Will I ever be a great golfer?

[a456bt]

That is my point. Your "point of the post" is very negative and not appreciative of encouraging me. Instead you decided to take the route that many other people do and tell me I will never reach my dream of excelling in golf. You essentially told me I should never attempt to play golf professionally as I may as well win the lottery. Cold.

[GolfLug]

For quite a few years now I have played golf, slowly getting more serious as the seasons progressed but never fully caring. I am 14 years old now and just recently have found a passion for golf. I've been doing what I can to get better, but I feel like it will never be enough. Here is what I am doing or will do -

- Practicing 2-3 hours a day

- Playing 2-3 rounds a week

- I will be applying to a program in school that allows you to do academics in the morning and then your desired sport in the afternoon. This would essentially turn my 2 hour a day practice into 5 hours a day and might allow me to get in more rounds

- I will be getting lessons from a coach who was referred to me by one of my golf friends.

The reason I feel this won't be enough is because I feel like I'm too late. I look at all these kids my age that are winning regional championships and such and feel like they were the early birds that got the worm (It's notable that I aspire to be on the PGA Tour one day, which is the main reason I am asking this question). If you look, many if not all the players on the PGA tour say they've been swinging a club since they were 3 and how they "naturally seemed to be attracted to it and do well" and such. I've seen many people talking about making the PGA Tour and how you need to win such tournaments and things by certain ages and feel like I've missed the boat. Is my late blooming something the will never allow me to be a great golfer? I don't want to put my heart in to the game and then come out with nothing because there's kids out there that just happened to know they loved golf 10 years before me. Thank you in advance.

Dude, it is so wide open for you that it is not even funny. Go for it. You will be surprised how much you don't know about what you want to be until you start to see some 'movement'. Get it moving already. You will figure out as you go along. Trust us blindly on that.

[Lihu]

That is my point. Your "point of the post" is very negative and not appreciative of encouraging me. Instead you decided to take the route that many other people do and tell me I will never reach my dream of excelling in golf. You essentially told me I should never attempt to play golf professionally as I may as well win the lottery. Cold.

We encourage you to pursue it, because you will learn good things from the journey. Keep in mind that what you want to do is really hard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by a456bt

For quite a few years now I have played golf, slowly getting more serious as the seasons progressed but never fully caring. I am 14 years old now and just recently have found a passion for golf. I've been doing what I can to get better, but I feel like it will never be enough. Here is what I am doing or will do -

- Practicing 2-3 hours a day

- Playing 2-3 rounds a week

- I will be applying to a program in school that allows you to do academics in the morning and then your desired sport in the afternoon. This would essentially turn my 2 hour a day practice into 5 hours a day and might allow me to get in more rounds

- I will be getting lessons from a coach who was referred to me by one of my golf friends.

The reason I feel this won't be enough is because I feel like I'm too late. I look at all these kids my age that are winning regional championships and such and feel like they were the early birds that got the worm (It's notable that I aspire to be on the PGA Tour one day, which is the main reason I am asking this question). If you look, many if not all the players on the PGA tour say they've been swinging a club since they were 3 and how they "naturally seemed to be attracted to it and do well" and such. I've seen many people talking about making the PGA Tour and how you need to win such tournaments and things by certain ages and feel like I've missed the boat. Is my late blooming something the will never allow me to be a great golfer? I don't want to put my heart in to the game and then come out with nothing because there's kids out there that just happened to know they loved golf 10 years before me. Thank you in advance.

Dude, it is so wide open for you that it is not even funny. Go for it. You will be surprised how much you don't know about what you want to be until you start to see some 'movement'. Get it moving already. You will figure out as you go along. Trust us blindly on that.

Exactly!

[Shorty]

That is my point. Your "point of the post" is very negative and not appreciative of encouraging me. Instead you decided to take the route that many other people do and tell me I will never reach my dream of excelling in golf. You essentially told me I should never attempt to play golf professionally as I may as well win the lottery. Cold.

For the third time:

If you are like 99.999 percent of the golfing population, your best won't be good enough. But then again, it might be.

You can't "attempt to play professional golf" you can become the best player you can be and if that makes you a pro at the end of the day, that's great.

And to be brutally "cold", yes , winning the lottery would be a fair analogy. Except the average person has more chance of winning the lottery that playing professional golf on the PGA Tour.

And before you respond again without reading, let me refer you to the bit in red above.

[Shorty]

Alternative response:

I've never met you or seen you play, but you seem like a good kid.

PGA Tour? Why not? If you can dream it, you can be it.

You sound like you are prepared to set goals and work towards them.

There are several PGATour stars who picked up the game later than you. Greg Norman, for example. He was OK. ;-)

There's the proof that it can be done.

Don't let the haters get you down.

Now - sarcasm/irony/cynicism/coldness aside. Is that a useful response? Really? Is it?

[a456bt]

Whelp, thank you everyone, I will definitely be going for it. Who knows, I might start up a little vlog on youtube tracking my progress in order to keep me committed. I don't know if it sounds stupid or not. Oh well, I'll let you guys know if any of you care. Thank you again, have a great day.

[Lihu]

Whelp, thank you everyone, I will definitely be going for it. Who knows, I might start up a little vlog on youtube tracking my progress in order to keep me committed. I don't know if it sounds stupid or not. Oh well, I'll let you guys know if any of you care. Thank you again, have a great day.

That would be very cool!

[DrvFrShow]

For quite a few years now I have played golf, slowly getting more serious as the seasons progressed but never fully caring. I am 14 years old now and just recently have found a passion for golf. I've been doing what I can to get better, but I feel like it will never be enough.

I think that a lot of you missed the first sentence. He's been playing for fun, but now wants to take it seriously. I think most kids play it for fun until they're about 12-13 anyway unless their parents are pretty much driving them to do it more than that. The fact he's made the choice himself is a bonus. He's aware there's a lot of work that needs to go into this. Yes, he'd like to make the tour.

@a456bt Here's what I'd do. Give it your best shot. At this point you have nothing to lose by it. You have as good of a chance as anyone. You could be a late bloomer. You could have "the gift." Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. You don't know until you go for it. But it'll be an uphill struggle. You'll lose some tough competitions, and don't give up. You'll win some, too. If you have good support from home for your endeavor, and you show some real promise, you might be able to get a really good golf coach. In the summer of your sophomore year you need to start looking at colleges, thinking about writing letters showing interest. They'll be watching you during your junior year. You can do it.

But have a back up plan. Study hard. Get good grades. Get into a good college with a good program. Slots fill up quickly.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a456bt

For quite a few years now I have played golf, slowly getting more serious as the seasons progressed but never fully caring. I am 14 years old now and just recently have found a passion for golf. I've been doing what I can to get better, but I feel like it will never be enough.

I think that a lot of you missed the first sentence. He's been playing for fun, but now wants to take it seriously. I think most kids play it for fun until they're about 12-13 anyway unless their parents are pretty much driving them to do it more than that. The fact he's made the choice himself is a bonus. He's aware there's a lot of work that needs to go into this. Yes, he'd like to make the tour.

@a456bt Here's what I'd do. Give it your best shot. At this point you have nothing to lose by it. You have as good of a chance as anyone. You could be a late bloomer. You could have "the gift." Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. You don't know until you go for it. But it'll be an uphill struggle. You'll lose some tough competitions, and don't give up. You'll win some, too. If you have good support from home for your endeavor, and you show some real promise, you might be able to get a really good golf coach. In the summer of your sophomore year you need to start looking at colleges, thinking about writing letters showing interest. They'll be watching you during your junior year. You can do it.

But have a back up plan. Study hard. Get good grades. Get into a good college with a good program. Slots fill up quickly.

Yeah, it sounded like he started at about the same age as my kids and nephews, but didn't get serious until he now that he is entering High School. This is the case for most kids. If he really commits this time and he has the talent, he could catch up with the other kids that started tournament play at 5 years old.

The reality, as @Shorty mentioned three times, is that talent plays a big role and, statistically speaking, only 360 people in the United States (36M golfers) have the talent to make the PGA tour with obviously less that do.

Should the OP pursue this? YES ! It's about his journey and what he can learn from it. I have plenty of friends who did something like this and it made them more enriched in other aspects of their lives. He might have to give up the dream of winning the Nobel Prize in Physics to do it, but you need to choose your direction.

[a456bt]

Thank you for the further input. I can agree that I will get something out of this even if I don't make the tour. Do you guys have any suggestions for if I did start a vlog or a place where people would be happy to give me tips? I'm sure sure about the kind of content I would include in them. Maybe in most I can talk about different drills that I work on that are given to me by my coach. I would have to figure a way I could fill 5 - 10 minutes of content each day. If I could, I think I would be good for me as it would keep me more committed.

One other thing I would like to ask is when you guys think I should start doing tournaments. I'm definitely not ready to play them just yet as I currently play 40 over par (I know, I have a long way to go xD). Although entry fees are expensive (most are $150 - $200 CAD), I feel like they would be good practice at the same time. So when is the best time to start spending that money in order to start getting that experience and used to the pressure? Thanks guys

[Lihu]

Thank you for the further input. I can agree that I will get something out of this even if I don't make the tour. Do you guys have any suggestions for if I did start a vlog or a place where people would be happy to give me tips? I'm sure sure about the kind of content I would include in them. Maybe in most I can talk about different drills that I work on that are given to me by my coach. I would have to figure a way I could fill 5 - 10 minutes of content each day. If I could, I think I would be good for me as it would keep me more committed.

One other thing I would like to ask is when you guys think I should start doing tournaments. I'm definitely not ready to play them just yet as I currently play 40 over par (I know, I have a long way to go xD). Although entry fees are expensive (most are $150 - $200 CAD), I feel like they would be good practice at the same time. So when is the best time to start spending that money in order to start getting that experience and used to the pressure? Thanks guys

You can also post swings, and people can help you out with your swing mechanics. http://thesandtrap.com/t/73197/so-you-joined-tst-and-posted-a-member-swing-thread

The vlogs are a great idea, too!

BTW, 40 strokes over par is not the greatest playing in the world. Where are most of your shots lost?

[a456bt]

Trust me, I know, but I can definitely do better. It's more my lack of experience and my size. I'm quite a small kid for my age so it's hard for me to hit the ball far. Also, where my shots go are inconsistent. I spray a lot but demonstrate I have the ability to hit amazing shots, I just need to work on that with my coach. Also, something I just need to practice more is short game. I hope me saying I have a 40 handicap hasn't demolished all hopes of me being able to be good. Do you have any suggestions on my predicament with tournaments? Thanks!

[Lihu]

Trust me, I know, but I can definitely do better. It's more my lack of experience and my size. I'm quite a small kid for my age so it's hard for me to hit the ball far. Also, where my shots go are inconsistent. I spray a lot but demonstrate I have the ability to hit amazing shots, I just need to work on that with my coach. Also, something I just need to practice more is short game. I hope me saying I have a 40 handicap hasn't demolished all hopes of me being able to be good. Do you have any suggestions on my predicament with tournaments? Thanks!

There is a 10-11 year boy in our First Tee program who barely drives 180 yards, but inside 150 yards averaged 3 shots when he was 8. I think his 3 shot average is currently up to 170 or something like that? He pars 350 yard par 4s pretty readily, and bogeys up to 450 yard ones.

So, distance should not be preventing you from dropping your 40 handicap. Honestly, 40 is pretty high, but one of my nephews was pretty much 30-50 strokes over par at 14 years old, and just turned 15 shooting way better. IDK what is his current handicap, but my son said he shot a few pars recently in a play league.

Join a local junior play league or something like that. It's way cheaper, and you can meet some coaches and other players your age.

[DrvFrShow]

@a456bt Just for your information. Last May I was shooting 37 over par. I'm 62. I started playing when I was 60. By October I was regularly shooting 24 over par. My best round last year was a 90 on a fairly difficult course. One of my biggest problems was making stupid mistakes on the golf course and playing high risk shots in addition to needing to hone my skills. I placed second in two tournaments last year. One was a match tournament, and the other was a net score at the end of the season in very bad rainy windy weather when I shot to my handicap when everyone else saw their score balloon. I'm still convinced that I can do better this year.

Seeing kids on the 56-56 program in my neighborhood at your age when I was growing up was commonplace. They got better by taking lessons and by practice and playing. Your goal this summer should be to break 90 by the time school starts. If that seems like a lot, you're 14. Look at what I did at 62 yrs old.

The short game is easy. Whenever you have an opportunity to use your putter, putt - yes, on a tight lie on the fringe or on the fairway a couple yards off the green with no major bumps or tall grass in the way, putt it.

Practice your 3 foot putts around the hole. These should be "gimmes." Then practice "lag putting." Take four balls and start about 15 feet from a hole. Get a read on the green. Try to get each ball within 3 feet of the hole. Do you see how important those 3' putts are? Then putt each one in. Work on that until you can get all four balls to go within the 3 feet. Then move to 20 feet. Lag putt for about 20 to 30 minutes before you play a round. It will give you a very good idea of the speed of the greens so you're not struggling out there on the course so much. It really helped get my putting down from up in the 40s per round two years ago to 35 putts per round last year.

But your focus should be 65% of your time on your long game, 25% on your short game, and 10% on your putting right now. See if you can get your parents to get you a copy of Lowest Score Wins, too.

And be careful. There is so much information out there you can easily get confused with all of it. If you want to see a great golf swing, check out Na Yeon Choi. She's all of 5'5" tall and about 110 lbs dripping wet. She's not a big hitter, but she's very accurate, and she's a good person.

[mchepp]

That is my point. Your "point of the post" is very negative and not appreciative of encouraging me. Instead you decided to take the route that many other people do and tell me I will never reach my dream of excelling in golf. You essentially told me I should never attempt to play golf professionally as I may as well win the lottery. Cold.

You are likely to face many people telling you that you cannot do it, I think you'd better get used to it.

You say it is cold, when there is a reality you will face as you get older the world can at times be a very cold place. So @Shorty old water on you, from time to time in your life that is going to happen. I recommend you use at motivation. A reminder to yourself on days when you don't feel like practicing that you are going to prove him and everyone else who told you that you couldn't do it, wrong. Some of the best athletes have a chip on their shoulder to motivate them.

There is also a great deal of history in Shorty's post that is not all your fault. His point about people young and old coming on here to say they will be PGA Touring professionals is very accurate. I think there was some pent up frustration at this that wasn't aimed at you in particular but everyone who comes on here to say it. That is not your fault.

You are going to need to work incredibly hard to achieve this goal so get to work.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a456bt

That is my point. Your "point of the post" is very negative and not appreciative of encouraging me. Instead you decided to take the route that many other people do and tell me I will never reach my dream of excelling in golf. You essentially told me I should never attempt to play golf professionally as I may as well win the lottery. Cold.

You are likely to face many people telling you that you cannot do it, I think you'd better get used to it.

You say it is cold, when there is a reality you will face as you get older the world can at times be a very cold place. So @Shorty splashed some cold water on you, from time to time in your life that is going to happen. I recommend you use at motivation. A reminder to yourself on days when you don't feel like practicing that you are going to prove him and everyone else who told you that you couldn't do it, wrong. Some of the best athletes have a chip on their shoulder to motivate them.

There is also a great deal of history in Shorty's post that is not all your fault. His point about people young and old coming on here to say they will be PGA Touring professionals is very accurate. I think there was some pent up frustration at this that wasn't aimed at you in particular but everyone who comes on here to say it. That is not your fault.

You are going to need to work incredibly hard to achieve this goal so get to work.

You just interviewed someone who's goal is to become a PGA professional. We're still awaiting the interview notes.

[newtogolf]

You can be a great golfer at your local course but that is a completely different goal from making it to the PGA Tour.  I'd guess the odds of making it onto the PGA Tour are worse than winning the lottery but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it your best effort if you really want it.  As @mchepp stated, we've seen a lot of kids come to this site and proclaim they were going to be pro's with little insight to what it actually takes in terms of talent and effort to make it to that level.

You've made a good first step in joining the site and the next step should be to create a MySwing thread and let the experts here assist you with your swing.  As you progress you'll find a lot of support here but you're also going to need to accept that there are many people like @Shorty o be bluntly honest and not always tell you things you want to hear, even if you are only 14.

Good luck!

[rkim291968]

Trust me, I know, but I can definitely do better. It's more my lack of experience and my size. I'm quite a small kid for my age so it's hard for me to hit the ball far. Also, where my shots go are inconsistent. I spray a lot but demonstrate I have the ability to hit amazing shots, I just need to work on that with my coach. Also, something I just need to practice more is short game. I hope me saying I have a 40 handicap hasn't demolished all hopes of me being able to be good. Do you have any suggestions on my predicament with tournaments? Thanks!

Things are not making sense here.   You play for fun until now.  And at age 14, you are seriously thinking to improve the game to be a PGA Tour member hopefully.   And you are +40 for a round golfer.  Here's the contradiction I see.  It's gonna take a god given talent for you to meet your goal from where you are now.   But if you had the talent already, you wouldn't be +40 golfer even if you have been playing for fun, small in size, etc..   Someone would have noticed along the line, you would have exceled at it even if you were not serious about it.  Your story looks like a fantasy you want to have, not even a dream that has a tiny chance of happening.

Having said that, if you want to purse your goal, coming here for advice isn't going to help you.   What you would need is a personal coach who knows what he is doing, and practice 8 hours a day.   Do yourself a favor,  Google Vijay Singh or Tiger Wood's practice regimen.   You will begin to get a glimpse what it would take even for those who started golf at age 3 (Tiger, e.g).   Try this for fun.  Practice golf for 8 hours a day for 2 straight weeks.   If you can do that with your eyes closed, you may have at least mental discipline to turn your fantasy into a dream.   If you can't do it, you know where you are at exactly.

Shorty tried to tell you this.   It may have been a hard pill to swallow for you but that's reality.   You heard it from here 1st (maybe, you heard it from others already then came here).

After doing some more research & 2 week practice experiment, if you want to still go for it, knock yourself out..  I just think you have other things you should be doing, like studying?  Good luck to you.