Red, White ... and Blue?

[Gxgolfer]

By Peter Kostis

Click for Article>>>Here

In part, the answer lies with the state of college golf and PGA Tour Qualifying School, which has just ended. American college golf programs are not the best incubator for or developer of professional talent. They do a fine job of giving student-athletes a place to play and compete, but a college coach’s goal is to win tournaments. In the quest for those victories, and with dwindling budgets, many college coaches simply give spots to the better foreign players with a tournament record and fail to “beat the bushes” for Americans with potential.

Collegiate golfers who do turn pro are often met with the harsh reality of Q-school, where changes are needed as well. Exemptions past certain stages of Q-school should be abolished. Everyone should go through three stages, thus evening the playing field for the younger players (only 10 of 32 Tour cards earned this year went to players who survived all three stages). If they survive the torture chamber that is Q-school, they’re faced with playing 35 to 40 times a year with much less time to prepare between events. Compared to the spacing of the college and amateur tournament schedule, this can expose flaws in players’ swing skills and sap their energy and confidence.

The answer to making college golfers more successful in their pro careers starts well before they even get to campus. The U.S. should follow the lead of countries such as Australia and Sweden, who created golf federations and national training programs. These served as accelerated courses in golf technique, places where the most promising kids could hone their swings, their bodies, and their complete games before being thrown into the competitive fishbowl. In the U.S., we are much more apt to sign our talented kids up for AJGA events and let them go at each other in 72-hole stroke play events. While this allows them to develop certain competitive skills, it is no predictor of future success.