The Tough Road To Being A Pro
Thursday, June 10th, 2010This is a guest post written by Shane Bacon.
The famous old quote goes, “there is golf and then there is tournament golf, the two not much the same.” It is something I try to explain to countless friends and fellow golfers that have never had the luck of playing in an event where all the putts mattered, and the lowest score won. When you’re standing over a tee shot with a guy announcing your name, a scorecard in your back pocket and a pin sheet explaining all the bumps and undulations to you, the golf swing becomes a little less familiar.
That is the case for us humans. The guys that can’t go out and shoot four rounds of 66. We have long acknowledged that even though we don’t carry the game that some of these mindless beasts on the pro tours do, we still want to know how it feels.
That is the transition between amateur and professional, but consider this; maybe the biggest change in the golf world is one of the smallest. It’s when a kid that can play stick finally decides to start doing it for a living. That’s when the test really begins.
Playing in junior events is the beginning. That’s when you learn how good you really are. It isn’t the ones that you play at your local golf course, or the area event that hands out medals for wins. The junior events that matter are the ones with a global field, where you’re playing with a guy that can’t speak your language and you sure as hell can’t speak his. That is where you take your first big steps in the golf world. “Can I do this or not?”
The next move is college. You move your little pawn to a dorm room and a golf coach and 6 AM runs. Your life has been focused on golf for years, but this is a completely different focus. You exchange jeans for college-embroidered sweatpants and your Titleist cap for a school one. This is where you eat, sleep and study golf, while your friends that couldn’t make as many birdies as you are partying and traveling abroad and joining the Greek system.
The transitions are mighty, but they still have nothing on the day you decide that you aren’t checking the box that’s marked “amateur” anymore. Today, you’re a pro.
See, putts just matter more when they’re for your rent money. Or for dinner, or to help pay off some loans you were lucky to land from a local supporter. There is absolutely no way to truly explain the low a person feels when he is playing mini tour golf and has missed four tournament cuts in a row. You think the PGA Tour guys have it hard? Try playing for your livelihood.
All that time you spent over the last 15 years winning events and competing against the best and high-fiving your golf coach after another sub-par round have all led to this moment, when you need the 12-footer on 18 to make the cut. Or to finish in the top-five. Or to, if you’re lucky, win.
I could name you a hundred players that came out of college that I thought would be dominating the golf world right now. Hell, I could name you 200 junior golfers I thought would have PGA Tour wins under their belt. Bubba Dickerson, Chris Nallen, Matthew Rosenfeld, James Vargas … the list goes on and on.
It’s just … learning how to do it for a living is very similar to any business a person might start. Normally it isn’t diamonds and furs the first time out for anyone, and golf is the same way. While it seems like it should be (“you’re doing the same thing you’ve always done!”), it just isn’t.
You have to learn the grind of the pro circuit, no matter how big or small the tour. You have to figure out the best plan of attack that fits you and nobody else. Some spend a dozen hours a day on the range, others like to focus their practice on actual golf. Some like to play a practice round like it’s the actual tournament, others just try and hit certain shots they might face during the week.
The interesting goal about being a professional is finding that mindset you had when you weren’t a professional. Going out and playing golf like the money doesn’t matter, and then invite the checks as they start flowing in.
That is the interesting thing about pros. While we see these guys post scores that 99.9 percent of us will never even sniff, like clockwork, there will be moments when, just like us, the choking begins. And when it starts, it doesn’t stop. Like so many “no-name” pros in U.S. Opens have shown us, being a pro might mean you are a stud for most days, but every once in a while you do the same stuff we all do.
Learning to be a pro means you have to accept those days, forget about them and hope the next day brings you the fortune you usually expect. If not, your clubs will end up at the bottom of a lake and your next job will be at Radio Shack.
Shane Bacon
Shane Bacon is the owner/writer/editor of the popular golf blog Dogs That Chase Cars.
He is also a regular contributor to Yahoo! Golf.
Shane is a former competitive golfer who still carries a single digit handicap. He enjoys bow ties and sarcasm.
Related Category: College golf, Golf, Junior Golf
