Just read Paper Tiger (A Spoiler or two) But an opinion and question?

[tsdnorton]

Now first off. Great read....

Second off,

He DID get to a + handicap in a year. So I mean, it does prove with a lot of practice (and help from an instructor) it is quite possible to get to scratch in a year... Granted he did play a little bit when he was younger.

Third,

While reading it seems as if he had more of a mental problem than a playing problem. The skill was there, the distance was there, the knowledge was there... but he let the game get to his head more than most. He made tons of references to his peers on the course all being oblivious to their surroundings.

Now.. If he had another year of just working on his mental game (along with continuing to grind it out hitting his clubs) do you think he would be ready, or at least have a better shot? I mean when he didn't let his nerves get to him, and played with no fear, he always seemed to be holing birdies and making perfect shots. Plus he ALWAYS seemed intimidated by the environment he was in. Never felt like he belonged.

I don't think he should have stopped... with all that time and effort and money spent.. another year or two with dedication and some mental changes and he had a shot.

How are you going to chase a dream and drop it off just like that? just because you didn't finish in a year?

Good read but feel like there should be a follow up.

[mihi4]

That's exactly what I was thinking when I read that book.

There's a situation at the beginning of his quest, when he's at the practice facilities for the first time and writes, that he was in awe of all the players there hitting perfect shots and whatever. Sounded like he spoke about the "gods at olymp".

That's where my first thought was: "He's never gonna make it, because you have to be confident to be able to beat all those players, no matter what."

He never writes about such thoughts, always about he was intimidated and about how good all these other players were.

greetings

michi

[iPutt]

***SPOILERS***

I agree with your first point about his mental game being the biggest weak point of his game. It really did seem like the only thing holding him back (although his putting, from what I could tell, never seemed amazing either). Also whatever that thing in his neck was that made him go home couldn't have helped him either. I think without that he may have been able to get a shot at it. However, to the point of continuing, I think he made the right choice. He gave up everything for a over a year and left it all out on the course, you can't deny that. When he recapped how much money he spent, I believe that was money that he probably didn't even have. He didn't have the resources or support from his wife anymore it seemed, and I think it was the right decision. Like his friend said, he took his shot at it and in the end, just didn't have it.

[DocWu1948]

I have to agree with MiHi4. He kind of set his mind up to fail by casting his competition as god-like in their golf prowess. When he missed the PAT qualifier, I started to think he was in it to write the book. Then when he got blind-sided by the Q-school rules, I figured he wasn't that committed. Too bad he got sick. He had a solid regimen going down in Florida.

I enjoyed the read though and hope never to see a friendly dog jumping all over me at Aussie customs.

[Quinn07]

Knowing how to play in tournament golf is essential to making it, IMO.  I don't think he had enough experience with this and it probably hurt him a great deal.  The reason why the pros can do it during a tournament is because they grew up playing in tournaments.  Anyone who plays in tournaments for the first time can attest that how you play is often very different from how you play during a normal round.  It takes some practice in tournament conditions to train yourself that you need to stick to your game.  I think he would have needed a significant amount of tournament play before he would have a real chance at making it.  Plus as mentioned before he gave up everything to do this experiment.  That must be weighing on his mind as well.

Great read! It's one of my favourite books that I read every off season to get me excited about the golf season.

[LongballGer]

He´s a writer. I doubt he ever really believed or cared whether he would make it or not. His goal was mainly to sell a lot of copies of his books hence the many sensationalism in the book.(Yes, PGA Tour players are incredible players, but they are simply humans that put in thousands of hours of practice and they aren´t "The chosen ones" or "Gods")

Having said that the whole idea of being a crappy golfer and then proclaiming to be able to compete with the best players in the world within 1 year is a completely unrealistic goal.

He was more of a groupie/tourist than a guy that had the burning desire and belief in himself to make it on tour. In short, it´s a book written for entertainment purposes.

[tsdnorton]

I feel with another year of teaching and mental prep... not to mention more tourneys.. He had a much better shot.

[mihi4]

Originally Posted by tsdnorton

I feel with another year of teaching and mental prep... not to mention more tourneys.. He had a much better shot.

ACK... _AND_ getting to care about all the others things which go hand-in-hand with trying the tour. Not to know the requirements to be eligible playing Q-school is just stupid, IMHO.

(Ok, otherwise they wouldn't show up in Aussieland ;))

[clubchamp]

It was a great book but I think there was 2 reasons why he stopped...

1. He realized how much more he would have to work to get to the level to have a shot at making it.

2. Money...

[plugged]

I haven't read the book, nor do I intend to.  Call me cynical, but frankly, I am getting burned out on these stories of "average Joe lays it all on the line for a shot to play on the PGA."  It reminds me of when Michael Jordan retired from b-ball and said he going to try to get good enough for the PGA.  Here was a guy with unlimited financial resources, great athleticism, and plenty of confidence.  MJ had no shot.  Nor does the average Joe.  Its not going to happen, period.  If you haven't been winning statewide tournaments since you were a kid, or at least played college ball and won a few times, you're not playing in the PGA.  Nor, most likely, are you playing in a mini-tour.  Enjoy your life as an amateur.  And, if you really think you have a shot at the PGA, then you are probably good enough to advance in qualifiers for the US Am or Mid-Am.  That's something that less than 1% of golfers could ever hope to do.

[Uber$winG]

Speaking of MJ…

What I find ridiculous is his attempt to play professional baseball. If he weren’t MJ he wouldn’t have even got a chance. His stats are anemic:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jordan001mic

[iPutt]

Originally Posted by Uber$winG

Speaking of MJ…

What I find ridiculous is his attempt to play professional baseball. If he weren’t MJ he wouldn’t have even got a chance. His stats are anemic:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jordan001mic

Apparently, if he kept at it for about another 3 years in the minors he could have had a shot at the bigs (According to ESPN 30 for 30 "Michael Rides the Bus").

[tsdnorton]

Quote:

I haven't read the book, nor do I intend to.  Call me cynical, but frankly, I am getting burned out on these stories of "average Joe lays it all on the line for a shot to play on the PGA."  It reminds me of when Michael Jordan retired from b-ball and said he going to try to get good enough for the PGA.  Here was a guy with unlimited financial resources, great athleticism, and plenty of confidence.  MJ had no shot.  Nor does the average Joe.  Its not going to happen, period.  If you haven't been winning statewide tournaments since you were a kid, or at least played college ball and won a few times, you're not playing in the PGA.  Nor, most likely, are you playing in a mini-tour.  Enjoy your life as an amateur.  And, if you really think you have a shot at the PGA, then you are probably good enough to advance in qualifiers for the US Am or Mid-Am.  That's something that less than 1% of golfers could ever hope to do.

I'll call it Cynical

How does one become " burned out " on these stories if you have never actually READ the story to begin with? You're burnt-out on other talking about it? If that's the case, you can always divert your attention else where I assume?

And what stories are you speaking of? Paper Tiger (which you haven't read) or Pipe Dream (with a dude old enough to barely qualify for the backend of the Champions tour)

M.J. isn't really a great example... He was also trying to do this with baseball (and those who play baseball, don't play golf great.... and the other way around)

I'm just trying to judge where the pessimism is coming from I guess.

Me, personally, always want to see the underdog prevail. Now wether that is a 16pt underdog in football or a New Upcoming Nationwide star dethroning someone at the top. I like these type of stories.

[Miss Shanksalot]

I think that what it all came down to was that his external pressures became internalized.

I mean, sure, his GF was mostly supportive of him, but he clearly felt an internal pressure not only to do well just to do well, but also to do well because by being away from her, he was possibly putting their relationship at risk. Thus, the pressures multiplied for him.

What would have been interesting was to see if someone without family obligations could have done better than he did.

I also thought he began to lose the experience of joy in the game. Sure, most of us are competitive to some extent. But we retain our ability to rejoice over that purest of shots or most perfect of putts.

Just some thoughts.

[USMCSemantics]

Thanks for the heads up, just ordered a copy!

[JetFan1983]

Spoiler Alert

In the end, guys, he chose the girl. I think that was one of the underlying messages at the end, despite the obvious ass-handing the various Q-Schools gave him. Sure, he could've kept trying. Sure, he shot 92-85 at the Aussie Q-School. But let's be honest about a bunch of factors stacked against him: he's never played Aussie golf and clearly had no clue what he was doing out there. He was massively jet-lagged. He planned to propose to his girlfriend on the 18th green. His girlfriend was caddying for him AND she ditched him on Day 1 because the weather was horrendous. And lastly, and possibly most importantly, he was dealing with the pressure of finishing a book that possibly would never be published. And he ran out of money.

I'd say he had a lot on his plate that day.

He could've kept chasing the dream though, I agree. With a year of mostly practice rounds and more tourneys to add to his belt, then who knows? He said himself that he spent too much time on the range and not enough on the course.

But continuing the pipe dream would've meant breaking up with his woman and living a lonely, possibly fruitless, life on the golf course.

I for one would read a follow up if there ever was one. He's a teaching professor now somewhere, so its possible he has a nice nest egg he could use to fund a sequel. He's still more than young enough to put another 16 months straight of golf to good use. I'd agree with the naysayer though that says he has a better chance at winning the lotto than surviving a Q-School, based on his mental game and all the ill-timed OB shots he hit throughout the course of the book. But still, in the end, you really never know. Call me a stupid optimist.

***

As a book, I thought it was great. I learned a lot about fitting, instruction, the mental game, the reality of it all, etc. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sports non-fiction. Yea, I'd call it non-fiction despite the assumed sensationalism and author's note. Every score and every shot actually happened, so in that respect it goes in the non-fiction category at least.

[TourSpoon]

I read this book over Spring Break and just had a few moments of burst out laughter.  I know the guy had a girl friend but I hardly would call that a family obligation as he did whatever he wanted, when he wanted without too much regard for her.  I got the impression that writing this book was the real goal of the story, not necessarily to be be able to make it big.  What did impress me was the level he went about practicing and working out.  He was an animal with serious dedication.  He played almost every day and made great progress.  I really enjoyed reading it and couldn't put it down.  I think if anyone has delusions of grandeur, they should read this especially the section where he details the pyramid of golf.  Having been in the golf business and known people on every one of the rungs with the exception of superstar, I think he brings the point home well.  These guys are good, no they are _____ing good!

In the end he puts golf into perspective...or does he?  He packs his clubs up for good to take on his new adventure only to pull them out of the trunk a mere 30 minutes later to enjoy the game.  Like a true golf addict he got over that fairly quickly!  I liked the ending because after all the lessons, practice, sacrifice, etc., he does end up winning in his own way on the 18th hole, and again on the 18th green, and comes away with quite the tale to tell.

[PaulMVR]

What is Paper Tiger?  I've never heard of it.... It's a book?... Did Tiger write it?... if not who did?....

I can't even find it for sale on ebay...