Eh, I'd wager that almost all of these guys are plus handicaps. They definitely look terrible on the show, but I think the pressure is brutal.

I saw the first two episodes in their entirety finally. Some of the guys seem cool. Shank and David (?) and Kent (?) seem to be the coolest, and probably the best. I'm not very good with remembering names obv.

The short game stuff is pretty gross. Loved watching the 4 shots our of the bunker(s). I don't think I've ever seen somebody take a 120% swing for a simple greenside bunker shot before. Wtf was that lol.

Catching up on the season. God, the marine is a douche. I have all the respect in thhe world for the troops, but any member of the military who holds that fact openly over peoples heads loses all of that respect.

I know a Marine who does this. Every year on Memorial Day, w/o fail, he somewhat jokingly tells a bunch of us that nobody thanked him for his service and calls us a bunch of self-serving bastards.

Anyway, I am watching an ep right now (never seen this show before) where the guys have to chip over a big sign and onto the green. Is this a rerun?

Can these guys win anything besides cash? A spot on a tour or something? Sponsor exemptions?

I think they get cash, a spot in a PGA tour event next year and maybe some sponsorship money as well.

Had a navy ROTC guy on my dorm floor freshman year who thought he was commander-in-chief. One of my friends was going to the water fountain and ROTC guy like jumped in his way playing around and wouldn't let him through the hall, so my friend got ticked and just stared at him and said something like, quit acting like a ****ing idiot. ROTC guy grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against the wall (he was twice the size of my friend) and pointed out how he was serving our country and made my friend thank him while choking him out against the wall. So since then I've had to be wary about thinking all of our troops are wonderful, humble guys.

If anyone in the military wants to be thanked for their services I tell them to **** off. I lose all respect for someone who needs gratification like that and act like they deserve it. For all the soldiers out there who aren't like that, thank you for not being dickbags.

I expect the guy to send aforementioned annual email in the next 12-18 hours. Will report back.

I saw the most recent ep yesterday and saw this thread had blown up and figured it was because of that Floyd kid's mishap, and that's more or less what it is.

And it seems that every season this same debate happens. "lololol these guys suck" followed by "it's a misrepresentation of their abilities", etc. Well the quote above is just about perfectly put and basically everything tzwien or whatever posts is huge lol because 1) he either has no idea how other people work and/or 2) is more awesome than the rest of us and is using this thread as some sort of protracted brag. Which means he's basically submitting his application to be the Hen.ry17 of the golf forum.

It's pretty clear to most of us that knowing that having to hit a shot cold on TV and that it will be immortalized in film is something which looms like a huge trainwreck waiting to happen. I think back to some of my most embarrassing tourney golf moments and am grateful that they won't be coming to you via a GC marathon, ever.

And if there is any doubt about the correctness of this, Sara Brown was on the show and verified it, as have many other former contestants. "It's the most pressure I've ever felt" over and over again. Not a coincidence.

I just figured good golfers weren't pussies. All the golfers I know that are better than me thrive at getting to show off their skills. I didn't realize so many people were still insecure even when they can shoot mid 60's.

We weren't talking about the average golfer's mentality.

Who to believe.

tzwien

-or-

a bunch of pros and people who have actually been on the show and experienced it firsthand. Too close to call.

tzwien, I think you just need to come to terms with the fact that you are simply more awesome than everyone else.

As an aside, it would be tempting to ask to stop with the offtopic military stuff but I'm too annoyed by forced displays of patriotism at sporting events to be upset by the backlash.

I never said I was good, bro.

And to claim "it's the most pressure I've ever felt" is probably true for most of the people, since wtf have they played in that would be bigger than that? I wasn't arguing that there isn't pressure.


I'm not even sure what your problem is. Were you on this show at some point in earlier seasons and you think I'm bashing you?

Yeah, they're only playing for

Option A) -A **** ton of money, a chance to play on a PGA tour event, and opportunity to live the pro golf dream and further their golf career

or

Option B) -complete embarassment on national TV, utter failure, and going home and evaluating what their chances are to ever succeed in golf if they can't even beat 10 other yahoos in a silly TV game

All the while, doing challenges and competitions COLD, most of which are silly and designed for TV, and have nothing to do with a normal golf course stroke or match play rhythm that they are used to. The guy who won the D-II national championship failed HARD on the very first episode. And he won a nat'l champ so I think he's been under, and knows, pressure.

Yeah, and Tiger has been choking dick pretty much every tourney since he's been outed as a satyromaniac. Just because a great player fails hard doesn't mean they are succumbing to pressure.

But do people who do this as a profession really think that negatively about possible outcomes? I wouldn't think they'd make it as far as they have if they were always thinking how badly something could turn out.

And thats why these guys are playing on a reality TV show and not on the PGA Tour

First off, LOL at using Tiger as a measuring stick for pressure moments... like are you serious?

2nd, you may not have been arguing about pressure, but you are way underestimating the amount of pressure these guys are under. Bc you said they shouldn't feel pressure in front of a camera crew of 15 guys... don't worry that millions of people will watch their every shot on TV. Buuuutttt they should feel more pressure if 10,000 people were watching them live.

Also f' big numbers. Put me in front of everyone I know and then put me in front of a crowd the same size that includes nobody that I know. Everyone will probably be way more nervous in front of everyone they know, bc those are the people who's opinion they care about the most. Now just extrapolate that into everyone you know is probably going to watch the show to see how you do, so obviously you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of them.

3rd,... did you really just say... "But do people who do this as a profession really think that negatively about possible outcomes? I wouldn't think they'd make it as far as they have if they were always thinking how badly something could turn out." This is the question that sports psychologists have been trying to figure out forever. People don't just step up to a challenge and go "oh im going to do this..." they go "well how can I mess this up, don't do this, don't do that, c'mon dont **** this up"

all you have to look at is this

these are world class golfers, granted these are guys going in with the lead in their first major, but the guys on the Big Break... well this is their Major... this is the biggest thing they've ever teed it up for. Your spectrum of experience from what I can gather from your posts is high school golf?... c'mon man...

back on topic: i hate the marine more than anything, complete douchebag/hasn't hit a semi-respectable shot yet. If he says something about sharpening bayonets again I'm going to lose it. We get it bro, you don't like to lose. As ship---this referenced earlier...neither does any other person who is remotely competitive. Also the guy from Texas is all talk, my guess is he won't step up once this whole show to confront someone. Final note, the guitar thing is pretty gay, considering it's all dudes on the show...

Ok, go get a million YouTubers to live stream with you while you tape yourself and go play a round. Then get 10,000 golf fans to get all up in your face while you play a round. How is this even a question which one is going to be harder to do? 1,000,000 people is just a number that never comes to realization. It never becomes a reality to you like the 10,000 people.

I'm talking about pros here. Not weak-minded hacks. If you make a final table of some donkament you're not going to be thinking how you can mess it up. You're thinking of ways you're going to ship the thing.


And experience can have nothing to do with how you handle golf pressure. I've seen 20 handicappers shoot 80 in club tournaments, which is their major. Some people are just clutch at life, some aren't. I was going on the assumption that most of the golfers that make it big have the advantage of having that clutch gene. But I guess some can get by on talent alone.

And for what it's worth, I've played some D2 golf (anyone who basically shoots in the 70's can) and have played and continue to play in some of the biggest amateur events in the state. But again, being good or not has nothing to do with debating this topic. I feel like I'm presenting some logical questions and scenarios and haven't gotten much in return besides trash talk and incoherent rhetoric.

This whole "they're so bad/pressure tho" routine is so hack.

Having confidence in your abilities is the key to overcoming pressure.
Regardless of how much pressure I feel, I always drive the ball well in tournaments, because I have a tonne of confidence in my driver.
I am not the most confident putter, and it shows in tournaments, alot of *please* strokes instead of *go* strokes.

Kent has tonnes of confidence in his abilities, he is a great putter and chipper, and I think he wins the show

I think your right...with that said, with the money management part being included, I also think he has a chance of making a huge mistake by being overconfident.

tzwien, I don't think your take on the pressure of the show is wrong, it's just that you really do sound like a douchebag. (Reid said it in a much nicer way)

I think it's hard to reiterate the same concept over and over to the same select few without sounding like a douchebag. But when they keep replying with faulty logic the debate really falls apart, which is evident in the last like 4 pages.

Ship was bringing up good points, though.

And you evidence HS tourneys, a little D2 golf, and some state ams while proclaiming you know everything about pressure. Faulty logic indeed.

You do ask some legitimate questions but its just the way you're going about this is kinda douchey

I never said I know everything about pressure. I'm asking from a pros perspective.

And me saying I handle life pressure well does not mean I'm experienced in all facets. I'm not saying I'd handle being in front of a camera that well. I'm merely searching the logic behind what would make people nervous about it.

I'm still on page one. You're doing it wrong