In one of the sequels to his LIttle Red Book (I forget which, but I think the cover was blue), Harvey Penick relates a conversation that his son, Tinsley, had with a 43-year-old amateur golfer from California who traveled to Austin Country Club. This man's goal was to play the senior tour, and he was going to sell his company and devote his life to golf. And he wanted the younger Penick to be his mentor for the next seven years, until he turned 50.
In reply, Tinsley told the man of another 43-year-old who was in a similar situation. And this Californian would have to play better than this other fellow if he was going to play the Senior Tour. And with that, the man pointed to Austin Country Club member Tom Kite.
I was reminded of this story when I heard about 47-year-old Jerry Rice turning pro and playing several Nationwide Tour events on sponsor exemptions. He shot 83-76 at the Fresh Express Classic in California (a tournament that he hosted), then went 92-82 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in South Carolina before being disqualified because his caddie used a rangefinder.
Afterward, a frustrated Rice "retired" from golf. The incoming pro football hall of famer no doubt didn't play the way he thought he could. But in reality, his four rounds were pretty much what the USGA handicap system would have predicted.
A check of GHIN.com shows that Rice's handicap index is 0.8, which means that his course handicap at the three layouts he played on the Nationwide Tour—TPC Stonebrae, Carolina Country Club and Bright's Creek—was a 1. Since the handicap system is really a measure of a golfer's potential (and not his ability), a golfer can expect to play to his handicap about 20 to 25 percent of the time.
Which is exactly what he did. Of his four scores, his best was a 76 for a net 75 at Stonebrae, where the Course Rating is 75.1. Right on the number.
So in reality, Rice had no business teeing it up on the Nationwide Tour, where his competition included Mark Anderson, who, like Rice made his Nationwide Tour debut this year. My reason for picking him is simple enough: The 24-year-old Anderson is from my home club, Secession in Beaufort, South Carolina. Now 24, he turned pro last fall, which is when he stopped entering scores into the handicap system.
Anderson's index is stuck at plus-4.9, and it should stand as a frozen-in-time warning for anyone considering turning pro and playing the game as a living. Of his last 20 scores, his lowest is 64 and his highest is 74. He had 10 scores in the 60s. Mark is currently 19th on the Nationwide Tour's money list. (Rice, on the other hand, had seven scores in the 70s and his lowest score was 73.)
And just for kicks, I calculated the index for Justin Hicks, the winner of the BMW Pro-Am. It is plus-5.6.
Which means that if Hicks and Rice were playing a match against each other at Bright's Creek, Rice would be receiving four shots a side.
The Nationwide Tour was far from a level playing field for Rice, and he no doubt made a very good decision to walk away.
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