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**vNZsk39B** · 07-19-2011, 02:54 AM

Yesterday I played a round with s young guy(found out he was my age-20) and he was playing behind us when we would let him through but he stuck with us for the whole back nine. Before we let him through we would look back and we could just tell he was a player my first instinct was a real pro. So we let him through first thing is his name "Matthew hill" and man he could play. We just made some small talk and found out small stuff and then that he's on mini tours has played on the hooters tour and everything he could he played golf since high school and that's All he dies now is golf when and where he can

So we keep on playing and we get backed up and he tells us a story back a month ago where he played in a tournament at Disney and the leader was his buddy who over 4 days was -39 and he was in a 4 way playoff just to qualify for the miracle foundation tournament.

It then hit me that wow I know I'm good for my age atleast I thought I was decent but it then occurred to me that there will always be someone better than me and that golf is a bigger competition than I could have ever of thought. I realized that I may reach a peak and that one day I will have to settle for it no matter what it is. As Matt said "the guys you see on sundays have been playing sincerity could walk that's why their there" I'm sure he's not the best example but playing along side him I came to the conclusion that I may never reach the potential I want to.

I just wanted to share this and see what if others think the same way.

Is it your goal to be a professional golfer?

If so and if you think you have the potential, don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it.
Today, you have more access to quality teaching than there has ever been before and with clinics, mini tours, local and state tournaments, equipment fitting and even things like this forum, all you need is the desire and the drive to succeed.
Of course success won't be easy, but then again nothing worth doing is ever easy and at just 20 years old you should have more than enough energy to do whatever it takes to get to where you want to be.
You post an 8.2 handicap here and the first thing you'd need to do is work to get that down to somewhere around a +2 to have any chance at competing on a professional level.
If I were in your shoes, I'd look around for the best teacher I could find and tell him what your goals are and get him to work with you. If he can't do it, then find someone who can.
Natural talent will get you a long way but to play at the highest level, you're going to need more than that and that's where good coaching comes in.
Get involved in as much competitive golf as you can and see how you handle it and see how you stack up. That will give you an idea of what will have to be done to get better and then make a plan to do just that.

Another thing is to surround yourself with as many good players as you can. You're not going to get very far if you're just out there playing with people who can barely break 100. Find some real players and play with and against them. You'll probably get whupped a few times, but that's necessary in order to identify what you need to fix and then go fix it and start kicking their butts.

A long time ago, Lee Trevino was once asked what he thought it took to play professional golf and his answer was this: "If you think you have what it takes to play professional golf, go out and play five courses you've never seen before and play them all from the championship tees. If you can average one under par for all five courses, you're ready."

I think that advice still holds true and that would be something I would try to do even if it's just to find out how much work I need to do.

But the absolute bottom line is that only you can decide if this is what you want to do and if it is, don't let ANYBODY tell you otherwise.

Good luck and I hope you succeed!

07-19-2011, 02:54 AM	#7
vNZsk39B Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 453 Senior Member	Yesterday I played a round with s young guy(found out he was my age-20) and he was playing behind us when we would let him through but he stuck with us for the whole back nine. Before we let him through we would look back and we could just tell he was a player my first instinct was a real pro. So we let him through first thing is his name "Matthew hill" and man he could play. We just made some small talk and found out small stuff and then that he's on mini tours has played on the hooters tour and everything he could he played golf since high school and that's All he dies now is golf when and where he can So we keep on playing and we get backed up and he tells us a story back a month ago where he played in a tournament at Disney and the leader was his buddy who over 4 days was -39 and he was in a 4 way playoff just to qualify for the miracle foundation tournament. It then hit me that wow I know I'm good for my age atleast I thought I was decent but it then occurred to me that there will always be someone better than me and that golf is a bigger competition than I could have ever of thought. I realized that I may reach a peak and that one day I will have to settle for it no matter what it is. As Matt said "the guys you see on sundays have been playing sincerity could walk that's why their there" I'm sure he's not the best example but playing along side him I came to the conclusion that I may never reach the potential I want to. I just wanted to share this and see what if others think the same way. Is it your goal to be a professional golfer? If so and if you think you have the potential, don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it. Today, you have more access to quality teaching than there has ever been before and with clinics, mini tours, local and state tournaments, equipment fitting and even things like this forum, all you need is the desire and the drive to succeed. Of course success won't be easy, but then again nothing worth doing is ever easy and at just 20 years old you should have more than enough energy to do whatever it takes to get to where you want to be. You post an 8.2 handicap here and the first thing you'd need to do is work to get that down to somewhere around a +2 to have any chance at competing on a professional level. If I were in your shoes, I'd look around for the best teacher I could find and tell him what your goals are and get him to work with you. If he can't do it, then find someone who can. Natural talent will get you a long way but to play at the highest level, you're going to need more than that and that's where good coaching comes in. Get involved in as much competitive golf as you can and see how you handle it and see how you stack up. That will give you an idea of what will have to be done to get better and then make a plan to do just that. Another thing is to surround yourself with as many good players as you can. You're not going to get very far if you're just out there playing with people who can barely break 100. Find some real players and play with and against them. You'll probably get whupped a few times, but that's necessary in order to identify what you need to fix and then go fix it and start kicking their butts. A long time ago, Lee Trevino was once asked what he thought it took to play professional golf and his answer was this: "If you think you have what it takes to play professional golf, go out and play five courses you've never seen before and play them all from the championship tees. If you can average one under par for all five courses, you're ready." I think that advice still holds true and that would be something I would try to do even if it's just to find out how much work I need to do. But the absolute bottom line is that only you can decide if this is what you want to do and if it is, don't let ANYBODY tell you otherwise. Good luck and I hope you succeed!
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