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

[RandallT]

So how long does it take a golfer to make it through a typical pipeline to make the PGA tour?

My thought is that if Dan were to make a deal with the devil and becomes the "Joe Hardy" of Damn Yankees, except for golf. So now you've got a guy playing in a country club with this immense talent tomorrow.  He won't instantly be granted a PGA card, obviously. He will have to prove himself every step of the way, and that takes time. What is the quickest one could reasonably do that? Would it be through the US Open qualifiers?  Other amateur titles?  There is no more Q School, so he would have to do time on web.com or some other avenue, right? That time needs to be built into his timeline, correct? That makes his quest to get to a low handicap even shorter.

[David in FL]

Monday qualify for next week's tournament, and then win it. You even get into The Masters! Nothin' to it. ;-)

[RandallT]

Monday qualify for next week's tournament, and then win it. You even get into The Masters! Nothin' to it. ;-)

Sounds like a plan! Was just reading about Monday qualifying here ([URL]http://golf.about.com/od/golfterms/g/monday-qualifying.htm[/URL]). Sounds like Dan would need to pre-qualify for the Monday qualifier cuz there are restrictions who can play in Monday qualifiers on PGA tour. Probably depends which event too. Like you said , nuthin' to it.

[RFKFREAK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David in FL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

However, this is his goal:

"It’s a project in transformation. An experiment in potential and possibilities. Through 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice,” Dan, who currently has minimal golf experience, plans on becoming a professional golfer. But the plan isn’t really about golf: through this process, Dan hopes to prove to himself and others that it’s never too late to start a new pursuit in life.  For a detailed description of the project, please read this blog post: http://thedanplan.com/blog/?p=1090"

Definition of professional golfer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_golfer

He could still teach, in which case he has some chance of success.

Further down the same page.....

Logging in 30-plus hours a week he will hit the 10,000 hour milestone by December 2016. During this time, Dan plans to develop his skills through deliberate practice, eventually winning amateur events and obtaining his PGA Tour card through a successful appearance in the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School, or “Q-School”.

It's worth noting that "winning amateur events" encompasses a broad spectrum, including winning the "C" flight in his club championship, or the Hogan flight of a local GC AmTour event to the USGA Championships.  Heck, if he can even advance to match play at the U.S. Amateur or make a top-10 at his State Am or the U.S. Mid-Am, I'll be impressed.   Obtaining a PGA Tour card is pretty specific though.....

What does NOT impress me (in this unique circumstance) is a handicap index, until we see some consistent, verifiable tournament results.

Yes, the PGA Tour Card is pretty specific.

True, but as has been said before in this thread, no one is really going to care if it's, "10,000 hours to become a scratch golfer."

Marketability was probably very important to him in this endeavor.

[Lihu]

Originally Posted by RFKFREAK

True, but as has been said before in this thread, no one is really going to care if it's, "10,000 hours to become a scratch golfer."

Marketability was probably very important to him in this endeavor.

Then he was looking at a short term marketability. It seems like a 10,000 hour long project should have some foresight. Now he has a potentially serious credibility issue. Even his 4 handicap is being legitimately challenged by some of the posters.

Truthfully, I think "even" scratch is going to be a push for Dan.

He might be able to teach golf someday. I am sure that with 10,000 hours of training and lessons, he should be learning something that he can pass on to other aspiring golfers. Here's a possible sales pitch he could make "I failed to become a professional due to age blah blah blah, but in 10,000 hours of guided training at $150/hour I can train your child to become Tour Qualified." He can always show his credentials from his website and all the instructors that trained him.

[RFKFREAK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RFKFREAK

True, but as has been said before in this thread, no one is really going to care if it's, "10,000 hours to become a scratch golfer."

Marketability was probably very important to him in this endeavor.

Then he was looking at a short term marketability. It seems like a 10,000 hour long project should have some foresight. Now he has a potentially serious credibility issue. Even his 4 handicap is being legitimately challenged by some of the posters.

Truthfully, I think "even" scratch is going to be a push for Dan.

He might be able to teach golf someday. I am sure that with 10,000 hours of training and lessons, he should be learning something that he can pass on to other aspiring golfers. Here's a possible sales pitch he could make "I failed to become a professional due to age blah blah blah, but in 10,000 hours of guided training at $150/hour I can train your child to become Tour Qualified." He can always show his credentials from his website and all the instructors that trained him.

Coming from the mindset of the original project, he had to have something "catchy."  PGA is about the only thing that he could really use.

Even not reaching this goal, he'll still be able to talk about his journey, if you will, and if he does write a book, even by not reaching his goal, it would still outsell a story about 10,000 hours to get to scratch and moreso 10,000 hours not getting to scratch.  Someone who isn't hardcore into golf would be more interested in a potential book by having PGA in the title than not.

I don't presume to know his motivation for this project besides what he's said.  That said, if somewhere along the way he has come to the conclusion that he's not going to reach his goal, he's probably had to come up with a new plan post the 10,000 hours, if he didn't have one at the start of the project.   Unless a potential buyer is hardcore into golf, the credibility of his handicap and any controversy surrounding it probably won't generate enough noise for the average person that would buy the book.

As for his handicap

[ztexz]

Note that in order to get into the Monday pre-Qualifier for a PGA Tour event, he would have to earn status on the Web.com Tour.  So that means going through Web.com Q school OR getting enough sponsor exemptions that he gets to where he needs to be on the money list.

Probably the "quickest" way on to the PGA Tour would be through qualifiers at either the US or British Opens, post a good finish, and parlay that into a couple of sponsor exemptions.

[sopel10]

I again checked golfshot, since he was supposed to play the last 2 days.  Still no scores.  Interesting. ;)

[David in FL]

Note that in order to get into the Monday pre-Qualifier for a PGA Tour event, he would have to earn status on the Web.com Tour.  So that means going through Web.com Q school OR getting enough sponsor exemptions that he gets to where he needs to be on the money list.

Probably the "quickest" way on to the PGA Tour would be through qualifiers at either the US or British Opens, post a good finish, and parlay that into a couple of sponsor exemptions.

I don't think that there's any requirement to have any professional status in order to enter pre-qualifying.

Here's the application for the Waste Management Pre-Qualifier and Open Qualifier.....

http://southwest.pga.com/gui/southwest34/userpages/TourQualifying/2013WMPOEntryFormdistributed0001.pdf

[ztexz]

Are you sure about that.....?

Yeah.  For example, here's a link to register for the pre-qualifier for the Wells Fargo:

http://carpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/carpga14/event/carpga1413/index.htm

EDIT: Oops, sorry, I should have said "Monday qualifier," not "Pre-qualifier"

In order to get into the pre-qualifier, he can be an amateur but he has to have a handicap of 2 or less.

[ztexz]

I don't think that there's any requirement to have any professional status in order to enter pre-qualifying.

Here's the application for the Waste Management Pre-Qualifier and Open Qualifier.....

http://southwest.pga.com/gui/southwest34/userpages/TourQualifying/2013WMPOEntryFormdistributed0001.pdf

Yep, you're right.  As is so often the case, my fingers typed faster than my brain.

[David in FL]

Yep, you're right.  As is so often the case, my fingers typed faster than my brain.

At some point in the future, signing up for a couple of pre-qualifiers would be a great gut-check for Dan......

[ztexz]

At some point in the future, signing up for a couple of pre-qualifiers would be a great gut-check for Dan......

Breaking 90 in his club championship would probably be a better start.  I just don't see how a guy who has gotten halfway through his plan and goes out and drops a 98 in his club championship thinks that he's halfway toward achieving his goal.

[nevets88]

Studies counter to those of Dr Ericsson. http://www.salon.com/2014/03/11/malcolm_gladwell_proven_wrong_practice_may_not_be_the_key_to_success/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289613000421 http://www.popsci.com/article/science/practice-not-important-thought-success-study-says?dom=PSC&loc;=recent&lnk;=2&con;=practice-not-as-important-as-thought-for-success-study-says-

[Lihu]

Studies counter to those of Dr Ericsson.

http://www.salon.com/2014/03/11/malcolm_gladwell_proven_wrong_practice_may_not_be_the_key_to_success/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289613000421

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/practice-not-important-thought-success-study-says?dom=PSC&loc;=recent&lnk;=2&con;=practice-not-as-important-as-thought-for-success-study-says-

However, hard work does pay off, if you have natural talent and the discipline to improve upon it.

[nevets88]

However, hard work does pay off, if you have natural talent and the discipline to improve upon it.

Definitely.

[RandallT]

[URL=http://thedanplan.com/5000-of-10000-practice-hours-completed-half-way/]Halfway there.[/URL] In the blog post link above, Dan says he sees no reason he can't make PGA. He hit 5000 hours on the 4-year anniversary, which was also the opening day of the Masters. Therefore, he mentioned why not Dan McLaughlin at the Masters 2018? If he makes it, I promise to pick him in my pool. Edit: added link!

[David in FL]

Halfway there.

In the blog post link above, Dan says he sees no reason he can't make PGA. He hit 5000 hours on the 4-year anniversary, which was also the opening day of the Masters. Therefore, he mentioned why not Dan McLaughlin at the Masters 2018? If he makes it, I promise to pick him in my pool.

Edit: added link!

He doesn't even need a PGA Tour card for that.  Just win the Mid-Am, PubLinks, or US Am and he's there.  Piece of cake!