How good is good enough...........

[MadAdey]

There is a young lad (23) at my place that plays in the my Sunday role up. This is only his 5th season playing, but the 3 times I have been drawn with him he has had a 67 and a pair of 69's, so 11 under total. Those scores are also off the tour tees that use to be used for the Greater Greensboro Open on the US tour. His best ever round off those tees is 64.

He hits it around the 300 yard mark off the tee and just peppers the flag every time he has a short iron in his hand. watched him hitting a 3i on an uphill, 230 yard, par 3 straight into the middle of the green several times. He steps up to 6 foot putts without blinking an eye and just knocks them in. He has a real delicate touch around the green and often looks like he can hole any chip he has.

But just how good is good enough to get on the Tour? He plans to hit a mini tour in Florida for the winter and see how things go. If that goes well then he is looking at going on the WEB.com tour.

 

[Robobum]

He's good enough.

Just depends whether is balls are big enough when you're playing for your dinner

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Good enough golf ability wise

Gues the question will always is he good enough between the ears and will he get the break they all search for

 

[Deleted member 18588]

A member of our Club went to college in Florida and became the third ranked amateur in the world when he turned pro' with a handicap of +5.

Qualified for the Web.com Tour by virtue of finishing in the top 5 on the Canadian Tour and at the end of last year (his first on the Web.com) only just missed gaining a card on the PGA Tour.

This year has proved a little more difficult and he is likely to finish around 70th on the tour.

He does very well on the mini-tours in Florida during the winter.

The point is that prior to turning pro' he was shooting the sort of scores you are talking of round courses other than his base in the US.

I wish only good luck to the young man from your Club but I hope he realises just how tough it is out there.

 

[Foxholer]

Hugely talented!

How well does he score away from his home course?

Big jump from (even leading) Am to Pro! It's whether he has the 'head and heart' for it that will determine whether he makes it! I wish him well!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

It's the same with all sports. Ultimately you never know if someone is good enough until they are placed in that position. Some take to it and thrive, others struggle. Best of luck to him, it is a brutal sport to make a living in.

 

[stokie_93]

You won't know until he plays a tour event. Whether he has the bottle and concentration to do it when like others have said his lifestyle depends on it.

Always think it's on the greens where the divide is, you say he rattles in 6 footers for fun but most pro's do every time.

what's he like 15-20 feet?

 

[guest100718]

Ask the same question on wrx..... I think the answer would be a lot different. Tough crowd over there. There are kids 5 years younger than that shooting those scores

 

[HomerJSimpson]

He'll on.y know once he gets out there and does it and it'll be a big learning curve so he may not see results and progress for a season, maybe two. It depends if he has the heart and the golfing nous (and the breaks) to play under that pressure. You only have to look at likes of Peter Finch struggling on the Europro tour to show the gulf between a decent and run of the mill pro

 

[Hobbit]

Getting onto the main tour, and retaining his card is when he's good enough. There's been any number of really good amateurs, many Walker Cup players, who've chanced their arm and not succeeded. Gordon Cherry of Scotland, ex-Walker Cup and Amateur Champion, tried and tried again, even winning the Mauritius Open, but pretty much gave up on the idea a number of years ago.

 

[Spear-Chucker]

He's good enough.

Just depends whether is balls are big enough when you're playing for your dinner

Good enough golf ability wise

Guess the question will always is he good enough between the ears and will he get the break they all search for

Nail, head, interaction scenario.

The lad sounds awesome in terms of his shots and the best of luck to him but the mental skills required are significant and i hope he has the right stuff. Conviction, dedication and trust in his own abilities no matter what.

 

[351DRIVER]

Is he good enough?

He only needs to be good enough to try the tour, every pro who ever achieved anything improved massively from the day they turned pro (Tiger the possible exception)

Plus 2, Plus 3 (Usa plus 4s and 5s) are ten a penny on a worldwide scale and the majority will not be good enough, but anyone who is that good would be crazy not to try!

 

[MendieGK]

He'll on.y know once he gets out there and does it and it'll be a big learning curve so he may not see results and progress for a season, maybe two. It depends if he has the heart and the golfing nous (and the breaks) to play under that pressure. You only have to look at likes of Peter Finch struggling on the Europro tour to show the gulf between a decent and run of the mill pro

Worth clarifying that Finch and Shiels have never actually been great golfers. Certainly nowhere near the standard the OP is talking about

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Worth clarifying that Finch and Shiels have never actually been great golfers. Certainly nowhere near the standard the OP is talking about

Granted but both have ambitions for the Open (unlikely) and Finch has recently played several Europro events and to me it illustrated how a run of the mill (albeit a very good teacher) pro was out of his depth at that level. The gulf as the guy in the OP goes up the levels will surely get bigger and bigger. Easy sometimes to be a big fish in a small pool but harder to go to the next one up and be as good

 

[351DRIVER]

Worth clarifying that Finch and Shiels have never actually been great golfers. Certainly nowhere near the standard the OP is talking about

Those two should not even enter the debate with regard to what it takes to make it on tour, they are great social media teachers but miles away from being having viable tour careers

 

[MendieGK]

Those two should not even enter the debate with regard to what it takes to make it on tour, they are great social media teachers but miles away from being having viable tour careers

For once I agree with you 😉

I like them both, seem like great guys.

To query Homers other comment (it's not a shiels/finch witch hunt) - who says they are even great teachers? They are a brand nothing else (bit like Nike clubs), and they are exploiting it. Fair play to them

 

[HomerJSimpson]

For once I agree with you 😉

I like them both, seem like great guys.

To query Homers other comment (it's not a shiels/finch witch hunt) - who says they are even great teachers? They are a brand nothing else (bit like Nike clubs), and they are exploiting it. Fair play to them

Simply going the fact they are (Finch certainly) GM top 25 teachers. Has to be something about them

 

[351DRIVER]

For once I agree with you 

I like them both, seem like great guys.

To query Homers other comment (it's not a shiels/finch witch hunt) - who says they are even great teachers? They are a brand nothing else (bit like Nike clubs), and they are exploiting it. Fair play to them

Their public believe it, i happen to disagree with their public as they both only charge 70 quid a lesson and are never booked (You can check their plans online)

I see the social media leaders in the same way as I see Taylor made, they are the best at giving the impression they are the best, this does not make them actually the best, great at Marketing that cannot be denied.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

How can you judge how a pro is as a teacher if you have never had a lesson from them ?

 

[MendieGK]

How can you judge how a pro is as a teacher if you have never had a lesson from them ?

That's very true.

But I base my view on pedigree. Why isn't rick being taught by Pete and vice Versa if they are so good? Who do they teach of note etc?

Homer, please don't say you read anything into the top 25 coach thing. You really think GM could do an article and not include there own contributing pros?

Anyway, off topic. All subjective