Best Golfer Amongst Pro Pool Players?

memikey said:
That's great and doesn't surprise me at all, just jesting.....my own putter shaft needs some tender loving care after an encounter with a buggy cart path:)

Speaking of...

My father was playing with a family friend, when the friend hit a bad shot and threw his wedge at the cart. Well....it hit the tire and the back fender at the same time. Broke the shaft, bounced back, and the end of the shaft stuck IN his neck. Hospital, next stop.

Rick S.
 
Rick S......Ouch!


A visitor in our club bar (a US air force guy from Texas) told me that he once played with a guy who lost his temper and threw his wedge way up in the air and it lodged high up in a tree. He says that he then threw two other clubs up trying to dislodge it and both of them got stuck as well.

A cracker if it's true:)
 
Blackjack said:
I remember Johnny Archer shooting a 79 from the tips at TPC Sawgrass a few years back. That's a strong score for a PGA player, never mind a professional pool player. IIRC, I believe John Schmidt was there that day - and - in his words (not mine) - "putting like a blind man."

:p

I've played the stadium course right after the TPC tourney (have a buddy that volunteers there, and gets free passes). First time I played it was not pretty (86), but after playing it a few times since....I have broken 80 a few times on it (tourney conditions, and from all the way back). I agree with whoever said the courses are ridiculously tough for the BIG tourneys (Masters, TPC, US Open, PGA, etc.). The last time I played it I was a 3.6 handi, and shot 78. I ended the year last year at a 2.4, and I find in most cases most alledged SCRATCH golfers aren't quite as good as they claim.....what I call a VANITY CAP. Love those guys :D
 
hi johnny shot

archer and i went and played sawgrass 3 years ago from the tips.played it down.95 degrees with a slight breeze.johnny doubled the second hole and shot 76 .it was his first time on course.i made a 10 on the last hole to shoot 85.
 
trustyrusty said:
I've played the stadium course right after the TPC tourney (have a buddy that volunteers there, and gets free passes). First time I played it was not pretty (86), but after playing it a few times since....I have broken 80 a few times on it (tourney conditions, and from all the way back). I agree with whoever said the courses are ridiculously tough for the BIG tourneys (Masters, TPC, US Open, PGA, etc.). The last time I played it I was a 3.6 handi, and shot 78. I ended the year last year at a 2.4, and I find in most cases most alledged SCRATCH golfers aren't quite as good as they claim.....what I call a VANITY CAP. Love those guys :D


why in the world anyone wants a vanity cap is beyond me. I'm the exact opposite. I like my handicap nice and plump for all the big tournaments. If anyone asks, I am a 10. :D
 
john schmidt said:
archer and i went and played sawgrass 3 years ago from the tips.played it down.95 degrees with a slight breeze.johnny doubled the second hole and shot 76 .it was his first time on course.i made a 10 on the last hole to shoot 85.

10 on the last hole?

lol

and then Johnny and you went out to get you that new putter - which the following Monday ended up at the bottom of the pond on the 18th hole at Windsor Parke...

Stay with pool, John. It's your calling.

:)
 
john schmidt said:
archer and i went and played sawgrass 3 years ago from the tips.played it down.95 degrees with a slight breeze.johnny doubled the second hole and shot 76 .it was his first time on course.i made a 10 on the last hole to shoot 85.

76 is SUPER strong for his first time on that track!!! 18 from the tips is a bit intimidating isn't it :D I hit a draw, and each time I've played that hole....aim WAY right LOL. On another TPC course (Scottsdale) the first time I played it I shot 73, and was handed a big BAG 'O SAND to go along with my winnings :eek: :D ;)

You guys wanna try a really tough one, play Whistling Straights and Black Wolf Run (Kohler courses in WI) in the spring (soggy) with the fan blowing hard off the lake.....BRUTAL. I first played both of 'em mid summer, and we went back in the spring - scores varied by 10+ shots....from now on, summer for those courses :D

BTW, how many strokes will Archer give me when I tell him I'm a 10 handicap :confused: :p
 
corvette1340 said:
why in the world anyone wants a vanity cap is beyond me. I'm the exact opposite. I like my handicap nice and plump for all the big tournaments. If anyone asks, I am a 10. :D

I'm with you, I don't lie about it, but I do tend to walk a bit faster to the computer to log the bad rounds :cool: I broke 70 more than few times one year, and regretted it for the rest of that seaon....sheesh, mixing in an 80 or 82, whatever was NO HELP that year...

I live a mile from here....

www.weaverridge.com

so, if you are ever expecting to swing thru Peoria - give me a holler...
 
Last edited:
john schmidt said:
archer and i went and played sawgrass 3 years ago from the tips.played it down.95 degrees with a slight breeze.johnny doubled the second hole and shot 76 .it was his first time on course.i made a 10 on the last hole to shoot 85.


I am about a +9 lifetime on TPC Sawgrass..(from the tips)...

I have played it at least 100 times in all kinds of conditions.....

Did I mention that I have a PS2 and Tiger Woods 2003 hooked up to the TV in the pool room???;) :D

BTW...based on your above post...none of you would get any strokes from me...;) ....However...I would definatly clean the cob webs off the clubs to play a round of golf with any of the "golfing" pro pool players.
 
corvette1340 said:
why in the world anyone wants a vanity cap is beyond me. I'm the exact opposite. I like my handicap nice and plump for all the big tournaments. If anyone asks, I am a 10. :D

Its one of two things...or mainly 1.

They either want to try and qualify for the US Open which requires a 1.5 handicap or better, or they just want a badge to show the friends.

The majority (in my neck of the woods) are acutally in your boat...They would prefer a padded handicap in the other direction...typically those are the guys that "research" all the ameature events...(especeially the ones that have "net" skins games on the side)
 
BRKNRUN said:
You are on the money regarding practice time for a club pro...One way to limit the amount of actual play is to become a golf professional.

BTW...I WAS a club pro...It is a LONG story that I won't go into, but acutally I type this from the Golf course I still work at on Sunday's only.

I was in the PGA program (only so I could play section events).

Typically the club pros that qualify for PGA events will struggle to even make the cut...If as you say above the average score as above par...The club pros end up on the higher end of that list...Usually over the average score mark...Acutally they are partially responsible for raising the mark......A PGA set up course is just a different world.

I actually was considered a scratch golfer...I had the opportunity to play the TPC a couple weeks before the Phoenix Open (back when it was still called the Phoenix open)...It was already layed out for the event...(even had the famous #16 bleachers and everything)...The only difference was that the greens had not been scalped yet were already very firm and fast...I manged to shoot 72 that day... If I had taken that as a two day score for the upcomming event I would have missed the cut by about 8 strokes...Had I actually played on the same days...my score probably would have been 6-8 stokes higher (right were the "club pros" that qualified ended up shooting)

Also...There are courses that are rated "over par"....on those courses that you manage to shoot even par..you would be considered a + handicapp.

The average score you pose above would fall into that catagory of course.

Heck...honestly I would be happy to shoot an 85 at Agusta under the conditions they will be playing it....

Most people just have no concept of how hard these courses actually are.

Am I being unfair...I don't think so...I don't know of any "club pros" that would not trade in that job to start playing on the tourn if they could shoot the scores.....(Are there some that are...sure...they end up with tour cards)

Well, I assume some of you are familiar with Tiger's comments regarding a 10 handicap on a US open track which lead to the Golf Digest contest... "In light of a Tiger Woods comment that a 10-handicap could never break 100 at a U.S. Open venue, Golf Digest is running a contest for those amateurs out there who think they could do just that. Consequently, one lucky hacker will win the opportunity to play Torrey Pines outside San Diego the day before the U.S. Open week commences."

Basically Tiger said he didn't think there were ANY golfers with a true 10 handicap who had a prayer to break 100 at a US open venue set up for the open.

I'll take the over if someone sets up a Vbookie deal.....:)

Joe
 
Last edited:
Blackjack said:
I remember Johnny Archer shooting a 79 from the tips at TPC Sawgrass a few years back. That's a strong score for a PGA player, never mind a professional pool player. IIRC, I believe John Schmidt was there that day - and - in his words (not mine) - "putting like a blind man."

:p

No disrespect, but I don't believe there are too many PGA players that would be happy with a 79 on any course...I am assuming you are speaking of a PGA Tour player.
 
Very true

BRKNRUN said:
The only way you would find out is to hold a 4 round tournament where they all played the same course.

Frankly....and no disrespect to any of them as they all sound like well above average golfers, but I take very little stock in any handicap.

Although the handicap system is supposed to take into account the course difficulty etc. etc. the fact is that hardly any course represents anything close to what a PGA pro is going to play on.

Even Club Professionals that are listed as scratch or +1 that play mini tour events are not really scratch when you see thier scores poste on a PGA set up course.

In pool you can play on the exact same equipment that the PROs play on...(you can even have one in your house)....In golf very few actually get to test thier skills on the same course (conditions) that a PGA professional would play on......You can (say) you play on the same course...but you are not really...;)

I would have to bet against any of them breaking 80 if they were to tee off with the PGA pros at Agusta....Heck there are probably quite a few +1 handicaps (on paper) out in the world that would have a tough time just legally finishing a round at Agusta....;) :)

I played Muirfield Village GC last July ( 1mo after the PGA ) & the guy that took me said " If you shoot 80 at a muni, you will be lucky to break 100 here". He was right ! I'm a 12 handicap playing municipal courses around here and shot 102 that day. We played the course from the member blues (aprox. 6700 yds). I kept the ball in the fairway averaging 260 yd drives. You must have a mean short game to keep up on the pro's turf. The green on #17 has to be one of the toughest greens in golf. It was definitely the most fun I've had shooting over 100.
 
so it sounds like Shawn is saying that Johnny and John are + handicaps,which is better tha i had heard about johnny at least.there aren't too many true + handicap golfers in the world.
 
Worminator said:
No disrespect, but I don't believe there are too many PGA players that would be happy with a 79 on any course...I am assuming you are speaking of a PGA Tour player.

It doesn't matter to me - I probably couldn't break a hundred ...

on the front 9.

(Also- thanks John for correcting me on Johnny's score - it was a 76 - not a 79)
 
masonh said:
so it sounds like Shawn is saying that Johnny and John are + handicaps,which is better tha i had heard about johnny at least.there aren't too many true + handicap golfers in the world.

You are right about that....

There aren't many + handicap golfers in the world. One would have to play and practice at least 3 times a week and be extremely talented to play at that level.

Most of the guys on the smaller tours don't have a true + handicap... It is easy to cheat the GHIN System. Anyone can put in any score they want on any course they want. But I promise you that there aren't too many people that do anything for a living but play golf that truly have a + handicap
 
junksecret said:
Well, I assume some of you are familiar with Tiger's comments regarding a 10 handicap on a US open track which lead to the Golf Digest contest... "In light of a Tiger Woods comment that a 10-handicap could never break 100 at a U.S. Open venue, Golf Digest is running a contest for those amateurs out there who think they could do just that. Consequently, one lucky hacker will win the opportunity to play Torrey Pines outside San Diego the day before the U.S. Open week commences."

Basically Tiger said he didn't think there were ANY golfers with a true 10 handicap who had a prayer to break 100 at a US open venue set up for the open.

I'll take the over if someone sets up a Vbookie deal.....:)

Joe


That's an interesting point. But finding volunteers to prove Tiger wrong misses the point of what he was saying.

I'm going to answer the question of who the best pro pool playing golfer is by saying whoever has been working at it the most in the last few months is probably the best golfer. It sounds like any one of the players mentioned earlier is capable of shooting a lower number than the next on any given day so without knowing what they've been up to recently, it would be tough to tell.

There are thousands of ten handicappers that with a few weeks of extra practice and a good caddy helping them read putts and telling them distances could easily drop 3-6 strokes off their game and have a decent shot at breaking 100 on a US Open course, but they wouldn't be 10 handicappers anymore.

Folks are basically as good at anything as they want to be. Practice more you get better. Don't practice you don't get better. Maybe lucky once in a while, but not better.

Nothing wrong with being lucky once in a while. :D
 
Last edited:
Back
Top