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

[Golfingdad]

He's out. Everyone in the tournament is at least a 5 handicap, so, I wonder what caused the mid 80s and the one 90 score? The cut is 78 (projected)

Please don't incite this discussion again.  Let's just say that "what caused it" is that those guys played bad.

[Lihu]

Please don't incite this discussion again.  Let's just say that "what caused it" is that those guys played bad.

Oops, sorry. . . "There's no mouse emoticon"

[Lihu]

86

[David in FL]

Dan shoots 86. Differential of 11.0. Currently 66th of 73. Will finish somewhere around there. Bottom 10% in local state amateur qualifying. That doesn't bode well for PGA Tour hopes within another couple of years....

[Todd Ruggere]

Wow, I nailed it exact. 86.

I think Dan (2.6 handicap) is equivalent to a good 8-9 real handicap tournament player. I give him a lot of credit going out there and playing in these events rather than just playing practice rounds and saying he's a 2.

[David in FL]

Wow, I nailed it exact. 86. I think Dan (2.6 handicap) is equivalent to a good 8-9 real handicap tournament player. I give him a lot of credit going out there and playing in these events rather than just playing practice rounds and saying he's a 2.

We'll see if he plays many more this year.....

[RandallT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David in FL


We'll see if he plays many more this year.....

https://twitter.com/thedanplan/status/473988352014704642

@theDanPlan says:

Played Oregon Am qualifier today. Was in it through 12 then tried to hack out of rough for a quad. Learned my lesson. Next year.

[Williamevanl]

1 quad bogie and two triple bogies (and 6 bogies)! I didn't know 2 handicappers did that!

Hmm +16 over those 9 holes. Oh well, he barely missed dead last by 5 people.

[GHIN0011458]

Let's not judge a handicap on a high score. You will get banned from a thread for something like that

[Lihu]

1 quad bogie and two triple bogies (and 6 bogies)! I didn't know 2 handicappers did that!  Hmm +16 over those 9 holes. Oh well, he barely missed dead last by 5 people.

Don't forget the 3 that WD. ;-) Yes, another poster already mentioned that he's an 8-9 in tournaments, but I did dig through his handicap. It looks legitimate with him breaking par once. Many of the top 20 players look like they're only 18-20 years old. He will need to compete with these kids though any other qualification school, and I'm not so sure he can do it. They will continue to get stronger. His driving statistics do not look that impressive, and he looks a little weak at 105mph. Not sure if that's his course swing speed or not. It would be nice if he posted his swing here.

[LuciusWooding]

Let's not judge a handicap on a high score. You will get banned from a thread for something like that

You've alluded to this a number of times and we know what you're getting at, quit whining. You get banned from a thread by starting drama, not by judging handicaps.

[Pretzel]

No offense to the guy who created the graphs for Dan's handicap progression vs hours practiced, but a linear trend line is an absurd thing to use to predict where Dan will be in years. I would say that a quadratic equation would come much closer to accurately predicting the performance in the future as further strokes become harder and harder to shave off. Even then it wouldn't be that accurate if he had a breakthrough in his swing or other portion of his game and dropped in jumps like I tend to do. As to his performance at the Am, it doesn't surprise me. I went into my first ever big tournament as a 24 handicap on a par 70 course (~130 slope) and shot 116-108 on consecutive days. Having pressure takes some getting used to, especially on tee shots and putts. But after some practice in tournament, I know I at least always look forward to the rush of adrenaline you get stepping up to the #1 tee and on the final putt at the 18th green.

[flopster]

So he went 8.6 over his current index, I think it's becoming more and more obvious Dans going to have problems in tournaments because his game has not had the time to become natural to him and though he can go shoot rounds in the 70's in a relaxed environment, it's when his game gets tested on not that hard of a course he folds up like a lawn chair. I can see him getting very frustrated over this in the near future but there is really not much that can be done now. If this was 2 years ago when his index was up around 8.7 I don't think many around here would have much to say but he's a 2.4 now in relaxed rounds but a 8 or 9 in competition rounds. I could see him having an index of 0.5 at the end of this experiment but he will still struggle to break 80 in important tournaments.

[nevets88]

[URL=https://twitter.com/thedanplan/status/473988352014704642]https://twitter.com/thedanplan/status/473988352014704642[/URL]

Next year? Dude. Ya need to throw yourself into the fire as much as possible to learn to deal with pressure situations. The 10K hypothesis doesn't cover keeping your head together when you tighten up.

[acerimusdux]

As Ben Hogan liked to say, "golf and tournament golf are as different as tennis and ice hockey".

Looks like three blowups cost Dan. If he just limits the damage to bogey on #6, #13, and #15, he makes the cut.

[David in FL]

As Ben Hogan liked to say, "golf and tournament golf are as different as tennis and ice hockey". Looks like three blowups cost Dan. If he just limits the damage to bogey on #6, #13, and #15, he makes the cut.

Agree, some good things on that card. Birdies on 1 and 10 and a real nice recovery after the triple on 6 for 6-hole one under run. Looks a lot like something I would do. But then, I suck, I'm struggling to get my index back under 6, and have no aspirations towards the PGA Tour.

[Todd Ruggere]

Next year? Dude. Ya need to throw yourself into the fire as much as possible to learn to deal with pressure situations. The 10K hypothesis doesn't cover keeping your head together when you tighten up.

I was thinking the same thing. I hope his next tournament isn't next year.

[Spyder]

I think Dan is sadly mistaken if he thinks he "learned his lesson". That hasn't happened yet. It's also not a matter of saying "I flopped, so I'll try again next year because I need more work". If he's able to financially gain tournament experience early on, I think it's all the better for his long-term goal. If you take a fresh shot at tournaments on an annual basis because you flopped, each time you enter you'll be putting more pressure on yourself. It would be impossible not to think something along the lines of "Okay, I sucked last year and did this, this and this wrong. This year, I should be able to do this, this and this". The ball lies in an unfavorable position and you immediately reflect on your last tournament experience, pressure mounts and you start working to minimize failure - rather than thinking about success.

If finances are available, keep moving forward and try again. Several people I know who play in Ohio Pro-Ams, Locals and Regions have told me they were not comfortable playing in tournaments until they had about 3 or 4 under their belt. At that point, they knew the "flow" of the event and what to expect, where to go, what to do, playing under pressure/with small galleries, etc. I say get the nerves under control as early as possible through more tournaments. No pain, no gain.