Akshay

[heavy_hitter]

I am beat down tired today. We left last Friday for the State Junior at around 1:30 in the afternoon. 2 Hour trip to practice for 2 hours on Friday. Played a course that was in the middle of no where and stayed 45 minutes away. Get up Saturday Morning at 6, Sunday at 5 and Monday at 5. Double tee times on each day. Sunday and Monday they did Top half off hole 12 and Bottom Half off of hole 1. So if you were middle of the field you got stuck with earliest tee time if off hole 12. Off hole 1 and they got the last tee time. Throw on top of all that little kids screaming in the pool outside our room until 10 and I got no sleep. Running on fumes today. I couldn't imagine the travel schedule of a golfer trying to make it or a minor league baseball player.

 

The boy is going to Orlando with his grandfather on Sunday to play in an AJGA. My dad is in store for a treat.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

So glad our hotel had the pool drained. It was the host hotel. Great thing about live scoring. You can send them along with another family member and just watch the scores pop up.

[NRB1917]

The debate of going to college vs turning pro after high school is very interesting. I strongly believe in the College route, not just for the sake of having a better education and a back up to potentially failing as a pro golfer, but because I believe colleges produce better professional golfers than the mini tours do.

Of the top 25 on the OGWR:

15 went to College/University in the USA (16 if you count Adam Scott who spent 1 semester at UNLV).60% of the golfers in the top 25 on the OGWR went to a US College/University (not counting Adam Scott).Of the 10 who did not attend a college in the US only 1 is American, Tony Finau, the others are: 1 from Northern Ireland, 3 from England, 2 from Australia, 1 from South Korea, 1 from Japan and 1 from South Africa. 13 of the top 25 golfers in the world are American.92.3% of American golfers in top 25 attended college/university in the US.The current No. 1 ranked player in the world (Rory McIlroy) did not attend college/university in the US but, the golfers ranked No.2 - No.8 in the world did attend a college/university in the US.80% of the golfers in the top 10 in the world attended a college/university in the US.Based on the above, I think it's undisputable that US colleges/universities produce better professional golfers.

The benefits of playing college golf in my opinion are as follows:

As a teenager/young adult, playing on a college team is probably more fun than playing as an individual on one of the toursFor the college golfer there is little or no financial pressure once tuition is payed for and no financial pressure at all if on a full ride. As a young pro there is financial pressure, the amount of pressure is dependent on the wealth of your family and/or, on whether sponsorships are secured or not, and if any are secured, then the size of the sponsorship/s.For the college golfer there are no costs after tuition is paid for and no costs at all if on a full ride. As a pro there are ongoing costs, Q School, tournament entry fees, accommodation, travel, food, caddy, etc. In college there is obviously pressure to perform to make the playing team and then pressure to perform in tournaments, it's not really life or death stuff. As a young pro you are under pressure to qualify and to perform to make the cut/a pay cheque/a living/to keep sponsorships. The pressure of playing for your livelihood is a much harder pressure to handle as a young adult. In college there is easy and free access to practice facilities/practice rounds for the most part of the year, as a traveling pro there is no easy and free access to practice facilities and practice rounds, this is only available at tournaments that you are qualified for and registered to play in.In college there is easy and free access to trackman/foresight/SAM Puttlab, etc. Young pros have no access or limited access to technology and, if available, then available at a cost.In college there is easy and free access to gyms, yoga, Pilates, etc. As a traveling pro golfer there is less easy access to these and there are guaranteed costs associated with use of gym's, yoga/Pilates classes and instructorsIn college there is easy and free access to coaches, sports psychologists, nutritionists, etc. Young pro's have less easy and no free access to coaches, sports psychologists, nutritionists, etc.There are obviously many other differences, pros and cons, I can't list them all.

I think if you don't have the financial resources to pursue a pro career immediately after school then college golf is the way to go, and you'll have every opportunity to mature and to succeed as a professional golfer. If money is not an issue, then diving into professional golf straight after school is an option worth considering, especially if you are physically and mentally mature and prepared for life as a professional golfer.

With specific regards to Akshay, I think that even though he was the number 1 junior golfer and the number 5 amateur golfer in the world, he wasn't mentally ready for the step up to the PGA Tour. I think Akshay would certainly have benefitted from some time spent in college/university. I don't know the circumstances, but it's one of two things, he either did not want to go to college or, if he wasn't a good scholar then maybe, quite simply, he didn't have the grades to get into one. If he chose to turn pro, then he, his family and his team need to take that on the chin, if however, he didn't have the choice to go to college, then I guess what's happening now is easier to live with.

I'm surprised though that with his golfing talent that he has yet to make a cut on the PGA Tour, Akshay would be well advised to try and look at these sponsors invites as "just another golf tournament", but he, most of you and I know that, that is easier said than done. Who knows what's next for Akshay, only time will tell, I think though, that it will be a while before we see another prodigy take Akshay's route/path to the pro ranks.

 

 

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

Junior Golf Kies Matt KiesPodcast ep. 44 with Coach Bratton. He spells this out. You would almost think he is talking about him directly.

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

[MB19]

Regarding Finau, I do wonder if college hoops was the backup plan in case something went horribly wrong in breaking into professional tournament golf.

While Finau likely was not an NBA talent, there would have been someone willing to give him a ride as long as his body remained sound.

[NRB1917]

Good thing that the golf worked out for Tony because I'm not sure that his ankles would have stood up to the rigours of college basketball.

[MB19]

Genetics are crazy--his cousin Jabari Parker has battled lower-body injuries his whole career.

[unclejim]

Still remember the painful scene that he dislocated his ankle in Augusta a couple years ago. Ouch !!

[leezer99]

Looks like he won an event on the Swing Thought Tour and will take in $14,000. Very happy he’s having some success that will hopefully springboard him to more.

[Noles]

-7 in the first round of the PGATourLA event yesterday.  Good start.  I think the tourney is only 3 rounds.

[leezer99]

Pretty good week overall.  Ended up T13 at The Invitational at Auburn Hills on the PGA LA.

[tungstenplug]

Playing the Safeway Open this week on PGA Tour. Interested to see if he can make the cut

[leezer99]

3 hours ago, tungstenplug said:

Playing the Safeway Open this week on PGA Tour. Interested to see if he can make the cut

 

3 putt bogie on his second hole but has followed it up with 3 consecutive birds.  Things are lookin' up!

[MikekiM]

Looking up for the kid..

T-9: Akshay Bhatia, 272/-16, $166,650.00

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

22 hours ago, MikekiM said:

Looking up for the kid..

T-9: Akshay Bhatia, 272/-16, $166,650.00

Next event should be the Corales Championship with that finish.

[leezer99]

T9 to a MC.  Is there an issue with consistency?  

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

On 9/25/2020 at 11:09 PM, leezer99 said:

T9 to a MC.  Is there an issue with consistency?  

issue was the second day.  He was fine day 1. 

[BFD3]

On 9/25/2020 at 8:09 PM, leezer99 said:

T9 to a MC.  Is there an issue with consistency?  

This could be happen to any golfer at any level, even seasoned pros. It might be even more pronounced at higher levels because every player has a chance to win most weeks.  If anything, in this case, the T9 is the outlier. 

[leezer99]

DNF / WD from today's Monday Qualifier for the Shriners.  Only time I've seen guys WD that aren't already in is if they are playing poorly.

 

[grm24]

On 9/30/2020 at 11:29 AM, bdecena said:

If anything, in this case, the T9 is the outlier. 

 

Exactly and by a long shot. He has played in 9 PGA Tour events since turning professional. 8 M/C and the 9th place finish. Doesn't mean he won't be successful in the future. Look at the career start of Justin Rose when he turned pro at age 18. He missed his first 21 cuts as a professional. He's done pretty well for himself. Wish him luck. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by grm24

[grm24]

On 9/25/2020 at 11:09 PM, leezer99 said:

T9 to a MC.  Is there an issue with consistency?  

Yes. 1 made cut in 8 starts on the PGA Tour as a pro.

Edited October 6, 2020 by grm24

[leezer99]

7 hours ago, grm24 said:

 

Exactly and by a long shot. He has played in 9 PGA Tour events since turning professional. 8 M/C and the 9th place finish. Doesn't mean he won't be successful in the future. Look at the career start of Justin Rose when he turned pro at age 18. He missed his first 21 cuts as a professional. He's done pretty well for himself. Wish him luck. 

 

People always throw in JR's pro start but before turning pro he was 4th in The Open as the Low Am.  He had proven at that point that he had game.

[leezer99]

I’ve turned a corner and have come to respect Akshay’s decision to go pro. Lots of great talent goes to college but very few get better and quite a few get worse over four years. If their dream is to go pro they should skip college. 

[wildcatden]

Listed at 6'0" and 130lbs, he needs to crank up the Orgain protein shakes.

[pinhigh27]

37 minutes ago, leezer99 said:

I’ve turned a corner and have come to respect Akshay’s decision to go pro. Lots of great talent goes to college but very few get better and quite a few get worse over four years. If their dream is to go pro they should skip college. 

very few get better? 

[leezer99]

55 minutes ago, pinhigh27 said:

very few get better? 

Correct. Less focus on golf, instructor a plane ride away, girls or boys, other distractions and so on. A singular focus would be better for their development. 

[heavy_hitter]

9 hours ago, leezer99 said:

Correct. Less focus on golf, instructor a plane ride away, girls or boys, other distractions and so on. A singular focus would be better for their development. 

 

I am not sold.  You learn to balance time.

[leezer99]

6 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

 

I am not sold.  You learn to balance time.

 

So JT, Jordan, Matt Wolff all learned how to balance their time in under two years?  Give me one year of any college's tuition and I can teach your kid time management in a week.  Take the second year's tuition and use it on coaches and tournament fees. After a week learning time management, the other 100 weeks he/she can spend practicing, competing and learning how to get the ball in the hole faster.

 

The greatest trick that every junior tour plays on parents is convincing them that a college golf scholarship is the key to success when in reality college is a fall back plan.

[heavy_hitter]

1 hour ago, leezer99 said:

 

So JT, Jordan, Matt Wolff all learned how to balance their time in under two years?  Give me one year of any college's tuition and I can teach your kid time management in a week.  Take the second year's tuition and use it on coaches and tournament fees. After a week learning time management, the other 100 weeks he/she can spend practicing, competing and learning how to get the ball in the hole faster.

 

The greatest trick that every junior tour plays on parents is convincing them that a college golf scholarship is the key to success when in reality college is a fall back plan.

That is the exception, not the rule.