silly question, but if you had to guess what Patrick Cantlay's handicap is what would you say it is? Is he better than the average PGA tour player?

Im just trying to get an idea for how competitive the amateur field is compared to the tour.

probably +7 or 8...maybe lower. its hard to tell how he stands compared to an average tour player. last summer i would say that he was, i think it will be interesting to see how he follows things up this spring and summer with higher expectations from others since people know who he is. he is playing at riviera next week so we will see.

Ive had the luxury of caddying for Cantlay once. It was first round of qualifying for the US Am about 3 years ago. You play 36 holes that day and he had just finished his first round when I took over for the second 18. I believe he has shot 2 or 3 under the first round and shot even on his 2nd round. As far as I remember he made it through but I know he didnt fare so well after that. When I first started playing with him I knew he was on another level. Every single swing was the same, he never deviated from it. What he has cant be taught, you either have it or you dont. I remember him being sooooo clutch in certain spots. He never had any holes in his game, everything was pretty top notch. He wasnt a big driver of the ball, although this was back in 07, so we gave him a hard time for that but we all knew he was going to be huge. I really do hope in the future I have the privelage of saying Ive played golf with the #1 ranked player in the world.

Stadler - have a friend on a D3 team that gets rather nice discounts on TM equipment. Offered to get me a new driver with said discount but is afraid of any ramifications etc of passing it along to me. Any idea if this is a huge deal ?

This is something I am always cautious about. Through my team we are able to get most equipment for free. Taylormade came and fit everyone last November and I think everyone got a driver and some got woods/hybrids. However at a tournament earlier this month me and a couple teammates (the three of us get hooked up from Titleist) didnt have our R11's and the Taylormade rep was there. He didn't say anything to us that day, but the next day my coach told everyone on the team that they needed to return unused Taylormade clubs. The rep asked for it back cause they would rather have it returned than have players give it to other people who they could instead sell equipment to.

So moral of the story, your friend could hook you up but if he gets a club from the guy and then sees him again soon after and your friend isn't playing it the rep may be curious and ask. It's unlikely, but I'm always cautious with all the reps...its better to be friends with all of them and not do anything to jeopardize your deal with them imo. Since it sounds like he is paying something for equipment then it might not be such a big deal, but usually when companies give you product support they are very clear the equipment is to be used by you only.

i thought when this was originally posted he was some small time talent lol.

May I have your autograph?

COME ON STADLER SHIP THIS ONE TIME!!!!!!!!!

Just found this thread now, lots of knowledge here. Thanks for all your insight man. I can't believe that putt didn't drop, I was watching it in the pro shop and cursed (a little to) loudly when it lipped. The entire restaurant hear and I got in a bit of trouble. haha I will be following you closely in the future.

My first question is regarding how you feel about your future. Are you 100% set on going pro, or do you have a plan b with your degree? I ask because I feel having a back up plan might shift your focus from golf, but then again it's scary to gun for something with such low odds of success without a back up plan right?

Also, how do you mentally deal with going low? Like say your 7 deep on 13 tee, does your score ever creep into your mind and affect your play? Do you ever start thinking like "I could shoot 62 today"? I've talked to some tour guys who swear they have no idea where they are at in a round but I think it's BS. So how do you deal with that mentally?

Thirdly, how do you mentally prepare for a round? My sports psych tells me it's bad to go into a round with a number in mind but I hear pros talk about a number in pre-round interviews on tour so I'm not sure what to believe. How early do you get to the course, when do you hit the range, are you laughing and joking through the warm up process or are you getting mentally ready to go as soon as you hit the range, etc. Any insight on pre-round prep would be awesome.

Thanks man.

As far as turning pro, I am 100% certain I will turn pro after I graduate. I don't necessarily have a backup plan, but I will graduate with a business degree from Cal and if I don't play golf I think that having a degree like that from my school will help me out. I have always been interested in finance and banking, and over the years I have met some pretty good contacts in the finance world. Every one of them has told me that firms like hiring college athletes because of the characteristics they possess to work hard and focus on something they are passionate about. So I will play golf and see how things turn out, but if I am not successful I will likely try and go the finance route.

Dealing with going low can be difficult, and something that I haven't totally conquered either. I laughed a little when I read your "7 under on the 13th tee" cause that has happened to me several times at my home course (course record is 61) and my low is 62 (-10). I have had plenty of rounds where I was -7 thru 12 and went on to shoot 63/64. It's not easy to make keep making the putts. Usually when I score low I am not really thinking about what I could shoot. The one time I did shoot 62, I think I birdied three of the last 4 to finish and that is the easiest way to do it, cause you don't get really under par early and start thinking about what you could shoot. Shooting low is just a learning process. I don't think I broke par until I was 15, but once I did that I shot 70-72 a lot, but getting into the 60s was tough. Once I got into the 60s, started shooting 67-69 more often. I think I shot 65 for the first time when I was 16 and after that good rounds started to be 65-68 rather than 67-70. Now my career low is 62, 63 competitively and in competition I have probably only shot under 65 probably 8-10 times. So its a learning process, but the biggest mistake you can make in my opinion is thinking "I can shoot X today"

To mentally prepare for a round, I really don't do anything too special. I will loosen up hitting balls and get a feel for how I am hitting it that day and hit some putts but I don't have a rigid routine. I will usually just get to the course about an hour early and eat if I need to, putt for 15 min, hit for 20-25min putt for 10min and then head to the tee. I don't usually try to think about a score. I think that if you have a number in mind and say you get off to a hot start, I think that being preoccupied with a certain score before the round can limit how well you can play.

Thank you very much man. Really appreciate it.

Bump!!!

i second the BUMP

.

Did something happen with the dude?