College golf best way to avoid burn-out, Martin Laird advises rookies

MARTIN Laird has warned Scotland's leading amateur golfers of the dangers of burn-out, admitting he might not have made his climb up the world rankings if he hadn't devoted the same attention to the academic side of a scholarship in America as playing golf.

While the world No 50 believes his game benefited enormously from a four-year spell at Colorado State University, where he enjoyed excellent facilities and also being part of a team environment, he reckons it was equally important that he had a distraction in the shape of a marketing degree,

"I really do feel that the experience I gained playing at Colorado State University was vital to where I am right now and played a huge part in me improving to the level that I felt I was ready to turn professional," said Laird.

"What was so good about the college route was that I knew that I was going to have four years to improve and mature, all while having intense competition over those years to drive me on.

"The academic side only got in the way of the golf development if you let it. If you didn't manage your time very well it definitely got tough to fit everything in and still do well at university. You soon learn to get into a routine so that the academic side didn't affect your golf and vice versa.

"I think that it's good to have a distraction from golf, too, at that age. If all I did all day when I was 18 years old was play or practice and focus on golf, then I'm sure I would have burnt out pretty quickly. I think that's a big problem with golfers that turn pro really young.

"There's a lot of pressure on them to succeed and, if they don't break through within a year or two, then confidence can really dip.

"There are very few players in the world that are ready for the pro ranks when they're teenagers and quite often players that everyone thought were ready, turn out not to be.

"There's such a huge gap between junior golf and college golf, college golf and mini-tour golf, and then mini-tour golf and PGA Tour/European Tour golf.

"For me, being on a golf scholarship for four years gave me time to improve and learn in a relatively stress-free environment.That's something you don't get if you turn pro straight away.

"I think that, for the majority of players, making the gradual progression up the golfing ranks is the best way to develop and maximise your potential."

Paul Casey and Luke Donald also went to college in the States before turning professional and becoming top 10 players in the world, while James Byrne, Scotland's highest-ranked player in the amateur rankings at the moment, is currently at Arizona State University.

"If you take out the Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroys of the world, then nearly everyone else that is a top player either played college golf or played a lot of very competitive amateur golf before turning pro. The experience is invaluable," added Laird in his blog for BBC Online.

"Things have changed a lot, and for the better, in amateur golf since I came over to the US in 2000. Back then there was minimal funding for top amateurs and, in the winter, there was pretty much no competition back home at all.

"I'd really had enough of taking a huge break from competitive golf in winter and not really being able to work on my game to any real benefit for a good few months. Hitting balls off a mat at the driving range and playing to winter greens is better than nothing at all, but it isn't going to make you a better player!

"Nowadays national squads fly all over the world playing in tournaments and go to warmer climates to improve in the winter. Top amateur players can effectively be full-time golfers with the funding that's available and can work on their game all year round, playing in different conditions.

"If this was the case back when I was making my decision to play college golf, I may have considered a different path. However, I do think that I probably still would have ended up in the US; there was just something about it that really attracted me.

"It has worked for a good number of British golfers in the past and I'm sure it will continue to do so.

"For me, having a chance to work on my game with excellent facilities and competition year-round worked out great. And I earned a degree at the end of it all, too."