I will become a tour professional! (Know I am going to get a lot of smack)

[Casey]

To the OP: I really admire your courage in having such big aspirations in golf. It's truly inspirational to see someone who has set the bar so high and is willing to work so hard to achieve his goals. Not many people are willing to even think about putting that much effort into something. If doing this is what will make you the happiest, I would say that you should attack it with your best effort.

Some advice though: Life as a professional golfer is tough. You have to be realistic in your hopes, it is unlikely that you, me, or even anyone on this forum has the ability, even if working as hard as you, to become a moneymaker on the biggest stage of golf. As a result of this, its probably best for anyone with aspirations of professional golf to set the bar at the lower level tours (which, mind you, are still incomprehensibly difficult to make). Even golfers who do well playing in these tournaments struggle to make ends meet. It is expensive, hard, and unfulfilling, unless you believe your sole purpose in life is to play golf. Think about this: how would you ever have a family living like that? What happens if you run out of money on the road? Worst of all, what happens if you don't quite reach your goals of playing golf professionally? Because of the inherent risk implied by these questions, it would be wise to have a backup plan. The people here attacking you because you don't have a backup plan, while aggressive and vicious, are probably right. By saying you should have a backup plan, they do not mean that you have no hope of ever achieving your dreams. They're trying to give you helpful advice, looking out for your well being! There are many reasonable plans in life that involve both golf and maintaining a reasonable and stable lifestyle. It would be wise to not only work on your golf game, but also have some other form of income as well. Have you thought of attending college? It is a worthwhile investment that is a great help in securing your future. Life takes a long time, you're young and you have all the time in the world to play golf. Attending college is a great way to secure a stable lifestyle that will allow you to go after your dreams of professional golf, but first you will have to wait a little bit so that you have a solid job from which to support yourself first. I know that not everyone has the means to attend college, but it becomes easier every year, and there are many options for people from all different backgrounds. Just something to think about.

I know that this post probably looks long and boring and you probably won't take the time to read it, but I think there is some helpful advice in it that could help you on your path. Good luck to you sir.

Edit: here is a thread discussing the ins and outs of golfing professionally, and the reality of it: http://thesandtrap.com/t/63941/seriously-could-you-have-made-it-to-the-tour

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by FutureTourPro

Yes I am sent in my stuff today.

What's your name?  I will take the time to follow you to see how you did in this tournament.  Good luck.

[LongballGer]

Yes, that something "extra" is called intense, efficent practice over many, many years. There isn´t a single world class athlete in any field that "did not practice hardly at all". Even seemingly underachievers like John Daly spent thousands of hours as kids working on their craft.

Reminds me of the math geniuses at school that claimed to never really study then later on it turns out their parents made them study math for an hour and a half before school every single day.

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

The way you wrote it sounds like you were insinuating KJ and YE were way more talented than Bubba by achieving more in less time. I was saying, whether it is Bubba, KJ oe YE they something "extra" that gives them an edge on golf. There are people that can play the piano after hearing a song and do it damn good so to be able to sudden be quite a bit better in a sport is not out of the question. I have excellent hand and eye coordination. This still does not mean I am going to be a Tour pro. Maybe it is a mental edge or an extra inherent feel for a game that distances one person from another. There are pro golfers in the past that did not practice hardly at all. I never said you don't need to practice or work on your game but if you have to absolutely have to kill yourself to get to 1 or scratch cap, you are unlikely to reach tour pro level.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by LongballGer

Yes, that something "extra" is called intense, efficent practice over many, many years. There isn´t a single world class athlete in any field that "did not practice hardly at all". Even seemingly underachievers like John Daly spent thousands of hours as kids working on their craft.

Reminds me of the math geniuses at school that claimed to never really study then later on it turns out their parents made them study math for an hour and a half before school every single day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

The way you wrote it sounds like you were insinuating KJ and YE were way more talented than Bubba by achieving more in less time. I was saying, whether it is Bubba, KJ oe YE they something "extra" that gives them an edge on golf. There are people that can play the piano after hearing a song and do it damn good so to be able to sudden be quite a bit better in a sport is not out of the question. I have excellent hand and eye coordination. This still does not mean I am going to be a Tour pro. Maybe it is a mental edge or an extra inherent feel for a game that distances one person from another. There are pro golfers in the past that did not practice hardly at all. I never said you don't need to practice or work on your game but if you have to absolutely have to kill yourself to get to 1 or scratch cap, you are unlikely to reach tour pro level.

I didn't say that again. Still there are not many kids at age 2 that grasp and swing a golf club with any accuracy, but there some out there that pick it up. I still find it hard to believe Bubba was efficiently practicing much before college. I think you are mistaken but I also think lots of practice hones this extra ability.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by FutureTourPro

I'm not saying I'm good enough to be pro. I'm saying I will become good enough to become pro and take that chance. Monday Qualifiers cost 500 bucks. I have no money and I am not near good enough yet. But I will be. Also It's not cockiness, it's self believe, tenacity, passion, hard work, and sacrifice. Also Basically every tour pro knew they wanted to become a tour pro. Every Tour pro I have talked to knew that's what they wanted to do. So golfconnect, thanks for the extra push to help me prove you wrong. I'm currently going to be playing in the Blue-Grey Best of East and West High School Invitational and can only be invited if a prestigious coach recommends you for the tournament. Only 200 High school students were invited to play!

I think if you are spending so much time here that after no messages for 6 months a comment someone makes in your thread is answered by you within 30 minutes, then you aren't spending enough time practicing.

[KiawahConnor]

I know you are probably only joking and are trying to wind people up out of boredom, but I just can't resist this sort of thing. I love the Bill Gates analogy; one of the most visionary people in history is described as a "dropout" - and that's proof that anyone can achieve anything if they take a risk. You say that failure is not an option because you have no backup plan. That's a bad plan. And.......as has been said before........where is the thread where you show your path to glory? Where is the link to victories you have had against highly rated company? Have you won a club championship? Have you even entered one? How many of the world's top 5000 do you think you could beat in 10 years time? An example of the kind of thing you are up against: Shiv Kapur is ranked 41 on the ASIAN RANKINGS Marcel Siem is 41 on the EUROPEAN RANKINGS James NItties is 41 on tye AUSTRALASIAN RANKINGS Harrison Frazar is 41 on the U.S. RANKINGS Briny Baird is 341 in the WORLD RANKINGS Bryden McPherson, the Australian who won the British Amateur and played in the Masters this year is just inside the world's top 1500 at 1459. These are all very famous players. My point is that there are literally thousands of awesome players you will never even hear of. Anyway - I know you're just fishing for responses like this, so I'm indulging you. It would be scary if someone actually believed the type of stuff in your post. BTW, It's TItleist, not Titliest, as in TITLE-ist or MEDAL-ist or FINAL-ist.

Jeez apparently "I can't resist this sort of thing" translates to "I can't resist slamming a kid with a dream because I'm an old 2 handicap that never won my club championship" Instead of being "grumpy" why not encourage people chasing a dream? Who are you to tell somebody you've never met whether they can or can't go pro in golf? Are you the omnipotent golf god who decides everybody's golf fate? It bothers me because with people like you with your negativity bring down the glass-half-full people in the world who believe with hard work, dedication and persistence, anything can be achieved. I'm just saying, try to be supportive because it sucks when you lay your dreams out to somebody and they just scoff immediately. Wayne Gretzky said "you make 0% of the shots you never take"

[iacas]

Originally Posted by KiawahConnor

Jeez apparently "I can't resist this sort of thing" translates to "I can't resist slamming a kid with a dream because I'm an old 2 handicap that never won my club championship"

You quoted and responded to a post from about seven months ago.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by iacas

You quoted and responded to a post from about seven months ago.

I gotta be honest ... I miss that guy!

[meenman]

Originally Posted by KiawahConnor

Jeez apparently "I can't resist this sort of thing" translates to "I can't resist slamming a kid with a dream because I'm an old 2 handicap that never won my club championship"

Instead of being "grumpy" why not encourage people chasing a dream? Who are you to tell somebody you've never met whether they can or can't go pro in golf? Are you the omnipotent golf god who decides everybody's golf fate?

It bothers me because with people like you with your negativity bring down the glass-half-full people in the world who believe with hard work, dedication and persistence, anything can be achieved. I'm just saying, try to be supportive because it sucks when you lay your dreams out to somebody and they just scoff immediately.

Wayne Gretzky said "you make 0% of the shots you never take"

And you obviously havent been around for long - way too many of these *i am going to be a pro* threads show up and the author is always upset when everyone doesnt tell him/her/it how easy it is.

I've never been a fan of *everyone gets a trophy* day - it gets old fast. I would actually argue that giving people false hope is more detrimental.

[bplewis24]

Instead of arguing about a hypothetical that will take years to bear out and can't ever truly be disproven, why not start a swing thread and chronicle your advancement?

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Instead of arguing about a hypothetical that will take years to bear out and can't ever truly be disproven, why not start a swing thread and chronicle your advancement?

It's not terribly recent, but he does have one ... http://thesandtrap.com/t/58313/my-swing-futuretourpro/0_30#post_719028

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

It's not terribly recent, but he does have one ... http://thesandtrap.com/t/58313/my-swing-futuretourpro/0_30#post_719028

Yeah, I remember seeing it.  I'd like to see how he's been progressing, because it didn't look too good back then.  I mean that relatively, of course.  Like, relative to a future tour pro.

[Harmonious]

For anyone that has followed this thread, Future Tour Pro (Zach Woods) did play in the golf tournament last month.  Shot 89-99 over the two days.

http://www.impactprospects.com/golfresultslegacy.htm

[mchepp]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

For anyone that has followed this thread, Future Tour Pro (Zach Woods) did play in the golf tournament last month.  Shot 89-99 over the two days.

http://www.impactprospects.com/golfresultslegacy.htm

Seems he and the Dan Plan could share stories.

[newtogolf]

Thanks for the update.  I guess between the weather and pressure of tournament golf he had a rough two days.

Originally Posted by Harmonious

For anyone that has followed this thread, Future Tour Pro (Zach Woods) did play in the golf tournament last month.  Shot 89-99 over the two days.

http://www.impactprospects.com/golfresultslegacy.htm

[jamo]

For anyone that has followed this thread, Future Tour Pro (Zach Woods) did play in the golf tournament last month.  Shot 89-99 over the two days. [URL=http://www.impactprospects.com/golfresultslegacy.htm]http://www.impactprospects.com/golfresultslegacy.htm[/URL]

Woah, the kid who came in first goes to the high school I graduated from. EDIT: :doh: They're not in order of score. Not sure I'd fly to Phoenix to shoot 80-82. :-P Yeesh. Wonder if the OP is regretting the "one way ticket" thing.

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

For anyone that has followed this thread, Future Tour Pro (Zach Woods) did play in the golf tournament last month.  Shot 89-99 over the two days. [URL=http://www.impactprospects.com/golfresultslegacy.htm]http://www.impactprospects.com/golfresultslegacy.htm[/URL]

...and only beat 1 other player in the entire field. 89-99 and claims to be a 3 index?? I think it's time to give up the dream.

[Casey]

Hey, at least he tried, right?