Ship, be glad I will never have a chance to head butt you.. In the same sense u laugh at 98th percentile golfers, i laugh at 98th percentile headsizes... to quote 'one size fits all is really one size fits small..' Big heads unite!

Going to hit balls today for the second time since putting out at second stage. Should be fun.
What size is your melon?

Bruce Bochy- 8 1/8.

I work as a caddie at Alotian....would love to get that pic of grant and tiger....as you know he would never show me anything like that

bump

Great read.

Are you going to try and qualify this year?

Thanks for the bump

The bag bleeding on the shirt and ruining it happened to me too... at an US Am qualifier during a heavy downpour we played thru for 12 holes. Damn USGA!

wow, just found this thread and the bolded section made my eyes water

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Hey ship I was wondering in Andy Aduddell rings a bell? He was out on hooters tour when chad was winning everything

Holy **** how did I miss this thread? So awesome, one of the best on 2+2.

Do you ever consider playing the elite amateur events like the Crump? I am far less accomplished than you (I won an AJGA & was a junior all-american and played college golf), but really want to make a push once my kids grow up a little.

Is it just a case of having too much success at the professional level to give a **** about amateur golf?

Yes I remember him. I am pretty sure we played college golf against each other too. Memory is a tad foggy on it but I do remember him for sure.

That is the reason I went back to Q School. No way I don't sound like a dick here so....after chasing the dream and having the goal of winning the Masters (LOL) when I teed it up in the smaller amateur events in 2008 I just didn't care once I couldn't win. Grinding out a T-14 in the state am was just pointless to me as a 35 year old man with a kid who had played at a higher level.

However, to be competitive to the point where you show up expecting to win at the elite amateur level does take work and I just couldn't justify the opportunity cost of either putting off work or the family to practice for amateur events that don't pay. So I decided that with my new found golf intelligence from better instruction and psychology that if I wanted to see how good I could be I had to do it as a professional where I at least had a chance to get paid. That is the entire reason I entered Q School as an amateur in 2008.

I did really enjoy the US Mid Am in 2008. The USGA puts on such great events and tbh I am not sure if the main reason I liked it was due to the fact the winner gets in the Masters.

That said, I did just get my amateur status back (again) and am looking forward to trying the USGA stuff this summer.

haha! awesome story.

Wow, how rare is it for someone to get their amateur status back twice? It obviously seems reasonable in your case, but if I'm the guy opening that letter at the USGA, my first instinct would be "WTF, didn't we already go through this?"

You might be the first mid-am champion not to get invited to the Masters. Billy Payne will just say "Eff this guy, he's been a pro twice already. Let's give his spot to someone from the Asian Tour."

If you turn pro again at 50 to go for the Champions Tour, you would probably be the first golfer to turn pro three times. Maybe the first athlete in any sport?

It's probably not as rare as you think it is. You only can get it twice though so if I were to turn pro again that's it.

The Masters thing certainly has crossed my mind. I truly hope they don't do away with the exemption for the Mid-Am as that has become my top goal in the game at this point. I do think it is a good exemption as Bobby Jones was a career amateur and having 5 or so amateurs there is a great way to keep his memory alive. It is a limited field event obviously so the amateur presence doesn't "take away" a spot from a professional.

As for the Champions Tour I would be surprised if it is still around in its current form when I turn 50 in 10 years. The Tour has to subsidize it pretty heavily as is and I think they are getting tired of that.

Brag bump for current Golf Channel programming......assuming they don't show pre-cut scores. Then it's MUCH less of a brag.

Are you playing local qualifying this year? How's your game?

Great read.

I didn't try as I've only played about 8 rounds since last years Mid Am in early October. I've had a nasty case of tennis elbow and don't like winter golf in general. I've been working with a great chiro here in Dallas for a couple months and am finally seeing some results so coupled with the better temperatures I might start trying to dust off the clubs.

Back to the advice for the 25 year old me thread....guys, getting old sucks. Take care of yourselves and live a long fruitful life of activity. I'm certainly in the top 10% of 40 year old fitness levels and it's still really a major difference as you age.

Eat right, exercise, think clear, breathe deep, relax, meditate if need be, and remember it almost always works out in the end if you do those things.

What about sex? Lots of it? At Perkins? I need to make sure I steer my life in the right direction.

Ship - have you tried acupuncture?

My mom treats a ton of patients for tennis elbow with great results. Unfortunately, she's in Ohio so she can't help you personally.

Unsure when the last time mr. ship---this has been around these parts but he just qualified for the senior open!



https://www.instagram.com/reel/C70CW_nNCof/

Yeah buddy! Getting soaked the first few holes was worth it.

Nice long wait eh?

You played those 6 par 3’s in 2-under? **** off!

Great OP. My only brag on tournament golf is that I used to have a recurring dream that I somehow got in a major field. I'm a hacker, bogey golfer on easy courses, and don't even know real tournament rules. So anyway I'm playing with legends and somehow skirting by with some pars early on, when I know I can't shoot 120 in this situation. Hilarious. I forget how the dream ends.

HA! I was soooo not prepared for the rain that day. My caddie didn't get there until the first fairway and I didn't think it was going to rain so I was wrestling with my pushcart, bag topper, and umbrella the entire first hole.

As for the par 3's, woot woot! Of course not as good as the guy I played with in the actual US Open who hit back to back hole in ones!

I still can't believe I was actually paired with him!