Dan McLaughlin (golfer)

Dan McLaughlin (born June 27, 1979) is an American commercial photographer who quit his day job to become a professional golfer through 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.[1] Using this method, he created a plan known as The Dan Plan. Prior to McLaughlin’s Plan, he had never played a full 18 holes of golf and has had no previous experience as a competitive athlete.[1] Dan develops his skills by logging in 30-plus hours a week of practice to golf and was originally planned to hit the 10,000 hour goal of deliberate practice by October 2016.[1] As this practice persists, Dan wishes to make a successful appearance in the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament to eventually obtain his PGA Tour card and win amateur events.[1] He is not currently participating in this year's qualifying tournament.[2]

Early life

In McLaughlin's younger years he played tennis and cross country. McLaughlin also has lived in Australia for five months and worked as a waiter to earn money.[3] Like his brother, McLaughlin went to Boston University to study physics and math but he quit after a year.[3] McLaughlin then attended the University of Georgia where he completed a degree in photojournalism then worked for a year in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[3]

Career

After graduating from the University of Georgia, McLaughlin pursued a career in Photography.[4] After two years of being a photographer at Chattanooga Times, he began doing commercial photography in Atlanta, Georgia. He then moved to Portland, Oregon.[1]

Golf

The goal of McLaughlin’s plan is to qualify for the Tour at the end of the 10,000 hours of practice. This would be accomplished by competing in the annual PGA Q-School.[4] A handicap factor of 2.0 is required to be allowed entry in the pre-qualifying stage.[5]

Learning method

McLaughlin had no experience in golf. Starting in early 2010, McLaughlin began learning golf with the putter.[3] McLaughlin would learn the game beginning from the hole and working further and further away.[4] The only club McLaughlin used for the first 3 months was the putter.[3] He then progressed to the Pitching wedge, then the sand wedge.[3] A larger club was only used by McLaughlin once he showed proficiency with the smaller golf club.[3] In November 2011, McLaughlin began using the driver and a full set of 14 clubs in January 2012.[4]

Statistics and handicap factor

McLaughlin played his first full round of golf in August 2011.[4] Since then, he kept detailed statistics for handicap, Greens in Regulation, Driving Accuracy, etc.[1] As of November 6, 2013, McLaughlin had a handicap factor of 5.2. McLaughlin last reported his handicap factor of 5.5 in April 2015. McLaughlin has not updated any statistics since then. [6] McLaughlin's Trackman Combine score as of December 2012, is 66.9[1]

Equipment

McLaughlin has received some equipment free of charge from Nike.[4]

He was using the following golf clubs: Driver: Nike VR Pro Limited Edition, 10.5 degree loft, Project X 5.5 Shafts[1] Woods: 3 wood – 15 degree loft, 5 wood – 19 degree loft, Project X 5.5 Shafts[1] Irons: 3-PW – VR Pro Blades, True Temper Dynamic Gold Shafts[1] Grips: Lamkin full cord grips[1]

Influences

With hopes of becoming a professional golfer, McLaughlin quit his job on April 5, 2010.[1] A theory of Dr. K Anders Ericssion, Professor of Psychology at Florida State University states that if someone wants to master a skill it will require 10,000 hours of training.

At the beginning McLaughlin has tested this theory with the help of Christopher Smith (PGA, Golf instructor), Shawn Dailey (Strength Trainer) and Jeremy Dunham (Cinematography). McLaughlin is not certain that by following this program he can become a professional golfer but he is more determined on proving how one's work ethic and dedication can allow people to accomplish things that they would have never thought possible.[1]

Christopher Smith has been replaced. MacLaughlin's current instructor is Bruce Furman. http://thedanplan.com/about/

Personal life

Dan comes from a family with high expectations. He is the youngest of 3, with a brother who followed his father’s footsteps and became an actuary in New York City and a sister who is a dermatologist in Atlanta.[3] With intent on going to graduate school, Dan saved $100,000 over a 6-year span by renting out rooms in his house and limiting his expenses to $2,000 a month. At the age of 30 plans changed, Dan quit his job and decided to live off of his life savings and become a pro-golfer.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "deliberate practice". The Dan Plan. 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
  2. ↑ http://www.pgatour.com/webcom/stats/stat.02677.html
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice? - Tampa Bay Times". Tampabay.com. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dan McLaughlin thinks 10,000 hours of focused practice will get him on Tour". GOLF.com. 2011-12-07. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
  5. ↑ "Application to enter - 2011 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament (For the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour)" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  6. ↑ [http://thedanplan.com/uptick-playing-better-and-gaining-golf-momentum//> Dan Plan Blog]
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