two over par) then technically I could shoot 74 and my handicap stay pretty much the same. I've had quite a few rounds of 70 this year on a courses with 72 ratings, so I guess that's what equals everything out. Typically if I'm making putts I'll shoot one or two under on the courses I play. If I'm not making anything I'll typically shoot no worse than a three or four over (but I'm definitely capable of worse scores). The top Hooters tour players are probably +2, +3, +4 range. But, the bottom of the Hooters tour isn't. If you look at the scores each week for the guys that miss the cut, you'll see a lot of high 70's, low 80's and even the occasional high 80's. The thing with the Hooters Tour is that anyone can play if they pay their entry fee (as I understand it). Would definitely be an experience to try to qualify and then make the cut. Not sure how easily I can explain to my wife that I'd like to take $1000 to do so though.