Where are you going to layup on the par 3's? Specifically #3. Seemed like it was basically all carry to the green.

poker i am about the same as you. I think part of the problem is when i started in the game, i never learned a whole lot of the mental part of scoring. I .e. when i really started to play everyday when i was about 15 or so, I was working at a country club and went straight to the back tees becasue that is what everyone else was playing, so i would play as a 25 handicap from sixty800 yards. So everytime I am one or two under through 5 or six holes i begin to think, wow I am UNDER par...im not sure what exactly it is but i know it is mental because at my dads course I shoot around 75 to 80 from the 5800 yard tees with him and I will go play a 7k track rated 7 or 8 strokes harder and be around 75 to 80.

those par 3s are brutal. number three could get ugly. 9 may be worse because there is the hazard that could bring a six into play.

This will be my last post on the subject itt because I don't want to derail what is a really interesting and informative thread, especially with stads coming back to answer more questions. Happy to continue in another thread if someone wants to take it there.

1) You didn't play Torrey at 7650 (and I doubt you played it at 7650, those tees aren't open (blah blah you know someone who knows someone blah blah meow chow)) better than a course at 6500. Period. As a 3 or 4 handicap you didn't break 80 "pretty easy".
2) Daily conditions and US Open conditions are laughably incomparable. I've been lucky enough to play two USO venues within two weeks of either side of the event and it's not even remotely close to anything you would ever play at any other time.

Heh --

A girl competed in our City's Metropolitan Championship a few years ago. #5 was a Par 3 that played ~ 250.

She laid up to the women's tee all 4 rounds (IIRC) and parred it all 4 days.

Stads,

How will you go about picking a caddy if/when you turn professional? are these almost all high school/college friends that get theier start? I .E. I would imagine you have a few really good friends on cal that are probably just not quite as good as you are and don't have as much of a chance to succeed so they will probably get the first nod. amirite? If they are all too good and are also in need of caddies...I can loop for a while if you need it!

For the rough it depended how far you were off the fairway. They didnt do graduated rough, but within 5 yards or so of the fairway it was usually downgrain so you would get lies you could move it pretty good out of. If you were further off then it could be a crap shoot.
Hardest hole is 18, easiest besides 13 is 8.
There are some things that I want to work on after this week that I saw others doing well. Mainly short game and also better control of distance/spin. Usually my distance control is good but it wasn't as sharp this week maybe due to nerves. I have always spun it a lot so soft conditions didt make it a whole lots easier for me. I would have preferred it a little firmer I suppose.
95 would be a great round. My buddy and I figured that after round 1 at Augusta if he played very well he would shoot 85 and I would say he is a 3-5 handicap. Augusta is not nearly as difficult as Merion for the average golfer because its forgiving off the tee and the majority of the difficulty is green side. At Merion the entire course is unforgiving and greens are very difficult to chip and putt so I think you would shoot significantly higher on a normal day.

Guys hit 4 iron 246 because the tee shot on 9 plays 13 yards downhill and the pin was 35ish yards onto the green. Most probably were aiming right of it to the center where it is a shorter carry. The hole was also downwind

It isn't possible to describe how nervous I get. I was more calm at the open than I was at the masters. That experience definitely helped me.

I have a year left of eligibility and am close to graduating, I won't turn pro until I graduate.
Making the cut at a major gets me exempt into second stage of q school this year if I chose to enter, but other than that I didn't gain any other exemptions. Playing the open gets you into the US Am, but I am already exempt. I have a tournament this Wednesday-Saturday, the Northeast Amateur, one of the biggest tournaments of the summer.
Wicker baskets didnt make much difference to me really. I thought it was a lot of hype. There were flags all over the course. Every grandstand had 6-10 usga flags on top of it, there was a big American flag by 18, there was the blimp flying over head which typically was into the wind, and some of the cranes they put cameras on had flags on top. Also the yardage books have a compass oriented in the direction of the tee shot and approach on every hole, so checking the weather gives you a good feel. As well.

Hard to say what the score would have been. I think the setup would have been different if it was dry as far as hole locations and how much water then put on the course.

On Monday morning my teammate saw Phil and he told him that what we did as a team was incredible this year and we had a lot to be proud of, I'm paraphrasing but something along those lines. I ran into McIlroy and his dad early in the week and they said the same thing to me.

It's different for everyone. I have no plans what I will do when I turn pro. I have a couple of ideas for now, but that can change. Having an agent can help you find a caddy too it seems since they may know guys who want to go for a young guy or that they think would work well with you on the course.

stadler,

thanks for taking the time here. and good luck going forward!

Rory follows US college golf? That's amazing.

Congrats on your performance. Making cuts at majors must be incredibly gratifying.

What do you think of them making a hole like the 18th a par 4 despite its length? To my amateur eyes it seems like it was clearly a par 5 and a tricky par 5 at that. Although this ultimately has no effect on the tournament it still seems like a strange way to go about attempting to prevent anyone from breaking par.

I cannot believe the Cal golf team. It was abysmal when I went there. The hardest thing for me was not having a true home course. Tilden sucked with the mats. And the school itself is very anti-golf in the mentality -- super liberal, blah, blah, blah compared to ASU, AU, WF, etc.

Was Desimone out there watching you? In my opinion, his crying over the format didn't come off well. But whatever.

Regarding exemption into Stage 2, is that something you have to use this year or it expires?

yes.

Great work Stads, was really solid work and you have clearly become a strong player. In all honesty I didn't know what to expect after the US Am. I had no idea what kind of a player you were as I really had never seen any results so the US Am seemed out of the blue to me. However, you have really proven yourself to be a solid player and it has been a treat to watch you all year and feel like we have a horse in the game.

As you've seen, keep working on the short game and keep it fun. I remember you are a very smart guy and I like that you actually think out your moves so well. The only advice I would give is that if you graduate in December (which I think is possible) take the free pass to Second Stage. You are clearly going to turn professional and I would tell you to take all the freebies at that level that you can. I know you will feel like you are turning your back on your teammates, but golf is not a team sport. In 10 years when you are having to pay your bills you are going to be the only person on your team so do what's right for you.

I'm really excited for you. I think you have the potential to be a smart guy who makes it happen by have a solid thought process.

Obviously a ton can change between now and when you turn pro and a lot is up the in air but do you have a basic plan or blueprint you'd like to follow when turning pro? Seems like everyone's answer would be just to play as much as possible at whatever level tournaments you can get in. Obviously q school but significant changes happening there just curious if you have a plan on how you want to attack that battle.

That is a tough one. Also giving up NCAA's, US Am, and all the fun stuff. And just for stage 2. Not like guaranteed Web.com privileges.

In ten years, the professional tours will always be there. And if he is good enough, he won't need any 'freebies' since he will earn his way anyway.

I definitely would not stay for the coach though. Not to say anything bad about him specifically, but all any coach wants is to use you to his advantage, not yours. I wouldn't even ask Desimone his opinion.

So you're saying to stay amateur for an entire year so you can play the US Am? Cuz that's how long that would take. Then what if he wins or is a finalist again? Put off turning pro to take your spot in the masters again? I'd look at Jordan Speith and see if he thinks he's missing all the fun stuff.

Once you've decided to turn pro and you are prepared I say do it. For stads that includes having a degree which I 1000000% agree with. But once he has that paper it's time to eliminate the distractions of college and play golf and get better.

Stads--congrats on making the cut in a major, thanks for answering our questions, and best of luck to you in the future.

My questions: how much tougher did the course get over the course of the weekend? How did you adjust to the greens firming up and speeds changing? Did it change the way you looked at your approach shots, or was that mostly dependent on the pin locations?

I like your comment about all the flags around the course that helped you in spite of the wicker baskets. That is something nobody on TV mentioned but is pretty cool inside information.

Congratulations on continuing to do great things on the golf course. Good luck in the future.

Stads - as a former collegiate athlete who had some thoughts about going pro, I say:

Work as hard as you can and try your damndest to become a professional golfer - if that's your dream. Amateur and college stuff is nice, but when you're 50, you do not want to be looking back and saying, "what if..." Trust me, I know.

I think the beauty of the sport of golf for professionals as opposed to any other career is the absurd length of it. So go pro now or in one year, in the long run it isn't a massive difference. To be honest I think you've achieved everything as an amature and TPMM is a pretty good decision now but one year from now it's also a good decision.
What if you turn pro and miss 5 cuts. Exactly the same spot as an amature. No monies.
Just don't ship a tournament as an amature haha...

Just wanted to jump in and say amazing thread and thank you for taking the time to answer the questions. Glad I will have someone to root for going into the future and best of luck going forward.

Justin Rose missed every cut and was the poster child of turning pro too early. Wonder how it turned out for him...

Good point about Am and then having to remain an am to get all the benefit. Not cut and dry. At least he is getting degree. A golf career is much different than any other sport, and most reach their peak in their 30s. This is the only time to really enjoy golf not as a job.

Need a caddy? Too bad JONATHANM isn't still around!

(if you've all forgotten)

I forgot about ray Floyd Jrs caddy telling me how I was playing a a course that I've played for 20 years and was 4/5 in Q School stages based on his assessment from looking at the scorecard online. Now that guy was gold.

How did he not troll up the open thread????? Or did he?

I don't know when and how it happened, but in the search to get his name right here, I saw that his account had been banned. If he did troll it, we didn't notice