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If you’ve read any of the stuff I’ve been writing about golf over the last 15 or so years you have probably noticed that I’m a big advocate of playing golf that counts, and that obviously means tournament golf. I have always seen the effort to improve at the game to be a cycle of practice, compete, practice whatever made you fail, then compete again so you know what to practice. Unless you quit playing, that cycle is unending. I suppose you could quit practicing and just play in tournaments but I haven’t run across anyone who has been able to do that with any success.
I have also said that competitive golf is a game of mostly failure and disappointment, with the odd success tossed in at random moments. Not many have the constitution to persevere in the face of such negative results, but that one character trait, the ability to take the body blows that losing brings and come back fighting harder, is what ultimately separates the ones who give up and the ones who eventually reach a higher level. One thing that definitely helps in this regard is the “love” of the game, a feeling that is apparent in a player’s work ethic. I don’t believe I have ever met anyone who really advanced their game without a genuine love of practice. When I see a junior who has to be cajoled and bribed into practicing I pretty much know that he or she won’t last, no matter what the talent level.
Golf is a game of levels. You can start with beginners then move up every 10 strokes or so until you get to golf played without handicaps. Once you move into playing scratch golf you have bumped up to a whole new game where you can measure yourself against every player keeping score, as long as you are playing the same course, from the same tees, as they are. At this point the levels, to the casual observer, begin to move closer together, while in reality they move further apart. So let’s say that your game has improved enough to qualify for the first time for the championship flight of your club championship. No more giving or getting strokes: now you have to play your opponents straight up, either in match play, or even more intimidating, medal play. It is here that we can delineate the “levels” I have been speaking of.
From qualifying for the club championship and competing at scratch it would be an advance to another level to actually win the thing. The next level you would seek out would be to qualify for your city, county, or state amateur championship, and compete at a reasonable level. Another jump would be to win at this level, or to qualify for a national event such as the US Publinx or the US Amateur. Another bump would be to qualify for match play in one of these national events. At the top of the amateur game is to compile a record that would get you invited to the best amateur events, the Porter Cup, Sunnehanna, the Western Am, the Players Am, etc…
For younger players it may be a goal to turn professional. I would always advise that there be success at the amateur level before doing this, as the levels only get more difficult to move up to and it is rare that anyone skips ahead. Now we are talking about making money, so we can use the baseball analogy and look at the progression to the PGA Tour as A, AA, and AAA. At the A level are State Opens, lesser mini-tours (lower entry fees and first place checks), and local or regional pro events. At the AA level you have the more established mini-tours such as the Hooters Tour or the E-Tour, with other highly competitive tours out west. The entry fees are steep and the competition is fierce, and it is here that a player must cut his teeth and eventually make it through second stage Tour School to advance to AAA, what is now call the Nationwide Tour. From here a few, 25 to be exact, make it to the PGA Tour each year, and of those maybe 30 % retain their cards for another year.
Sound daunting? You bet. I have always considered it a good idea not to have specific goals when it comes to looking at what I would like to accomplish in any given year. I agree completely with Tiger on this approach to the game, and when people ask me what my goals are I always say “to get better”. What more can you ask beyond improving, and when you compete, if you improve, your results will follow. You may want to play on the PGA Tour, but you had better learn how to win at the A level first. You may want to qualify for the US Amateur, but you should concentrate on qualifying for the State Am first. In the end it comes down to doing what it takes to get better, whether that is more time on the range, more lessons from a knowledgeable teacher, or more competitive experience. And it doesn’t matter where you are at the moment: all that matters is breaking through to the next level.
There are no real breakthroughs without the tangible results of tournament golf. The reason I haven’t been writing about my own tournament play is that I have not been playing well the last 3 years, and I have simply avoided writing about my struggles. I am not an excuse maker, and I still practice and compete, but I am not at the level I once was. I realize now that by not sharing my own struggles and successes with the people who are watching the website I am missing out on an opportunity to help the people who have demonstrated their interest in my approach to the game. So call it a “New Year’s Resolution” if you will, but suffice it to say that from now on when I play I will report in with my results and with detailed analysis of how I played and what I learned. I am confident that this will be an added benefit to the club site, and I’m sure it will inspire me to practice more and hopefully come up with better results to report. With the knowledge that I have accumulated over this year alone I feel that I am ready to break out of my slump and get back to being a player to reckon with among the nation’s seniors.
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