[trilochana.nejman]

(Here we go again...)

JB, why do insist on taking everything I write completely out of context and then criticize me for what you think I wrote?

Please listen to me, OK?

You wrote:

First off the difference between a good amateur and a Tour pro is more than 3000 balls a week. The fact that someone could actually consider that anything other than a joke says a lot. The mental makeup, integrity, will, heart, and natural ability, make up a lot more than people hting.

I wrote:

Please don't think I'm patting myself on the back or comparing my game to that of the PGA players, but the places they were putting their tee shots were the same places that I generally put mine and I remember thinking to myself that I was not far off in terms of that category.

and...

"To be sure, there's a lot more to competing on a PGA level than consistently hitting a ball to a certain spot..."

As I mentioned, I know every inch of the Black Course and I know every yardage out there - probably better than the pro's do. And as I watched them hit tee shots on a variety of holes, I kept telling myself that we're not that far off in terms of distance.

You also wrote:

I just want to make sure you were seeing the same thing and you were speaking of the same distances that occurred..

OK, here's an example:

As I said, I was watching tee shots on 6. The 6th tee happens to overlook the 5th hole and I had a bird's eye view of the entire hole all the way back to the tees. Now, the 5th hole is my favorite par 4 hole of all time so I am especially tuned in to its characteristics. The pro's were using the middle tee that day (due to the wet conditions) and the middle tee is the regular "Blue Tee" for the rest of us. The pro's were hitting their tee shots just past the far end of the waste bunker which runs diagonally from lower left to middle right in the fairway and is the hole's "signature".

To place a tee shot just beyond this waste bunker requires a carry distance of around 280 or so and the distance to the green from that point is roughly 185 yards. One player after another was putting their tee shot in just that spot and from those tees, that's where I place my tee shot as well.

In fact, I remember while watching the tournament on TV later that week, when they showed the tee shots on that hole, I'd turn to my wife and say, "He's got about 185 to the pin" after which the announcer would say "He has 186" (I was off by a yard). I know those distances because they're the ones I deal with when I play there.

Same thing with the 4th hole - the big par 5. They were teeing off from the upper tee box (the "U.S.Open Tee Box") and they were leaving their drives at about the crest of the hill in the fairway about even eith the top of the bunkers on the left side --- in the same area where I leave MY tee shots.

So what do you want me to tell you, JB? That I was hallucinating?

Another thing you mentioned was that "mental makeup, integrity, will, heart, and natural ability" are also part of what makes a pro a pro. Are you implying that us "mere mortals" do not possess such characteristics?

(Although just what integrity has to do with skill is a little puzzling)

Are you suggesting that amateurs don't have heart? Or will? Or natural ability?

You DO realize that all pro's were amateurs at some point, don't you?

I'm sorry JB, you can certainly believe what you wish to believe, but since you have no idea of what my skills are and no idea of what kind of "heart" I have or "will" or "natural ability", you are in no position to derogate my golf game.

I do not put celebrities on a pedestal nor do I see them as superhuman. When I see a true pro - in any discipline - all I see is a person who has dedicated their life (or at least a good portion of it) to raising their skill level to a point where they are at the top of their game. I certainly respect anyone for being able to do that, but I don't defer to them, worship them or feel that I cannot compare myself to them.



In my humble opinion, of course.


-JP