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

[k14]

Well Dan just reached 2.8 on the revision this past 15th, I don't know what to think other than he's starting to put it together or he's setting himself up for a big time fail when he blows it at tournaments which by he way he seems to avoid, however he is supposed to play in the Oregon am qualifier in a few days, funny thing though is he said he played the course for practice only back on the 15th this should tell us a lot.

Yes and that is the reason why his handicap is low, you need to be under 4 (I think??) to be eligible to enter the state am events. So if he posted up all his "practice" rounds (probably anything over 80) his handicap would probably be closer to reality of 7 or 8. But, then he wouldn't be able to play in the tournaments! Easy to criticise but I'd probably do the same, hehe...

[flopster]

Yes and that is the reason why his handicap is low, you need to be under 4 (I think??) to be eligible to enter the state am events. So if he posted up all his "practice" rounds (probably anything over 80) his handicap would probably be closer to reality of 7 or 8. But, then he wouldn't be able to play in the tournaments! Easy to criticise but I'd probably do the same, hehe...

Well if all he had to be was  a 4 it seems strange he would be down to a 2.8 unless he really is that good or that is the benchmark to enter, I noticed you were not entirely sure about being a 4 or lower is required so who really knows for sure but it will be very interesting to see what happens in a few days from now. From what little I have read and seen it appears Dan is capable of shooting somewhere in the 70's but I think the real test will be how his nerves hold up, IMO if he shoots anything 85 or higher I think it's obvious he either is lying about his current index or he simply doesn't have the ability to control his nerves when all the shots count, either way it will be a setback.

[David in FL]

Well Dan just reached 2.8 on the revision this past 15th, I don't know what to think other than he's starting to put it together or he's setting himself up for a big time fail when he blows it at tournaments which by he way he seems to avoid, however he is supposed to play in the Oregon am qualifier in a few days, funny thing though is he said he played the course for practice only back on the 15th this should tell us a lot.

Gonna be interesting to see he plays in the qualifier. Just looked at the website. Maximum 5.0 index to enter.

[David in FL]

Well if all he had to be was  a 4 it seems strange he would be down to a 2.8 unless he really is that good or that is the benchmark to enter, I noticed you were not entirely sure about being a 4 or lower is required so who really knows for sure but it will be very interesting to see what happens in a few days from now. From what little I have read and seen it appears Dan is capable of shooting somewhere in the 70's but I think the real test will be how his nerves hold up, IMO if he shoots anything 85 or higher I think it's obvious he either is lying about his current index or he simply doesn't have the ability to control his nerves when all the shots count, either way it will be a setback.

He'll be qualifying at Stone Creek. Last year the cut line was 77 there. Only 12 players of the 85 entered scored worse than 85. Score of 80 was T43 out of 85 entered.

[flopster]

He'll be qualifying at Stone Creek. Last year the cut line was 77 there. Only 12 players of the 85 entered scored worse than 85. Score of 80 was T43 out of 85 entered.

Any idea on what tees they will be playing? Rating, slope, yardage? If the rating is anywhere near 73.5 and slopes close to 140 I would cut him some slack since it is a fairly important tournament for his whole experiment and nerves are going to play some part.

[David in FL]

Any idea on what tees they will be playing? Rating, slope, yardage? If the rating is anywhere near 73.5 and slopes close to 140 I would cut him some slack since it is a fairly important tournament for his whole experiment and nerves are going to play some part.

I would imagine the tips. But what do you mean, cut him some slack? He wants to play on the freaking PGA tour! If he can't compete with his local amateurs.... Hell, I'd like to see him win his local club, or county tournament!

[Pretzel]

But what do you mean, cut him some slack? He wants to play on the freaking PGA tour! If he can't compete with his local amateurs.... Hell, I'd like to see him win his local club, or county tournament!

I have to agree with this one. I'm pretty sure that the guys on tour won't be cutting him any slack when they're playing for big money. I understand that it's likely he will shoot a bit above his index in the tournament due to nerves, but at the same time he needs to buck up and deal with it if he wants to play in front of a national audience.

[flopster]

I would imagine the tips.

But what do you mean, cut him some slack? He wants to play on the freaking PGA tour! If he can't compete with his local amateurs.... Hell, I'd like to see him win his local club, or county tournament!

http://www.stonecreekgolfclub.net/course.html

Okay 73.2  slope 132, He had better break 80 at this place the front 9 is flat and open. Your right he has these aspirations and he better be able to hold his own at this level.

[flopster]

Just saw Dan's hdcp is down another .2 to 2.6 now, either this guy just had a light click on or he's a vanity capper who is trying to keep interest on his plan so he can ask for more donations, Just last september he was at 5.9 with a lot of scores in the upper 80's and low 90's and now 75% of his scores are in the 70's with one 2 under 70. I just am not sure I think shooting 70's consistent isn't really earth moving but to drop 3.3 points off your index in less than 8 months and part of that time was the whole season of winter to boot, and for it to be in the last 5 points before scratch is pretty amazing to say the least. Oregon AM qualifier is tomorrow according to his website.....we will see.

[BuckeyeNut]

Dan doesn't have a golf aptitude.....

Just saying...

weekend golfers get beyond where Dan is.............and Dan made it his life.

[liquor box]

This story really interests me, I would love to know his percentages of fairways hit and greens in regulation, not so much his actual scores.

If you can have pro level percentages then you have a pretty good shot.

I think he would need to be close to 90% for fairways hit at a minimum (just under 13/14) He would need a high percentage to give him the best chance to hit the greens in regulation.

With the amount of practice he has put in I think his GIR for par 3's would be quite good given he would be able to play more full shots to the green, I think his biggest struggle would be having to move a ball either way to hit a green or a shot that is not full strength.

I think he would require a very good course manager as a caddie.

[flopster]

This story really interests me, I would love to know his percentages of fairways hit and greens in regulation, not so much his actual scores.

If you can have pro level percentages then you have a pretty good shot.

I think he would need to be close to 90% for fairways hit at a minimum (just under 13/14) He would need a high percentage to give him the best chance to hit the greens in regulation.

With the amount of practice he has put in I think his GIR for par 3's would be quite good given he would be able to play more full shots to the green, I think his biggest struggle would be having to move a ball either way to hit a green or a shot that is not full strength.

I think he would require a very good course manager as a caddie.

Joking right? http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.102.html

[liquor box]

No, as I explained he would need a very high percentage as I don't think his approaches would be up to pro standards, so to succeed he would need to have a perfect lie every time to think about getting close to the pin.

[whorippedit]

This must be a damn joke or a bloke just seeking attention . I would say a lonely bloke seeking attention internet is full of em

[Lihu]

No, as I explained he would need a very high percentage as I don't think his approaches would be up to pro standards, so to succeed he would need to have a perfect lie every time to think about getting close to the pin.

Maybe on municipal courses it might be possible for a pro to hit 90% of the fairways, but anything with a slope rating above 125 it would be desirable to hit the rough on occasion. The PGA setups are even harder to stay on the fairways.

Score is probably the best indication.

An example is my son and I barely scraped out 90s (well me 98 and him 90) on a bad mood day at San Dimas (72.7/130), and his high school coach happened to be there that day. He parred the course, but feels he could have done better by 1 or 2 strokes as it was the first time playing the course. He's a +1.7 handicap (creeped back to a +1), my son is a 10 handicap and I am roughly a 17. Our scores are higher than our handicap because the slope rating is so high, and it that is expected. The differential for a higher handicap is higher. I played to a 21 even though I was 25 strokes over par, and my son played to a 14 even though he shot 18 over. However, his high school coach would have never been much over 76 on the same course. He shot 72 and felt he could better himself by at least 1 or 2 strokes the second time around.

If Dan is truly a 2.5 handicap, I would expect his score to be in the 3-6 over par range for a score of 75-78 and never over 80 on the similarly rated course in Oregon.

[GHIN0011458]

Wait guys.. so you are saying you will give him trouble if he shoots 90 as a 2.8 capper as if he was lying about his handicap? And last year that the maximum handicap allowed is a 5 but only 12 people shot 85 or worse? Interesting... Sounds like the opposite of another thread I know..

[flopster]

Maybe on municipal courses it might be possible for a pro to hit 90% of the fairways, but anything with a slope rating above 125 it would be desirable to hit the rough on occasion. The PGA setups are even harder to stay on the fairways.

Score is probably the best indication.

An example is my son and I barely scraped out 90s (well me 98 and him 90) on a bad mood day at San Dimas (72.7/130), and his high school coach happened to be there that day. He parred the course, but feels he could have done better by 1 or 2 strokes as it was the first time playing the course. He's a +1.7 handicap (creeped back to a +1), my son is a 10 handicap and I am roughly a 17. Our scores are higher than our handicap because the slope rating is so high, and it that is expected. The differential for a higher handicap is higher. I played to a 21 even though I was 25 strokes over par, and my son played to a 14 even though he shot 18 over. However, his high school coach would have never been much over 76 on the same course. He shot 72 and felt he could better himself by at least 1 or 2 strokes the second time around.

If Dan is truly a 2.5 handicap, I would expect his score to be in the 3-6 over par range for a score of 75-78 and never over 80 on the similarly rated course in Oregon.

Dan tees off at 1:10 today

http://www.oga.org/docs/championships/2014/Oregon%20Amateur/Pairings%20-%20Qualifier%20%232.pdf

[flopster]

Wait guys.. so you are saying you will give him trouble if he shoots 90 as a 2.8 capper as if he was lying about his handicap? And last year that the maximum handicap allowed is a 5 but only 12 people shot 85 or worse? Interesting... Sounds like the opposite of another thread I know..

Correction 2.6 there was a revision 3 days ago .