The Dan Plan - 10,000 Hours to Become a Pro Golfer (Dan McLaughlin)

[ChrisWev]

From a resident of the Portland area, let me say frozen is extremely rare. 1-2 weeks a year...maybe. Last year 1 week. Soggy, no, not really. Having lived in California even a light rain would make the course ridiculously soggy. Here the drainage is amazing. It takes essentially a flood to make the course anywhere near as soggy as California. The ground just drains better in Portland.

Even it is raining there are an abundance of ranges with covers. So he could still practice.

Columbia Edgewater where he was first a member has a fantastic chipping area plus a par 3 course if the chipping area is not enough. Plus an indoor hitting area. This is not a good excuse.

Location was not a problem. Was it ideal, no, but Florida probably annually gets as much rain if not more than Portland in the late summer.

He could have traveled. Say do Portland in the summer and Palm Springs in the winter, but that takes cash that he just doesn't have.

Well that's not what was lead to be believed by his blog, or looks like on any climate data? The only reason I looked previous was because he mentioned rain, soggy, frost, wind, ice and crap weather so much, it was depressing.

The average minimum temperature hovers around 2 degrees for about 5 months, yet only 1 week is icy/ frosty/ snowy etc? I find that very hard to believe. Also it rains about 60% of the days and is cloudy almost every day for 5 months. This does not sound like good golfing weather, in fact it sounds like quite a miserable place and even a lot worse than the UK (which is pretty crap).

Practicing on a covered range (assuming artificial) will only get you so far, assuming all the other grassed amenities and bunkers are in the open air? I imagine anywhere with this all grassed and covered would cost a fortune to play.

I've not checked California but having been there quite a lot and never seen it rain (obviously been a lot of droughts recently), I'm assuming it's ok. Miami rains more than Portland but I'm guessing is short sharp showers and then the sun is back out and it's dry again within an hour, which is pretty much what happens at any tour event anyway.

Ask 10 people where they would rather play and what would help them learn more, 9/10 say Florida or California.

So out of that 6,000 hours where he wasted the first 1,500 putting, and then in the next 1,000 hours he got to single figure HCP even with bad conditions and poor coaching. That is good going for anyone.

I'm far from saying he's gone the right way about it or that he has excuses for it all but if he or almost anyone spends 10,000 hours, regularly seeing a good pro in a good area and with more money to pay for it he would probably be better than almost anyone on this forum. His way is flawed but I think 10,000 hours would get you close in the right circumstances.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="mchepp" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3528#post_1203573"]   From a resident of the Portland area, let me say frozen is extremely rare. 1-2 weeks a year...maybe. Last year 1 week. Soggy, no, not really. Having lived in California even a light rain would make the course ridiculously soggy. Here the drainage is amazing. It takes essentially a flood to make the course anywhere near as soggy as California. The ground just drains better in Portland.  Even it is raining there are an abundance of ranges with covers. So he could still practice. Columbia Edgewater where he was first a member has a fantastic chipping area plus a par 3 course if the chipping area is not enough. Plus an indoor hitting area. This is not a good excuse. Location was not a problem. Was it ideal, no, but Florida probably annually gets as much rain if not more than Portland in the late summer. He could have traveled. Say do Portland in the summer and Palm Springs in the winter, but that takes cash that he just doesn't have.  [/QUOTE] Well that's not what was lead to be believed by his blog, or looks like on any climate data? The only reason I looked previous was because he mentioned rain, soggy, frost, wind, ice and crap weather so much, it was depressing. The average minimum temperature hovers around 2 degrees for about 5 months, yet only 1 week is icy/ frosty/ snowy etc? I find that very hard to believe. Also it rains about 60% of the days and is cloudy almost every day for 5 months. This does not sound like good golfing weather, in fact it sounds like quite a miserable place and even a lot worse than the UK (which is pretty crap). Practicing on a covered range (assuming artificial) will only get you so far, assuming all the other grassed amenities and bunkers are in the open air? I imagine anywhere with this all grassed and covered would cost a fortune to play. I've not checked California but having been there quite a lot and never seen it rain (obviously been a lot of droughts recently), I'm assuming it's ok. Miami rains more than Portland but I'm guessing is short sharp showers and then the sun is back out and it's dry again within an hour, which is pretty much what happens at any tour event anyway. Ask 10 people where they would rather play and what would help them learn more, 9/10 say Florida or California. So out of that 6,000 hours where he wasted the first 1,500 putting, and then in the next 1,000 hours he got to single figure HCP even with bad conditions and poor coaching. That is good going for anyone.   I'm far from saying he's gone the right way about it or that he has excuses for it all but if he or almost anyone spends 10,000 hours, regularly seeing a good pro in a good area and with more money to pay for it he would probably be better than almost anyone on this forum. His way is flawed but I think 10,000 hours would get you close in the right circumstances.

Not sure what was referred to about CA courses being just as wet as Portland? But I will agree that the weather in Portland is pretty constant in the winter time. It doesn't freeze that often, but it's a miserable humid cold. Never golfed in Portland, but I pretty much can guarantee that golfing down here is much better with one or two exceptional days where it is too wet. When we are talking about golfing in CA, I thing we generally mean So. Cal. and not NorCal. The there's a large number of good quality instructors for a variety of reasons. Higher population in a golfing friendly environment, and a large number of golf courses. People move to CA for the sunny weather. I use golf for exercise, because it is readily available to me all year round. If I lived in Portland, I would ski and mountain climb. That's pretty much what I did in Seattle.

[natureboy]

Well that's not what was lead to be believed by his blog, or looks like on any climate data? The only reason I looked previous was because he mentioned rain, soggy, frost, wind, ice and crap weather so much, it was depressing.

The average minimum temperature hovers around 2 degrees for about 5 months, yet only 1 week is icy/ frosty/ snowy etc? I find that very hard to believe. Also it rains about 60% of the days and is cloudy almost every day for 5 months. This does not sound like good golfing weather, in fact it sounds like quite a miserable place and even a lot worse than the UK (which is pretty crap).

Practicing on a covered range (assuming artificial) will only get you so far, assuming all the other grassed amenities and bunkers are in the open air? I imagine anywhere with this all grassed and covered would cost a fortune to play.

I've not checked California but having been there quite a lot and never seen it rain (obviously been a lot of droughts recently), I'm assuming it's ok. Miami rains more than Portland but I'm guessing is short sharp showers and then the sun is back out and it's dry again within an hour, which is pretty much what happens at any tour event anyway.

Ask 10 people where they would rather play and what would help them learn more, 9/10 say Florida or California.

So out of that 6,000 hours where he wasted the first 1,500 putting, and then in the next 1,000 hours he got to single figure HCP even with bad conditions and poor coaching. That is good going for anyone.

I'm far from saying he's gone the right way about it or that he has excuses for it all but if he or almost anyone spends 10,000 hours, regularly seeing a good pro in a good area and with more money to pay for it he would probably be better than almost anyone on this forum. His way is flawed but I think 10,000 hours would get you close in the right circumstances.

I would agree with your point that southern 1/3 of U.S. is more ideal for regular golf practice.

He certainly could have moved a few hours to the dry side of the Cascades for better average weather.

Depends what you think is 'close'. I am in-between you and the majority of the posters on the thread. I think he's made significant progress in his skill development. The weak long-game foundation affects his whole game and his ability to score even with a well-practiced short-game.

I do agree with the big difference between a 0 HCP and +4 tour-worthy, though. A personal breakthrough is possible, but he is probably about two standard deviations below the tour average in height which matters in using leverage to generate the  'effortless' power of a good swing. That makes his personal journey tougher unless he has compensating 'outlier' abilities. I think he picked an Everest moon-shot of a goal when a more modest one may have been more in the realm of possibility. He could still have a personal breakthrough. You never know, but it seems like around scratch is his max potential. In my book that would be a significant achievement given his late start, his physique, and the misguided initial steps.

[BerkeleyRehab]

He really aged. [quote name="DrvFrShow" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3528#post_1203583"]The reason for going to Florida would be the level of instruction available. But as has already been stated.... resources. [/quote] Which was also an undisclosed flaw in this plan. He didn't "retire' from a "job" to do this. He quit a free-lancing gig with a modicum of savings to try to reinvent himself and "sell" this to others to fund his golf-bum lifestyle. He conned a country club for a bit before they told him to the road. Who would pay him to be a motivational speaker?! This was all a horrible idea. He looks terrible, is injured, is mediocre at golf and broke. He lost four years building up a career.

[Nosevi]

He really aged. [quote name="DrvFrShow" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3528#post_1203583"]The reason for going to Florida would be the level of instruction available. But as has already been stated.... resources.

Which was also an undisclosed flaw in this plan. He didn't "retire' from a "job" to do this. He quit a free-lancing gig with a modicum of savings to try to reinvent himself and "sell" this to others to fund his golf-bum lifestyle. He conned a country club for a bit before they told him to the road. Who would pay him to be a motivational speaker?! This was all a horrible idea. He looks terrible, is injured, is mediocre at golf and broke. He lost four years building up a career.[/quote] To be fair I think he disclosed it; he said recently (as in the last year or so) that he needed sponsorship. That's the only bit financially I don't quite understand, any expectation that sponsorship would be forthcoming. That said I've seen something similar with professional athletes both in golf and other sports, an expectation that because they're good someone should sponsor them. Not they might get sponsorship if they're lucky and offer something in return, just that they in some way deserve the money so someone else will fund it. Maybe that wasn't the case with Dan, maybe there wasn't an expectation, more just a hope. Tough to tell through just reading a blog. He did actually go away for the 2nd winter of the plan: [URL]http://thedanplan.com/new-course/[/URL] I'm not sure why it was Atlanta when better weather than where he was was just down the coast in CA but I'm guessing there were reasons for it. So I'm guessing he felt he lost time in winter 1, went away for winter 2 but couldn't thereafter (unless he did and I haven't read about it). I still don't think it was a fatal flaw in the plan, loads can be done in bad weather particularly with a launch monitor that works indoors, but I conceed it would have been beneficial especially for short game.

[Shorty]

Not they might get sponsorship if they're lucky and offer something in return, just that they in some way deserve the money so someone else will fund it. Maybe that wasn't the case with Dan, maybe there wasn't an expectation, more just a hope. Tough to tell through just reading a blog.

On the contrary, it's very easy to tell. He was pissed off and even took a swipe at Titleist. He is a deluded, arrogant and dishonest fool.

[DrvFrShow]

I can tell you why not California - Cost of living. It is horrendous.

And a sponsorship? Really? If I had a +2 handicap and had passed my PGA playing ability test (for example if he did it where they hold it on my local course he'd have to shoot a 159 for 36 holes), then I'd approach one of the companies with my detailed plan and perhaps talk about sponsorship. At least then he'd have something in his hands that showed he was serious about becoming a professional golfer. The test is good for two years.

The weather isn't that bad up here. Granted we have winter storms, but the driving ranges are open, and the golf courses are open. Some courses have some decent drainage, others not so good. No handicap reporting in the winter, and we play "winter rules", but if you're a hearty soul you can still get some rounds in for about $10 a round during the winter. And you'll learn how to  play on some real crappy lies.

As far as Portland goes: Dec and Jan are the coldest - 40 ^o - 45 ^o F daytime, Feb is in the 50s. Any snow doesn't hang around more than a day. Mar - Early Nov has decent temps for golf. Mar and Nov can be a bit wet, but like I said it depends upon how dedicated you are. I don't think two months on a covered driving range will kill one. Dick's Sporting Goods sells warm wear. I bought fleece lined pants from Eddie Bauer last year and they're nice and warm and water resistant. They make them for men too.

During the winter i wore Nike fleece lined spandex tops under a long sleeve tee shirt with a down vest. It wasn't too thick and allowed a comfortable swing. Good to 25 ^o F.

But for his short game? I'm not buying it. When the weather warms up, you go out and kick it hard for a couple weeks and if you've got a solid short game it's back. He started with a putter for 7 months. Then chipped. He should be very solid on that part of his game.

Fred Couples grew up in this area and it didn't seem to make him a lousy golfer.

[Nosevi]

[QUOTE name="Nosevi" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3546#post_1204631"] Not they might get sponsorship if they're lucky and offer something in return, just that they in some way deserve the money so someone else will fund it. Maybe that wasn't the case with Dan, maybe there wasn't an expectation, more just a hope. Tough to tell through just reading a blog.  [/QUOTE] On the contrary, it's very easy to tell. He was pissed off and even took a swipe at Titleist. He is a deluded, arrogant and dishonest fool.

Titleist?!?! Must confess hadn't seen that.

[Shorty]

Titleist?!?! Must confess hadn't seen that.

Here are his gracious words:

As you can see, I’m decked out in my Titleist, Vokey and FJ gear. Like the world’s cheapest billboard .  I truly appreciate the gear that I have gotten to date and think I have repaid everyone who has sent it in media and social media outreach. Seems to be a fair trade in my opinion.

[Nosevi]

[QUOTE name="Nosevi" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3546#post_1204645"] Titleist?!?! Must confess hadn't seen that.[/QUOTE] Here are his gracious words:

As you can see, I’m decked out in my Titleist, Vokey and FJ gear. Like the world’s cheapest billboard .  I truly appreciate the gear that I have gotten to date and think I have repaid everyone who has sent it in media and social media outreach. Seems to be a fair trade in my opinion.

Lol. No other words required really. I know he irritates you a tad, Shorty, but you've gotta see the funny side :)

[Shorty]

Lol. No other words required really.

I know he irritates you a tad, Shorty, but you've gotta see the funny side :)

LOL. I'm trying, I really am.

I'm finding it a challenge, though.

[Nosevi]

[QUOTE name="Nosevi" url="/t/45853/the-dan-plan-10-000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/3546#post_1204655"] Lol. No other words required really. I know he irritates you a tad, Shorty, but you've gotta see the funny side :)[/QUOTE] LOL. I'm trying, I really am.:-D I'm finding it a challenge, though. :roll:

:-)

[Mike Boatright]

Sounds ambitious but doomed from the start.. I'll tell you a quick story I got into low limit poker for a while and studied it day and night and got very good reading hands and assessing the random truth to the game. The problem was it was unbeatable period and I couldn't win consistently no matter what I was doomed just like this guy. Golf is played by instinct and passion you see college guys go out there and shoot a 67 and career wise they are very early. The game isn't that complicated if your good you go out there and do it not practice 2 foot putts for a year how funny.

[Mike Boatright]

http://thedanplan.com/videos/

he's not bad

[ChrisWev]

I got into low limit poker for a while and studied it day and night and got very good reading hands and assessing the random truth to the game. The problem was it was unbeatable period and I couldn't win consistently no matter what I was doomed just like this guy.

Sorry if I go a bit OT:

I did the same thing, in the end I gave up on feel with poker and just played the outs and studied bet sizing and percentages. A lot of things people don't realise with poker is that someones bet may look big, but when you compare it to the pot it's nothing, they're giving you crazy odds to go for it most of the time. Most people aren't good enough to slow play.

I play half decent standard with 9 guys (three are profitable on pokerstars) and we chip £20 ($30) in each, winner £110, 2nd £60, 3rd £25 and 4th £5 (as a joke). I came 3rd- 7th about 10 times playing with a bit of knowledge. Now I play the outs it's far better, but I just mix it up every now and then playing a wider range to be less predictable. I've won the last two and was 2nd before that. Only time I really loose now is when I get rivered by one of the lads that's betting when he shouldn't be. Play more hands cheaply, the ones I stay in I play agressive and get out of the crap early. I don't really try and read an oppo (that's a standard above me), just play my hand, the board and the pot. Add up the pot as each guy bets, it helps massively.

Sometimes you've just got to accept what you're doing isn't right and there's another (better) way, I'm stubborn so that's hard to do for me, seems this way too with Dan.

[newtogolf]

On the contrary, it's very easy to tell. He was pissed off and even took a swipe at Titleist. He is a deluded, arrogant and dishonest fool.

Exactly, Dan expected that he'd be riding the gravy train with sponsors given his plan and goals.  On the surface it seems like something that would work, why wouldn't a major golf company throw some money at an average Dan who was going to put in 10,000 hours to turn pro.

The problem is once the sponsors saw Dan, his plan and evaluated his chances for success they likely determined they'd get a better return taking the money they might invest in Dan and buy lottery tickets with it instead.

[Lihu]

I don't think he was any more dishonest than a normal marketing type, but he didn't really have a solid plan. This is probably what most golfers on this site are more upset about. He's marketing himself as a low single digit with potential for great golf while not having the potential to shoot better than a 3-6 handicap and broke par only once. The other thing is that I'm sure he didn't actually just putt for 1 year, I'm sure he tried to make full swings from the get go, but realized that he didn't have the speed to sniff the pros. He probably wanted to see if there was some kind of swing method that could get him more speed without making it public. He most likely came up with a swing that would give him more speed, and he severely injured himself. I actually think he did injure himself trying to using his hips aggressively while not being flexible enough. I also think that he was on the crux of gaining speed, but just didn't have the body to do so. I watch a lot of 5'7" golfers who are capable of long drives, and their bodies move much more aggressively than Dan. If he was 20 years younger, he could probably have developed the right technique without severe injury.

[Pretzel]

Exactly, Dan expected that he'd be riding the gravy train with sponsors given his plan and goals.  On the surface it seems like something that would work, why wouldn't a major golf company throw some money at an average Dan who was going to put in 10,000 hours to turn pro.

The problem is once the sponsors saw Dan, his plan and evaluated his chances for success they likely determined they'd get a better return taking the money they might invest in Dan and buy lottery tickets with it instead.

This hits the nail on the head. I'm amazed that Dan, with a marketing/freelance background, thought that a major company would sponsor him in that way. He should have been smart enough to realize that a company is not going to put that kind of money in such a volatile investment.

It would be one thing if the exposure was neutral, at worst, should Dan fail in his plan. The problem is that you actually get negative exposure if the most likely outcome, Dan crashing and burning, comes true. Anyone in the golf industry knew that Dan was highly unlikely to do anything but embarrass himself, so why would you pay him to embarrass himself and your company? When Dan did his initial research and found everyone telling him it couldn't be done, that should have sent warning flags up that maybe he won't be getting anybody to sponsor him until he's proven himself.

He should have also found out that doing this, getting paid to play like that, would have meant forfeiting his amateur status from the onset. I would even go so far as to claim that Dan should no longer be an amateur. Here is the rule regarding amateur status:

6-2. Promotion, Advertising and Sales

An amateur golfer of golf skill or reputation must not use that skill or reputation to obtain payment, compensation, personal benefit or any financial gain, directly or indirectly, for (i) promoting, advertising or selling anything, or (ii) allowing his name or likeness to be used by a third party for the promotion, advertisement or sale of anything.

Exception: An amateur golfer of golf skill or reputation may allow his name or likeness to be used to promote:

(a)

his national, regional, state or county golf union or association; or

(b)

a recognized charity (or similar good cause); or

(c)

subject to the permission of his national golf union or association, any golf competition or other event that is considered to be in the best interests of, or would contribute to the development of, the game.

The amateur golfer must not obtain any payment, compensation or financial gain, directly or indirectly, for allowing his name or likeness to be used in these ways.

Note 1: An amateur golfer of golf skill or reputation may accept golf equipment from anyone dealing in such equipment provided no advertising is involved.

Note 2: Limited name and logo recognition is allowed on golf equipment and clothing. Further information relating to this Note and its proper interpretation is provided in "Decisions on the Rules of Amateur Status."

The important part here is note 1. Dan has accepted golf equipment from Titleist in exchange for advertisement of their product in his blog. He said it himself, he is their billboard and he repaid Titleist with media and social media outreach. He has directly promoted Titleist goods in exchange for their equipment, violating his amateur status and rendering himself a professional golfer.

Another rule of note:

6-3. Personal Appearance

An amateur golfer of golf skill or reputation must not use that skill or reputation to obtain payment, compensation, personal benefit or any financial gain, directly or indirectly, for a personal appearance.

Exception: An amateur golfer of golf skill or reputation may receive actual expenses in connection with a personal appearance provided no golf competition or exhibition is involved.

I sincerely hope that Dan didn't receive any payment or compensation to travel to Australia. The television show itself appeared to be an exhibition of golf since it showed them playing a round during the interview, if my memory serves me correctly. He also did that interview with the two decent golfers that was an "appearance" and most definitely included an exhibition of golf (the interview was them playing golf together and talking), meaning if he got paid for that he is a professional.

One more rule of amateur status that Dan most definitely has broken:

6-4. Broadcasting and Writing

An amateur golfer of golf skill or reputation may receive payment, compensation, personal benefit or financial gain from broadcasting or writing provided:

(a)

the broadcasting or writing is part of his primary occupation or career and golf instruction is not included (Rule 5); or

(b)

if the broadcasting or writing is on a part-time basis, the player is actually the author of the commentary, articles or books and golf instruction is not included.

Note: An amateur golfer of golf skill or reputation must not promote or advertise anything within the commentary, article or books (see Rule 6-2).

That note states that the golfer must not promote or advertise anything within their commentary, article, or books if they are receiving payment, compensation, personal benefit or financial gain from their writings. Dan is receiving donations through his blog, otherwise known as financial gain, and he most definitely is promoting Titleist through media and social media. Dan has explicitly broken rule 6-4 of amateur status and, at least to me, is a professional golfer beyond reasonable doubt.

If he had played well in, or won, any of his Oregon amateur tournaments last year I would be willing to bet that he would've been stripped of his title pretty quickly when his opponents looked into him. If Dan attempts to play in further Oregon amateur events, I should hope that someone contacts the organizing body for the event and notifies them of Dan's breach of the rules of amateur status. If you want to make it to the tour, you have to follow the same rules as everybody else. You are not allowed to ignore them simply because you're a guy writing a blog with a "plan".