Pretty much how I feel.

And galaxies away from being pro.

I'm interested in how someone who's always played golf as their recreational sport, but excelled in other sports, would be able to do this? Let's say a 10-15 handicap, but clearly with athletic ability and a track record of success...would that affect this outcome if they had the same constraints? Picture a college QB who just didn't have the gusto to make it to the NFL.

Off the top of my head QB's and pitchers succeed very well at golf but I believe thats more to do with their hand eye coordination than their athleticism or all baseball and football players would be good golfers and this doesn't seem to be the case at all. Rarely do you see a non pitcher, QB or hockey player at the top of the celebrity golf tournies.

at one time Michael Jordan had intentions of being a top notch golfer.
He's worse at golf then he was at baseball.

I would think that soccer players could pick up golf quicker than most athletes.
I know that hockey players pick up the game quicker than others.

For me there is a barrier just above scratch and that's still miles away from pro. If I really play a lot I go from a 7-8 down to a 2-3, but never seem to get much lower than that. Maybe if I all I was doing was playing golf like this guy I could get it below scratch, but I doubt I'd even approach pro level and I've been playing since I was a kid. This seems very unlikely for him. It's an interesting story though and I think he could probably get down around scratch by the end, but I think he's too old to make it to any serious professional level.

thx for the link OP just seen this will be a good viewing.

All I have to say is good luck to him...you never get any where without trying!!!

I watched a show one time that was discussing this and they attributed a pitcher and QB's golf success largely to a couple things which they have to be intrinsically good at:

1) Not letting a bad shot bother them. QBs cannot dwell on a bad pass or an interception and are constantly thinking of the next pass. Pitchers cannot be rattled by giving up a 420 foot home run to go down by 4 in the third inning. They need to focus on the next batter/pitch and grind out putting up goose eggs on the scoreboard to try to win or to at least not wear out their bullpen.

2) Mental preparation of executing shots/passes/pitches. They said the mental process is very similar in that you envision what you are about to do and then, at your pace, execute it. QBs get to chose when to start the play but they also then have guys trying to tackle them unlike pitchers and golfers. But still it's about preparing for the next event and then starting the execution and following it through fully committed.

Hockey players it's more about the swing strength/mechanics they have developed by hitting something down at ground level. They also have elite lower body control/balance.

I heard baseball hitters do not translate too well. As a former pitcher, I can say though that the mental aspect has not translated to my golf game. I let shots bother me and beat myself up like crazy out there but this never happeneds when I pitch. I think it has more to do with being 1 on 1 against the next hitter and just wanting to own him. In golf, there is nobody to "own" but yourself...

Also baseball hitters swing a bat with a strong arm chicken wing and bent weak arm, so as to be able to adjust to pitches that can be anywhere. Keeping my left arm straight on backswing took a lot of practice for me as it felt counter-intuitive, and tucking my right elbow chicken wing has been even harder as I'm so used to keeping my back elbow "up".

baseball hitters being bad at golf is BS old timer hearsay.

nicklaus did fine with a flying elbow. soft left arm works just fine too. What other body part do you consciously keep rigid while swinging? why would you want to be tense on the backswing? just swing

I have to disagree with this. But I am an old timer so you probably knew I would.

I mean I don't think it's the curse of being a lifetime hack or anything, it's just been my experience that most (not all) struggle more than it seems they should.

I've played with quite a few former mlb/college baseball guys and they all smoke it. I think it's a case of misaligned expectations.

You'll see a great hitter struggle with golf but they are still a 10-handicapper even though they only play 1x a month. Compared to where the general population would be with the same experience, they are miles better at golf. Having effortless 110mph+ swingspeed helps a ton.

That was just a movie.

I've heard legends of Jim Rice hitting a golf ball.

Didn't mean baseball hitters are "bad" at golf, but I think there is a belief that pitchers do better than pure hitters.

Smoking a ball helps a little bit. I'm a 29 HC and last year in my first year playing I logged 4 300+ yard drives with an old driver and hitting used ProV1s. (max. 317 - Driver/7 pin high on 477 yard flat (though rock hard fairway and 100 degree temperature day hole) within first ~20 rounds. I'm still terrible at golf lol.

Hitters are certainly capable of mashing a ball but there is a lot more to golf than that.

Who are some of the best former MLBers? Maddux and Smoltz are pretty good I think. Glavine, too. I'll see if Google has anything on it.

pitchers (at least starters) probably have a lot more time to work on their golf game. not saying that they don't have to put in a ton of work but still pitching every 5/6 days isn't the same as preparing for a different pitcher every day.