A photojournalist in pursuit of his dream to become a professional golfer
The mythical game of golf, which apparently seems to be as simple as hitting a ball with a club and eventually guiding it to its destined hole in the least possible shots, is everything else but easy. It is also often argued whether a golfer is natural born talent or can be nurtured and taught to become one. For those who have tried their hands on the sport and walked the rolling greens and the winding fairways, have a better idea of what exactly golf is about and what factors make it such a demanding sport. Anyone can play golf, but not everyone can be great at it.
There are certain aspects of the game that can be fine tuned and sharpened like the touch-and-feel aspect, but no matter how many hours of practice is poured in, one can never carve out a perfect round unless he is born with a natural talent for the game. You can practice and do well without the natural affinity for the game but there will always be someone around who hardly practices and still pulls in successful rounds.
That said, it sometimes becomes impossible not to fall for the extremely addictive nature of the sport, even being conscientiously aware that you are not good at it. Dan McLaughlin is one such man, who is ready to let go of it all to be a pro in the sport.
31-years-old, lacking a strong built or even height, Dan used to be a photojournalist before he decided to quit his job and career in pursuit of glory in the sport which can be as elusive as a tiger in Sunderbans. He has taken up a program to complete 10,000 hours of golf which will eventually help him develop professional-grade talent. He vows to test the myth of 10,000 hours of Malcolm Gladwell’s book the “Outliers”.
Dan’s latest blog indicates that the photojournalist-turned-golfer has already completed one year on the course, and has spent 1,500 hours of forced practiced sessions of golf. Dan’s relentless efforts have yielded results that far from satisfactory.
“Golf is tough. I’ve been playing it since I was 11. I was at my best at 16, when I shot 71 and had a chance to play 36 holes every day if I wanted. So, it can be done – a rapid improvement with a lot of devotion and practice. But even shooting 71 – as proud as that made me – handed me the painful awareness that shoot even 68 would be that much more difficult. Maybe someday,” A frustrated Dan wrote in his blog.
Dan’s story is somewhat similar to famous MTV host, model and volleyball player Gabby Reece, who also tried her luck at breaking into the coveted LPGA club after having practiced the sport for a whole year. She failed to break anything less than 80. More recent dreadful examples on the professional course include Kevin Na’s 16 over in Valero Texas Open and Mike Weir’s 90. Dan has realized that the closer he wants to get to be a professional and be the part of the elite club, the more he has come to realize that his ambition is hardly realistic or sensible.
Dan has now restructured his ambition. Fast-forward 22 years, Dan wants atleast to be part of the Champions Tour at the age of 55. All he wanted to do in his life was to be “covered” rather than covering the stories all his life.
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