4..3..2..1..Scratch or Bust!

rtparty

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Well, I have decided to start a little journal (for my own benefit mostly) about my new quest to improve my game and start playing in some tournaments. I will randomly update this thread as I play and practice so I can look back and remember different things that I learn throughout my progress.

A little about me and my game:
I have been playing this game since I was about 8 but never took it really serious until high school. My sophomore year I decided to try out for the team and made it by a hair. I went out and shot an 88 and then a 92. I was basically out of contention to even make the team. I remember being super down and my feet hurt like crazy! I had never walked 36 holes in 2 days like that and my feet killed. I told my parents I wasn't going for the third day of tryouts and put my clubs away. My dad came to me and gave me a little pep talk. He told me that if I made the team he would buy me a brand new set of irons of my choice. He used to do the embroidery and screen printing for a local golf shop and had a lot of trade. That didn't really persuade me to go for the last day but one line he said did get me to go back. He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "You are too good to quit. One low score and you will make it, I have faith in that."

My entire outlook changed at that point. My Dad has never been into giving advice unless asked but he sure made his point this time. So I packed my stuff up the next morning and headed off to the course. It was the hardest of the three courses and one I had never played before. However, I played smart and kept my cool. I had nothing to lose at this point and I played totally care-free. I ended up shooting an 85 and was thrilled. It was the best I had ever played up to that point. The golf coach sat off the 18th green and was keeping track of all the scores. I sat around for what felt like eternity for everyone to finish. I was the 3rd alternate for the team and would hear from him in the next week.

About 4 days went by before I heard from him. He left a message on the home phone (no cell phone for me back then, LOL) and told me to call him back. He informed me that I had made the team and we started practice in like a week. I couldn't believe it! I was so ecstatic to make the team. I don't think I came down from that high for a few hours. The next day my Dad fulfilled his promise and I was ready to go for the season. I started the season in like the 16th spot which meant no matches and no region tourneys. I worked my butt off day in and day out to get the coveted number 12. That would mean matches and a chance at the region level. Once I got to number 12, I couldn't let myself settle. I had to make a region tournament.

As the very last region tourney was approaching, my game was really clicking and I barely made it into the number 8 spot. I got to play my favorite course to close out the year. I don't even remember what I shot (I think it was high 70s) but my score was used for our team. My year was complete and I was completely hooked to this game! I lettered all three years that I played and just missed state my senior year. A really good friend of mine sunk a 25 foot birdie putt on the 9th hole to win the final spot. My coach still took me along both days to be part of the tourney. I rode around in the cart and took lessons all day from him.

Fast forward to today and I now play at a 4 HDCP. Although my last 3 rounds have been far from that. I haven't played competitive golf in almost 8 years and I miss it! It is almost hard for me to just "go play" and not have the pressure. So my current goal is to play in the Utah State Am next July. From there I truly want to pursue becoming a PGA Pro.

I started working with a brand new coach today and am excited at the possibilities that lay ahead. My coach's name is Mark Whetzel and he is top notch. Today he just watched my swing and got a feel for where I am at currently. He learned my goals and is putting together a plan to get there. My biggest obstacle right now is working 46 hours a week and almost no time to practice. So that is another goal of mine: work in the industry so I can play a lot more!

I appreciate anyone that has made it this far. I never intended to write so much but bringing back those memories really sparks my desire.

Until next time...
 
Good luck with your future and awesome story.
 
Nice read, break a leg!
 
Great read buddy! Best of luck going forward from here and I'm looking forward to following along
 
Ryan, I enjoyed meeting you in May, and you have a ton of game. If you are concerned about your practice time, I will give you this piece of advice: your long game is already really good, take at least half of your practice time and put it on the short game, your handicap will drop more by doing that.
 
Nice read and good luck to you in achieving your goals. Reading that, I see that your goals and my goals are fairly similar. I also would like to become a PGA Pro, and hope to pass the PAT sometime in the near future and get started on that path. I've tried several times and keep barely missing, but I worked my tail off this past winter and now have my handicap down to a 2.9 and dropping, so my game right now is better than its ever been. Here's to hoping we can both achieve our goals sooner rather than later.

By the way, I don't want to burst your bubble, but from what I've heard, if you start working in the golf industry, unless you are lucky, your playing time actually decreases. You'll spend more time giving lessons, working in the pro shop, etc. instead of actually playing.
 
Good luck in your pursuit!
 
Good luck on your journey and I will be following along!


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Good luck.

I must admit though, working in the industry doesn't allow you to play more unless you go to a really old school Private club.
 
Good luck! Glad to see you working towards your dream.
 
What a cool goal. I would love to do something similar to you as well. I am not concerned with playing more but I would love to get into the industry just so I can always be around golf. I love to help others get better and try and grow the game of golf.

Looking forward to following along with you and wish you nothing but the best!
 
Very cool story. Best wishes on achieving your goal.


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Great story! Enjoyed reading it. Good luck on your journey to scratch, or plus.
 
Thanks to everyone for following along and the kind words!

I guess I should clarify my working in the industry comment.

Currently, I am the assistant manager for a local restaurant and am required at least 45 hours a week to maintain my salary. My pay is decent and definitely covers all my expenses. However, the majority of my shifts are 12 hours long with me on my feet for all 12. You'd think after 3 years my body would be used to it but 12 hours of constantly running around with one 20 minute break takes a serious toll over time.

The last thing I want to do is go to the course at 7am and practice for 2-3 hours and go work a 12. Especially if I had to close the night before and didn't get in bed until 3am. I may be young but not that young. My body doesn't care for only 4 hours of sleep like it used to.

My coach is the CEO and part owner for a golf management company that currently owns 6 (might only be 5 still with number 6 on the way) courses. If they are like every other golf course around here, you get free golf and range time. I worked for a course when I was 16 and I would constantly go the range before and after shifts.

With my coach knowing my goals, I'm pretty sure my playing time would increase by leaving the food industry. Maybe I'm too optimistic but that's my hope.

On a side note from all of that:

Ary makes a very good point. My long game is already there and just needs little tweaks here and there. My short game is pretty bad for my expectations. I lose 95% of my strokes from 150y and in. So my current plan of attack and my lesson (s) are all around the green. I'm hoping to get an hour a day on the putting green to really solidify everything. The nice thing is that this part is basically free already.

Thanks again to everyone!
 
You got game buddy. I got an upclose look at your game at the Outing and its solid and impressive. Biggest thing I can say with the practice side is use your off time wisely. Get up and go early, stop at the course for an hour after work and hit the green. Work at home, at times I'll go up in my loft and roll putts on the birdie ball and listen to music or turn on something golf related to just surround myself. The biggest thing is just find the time to make practice and make it quality practice. Good luck Ryan and we have a lot of the same goals so I'll be interested to follow along with you.
 
You got game buddy. I got an upclose look at your game at the Outing and its solid and impressive. Biggest thing I can say with the practice side is use your off time wisely. Get up and go early, stop at the course for an hour after work and hit the green. Work at home, at times I'll go up in my loft and roll putts on the birdie ball and listen to music or turn on something golf related to just surround myself. The biggest thing is just find the time to make practice and make it quality practice. Good luck Ryan and we have a lot of the same goals so I'll be interested to follow along with you.

Thanks man! But if you want to see some good game, you're the one to follow. It was awesome playing at the outing. I never truly witnessed a shaft load and unload until I watched your swing.

If you stand behind Playdough and watch the club, you can watch in real time as the shaft loads at the top and torque he exerts on the club. I found it really cool to watch each time you loaded up that 3 wood.

I'm such a smooth transition at the top that I'm not sure my shafts even bend at any point in my swing.
 
Thanks Ryan! Means a lot. Your swing is solid. I'm in the same boat with you and my short game is where I lack. It was amazing after about 2 weeks of work how much better my short game got and then how fast it regressed when I got comfortable with it and stopped working as hard. Our post crossed as you was talking about the 12 hour shifts and how its hard to want to get up and go early. I'm on mine about 9 a day, and it was funny at first I found it really easy to get up and go and work because I was seeing almost instant results. But as time went by and the results where staying the same and I wasn't seeing a marked increase in results it got harder to want to go. If you can get past the platue in practice you will be well on your way to some great things.
 
Thanks Ryan! Means a lot. Your swing is solid. I'm in the same boat with you and my short game is where I lack. It was amazing after about 2 weeks of work how much better my short game got and then how fast it regressed when I got comfortable with it and stopped working as hard. Our post crossed as you was talking about the 12 hour shifts and how its hard to want to get up and go early. I'm on mine about 9 a day, and it was funny at first I found it really easy to get up and go and work because I was seeing almost instant results. But as time went by and the results where staying the same and I wasn't seeing a marked increase in results it got harder to want to go. If you can get past the platue in practice you will be well on your way to some great things.

Funny you say that actually. Mark told me yesterday that it will be quite easy to get down to a 2 hdcp. It will be getting over that hump that is the hardest.

I've already witnessed this when going from a 7 to a 4. I shot down to a 4 in just a couple weeks but plateaued pretty bad and have climbed back towards a 6 as of late. It's all just part of this game that we love and play.
 
Good luck in going low! I've been as low as 2.5 but can't get back. Just don't have the time anymore to put in the needed work.
 
I look forward to keeping up with this thread. Best wishes!
 
It's been over a month since I've updated this thread but I've had nothing to update in reality.

My coach has disappeared and I haven't heard from him in weeks so another change may be coming.

Our season is running short here in Utah. The end of October is really the latest you can play with decent conditions.

My golf game has gone pretty down hill in the last month as work picked up and I've not practiced once. In Florida this past week was the worst golf I've played in 10 years but thanks to Freddie it may be turning around.

I've been hitting everything on the toe lately. Even my chip shots drift toward the toe so I an working on that right now.

Just for my own reference:

Stand taller and closer to the ball. Dig my left knuckles into the ground.

I hope to get at least 10 more rounds in and some range time this season.

That's all for now.

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Great read Ryan. I hope you make some progress and achieve your goal. I work in the restaurant business as well so I know about being on your feet all day. I'm a bartender but I spent a little time in management and it can be tough to find the time to go play when you're working 45-50 hours a week. One of our newest managers used to be a golf pro and now he only plays a few times a year. When I'm asked to pursue a management position I always say "it would cut into my golf time" :)
 
This reminds me that a lot of times one just has to somehow get lucky. I sometimes think how many people are out there pertaining to any sport who have the drive and the talent and the passion to be professional but lack the resources of knowhow, time and money to have ever done so or just never caught the right breaks to have ever done so even with the other resources.

To take things an exaggerated step further, I can wonder how many potential "hall of famers" in a given sport are living day to day lives among the masses if only they were fortunate enough to pursue their dream but were not lucky enough to ever do it or in some cases never even realize any of it.

Just some thoughts I always found interesting but Anyway, I do wish you luck with your hopes and dreams to be a pro golfer. And I do hope all the things fall into place for you to give it an honest try. The whole thread has been good to read.
 
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