Journey to the Mackenzie Tour: One Amateur's Pipe Dream

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, Shindig said:

The quote you're responding to is partly me mocking myself --

Yeah I actually considered that since you included mental game along with putting. 😀

[leftybutnotPM]

Of course, as is usual, the story is not a about player who is 5 shots shy of competing at any professional level, as someone previously stated, it is a bout a player who is a 15 or 16 handicap who pretends he's "around 6" because he once had a par round playing by himself on an easy course from the front tees with 5 gimmes and shots that he would "normally" not hit not counted.

The scorecard is exactly as anyone who follows threads like this would expect. 

The story is always the same: 

• Never won a C grade club championship.
• Never ENTERED a club championship at any grade
• Never done anything of note on a golf course that gets the attention of any regional players or administrators.
• Not one of the top 100 players within a mile of where he plays.
• But..... destined to succeed because he wants fame and fortune.

 

[Vinsk]

10 hours ago, Mr22putt said:

Results | Lookout Point CC | GTA AM Tour

---

GTA AM Tour

recent tournament

Those ‘Champion Flight’ scores are quite high. Was this just a ‘tell us your hcp’ tournament? The ‘A flight’ scores are better than the Champion flight.

I didn’t go back and see if Jason updates his hcp but at the beginning of his post he states he is ‘+1’. I’m not real experienced with tournaments but all those ‘Champion flight’ scores seem high. And a +1 firing a 91 for someone who’s ‘dedicating his life and will sleep in his car’ is concerning.

[hoselpalooza]

ouch. bogeying every par 5 is not a sound strategy for tournament golf.

[Double Mocha Man]

No +1 ever shoots a 91 unless it is on a tricked up U.S. Open course.  Or the course is in Afghanistan and he's trying to dodge IEDs.

[Vinsk]

9 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

No +1 ever shoots a 91 unless it is on a tricked up U.S. Open course.  Or the course is in Afghanistan and he's trying to dodge IEDs.

Well I know we see PGA guys fire the unusual 80...but that’s on 7000yd+ courses and often as you described. But a 91 on a 6500yd course seems pretty rough. I saw that this was his only event. If it’s his first maybe he’ll get a wake up call and start making a more constructive plan. 

[pganapathy]

6 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

If only he could have turned those double bogeys into birdies!  Well, he needs to drag himself off the ground, dust himself off and get back on that horse again.

It is not about getting back on the horse.  It needs to be done with a proper plan and almost certainly with coaching.  Everybody here suggested he get a coach and all he seems to have done for that is use Evolvr for about a week and then quit.  If all he is going to do is ingrain bad habits with his practice regimen, the odds of success are very slim indeed.

And looking at his scorecard means he has a very long way to go.  Maybe he is not practicing correctly, or maybe he is new to competitive golf, but however you look at it, 19 over is not remotely close to competing on virtually any level.  At our club, the winner is never more than single digits for any tournament, and none of us have any professional aspirations.

[leftybutnotPM]

35 minutes ago, pganapathy said:

It is not about getting back on the horse. 

You have to have a horse to get back on. He doesn't have one.

[coachjimsc]

10 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Those ‘Champion Flight’ scores are quite high. Was this just a ‘tell us your hcp’ tournament? The ‘A flight’ scores are better than the Champion flight.

The Golfweek Am Tour events I've participated in the 'Champion Flight' usually play from the back tees and the 'A flight' plays from one up from that. 

I suspect that's the case here as well.

[David in FL]

14 minutes ago, coachjimsc said:

The Golfweek Am Tour events I've participated in the 'Champion Flight' usually play from the back tees and the 'A flight' plays from one up from that. 

I suspect that's the case here as well.

If you click on the link, you can see the actual scorecard and the tees played for the course in addition to his card...

[PipePro]

The world of golf is filled with what if stories and excuses why there are dreams that can never be fulfilled. Many Many years ago in a galaxy far far away I knew a young man that was so full of himself nothing could keep him from his dream. He practiced 2-4 hours a day everyday and played 6 days a week.

He enter local tournaments and club events and won. He turned Pro and followed the carrot on a string. Qualifier after qualifier somebody else always won and got that elusive spot to be a replacement. 

Then one round was the round that would put him with the big fish and he tin cupped a hole after leading and it was over. 

He knew some pretty big names on tour playing practice rounds with them even tweaking their swings. He asked a lot of questions and one thing stuck out. Most tour guys told him that at every club in the world there is this guy or gal that the members would say if this guy had sponsors he could make it bigtime, but once the little fish swims in the big pond they get eaten by the bigger fish. It takes years of experience at the highest level to break out of the pack. Some players don't have enough time or money to keep it up. 

So I say to you and all, dreams are just dreams and 99.999% never come true. Become a club Pro or a hustler.

[leftybutnotPM]

6 hours ago, PipePro said:

The world of golf is filled with what if stories and excuses why there are dreams that can never be fulfilled.

This isn't one of those stories. This is a guy who shoots in the 80s on a good day who wants to be rich and famous.

And really good players get sponsors - people who put money together and essentially gamble on a return so that THEY can make money. If someone was REALLY talented and shot lights out all the time, it's never going to be a "what if" story. Blaming lack of money is an excuse - obviously having makes it easier, but look at guys like Trevino and Jason Day. They started with nothing but talent.

The real issue is that golf is really hard, but even on this site there are people who think that they could make it if they had more time and money. The majority of players reach their potential within a few years of starting.

Edited June 3, 2019 by leftybutnotPM

[Aces Wild]

Well Jason showed up on YouTube today, seems he is making good progress.

 

[lastings]

8 minutes ago, Aces Wild said:

Well Jason showed up on YouTube today, seems he is making good progress.

 

not sure I have a half an hour to invest in this video...     Any chance you may be willing to summarize? 

[klineka]

22 minutes ago, lastings said:

not sure I have a half an hour to invest in this video...     Any chance you may be willing to summarize? 

I skipped around a bit, but seemed like he was talking about how he got fit for new irons and a new putter in the first half of the video, then the second half he talked about two upcoming tournaments he has this weekend. 

Said he is still looking for a coach, but said he is relying on a couple golf podcasts to be his coaches for the moment.

Nothing really exciting or interesting tbh.

Edited June 7, 2019 by klineka

[Double Mocha Man]

31 minutes ago, Aces Wild said:

Well Jason showed up on YouTube today, seems he is making good progress.

 

He's got to stop looking skyward so much. It's creepy. And the guy can talk...

[David in FL]

4 hours ago, klineka said:

I skipped around a bit, but seemed like he was talking about how he got fit for new irons and a new putter in the first half of the video, then the second half he talked about two upcoming tournaments he has this weekend. 

Said he is still looking for a coach, but said he is relying on a couple golf podcasts to be his coaches for the moment.

Nothing really exciting or interesting tbh.

Thanks for the summary.  I couldn’t make it past 90 seconds...  

[Missouri Swede]

5 hours ago, klineka said:

Said he is still looking for a coach, but said he is relying on a couple golf podcasts to be his coaches for the moment.

 

There's this "chasing scratch" podcast I've heard about that may be pursuing things in a similar manner ...