Does age have an advantage?

I’ve met a good kid, and father, out at Heron the past couple weeks and today the kid, Ben, and I played a bit of a putting game.  He’s got some skills and I think he will be quite the golfer one day if he can maintain his drive and passion for the game.  Putting with him was part inspiring and part daunting.  On one hand, it’s refreshing to see someone so young have such a passion for the game (usually I practice with retirees, or the occasional college student..) who is also good at it.  Once he get’s his distance in he will be a scratch player and be moving along his path to 10,000 hours, probably reach that mark by the time he graduates college, or around 20 years old.  On the other hand, playing with someone like that really forces me to confront the disadvantage conferred by started my plan after the age of 30..  Perhaps I’m delusional in thinking that this is possible, but if so, at least I’m blinded by my delusions because I still see no real reason why I can’t make the PGA tour.

And, perhaps I actually have an advantage in there over this rising crop of super-star golfers.  There is a lot of life lessons that they all are bound to learn over the coming years, as well as school work, part-time jobs, dating, etc..  Me, I’m pretty set in my ways and know that I’m perfectly content training for the coming years and outside of minor issues happening around the house or between my girlfriend and I am able to focus 100 percent on the task at hand.

regardless of whether youth or experience (non-golf experience, mind you) has an advantage, we all have an enormous undertaking before us and it is imperative to not lose sight of the tiny little light way down the tunnel years into the future.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a great week of training.  My post-roadtrip blues have left the building and I have nothing to worry about except improving my game.

I wanted to say “Thank You” again to my brother and his family for donating a car to The Dan Plan.  It is, without a doubt, a generous and amazing gift and I love being able to drive out to Pumpkin without having to worry about breaking down along the way!