Can a legit scratch golfer with an professional athletic background beat a 50 something retired LPGA pro?

[aenemated]

6 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

Hype and or Nike money pressures?

 

An old C-level boss of mine - a great guy and a great friend and I do miss that guy - was pretty high up at Nike in those days. We're both car guys so we USUALLY talked about that over work lunches but one day I mentioned I was back to playing golf regularly and the conversation eventually steered there.

 

Gist of it was - when they cough up a lot of money, they're trying to build a brand around it. Not just sell product, but build a Jordan or a TW or whatever. It was a gamble because ... women's golf. No one was in that market and no one cared. A young female phenom was the perfect opportunity to be the first, at the front, to pull another Tiger and make a superstar. I'm not as old as all YOU GUYS (but I'll be getting to that Denny's discount before too long) but I'm old enough to remember pre-Tiger golf quite clearly (I got the photos of me decked out in OG Freddie Couples' Ashworth steez to prove it) and it's clear NOW what a massive success that bet was. And they wanted another. Without saying the quiet part out loud ... it was clear there was a lot of pressure.

 

And that's just from one sponsor. 

 

Michelle seems pretty content and stoked on her life from what @Forged4ever says (and what I see on her IG) and that's rad enough. She seems delightful.

 

If nothing else, she paved the way to where I kinda feel like the LPGA is these days and I'll be the first to say I enjoy watching the talent on that tour just as much as I do the fellas. 

 

Carry on, yall. 🥃

[Forged4ever]

8 hours ago, Obee said:

 

We might as well be twins, Michelle and me ....

 

Couldn't resist. 🤣

 

 Bro, I actually noticed that you both have a a very similar move in covering the ball(For those that think that this is all in jest, it's the "Y"😉and Obes has it)....
 

Superb Catch Brotha 👊
 

Have a Great Weekend🍻

RP

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Forged4ever

[PracticeSwinger]

1 hour ago, Forged4ever said:

 Bro, I actually noticed that you both have a a very similar move in covering the ball(For those that think that this is all in jest, it's the "Y"😉and Obes has it)....
 

Superb Catch Brotha 👊
 

Have a Great Weekend🍻

RP

 

 

 

 

And, here we go... neutral course, same tees average length, both healthy,... could @Obee beat Michelle ?!

[driveandputtmachine]

Last year in my first supposedly full healed year after wrist surgery I was a 3.  Throwing out my worst 8 or 10 or whatever it is now.  I have a friend that is also a three but we are NOT the same.  I had a much of rounds in the 80's, but also a bunch under par.  He never beat par once, and tends to shoot right around his handicap.

 

We have a +1 at my club that I have seen shoot 67 and I have seen him shoot 83.  We have another +1 at my club that I have never seen shoot more than 76, but he didn't have a round in the 60's all year long.

 

Which +1 would you rather be, the guy that never shoots in the 60's, but never in the 80's, or the one that shoots in the 60's multiple times but also shoots in the 80's multiple times?

 

Point is handicaps are not created equal, so I always take these questions with a grain of salt.  There is no such thing as the "average" scratch golfer.

[Obee]

11 hours ago, Shilgy said:

I can only assume you’re wearing the same shoes?

Dammit, Shils! You made me wake up the wife when I laughed at that! 🤣

[Obee]

11 minutes ago, driveandputtmachine said:

Last year in my first supposedly full healed year after wrist surgery I was a 3.  Throwing out my worst 8 or 10 or whatever it is now.  I have a friend that is also a three but we are NOT the same.  I had a much of rounds in the 80's, but also a bunch under par.  He never beat par once, and tends to shoot right around his handicap.

 

We have a +1 at my club that I have seen shoot 67 and I have seen him shoot 83.  We have another +1 at my club that I have never seen shoot more than 76, but he didn't have a round in the 60's all year long.

 

Which +1 would you rather be, the guy that never shoots in the 60's, but never in the 80's, or the one that shoots in the 60's multiple times but also shoots in the 80's multiple times?

 

Point is handicaps are not created equal, so I always take these questions with a grain of salt.  There is no such thing as the "average" scratch golfer.

Very true. The guy who rarely shoots out of his range is far more likely to have a solid stretch of rounds. And those are usually seasoned tournament players -- guys who have shot right at the course rating or below in three and four round tournaments.

 

Anyone who has done that is capable of making a cut at an LPGA event assuming their game hasn't seriously deteriorated.

 

The number of Mid-Ams/Seniors who do/have done that is quite small and most are plus-cappers, obviously.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

13 hours ago, Obee said:

 

We might as well be twins, Michelle and me ....

 

Couldn't resist. 🤣

 

 

Michelle looks great with that beard....👍

 

[acemandrake]

The LPGA player would win by employing mind-numbing consistency.

 

 

[driveandputtmachine]

17 minutes ago, Obee said:

Very true. The guy who rarely shoots out of his range is far more likely to have a solid stretch of rounds. And those are usually seasoned tournament players -- guys who have shot right at the course rating or below in three and four round tournaments.

 

Anyone who has done that is capable of making a cut at an LPGA event assuming their game hasn't seriously deteriorated.

 

The number of Mid-Ams/Seniors who do/have done that is quite small and most are plus-cappers, obviously.

That's why my rounds since wrist surgery irk me so much.  I was a national ranked junior, played Div1, so decent finishes there, made the US Am, and the NC and GA am and Mid-ams.  Then.....I had kids didn't play for three years(my choice), and then moved, divorced, got a motorcycle and took of another 3 years.  Came back hard, had a great stretch for three years, and then wrist surgery.  At my peak in college and trying mini tour I got to a +3.8, rarely had big rounds and didn't shot in the 80's for 10 years.  I am a seasoned tournament player, but in our club championship last year in three rounds I had an 82, 69, and a 73.  That 82?  I was soooo steamed after that round I almost sold my entire bag to the local shop.  I will say after the first round I got a lot of bets with guys and made a lot more money from bets than I would have winning the damn ting.

 

Now with a couple of long breaks in my past, a shorter break after wrist surgery and I am old and fat.  After wrist surgery I had a soft cap applied, got all the way up to a 7.  Been working my way back down, but the fact I hate practicing and have never set foot on a chipping green in the last 5 years is gonna limit me, that and the fat, old, and out shape adds up to a, hey I am gonna be scratch to a 3, and it is what it is.

[Forged4ever]

14 hours ago, MtlJayMan said:

 

And, here we go... neutral course, same tees average length, both healthy,... could @Obee beat Michelle ?!

6900+, no

 

6400-6600, absolutely 

 

The weakest part of her game is Obe's strongest and he controls a hybrid like she controls her mid irons, and when he's pseudo healthy and on, probably better.

 

She is the only female Player that I've ever Played with that one, prefers the BoBs(Back of Box)/Blacks to the lesser tees and two, totally mindf*cks guys that have never seen her Play when she walks to the BoBs/Blacks while they play up😂😂😂

 

If any of you ever tee it up with her, insist that she Play up, even if you have to play the women's tees, lolol

 

Trust me here Gents, the more that ya shorten the course and put scoring irons/wedges in her hands versus balls to the walls drivers, hybrids and long/mid irons, the better chance that you'll stand, providing that you can hit your scoring irons/wedges and putt under the gun🤙
 

Have a Great Weekend My Friends🍻

RP

Edited January 29, 2022 by Forged4ever

[Obee]

16 minutes ago, Forged4ever said:

6900+, no

 

6400-6600, absolutely 

 

The weakest part of her game is Obe's strongest and he controls a hybrid like she controls her mid irons, and when he's pseudo healthy and on, probably better.

 

She is the only female Player that I've ever Played with that one, prefers the BoBs(Back of Box)/Blacks to the lesser tees and two, totally mindf*cks guys that have never seen her Play when she walks to the BoBs/Blacks while they play up😂😂😂

 

If any of you ever tee it up with her, insist that she Play up, even if you have to play the women's tees, lolol

 

Trust me here Gents, the more that ya shorten the course and put scoring irons/wedges in her hands versus balls to the walls drivers, hybrids and long/mid irons, the better chance that you'll stand🤙
 

Have a Great Weekend My Friends🍻

RP

 

Let's be clear. Right now I can't beat anyone over three or four rounds. I can hardly play two days in a row, let alone three. Absolutely worst time of year for me. The cold and dry air just kills my back. I need to move to the beach, but I don't have $2 million for a home or condo! 🤪

[Obee]

20 minutes ago, driveandputtmachine said:

That's why my rounds since wrist surgery irk me so much.  I was a national ranked junior, played Div1, so decent finishes there, made the US Am, and the NC and GA am and Mid-ams.  Then.....I had kids didn't play for three years(my choice), and then moved, divorced, got a motorcycle and took of another 3 years.  Came back hard, had a great stretch for three years, and then wrist surgery.  At my peak in college and trying mini tour I got to a +3.8, rarely had big rounds and didn't shot in the 80's for 10 years.  I am a seasoned tournament player, but in our club championship last year in three rounds I had an 82, 69, and a 73.  That 82?  I was soooo steamed after that round I almost sold my entire bag to the local shop.  I will say after the first round I got a lot of bets with guys and made a lot more money from bets than I would have winning the damn ting.

 

Now with a couple of long breaks in my past, a shorter break after wrist surgery and I am old and fat.  After wrist surgery I had a soft cap applied, got all the way up to a 7.  Been working my way back down, but the fact I hate practicing and have never set foot on a chipping green in the last 5 years is gonna limit me, that and the fat, old, and out shape adds up to a, hey I am gonna be scratch to a 3, and it is what it is.

 

You had serious am game. Nice. Keep at it, bud. You got this.

 

And ... get yourself to the damn chipping green! 😉

[ThinkingPlus]

58 minutes ago, Obee said:

 

You had serious am game. Nice. Keep at it, bud. You got this.

 

And ... get yourself to the damn chipping green! 😉

That's about all I can do these days.

 

Pre-round warm-up

Stretch/back exercises/hamstring exercises for 15 minutes

Swing orange whip a dozen times or so

Chip/putt until tee time

 

Warming up hitting balls on the range is a bridge too far.  I can make about 15-16 holes by which time my hams/glutes are irritated enough to activate the sciatic nerve.  Limp in the last 2 or 3 and hope I can scrape out some pars.  Getting old sucks.

[TiScape]

5 hours ago, Forged4ever said:

 Bro, I actually noticed that you both have a a very similar move in covering the ball(For those that think that this is all in jest, it's the "Y"😉and Obes has it)....
 

Superb Catch Brotha 👊
 

Have a Great Weekend🍻

RP

 

 

 

Can I just say that Michelle’s position here looks much better to me! Sorry Obee! It’s not that you look bad at all! It’s just Michelle, I mean come on 😍

Haha 😆 

[Obee]

17 minutes ago, ThinkingPlus said:

That's about all I can do these days.

 

Pre-round warm-up

Stretch/back exercises/hamstring exercises for 15 minutes

Swing orange whip a dozen times or so

Chip/putt until tee time

 

Warming up hitting balls on the range is a bridge too far.  I can make about 15-16 holes by which time my hams/glutes are irritated enough to activate the sciatic nerve.  Limp in the last 2 or 3 and hope I can scrape out some pars.  Getting old sucks.

 

Yes it does. And I'm not even old. Stenosis sucks. I don't hit a single ball on the range anymore except during warmer months when I might hit 5 or 10 to "find the ground." I putt for 15 minutes, max, hit a dozen chips, and I head to the tee. My back just can't take it. 

[smashdn]

Handicap is a measure of potential scoring ability correct?  You won't shoot your handicap every time or even near every time.  So you have people competing with a potential to shoot par or thereabouts against those with a potential to shoot 63 or thereabout.  Mix in that some of the potential par shooters are not all (though some are) accustomed to tournament golf and tournament golf pressures and the other potential 63 shooters are, stands to reason it would be very difficult (though not impossible) for the scratch folks to beat the others.

 

One of the first group has to play their best and the other group has to play nearer their worst.  In this tournament scenario multiply that by four for the four days.

[Forged4ever]

3 hours ago, Obee said:

 

Let's be clear. Right now I can't beat anyone over three or four rounds. I can hardly play two days in a row, let alone three. Absolutely worst time of year for me. The cold and dry air just kills my back. I need to move to the beach, but I don't have $2 million for a home or condo! 🤪

The critical caveat in my post was when I included "when he's pseudo healthy," lol

 

I thought about highlighting that portion, ie., "when he's pseudo healthy," though I didn't wanna be insulting as I took it for granted that merely stating it was enough, lol

 

I left it up to you to state when you're halfway to healthy, lol🤙

I hope that ya get there sooner rather than later Brotha👊
 

My Best,

RP
 

 

[Shilgy]

6 hours ago, driveandputtmachine said:

That's why my rounds since wrist surgery irk me so much.  I was a national ranked junior, played Div1, so decent finishes there, made the US Am, and the NC and GA am and Mid-ams.  Then.....I had kids didn't play for three years(my choice), and then moved, divorced, got a motorcycle and took of another 3 years.  Came back hard, had a great stretch for three years, and then wrist surgery.  At my peak in college and trying mini tour I got to a +3.8, rarely had big rounds and didn't shot in the 80's for 10 years.  I am a seasoned tournament player, but in our club championship last year in three rounds I had an 82, 69, and a 73.  That 82?  I was soooo steamed after that round I almost sold my entire bag to the local shop.  I will say after the first round I got a lot of bets with guys and made a lot more money from bets than I would have winning the damn ting.

 

Now with a couple of long breaks in my past, a shorter break after wrist surgery and I am old and fat.  After wrist surgery I had a soft cap applied, got all the way up to a 7.  Been working my way back down, but the fact I hate practicing and have never set foot on a chipping green in the last 5 years is gonna limit me, that and the fat, old, and out shape adds up to a, hey I am gonna be scratch to a 3, and it is what it is.

Don’t ever call fat out of shape…..round is most definitely a shape!😉

[doobz]

Derek Lowe is a 6'6" 230 pound ex-professional athlete who has thrown 7 shutout innings in a game clinching World Series that broke one of the longest curses in the history of professional sports. He's also been as low as a +2. He is not your average scratch. His mental game alone is probably lightyears ahead of 99.9% of amateurs and probably on par with some lower level pros.

 

Professional athletes are simply built different both physically and mentally. I would take an ex-pro athlete 4 handicap over the average Joe Schmo amateur scratch in tourney conditions with crowds 10 times out of 10. 

[gazav]

On 1/23/2022 at 9:06 AM, amace04 said:

Same tees?  If the guy is a big hitter, he's got a small chance.

 

Distance-appropriate tees?  No chance.

I invited a couple of my playing partners to play against a current female college golfer and when we all played from the tips and one up, she struggle with the distance.  On a long Par 4 she hit 4 iron while we had 7/8 irons into the green.  So it was tough for her to hit long irons on more than a few holes while we mostly hit mid irons.  Then we played from "distance-appropriate tees" based on the yardage she normally plays (we all played the same tees) and she beat us pretty easily. She hit every fairway, missed like 1 green and was never in any kind of trouble she just didn't make any putts and shot 73 on a course she'd never seen before.  It was awesome and crazy to see how good and more importantly, how consistent she was with all parts of her game.  

[munichop]

One of my mens leagues has women members. We all play the same tees and only use tourney scores for handicap. Last year one of the women beat me straight up from the same tees. I shot even she shot one under. She works for ping and was an all American at Arizona State. She was on the team that won the 2009 national championship.  I am a +2 in that league. 
This  was on a course where I have won 5 city amateur tourneys over the years so I am always comfortable playing it. I have won 2 club championships on this course. 
My chance of beating an lpga player over three or 4 rounds is VERY      small even on the course I know best. 
They play at another level.  That is why they can make a living at it…

 

[ALIF]

22 hours ago, munichop said:

One of my mens leagues has women members. We all play the same tees and only use tourney scores for handicap. Last year one of the women beat me straight up from the same tees. I shot even she shot one under. She works for ping and was an all American at Arizona State. She was on the team that won the 2009 national championship.  I am a +2 in that league. 
This  was on a course where I have won 5 city amateur tourneys over the years so I am always comfortable playing it. I have won 2 club championships on this course. 
My chance of beating an lpga player over three or 4 rounds is VERY      small even on the course I know best. 
They play at another level.  That is why they can make a living at it…

 

Papago?

[munichop]

Ken Mcdonald

[TiScape]

On 2/1/2022 at 8:54 PM, munichop said:

One of my mens leagues has women members. We all play the same tees and only use tourney scores for handicap. Last year one of the women beat me straight up from the same tees. I shot even she shot one under. She works for ping and was an all American at Arizona State. She was on the team that won the 2009 national championship.  I am a +2 in that league. 
This  was on a course where I have won 5 city amateur tourneys over the years so I am always comfortable playing it. I have won 2 club championships on this course. 
My chance of beating an lpga player over three or 4 rounds is VERY      small even on the course I know best. 
They play at another level. That is why they can make a living at it…

Absolutely and just seems obvious to me. Blows my mind some really think an amateur golfer that is scratch can compete with an LPGA professional. But then again, this is GolfWRX! That’s a college golfer municop is talking about (albeit an all American that won a national championship) that didn’t make it on the LPGA tour (assuming she tried?) beating a +2 from the same tees! Now Is it possible on any given day if the am has a stellar round and the pro has a bad day that the am could win? Absolutely. But over a 3-4 day stretch… Good luck with that! 

Edited February 3, 2022 by TiScape

[Forged4ever]

This is the one thing that has ALWAYS cracked me up about this virtual world bullsh*t....

 

@Yuck posts a thread that to date has Olympian level legs with 7+ pages, 203 replies and 6500+ views, yet some balless spineless keyboard kommando drops a one-star⭐️ on it, lolol.

 

I get that you can hide behind fake avatars and fictitious UN's though I'd have a lot more respect for the jerk-off if he(the Women who participate don't stoop to this petty stuff on this board) dropped his one-⭐️ In a post in this thread where guys could at least see who it is and respond accordingly.

 

I guarantee whomever dropped it has probably never EVER started a thread here, lol

 

putz🤪

 

Excellent thread Yuckster👊 

 

As always, just my .03 worth~

 

All the Best🍻

RP

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Forged4ever

[Obee]

11 hours ago, TiScape said:

Absolutely and just seems obvious to me. Blows my mind some really think an amateur golfer that is scratch can compete with an LPGA professional. But then again, this is GolfWRX! That’s a college golfer municop is talking about (albeit an all American that won a national championship) that didn’t make it on the LPGA tour (assuming she tried?) beating a +2 from the same tees! Now Is it possible on any given day if the am has a stellar round and the pro has a bad day that the am could win? Absolutely. But over a 3-4 day stretch… Good luck with that! 

 

Define "compete with." I mean, Derek Lowe just beat six legit LPGA professionals who were tour winners the previous year over 4 rounds in a small field in the exact same conditions from the exact same tees. If that's not "competing with," I don't know what is.

 

No one says that a scratch guy is going to win an LPGA event or even get a top 10 or top 20. Hell, he'd have to play amazingly to even sniff a cut. But Lowe just proved that a scratch golfer can, indeed "compete with the ladies." Did the ladies who finished below him not "compete with" the other ladies? Of course they did. They just didn't play very well. And Lowe beat six of them and was within one stroke per round or less of another 6 of them. And those ladies are amazing players.

 

Did he not "compete with" them? If you don't think that's competing, we must have a completely different idea of what that means. "Not competing" would be DFL.  "Not competing" is 80, 78, 81, 80.

 

Here's the scoreboard for the tournament if he was inserted into it:

 

272 - Danielle Kang

275 - Brooke Henderson

276 - Gabby Lopez

278 - Nelly Korda

278 - Celine Boutier

279 - Yuka Saso

280 - Jessica Korda

281 - Pajaree Anannarukarn

281 - Inbee Park

284 - Matlida Castren

284 - Lydia Ko

286 - Georgia Hall

287 - Ryann O'Toole

287 - Patty Tavatanakit

288 - Moriya Jutanigarn

288 - A Lim Kim

289 - Madelene Sagstrom

290 - Nasa Hataoka - 9th in the world

290 - Sophia Popov - 40th in the world

290 - Stacy Lewis - 51st in the world

291 - Ally Ewing - 22nd in the world

292 - Ariya Jutanugarn - 25th in the world

293 - Angela Stafford - 75th in the world

294 - Derek Lowe - 0.2 index at time of tournament

295 - Mel Reid - 65th in the world

299 - Austin Ernst - 32nd in the world

303 - Hee Young Park - 141st in the world

304 - Anna Nordqvist - 15th in the world

308 - Mirim Lee - 68th in the world

308 - Michelle Wie West - 502nd in the world

 

Another thing: Only seven players in the entire field bettered his final round score of 72 -- in tough conditions. Just 7 out of 29. He beat or tied 22 of the 29 players in the final round, knowing he was neck and neck with Annika, the greatest player of all time. That's impressive.

 

Once again, if that's not "competing," I don't know what that word means in terms of these discussions.

 

Think about those numbers above: Lowe finished within one stroke per round of the 9th, 22nd, 25th, 40th, 51st, and 75th ranked players in the world.

 

And he beat the 15th, 32nd, 65th, and 141st ranked players in the world.

 

Those numbers are important because if someone had posed the question before the tournament, no one would have given him a chance of even coming close over four rounds to any of those ladies.

 

Sure, someone might have said, "Hey, if he plays well, he may avoid DFL because maybe a player is injured," Or, "Michelle Wie West is in the field and she doesn't really focus on her game anymore."

 

But the dude played great and absolutely competed and did not, even remotely, embarrass himself, IMNTBHO.

 

The top ladies are absolutely amazing golfers. Lowe played well and competed. Both of those things are true.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Obee
clarity

[TiScape]

2 minutes ago, Obee said:

 

Define "compete with." I mean, Derek Lowe just beat six legit LPGA professionals who were tour winners the previous year over 4 rounds in a small field in the exact same conditions from the exact same tees. If that's not "competing with," I don't know what is.

 

No one says that a scratch guy is going to win an LPGA event or even get a top 10 or top 20. Hell, he'd have to play amazingly to even sniff a cut. But Lowe just proved that a scratch golfer can, indeed "compete with the ladies." Did the ladies who finished below him not "compete with" the other ladies? Of course they did. They just didn't play very well. And Lowe beat six of them and was within one stroke per round or less of another 6 of them. And those ladies are amazing players.

 

Did he not "compete with" them? If you don't think that's competing, we must have a completely different idea of what that means. "Not competing" would be DFL.  "Not competing" is 80, 78, 81, 80.

 

Here's the scoreboard for the tournament if he was inserted into it:

 

272 - Danielle Kang

275 - Brooke Henderson

276 - Gabby Lopez

278 - Nelly Korda

278 - Celine Boutier

279 - Yuka Saso

280 - Jessica Korda

281 - Pajaree Anannarukarn

281 - Inbee Park

284 - Matlida Castren

284 - Lydia Ko

286 - Georgia Hall

287 - Ryann O'Toole

287 - Patty Tavatanakit

288 - Moriya Jutanigarn

288 - A Lim Kim

289 - Madelene Sagstrom

290 - Nasa Hataoka - 9th in the world

290 - Sophia Popov - 40th in the world

290 - Stacy Lewis - 51st in the world

291 - Ally Ewing - 22nd in the world

292 - Ariya Jutanugarn - 25th in the world

293 - Angela Stafford - 75th in the world

294 - Derek Lowe - 0.2 index at time of tournament

295 - Mel Reid - 65th in the world

299 - Austin Ernst - 32nd in the world

303 - Hee Young Park - 141st in the world

304 - Anna Nordqvist - 15th in the world

308 - Mirim Lee - 68th in the world

308 - Michelle Wie West - 502nd in the world

 

Another thing: Only seven players in the entire field bettered his final round score of 72 -- in tough conditions. Just 7 out of 29. He beat or tied 22 of the 29 players in the final round, knowing he was neck and neck with Annika, the greatest player of all time. That's impressive.

 

Once again, if that's not "competing," I don't know what that word means in terms of these discussions.

 

Think about those numbers above: Lowe finished within one stroke per round of the 9th, 22nd, 25th, 40th, 51st, and 75th ranked players in the world.

 

And he beat the 15th, 32nd, 65th, and 141st ranked players in the world.

 

Those numbers are important because if someone had posed the question before the tournament, no one would have given him a chance of even coming close over four rounds to any of those ladies.

 

Sure, someone might have said, "Hey, if he plays well, he may avoid DFL because maybe a player is injured," Or, "Michelle Wie West is in the field and she doesn't really focus on her game anymore."

 

But the dude played great and absolutely competed and did not, even remotely, embarrass himself, IMNTBHO.

 

The top ladies are absolutely amazing golfers. Lowe played well and competed. Both of those things are true.

I was mainly going off munichops post/experience! I can definitely be wrong and honestly don’t really care enough to think much more about it. Haha 😜

[munichop]

Obee makes a good point.  I guess it depends on your perspective.  One thing to remember in that tourney is that the celebrities played a modified stableford instead of stroke play.  So the strategy may have been a little different. I expect match play format would change things as well. 

Obee had a cool thread on his experience in SoCal at Wilshire CC I think.  That one I believe was skewed heavily in favor of the women. 

In my own personal case the course I referenced has been used in the past for preliminary qualifying for the Phoenix Open.  One year the week before in my men's club event I shot 64 on that course which is also my personal best there, done more than once. The following week over 70 guys teed it up hoping for one of 6 or 7 spots into final qualifying.  I was not one of them.  I know my pool of fish. 

Can a really good amateur beat a pro on any given day? Sure it can happen but seldom does.  

For kicks see how many local qualifying guys make the cut every year at the U.S. Open.  Most years it is none or one.  So you are looking at 10,000 to one odds more or less.   However, Steve Jones won it one year having to go through both qualifiers as a PGA pro.  If those same chances were given to a guy in the Women's open the odds would still be long but probably not as long.        

[Obee]

1 hour ago, munichop said:

Obee makes a good point.  I guess it depends on your perspective.  One thing to remember in that tourney is that the celebrities played a modified stableford instead of stroke play.  So the strategy may have been a little different. I expect match play format would change things as well. 

Obee had a cool thread on his experience in SoCal at Wilshire CC I think.  That one I believe was skewed heavily in favor of the women. 

In my own personal case the course I referenced has been used in the past for preliminary qualifying for the Phoenix Open.  One year the week before in my men's club event I shot 64 on that course which is also my personal best there, done more than once. The following week over 70 guys teed it up hoping for one of 6 or 7 spots into final qualifying.  I was not one of them.  I know my pool of fish. 

Can a really good amateur beat a pro on any given day? Sure it can happen but seldom does.  

For kicks see how many local qualifying guys make the cut every year at the U.S. Open.  Most years it is none or one.  So you are looking at 10,000 to one odds more or less.   However, Steve Jones won it one year having to go through both qualifiers as a PGA pro.  If those same chances were given to a guy in the Women's open the odds would still be long but probably not as long.        

 

Thanks Munichop.

 

Regarding Stableford: For good players, Stableford is only slightly different than playing stroke play. Stableford just helps the game move along because (usually) the higher handicappers really struggling on holes can pick up once they reach bogey or double or whatever the "max score is. I think Lowe made three doubles all week.

 

Personally, when I'm playing stableford, the only thing I might do different is putt my bogey putt just a touch firmer because I know the next one is inconsequential, so it does matter a bit. Not going to deny that.

[phizzy30]

Highly improbable.  I have two female friends that are sisters I grew up with and we played on our golf respective golf teams in high school and college.  The sisters and I went to different schools.  They were both scratch in high school and + caps in college.  Older sister played on the Symetra Tour for a few years then went on to play on the LPGA Tour for one season.  Younger sister never turned pro but she won the national women's am tournament a few years back.  I have a few clients of mine that I train that are pro athletes and the notable ones are a pitcher in the minors from the DR and the other while not a pro, plays hockey for a D1 school who is expected to go to the NHL draft in a year.  Both are right at scratch and they would never be able to beat my childhood friends even on their best day.