Going Pro

[sofingaw]

OK, but have a back-up plan.

It's interesting because, common sense would indicate that a backup plan is a great idea. However, most pro athletes and elite persons in any field, usually are intensely focused on thier one and only goal. Including most that are quite successful. It almost seems like if you aren't born with virtuoso talent, you are best served to go 'all in' at your primary goal. Any amount of time considering or preparing for some back up alternative is taking away from time and effort that can be spent on achieving your primary goal. In other words, counterproductive. On the other hand... MOST (seriously, pay attention for just a second) MOST MOST MOST people who desire to be at the top if a very exclusive field never get there. And there are innumerable reasons why: Lack of: will, talent, developed skill, good luck, confidence, mental strength/stability, understanding of real requirements to accomplish goal Too much: bad luck, injury/illness, stiff competition, unearned overconfidence; And there's plenty I'm probably missing. Here's the deal. You will never know for sure unless you go for broke and have ALL aspects covered. most impprtant beimg will. HOWEVER, you will likely (if you know the true, real numbers of failures in this field vs. successes) fail. Again. YOU WILL LIKELY FAIL. So it's probably a good idea to have a backup plan in place. Good luck!!! I want to see you do it.

[Brandon138]

I don't get when people say 'your chances are so and so'. If you're good enough you can't be ignored.

[sofingaw]

True, 100%. Nobody knows how good this man is. And nobody will, unless he tries. Many people are very good, and don't make it. He might. I hope so!

[Harmonious]

The Canadian Tour has their qualifying tournament in early April.  Unfortunately, the field is already full for this year.

It always strikes me as odd, in this electronic age, that someone has to come on to a website to ask how to become a touring pro.  I'm no computer whiz, but in a couple of keystrokes I could probably find a dozen minitour events around the US (mainly Florida & California) this time of year. Plus all sorts of information about Hooters, Golden State & other bigger minitours.  It's not that hard to find.

Here's the answer:  Take your game, pays your entry fees, takes your chances.  You'll find out soon enough whether you've got the game, or what it takes to get the game.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

The Canadian Tour has their qualifying tournament in early April.  Unfortunately, the field is already full for this year.

We're going to be there!  (sort of)

Our TST tournament is April 7th at the same course they're having their qualifying :)  (Yes, the Canadian Tour qualifying school is in southern California ... go figure)

[Chief Broom]

Tommy Gainey did it.  He was an assembly line worker at a water heater factory who played money games and mini tour events on the side.  I believe after doing this for a few years and being reasonably successful doing so (making money in the money games and placing well in the mini tour events) he was able to convince a group of business people whom he knew to put up the money (along with winnings he was able to save) for him to devote himself full time to playing golf.

It can be done and you don't have to go the route of spending large sums of money on living with a top golf instructor for years in order to hone your ability (although guys have gone that route too and made it).

[mailman]

Perhaps this guy needs to start his own 10,000 hour plan/website/blog?  :)

Regards

Mailman

[David in FL]

+1 is pretty damn good for an amateur, but probably isn't going to make you money yet.  We talked about this in your thread last month.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/64934/what-should-my-goals-be#post_810562

Seems to me that the next step is to get serious about top level tournament competition and take it from there....

Do you have a coach?  What does he tell you?

[soon_tourpro]

shoot 65 or similiar on any course in competition and be a +5 and then your ready for it.

+1 is good but its a mile away from touring level consistency.

you need to handle the pressure when money is on the line, when the competition and cut is in question and you need to make 3 under in the next five holes to make the cut.

its more mentally taxing than most realize.

cost a ton to play, and if you dont make money, which the number is that 20% of golfers take 80% of the money.

making cuts is key there.

12 pars, 4 birdies and 2 bogies if you do that consistently or better then you can play on any tour.

[RetroJFrancisco]

Mate dont listen to anyone who say's you cant do it, I know people who have turned professional of 4 (UK hc, not sure what would be in america) and gone on to make a living.. One of my best friends who I beat 10&8 over 36 holes (Im allowed to boast about this, ok. hahaha) top 5'd in his 2nd PGA uk event just last week!

[TourSpoon]

Like I said earlier, get down here, bring some start up cash, get a job as a cart jockey if you need to make some money or wait tables and have a go at this. You can even come down for 2 weeks and play a couple of events. This may be minor league, but these guys are serious players. All your questions will be answered by an experience more powerful than this post could ever be. Check out the news page.

http://www.minorleaguegolf.com/news.asp

[RetroJFrancisco]

Originally Posted by soon_tourpro

shoot 65 or similiar on any course in competition and be a +5 and then your ready for it.

+1 is good but its a mile away from touring level consistency.

you need to handle the pressure when money is on the line, when the competition and cut is in question and you need to make 3 under in the next five holes to make the cut.

its more mentally taxing than most realize.

cost a ton to play, and if you dont make money, which the number is that 20% of golfers take 80% of the money.

making cuts is key there.

12 pars, 4 birdies and 2 bogies if you do that consistently or better then you can play on any tour.

I agree with the rest of what you are saying, but +5 is very specific, Ian poulter was off 4 when he lost his am status! You can be anything you want if you have got the right mental game.. Im sure people just laughed at him off 4 when he said im going to be in the top 20 of the world someday.

[Borf]

Great posts everyone! I came to an online forum to get peoples opinions, I am aware of many mini-tours etc but its nice to get actual peoples opinions on the matter.

I have shot -6 in regular rounds, many -3s in competition. I obviously know I need to improve my game to be competitive in the pro ranks, thats no secret to me.

As far as money and coming down south, i feel i have enough money saved up to attempt this(start it maybe) but would need a plan of attack to move forward.

[Borf]

The canadian tour is a terrible place to start out and attempt to be a pro golfer for myself anyway... Its like 9 events spread over 4 month, across the entire country.

[dsc123]

My only advice would be to find people who have done it before and ask them how.  I doubt many people on here have any experience with that.

[MS256]

Go play. If you win or play well keep playing in bigger events. If you play really well in those events sign up for Q-School. If you don't then go back to the drawing board and dedicate yourself to whatever part of your game kept you from playing as well as the people that beat you.

There is a local guy here that always seems to be rotating between the Nationwide Tour (or Dot Com ) and some Mini-Tours spends ALL DAY LONG in the practice areas when he's not playing.

Is he the best golfer around here? Hmmm...Not sure...A close race, but he is certainly the most accomplished, and his family has the money for him to focus more on golf than the average Joe working in a factory. Some people think that lack of being "hungry" is actually a handicap when he's playing people that are down to their last dime. Maybe so, maybe not.

There is no magic handicap number that says you can play. A specific handicap number has little to do with whether you could possibly be a golfer or not. It tells a little about how well someone can play on a specific course but says nothing about how they will play on courses they don't know under tournament pressure and what kind of competitor they are. Some people thrive on it and step up their game and other people fall apart.

One thing I love about golf is that nobody has to recruit you, or draft you, or let you play, or decide whether you are a starter, or cut you from the team, or play you out of position, or have a philosophy that takes away the strengths of your game.

In golf if you have the money, or can get backed, you can play. Then if you are good enough you can win. If you are not you lose. (Burger joints are always hiring).

Odds: Not good AT ALL!!! But then what are the odds that a guy like Larry Nelson would come back from Vietnam and read Hogan's book and decide to take up golf, shoot under 100 his first time out and break 70 nine months later, and end up a Major winner and in the Hall of Fame?

[TN94z]

Originally Posted by Borf

Looking for advice on how to become a pro. ie. financials, what is the route to take that will give me the highest chance of succeeding long term, what specific things to practice to get better, what are goals or benchmarks I need to hit along the way, etc (dont feel limited by my list)

basically I don't feel like attempting to win my club championship/local tourneys for the next 20-30 years (maybe exaggerating)... I want more

Financials will be a tough question to ask.  The best advice there would be to find a Pro that plays on a mini tour and ask them about the financials.  I would think that unless you have quite a bit of money or really good backers, the financial aspect may be tough.

Route to take.  I would say win at the amateur level, move to mini tours and judge your level there.

At +1, I would think you should know what specific things you need to practice to get better.  That's more of a per individual question for the most part.  We all know what areas the Pros make up a lot of strokes in...so just compare that with your skills at those levels and go from there. Honestly not trying to be smart butt here.

One question would be, are you winning all of the tournaments in your area?  If so, are you winning tournaments outside of your area?  If you are winning these, then you obviously have the skills to move to the next level.  If not, then I would wait until I got these results.  A +1 is AWESOME!!!  I would be ecstatic to be at that level.  But there are a TON of +1s in my area, so I know it's like that everywhere else as well.  You just need to be better than them....

[superfly777]

Originally Posted by Borf

Hi there, I am a +1.0 and all I want is to wake up everyday and do something I love (golf).

I am amateur now, and I am going to work as hard as humanly possible this season.

I need my chance to make it to that next level, Im not exactly sure what that opportunity will be. I would appreciate some feedback, advice, comments or will answer any questions you may have.

thanks

I might just be blind but can't seem to find anywhere you've actually said how old you are. +1 for a 15-year old is very different from a 25-year old.