When You Golf So Bad That You Need A Hug

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 3, 2009 2:01 PM EST Comment 21 comments

The Duramed Futures Tour is having its Q-school this week. To get in, a player must pay a $1200 fee and - if an amateur - meet certain handicap thresholds.

Well, 18 year old Native American Heather Bearpaw missed the 18-hole cut on Monday after shooting 54-over 126. As Beth Ann Baldry points out, her front-nine score of 69 was two shots worse than Tiffany Joh’s 18-hole score of 67.

via www.julkaisut.fi

My God. Back in my junior golf days, I had one especially atrocious tournament. It was REALLY bad. Like 110 bad. (I was 12.) Honestly, I thought that round wound never end. And I was considering quitting golf about 10 holes into it. Thankfully, I was 12, an amateur, and made the high school golf team.

I can't even laugh at this. That's just painful.

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you made the high school golf team when you were 12?

Hopefully Ms. Bearpaw is laughing about the round. If she is, I predict next year she’s the medalist!

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Nov 3, 2009 2:11 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I went on the make the team when I was 14, so there was no noticable scarring. :)

Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 3, 2009 2:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I’m guessing you didn’t have a “professional journalist” blabbing about your nightmarish round like this.

Nicely done, BAB’s – so much for sensitivity…especially to those not actually playing for pay.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 3, 2009 2:12 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Dreams die hard. And expensive, too.

Wonder if she will show up on the next xxx Golf Channel Big Break. Maybe she is really hot, which is the competitive threshold for that show.

BTW, it is amusing to watch Andrew Giuliani prove everything Coach Vincent said about him when he got tossed off of Duke’s golf team.

by Old Man Par on Nov 3, 2009 2:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

lol – AG is pretty annoying…but I can’t keep thinking “Opie” and Ron Howard every time he’s on camera. I cracked up at the opening of last week’s show when they were begging him for 10 minutes of silence.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 3, 2009 2:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t know if I could have seen that round to completion. After shooting a 69 on the front, I’m fairly certain I would have walked off because there’s not much to be gained at that point. There’s no pat on the back for finishing and there’s no tomorrow. In fact, I probably would have just walked straight to the driving range.

It’s one thing to shoot 78 and hang in there just for the competitive experience aspect. Once the bleeding looks more like a Tarantino film than a paper cut, it’s time to walk away.

by Double Eagle on Nov 3, 2009 2:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

gotta give her credit – took a lot of guts to play that second nine. She did improve 12 shots from the front, and probably learned a few lessons about how good even a minor league pro is.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 3, 2009 3:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, it did

No question there. For that, I’ll give full credit. But there’s no shame in admitting that she’s just not ready for that level. Though, I guess finishing the round isn’t really doing any more damage.

by Double Eagle on Nov 3, 2009 3:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

this begs the question...

Was it her head that wasn’t ready, or her game? Or was there some outside event or circumstance unknown to Baldry, because she doesn’t know the woman, that affected Bearpaw enough to destroy her game that day?

I don’t fault Baldry for writing the story, but she had no business writing it without talking to the golfer first.

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Nov 3, 2009 4:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd have to speculate...

…either her head was not ready or she was having a bad day (i.e. had something external on her mind), as opposed to her overall game.

My reasoning for that is, to be at a level where she thought she even had an outside chance of making the grade, I figure she had to be at least a single-digit handicap to even start making herself believe it was possible. With a game capable of playing at that level, a 126 is not even in the realm of possibility. But if her mental game was lacking, or there was an external issue, then all that goes out the window and anything can happen.

Of course, that’s all speculation without knowing what her real situation was.

by Double Eagle on Nov 3, 2009 5:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Speculation? Baldry? Say It Ain't So!

Let’s just say that I agree with Diane fully. Talking to the golfer in question would have been worth Ms. Baldry’s time. She is, after all, a paid journalist. Or perhaps she stayed across the street from a Holiday Inn Express last night. That’s for you to decide, but she is hardly my favorite writer out there.

by Old Man Par on Nov 3, 2009 5:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sometimes a bad day...

…is just a bad day. She’s an 18 year old amateur who had never been in that situation before.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 3, 2009 7:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

I’m not sure who said that, but I doubt it was Bill Clinton.

by Old Man Par on Nov 3, 2009 7:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Don’t forget the Intern Corollary…“Sometimes a cigar is…better than the president.” :-D

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 3, 2009 8:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What a crock...

I believe you have to be a 5 handicap to try to qualify for the Futures Tour. It is nearly impossible for a 5 handicap to shoot 126. I happen to be a 5 handicap (right-handed) and am almost certain that I could shoot under 100 playing left-handed.

She should have walked off because that level of play is completely disruptive to the players in her group (not too mention she probably backed up the entire course!).

I think she should probably be banned from playing in future qualifiers until she can prove she is capable of competing. The USGA does this for players who shoot big numbers in Open & AM qualifiers.

by MattSpence on Nov 4, 2009 9:18 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

You make a really good point about the disruption to the other players in the group, and possibly the groups behind. (I have, however, played with people who can’t break 110, but played in under 4 1/ 2 hours)

It may be nearly inconceivable that a 5 handicapper could shoot a score like that – but not impossible. We don’t know the courses she played to get to that number. She could be playing a 5000 yard muni for most of her rounds. She might not have the competitive experience to handle a situation like that and she just panicked. We don’t know since all BAB’s bothered to do was compare scorecards.

I doubt she’ll ever put herself in a situation like that again. The people who check handicaps will be looking for her name and ask for more proof if she happens to show up next year.

But this is still an amateur who ponied up $1200 to play the tournament. Whoever paid the frieght for the trip and the tournament obviously had a little more confidence in her ability than she showed. Let’s not beat this girl up too much. If it wasn’t for Beth Ann Baldry – it’s not likely anybody would have ever said anything.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 4, 2009 10:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

See, CG and I do agree on stuff… sometimes.

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Nov 4, 2009 10:48 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I put a mark on the calendar.:)

by ryansdad on Nov 4, 2009 12:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Golf team at age 12? I guess

they dramatically lowered admission standards when I graduated from the same school. I hear the Student Council President is eight-years old…

...from the land of pleasant living, Baltimore.

by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on Nov 4, 2009 1:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

A few years ago, a group of us went to

Ginn Reunion resort in Orlando. A friend of ours, a 4-5 handicap shot 115 & 116 back to back. He did have slight hangovers, but the shanks jumped in. I do not think it is possible to shoot that high if you are a lower handicap golfer UNLESS you have the shanks.

...from the land of pleasant living, Baltimore.

by One-Eyed Golfer Guy on Nov 4, 2009 2:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs