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A Week Inside the Ropes Part 1
If you granted golfers one wish and they could have anything they wanted within the realm of golf, you would likely get a tremendous range of answers.
Some might want to play Pebble, others would want to tee it up at Cypress, and many would want to play with Tiger, while others would want to own a handmade Scotty Cameron. However, my wish was always to play in a PGA Tour event and it became a reality in 2001, when I qualified for the PGA Tour’s Genuity Championship, hosted at Doral, in Miami, Florida. I will attempt to share with you my experiences, the good and bad, how I got into the event, and my week inside the ropes.
The years leading up to my qualifying for Doral were challenging ones to say the least. Growing up I was a hockey player, having played for almost 15 years. So golf was foreign to me, and was not what you would call a normal sport where I grew up, falling into it almost on accident. During one of my off seasons, a few of my hockey teammates were going to play and asked if I wanted to go along, I accepted, and the rest is history. I soon fell in love with the game, the challenge and the peacefulness of it, a complete change from the rough, physical, team like aspect of hockey. It was the polar opposite of what I had loved for all of my life, yet I was ensnared by the grasp of this game called golf. I started to play all the time during the summer months in New England, and took some lessons along the way, with one of the club pro’s at Winchester Country Club. This is where I found out about the PGCC, and where I would go to school a few years later.
After graduating from the golfer’s college, I took a job back in New England at Sky Meadow Country Club, one of the finest golf courses in New Hampshire (formerly the number one ranked course in the state). There I started to play some tournament golf in the New England assistant’s association tournament series. I fared well in some events, and played mediocre in others. It was tough because I knew that I was better than my scores, my golf swing was very good, and had the mentality of someone who would never give up. The one area that was lacking was my putting prowess. It would be something that would hinder me for most of my professional career. I then moved down to Florida, and this would be the start of my path toward fulfilling a dream that previously was only that, a far fetching dream.
Late in the year of 1997 I started my tenure at PGA National, where I would work as a cart guy, an assistant professional, and ultimately the first assistant. During those years finding the time to play while working full time was a job in and of itself. Anyone who has worked in the industry knows that maintaining your game is a tremendous challenge and one that you must stay on top of, if you want to be competitive. Luckily I loved playing tournament golf, and the club that I worked at had decent privileges for its employees, not to mention there were always games going around if you wanted some action. So this is where I met some of the guys that would help fine tune my game to the point where I would be able to compete at a high level, high enough to qualify for a tour event.
I played in dozens upon dozens of tournaments over the next few years, winning some, and starting to make a little name for myself down there in Florida. I could shoot a good score at any given time, or I could shoot a not so good score as well. Some of my buddies would be waiting in anticipation to hear of my round after the tournament was over, curious to see if the good Dan or the bad Dan was going to show up this week. It became sort of a joke between me and my closest friends. Luckily I started to get more consistent and post better scores more often than not. I think that this was some of the confidence that led up to my qualifying. A confidence that ones needs to perform at a high level, without it you will get steamrolled by the rest of the good players that are out there. I can still remember the practice sessions with my buddies, out there at 6:00 until dark at 8:45, chipping and pitching, trying to hit the broken picker at 85 yards, or hitting drivers to the back of the Haig range (signifying that you caught it!). These were the good times, and there were plenty of good players down there in Florida when I was there. I can remember hitting balls with Briny Baird or Brett Wetterich, who were good friends with my roommate, and asking them questions all the time (this was before either was on tour). Caddying for my roommate that played on the golden bear tour, just to figure out how they did it and why they could shoot 69 more often than I could. All of these things helped make me a better player, all helping me to qualify for Doral that Monday in the not so distant future. Without the help of my friends, peers, and professionals with regard to my golf game and confidence, this would have never happened.
Forward now to 2001, I was a 29 year old club professional and now a 3 year member of the PGA of America. I was still working at the same upscale resort in West Palm Beach, and was playing tournament golf whenever I could. Most events that I could afford were PGA sanctioned events during the summer months. The winter tournaments in Florida are few and far between, plus it is hard to get the time off because we are in the middle of season and busy with work, lessons, and other job related duties. But by the end of January, season is still in full swing, but you now start to look ahead to the tournament season. This was around the time when the qualifiers for the tour events surface and you start to prepare for them.
I was still known as an underachieving player, a lot of talent but never seemed to put it together for long stretches. I would win an event one week, and next week I would miss the cut or shoot 79. But 2001 was different for me. Following up a great 2000 season, I had some great rounds at my home track during the off months, even shooting a career low round 63, with two bogeys. I had continued to develop my new approach to the game, information that I continued to receive from some of my mini tour friends, and then reaffirmed with my more consistent play. I would continue to caddy for them from time to time, to see what they did better than what I did in tournament play. They were proponents of eliminating one side of the course, telling me, “Eliminate half the course, and your scores will drop”. So I was on a mission to approach the game in another way, a way to figure out how to eliminate one side of the course, and the shot shape that would allow me to do that. I had been working on this aspect of my game for a year or so and in late ‘99 things were really getting good, and then in early 2001, I was shooting great scores more often and my game steadily becoming very consistent. Left to right it was, I just found it easier to do and like Hogan said, “You can talk to a fade, but a hook does not listen”.
The Monday qualifier for Doral was just around the corner and I had a great schedule at work that week. I was able to play every other day, and on Sunday before the qualifier. So I figured I would be firing on all cylinders going into the qualifier, and indeed that was the case. I shoot 69, 63, 68, 67 during the previous two weeks, and a late afternoon nine of 34 on Sunday night, after an impromptu putting session just before the qualifier the day before. So Monday morning comes around and the weather is perfect, a little chilly to start the round, and then it proceeds to warm up nicely and the wind is picking up, getting gusty up to 20 mph. To make a long story short, I shoot 70 and wait in the clubhouse for about 3 hours. During that time I managed to consume my fair share of Beam and Cokes, and if a playoff had in sued, I would have been useless. I also was able to analyze my round and figure out that I really played well and eventually hung on to shoot the score that I did. Had it 4 under on the front nine and was cruising along, and then hit a small road block on the back with a double on the 15th hole. Somehow I managed to get it into the clubhouse, getting it up and down from no where on 17, and then two putting on 18 from about 50 feet. I was drained mentally, and the post round beverages were going, so lucky for me a playoff did not happen. Then the last really strong player came in from the final group and he had shot 73, I had actually done it; I qualified for the PGA tour event at Doral. It was that single most important thing that I had done in the game of golf up to that point.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludwig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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News
Morning 9: Aberg: I want to be No. 1 | Rory’s management blasts ‘fake news’ reports
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News
Masters 2024: Reduced-scale clubhouse trophy and green jacket to Scottie Scheffler
In the world of golf, there is Scotty and there is Scottie. Scotty Cameron gave the world of golf a nickname for a prestigious putter line, and Scottie Scheffler has now given the golf world a blueprint for how to negotiate one of the toughest tournaments to win. Sunday, Scheffler won the Masters tournament for the second time in three years. He separated from the field around the turn, making a trio of birdies at holes eight through 10. On the long walk home, he added three more birdie at 13, 14, and 16, to secure a four-shot win over Masters and major-championship rookie Ludvig Åberg.
On No. 7, Ludvig Åberg makes birdie to move into a tie for second place. #themasters pic.twitter.com/ZSjcOr9OQK
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 14, 2024
As the final group moved along the ninth hole, a quadrilateral stood at 7 under par, tied for the lead. Scheffler, playing partner Collin Morikawa, and penultimate pairing Max Homa and Åberg advanced equally toward Amen Corner, with the resolution of the competition well in doubt. Morikawa flinched first, getting too greedy (his words) at nine and 11. Double bogey at each dropped him farther back than he wished, and he ultimately made a 10-foot putt for bogey at the last, to tie for third position.
Ludvig Åberg made the next mistake. Whether he knew the Ben Hogan story about the approach into 11 or not, he bit off way more than he should have. His approach was never hopeful, and ended short and right in White Dogwood’s pond. Åberg finished the hole in six shots. To his credit, he played the remaining seven holes in two-under figures. Finally, Max Homa was the victim of the finicky winds over Golden Bell, the short, par-3 12th hole. His disbelief was evident, as his tee shot flew everything and landed in azaleas behind the putting surface. After two pitch shots and two putts, Homa also had a double bogey, losing shots that he could not surrender.
Why? At the ninth hole, Scottie Scheffler hit one of the finest approach shots of all time, into the final green of the first nine. Scheffler had six inches for birdie and he converted. At the 10th, he lasered another approach shot into a tricky hole location, then made another fine putt for birdie. Within the space of 30 minutes, Scheffler had seized complete control of the tournament, but Amen Corner still lurked.
Scottie Scheffler is back in sole possession of the lead. #themasters pic.twitter.com/MGytXpJcXH
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 14, 2024
At the 11th, Scheffler played safely right with his approach. His chip shot was a wee bit too brave and left him a seven-foot comeback putt for par. He missed on the right side and gave one shot back to the course and field. His tee ball on 12 was safely aboard, and he took two putts for par. On 13, the 2022 champion drove slightly through the fairway, then reached the green, with his first two shots. His seventy-foot-plus putt for eagle eased up, four feet past the hole. His second putt went down, and he was back in the birdie zone. As on nine, his approach to 14 green finished brilliantly within six inches. His final birdie came at the 16th, where he negotiated a nine-foot putt for a deuce.
Leader by four with two to play. #themasters pic.twitter.com/KcoilYExDr
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 14, 2024
Scheffler reached 11 under par and stood four shots clear of Ludvig Åberg when he reached the 18th tee. His drive found the lower fairway bunker on the left, and his approach settled in a vale, short and right of the green. With dexterous hands, Scheffler pitched to three feet and made the putt for par. With a big smile, he embraced caddie Ted Scott, who won for the fourth time at Augusta National, and the second with Scheffler. Ludvig Åberg finished alone in second spot, four back of the winner. Not a bad performance for the first-time major championship participant Åberg, and not a bad finish for the world No. 1 and second-time Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler.
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Dan G
Sep 24, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Thanks JD,
The second part of the story will be out here soon. That is where the good stuff is.
And yes I have played some great golf, won tournaments, shot so many rounds in the 60’s I cannot count them anymore, and I really did not even sniff a life on the tour. Just shows you the depth on the mini tours, pro tours, and in golf in general.
There was a stretch where I could have made a run with some backing financially. But those days are long past.
John Dortmunder
Sep 24, 2007 at 5:22 pm
and Dan, congrats on this fine accomplishment, I’m sure you’ve had other good results as well…
JD
John Dortmunder
Sep 24, 2007 at 5:21 pm
To me the moral of this story is there are SO MANY INCREDIBLE players in Florida that you’ve never heard of, not to mention the rest of the U.S., that anyone who is critical of mid/lower level Tour players and categorizes them as “journeymen” just doesn’t know WTF they are talking about.
Every player who’s ever even attained a full-time card on the PGA Tour is a world class player ball striker regardless of if they ever do anything else in their career…the defining items at that point are typically putting and/or minset. Zach Johnson will readily admit that his caddy Damon Green is a better ball striker than he is!! (Damon had his card in about 1993 or so)
JMO.
JD
Dan G
Sep 20, 2007 at 5:06 pm
PGCC is the Professional Golfers Career College. It was very popular when I went to school in the early 90’s as there were not many golf management programs out there.
Mike Lane
Sep 20, 2007 at 3:13 pm
What is the PGCC?
M Anderson
Sep 20, 2007 at 6:48 am
Awesome! Can’t wait to read the next instalment.