Should the professional tours establish a minimum age to protect children?

MrMom

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We all want our children to be successful and do great things in life, and where applicable, in sports. A 12-year old girl qualified for the CP Women’s open this week on the LPGA. She missed the cut, coming in second-to-last at 19-over par. I’m sure she had an amazing time and learned a ton from the pros, but could that be too much too soon? Michelle Wie had an incredible amateur career and very successful professional career so far, but never really met the impossible expectations set by her meteoric rise in the golf world as a teenager.

Should the professional tours set a minimum age limit to protect children from overexposure to the sport before they have a chance to really grow up, or should the onus be completely on the parents?
 
i don’t think so. that kind of experience is impossible to replicate. i don’t see any downside to letting them play if they have the ability.


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I don’t think a minimum age is needed. If they can’t play, let them. They will learn a ton and dominate later in life.
 
Nope..
 
Has this been a problem? I can’t imagine very many instances of over zealous parents pushing their kids way too early.


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If they have the talent and ability let them play!
 
While I don't think it's a widespread problem, I think they should do better at when those rare young kids come to the tour, they invest more time mentoring, which should help young kids better adjust to life on tour.
 
I find it funny the US Junior Amateur has a minimum age but the US Amateur doesn't.
 
Ty Tyron has an interesting opinion on this.
 
Leftyuk;n8889026 said:
Ty Tyron has an interesting opinion on this.

I wasn't familiar with Ty Tryon until you mentioned him, so I looked it up and found this article on the top-10 flameouts on the PGA tour attributed to crushing expectations:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1331113-10-biggest-flameouts-in-golf-history#slide10

Only a couple of them were minors when they were exposed to the pro tours, but this is the kind of thing I was talking about, and Ty Tryon is a prime example. Two made-cuts as a 16 year old, 8 million dollars of endorsements at 17 years old, then radio silence. I'm not necessarily arguing for an age limit, I just think it could be a discussion since the mental aspect of this game is so important and teenage minds aren't always the most resilient. My kids are still pre-k, but if either of them shows prodigious talent in any area I will do my best to keep them grounded while they're young.
 
$162,309 in career earning plus 8 million in endorsements. Ain’t nobody turning that down. Strike while the iron is hot I say. If he would have made those cuts when he was 16 and then never played on the pga till he was 18 who is to say that endorsement money would still be there. That would really be the heart breaking part of this story.
 
She earned her way into the tournament I believe by a 2nd place finish at the Canadians women's amateur. Saying she isn't allowed because of age would be pretty disappointing.
 
Boder;n8889168 said:
$162,309 in career earning plus 8 million in endorsements. Ain’t nobody turning that down. Strike while the iron is hot I say. If he would have made those cuts when he was 16 and then never played on the pga till he was 18 who is to say that endorsement money would still be there. That would really be the heart breaking part of this story.

I'm a staunch advocate for the "strike while the iron is hot" stance in other sports such as football and basketball. But in golf, where an athlete's prime can be decades long, I think it makes sense to take one's time and mature before being exposed to the benefits and pitfalls of professional sports. Even Tiger, one of the best amateur golfers of all time, went to college for a couple years and waited until he was 20 to turn pro, when he easily could've done so much sooner.
 
I believe that PGA Tour as well as LPGA Tour membership has a minimum age requirement of 18 years old.
 
DG_1234;n8889195 said:
I believe that PGA Tour as well as LPGA Tour membership has a minimum age requirement of 18 years old.

Accurate.

But the LPGA has waived their rule before, some player named Lydia Ko...
 
MrMom;n8889194 said:
I'm a staunch advocate for the "strike while the iron is hot" stance in other sports such as football and basketball. But in golf, where an athlete's prime can be decades long, I think it makes sense to take one's time and mature before being exposed to the benefits and pitfalls of professional sports. Even Tiger, one of the best amateur golfers of all time, went to college for a couple years and waited until he was 20 to turn pro, when he easily could've done so much sooner.

Tiger is a good example of a successful player coming out of a college program. There are several other good players that did not go to college. Rory Mcilroy, Ernie Els, Sergio, and multiple other Euros have done it.

There is more then one way to get on tour and I think that is a good thing. Getting on the tour is very difficult as well. No sense making it harder on someone IMO.
 
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