Who’s The New Guy?

Are you a rookie?

We are all rookies at some point. In life, and in sports. That’s what makes this crazy game we call golf, so relatable to life. Everybody has to start somewhere. We have all whiffed at the ball. We all have whiffed in life. The dreaded shank has happened, and of course, the ubiquitous slice. That baby isn’t going anywhere. Why do you think there are so many PGA Golf Professionals?  They struggled with it once. Now it’s their turn to help you not hit that ugly, always frustrating, stupid slice.

Being a rookie is a good thing. You get to learn things about yourself and the game that you might not have learned otherwise. Every year, the PGA Tour grants tour cards to twenty-five competent and amenable players from the Nationwide Tour. You have a mixed bag of grizzled veterans trying to find their game again, and the precocious yet ferocious college star players. The PGA Tour Q-School also has a list of graduates whose canvases are yet to be painted. All waiting to tee it up, these guys are hoping and praying their dreams become reality. Here’s the reality of it: it’s really tough out there. In recent years, with the exception of Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler, most rookies have found water hazards, out-of-bounds stakes, and missed cuts.

Here are a few facts about the rookies on the PGA Tour 2012:

Total number of rookies: 26

Rookies age 22 & under: 5

Rookies age 20-29: 18

Rookies age 30-39: 7

Rookies age 40 & over: 1

Rookies with no PGA Tour experience: 8

Rookies with a PGA Tour win: 1(John Huh)

You may be wondering why I’m talking about rookies during the middle of the year. Well, golf has become so unpredictable this year. A lot of new names and faces are making their ways onto television screens and leader boards. I figured I’d keep you on your toes and be a little unpredictable myself. Jason Dufner and Hunter Mahan are the only multiple winners on tour this year. Yes, Tiger and Phil each had their early season win, but have been missing on leader boards and unseen during network coverage. We all know about Tiger’s struggles, but it is different not seeing Phillip around on weekends. This year on tour we have seen Kyle Stanley make a snowman on the 72nd hole of a tournament, lose in a playoff to beady-eyed Brandt Snedeker, then win the next week in Phoenix.

Again, unpredictable. Some even say, unbelievable.

Tiger dominated from 2000-2008. Today, we don’t really have a clear-cut “No. 1” player in the world. Explaining the Official World Golf Ranking system would be like Einstein explaining his thought process on general relativity. Donald and McIlroy have been going back and forth the past few weeks exchanging the top spot between them. But we don’t really know who the number one player in the world is at the moment. That’s the thing, it’s just a number. Now who’s the best player in the world? I’m open up for discussions on that one. Fields nowadays are so deep with talent, that anyone in the field can win. These guys are that good! And that’s what makes golf so attractive.

Sure, it was neat seeing Tiger dominate the sport the way he did. I don’t think we’ll see that again in golf for a very long time. But we will. We had Jack, then Arnie, and then Tiger. Will it be McIlroy? Only time will tell. I know, very cliché of me.

But I digress.

Rookies must spend their exemptions wisely. Depending on where they finished in Q-School or their order of merit on the Nationwide Tour money list, players must play well early and often to keep getting into tournaments. Just like beginning a new job, its good to make a few birdies before those bogies come in and you screw up those TPS reports.

If  you’re a rookie at golf and are a little afraid of all those ringers and “A” players in scrambles, I encourage you to step out of  your comfort zone and step onto the links. I promise you that you’ll feel every emotion known to man. And that’s just during the first nine holes. It just gets better from there, my friend. It’s summer all the time here in San Diego. Make your way down to your local JC golf course and let our PGA and assistant pros do all the work.

Remember, we were once rookies, too.

Hit ’em straight!

Eddie

Side note: If you’re out at Golfer’s Gone Wild at Twin Oaks this Friday, make sure to stop me and say hello. I’ll be the journalist-looking guy wearing all pink. WEAR YOUR PINK!!