Forget the finals -- q-school's stress is in second stage

Benc/Getty Images

The second stage is the all-important bridge to q-school finals, perhaps the most stressful stage of all.

There are more future insurance and real estate agents playing in the second stage of q-school than there are future PGA TOUR players. That is just the math. The difference between making q-school the last standardized test you will ever take and sharpening a No. 2 pencil in the future is as much about mindset as it is about talent. (I know, those tests are computerized now but the metaphor works better with the pencil).

If you were callous enough to tell one of the roughly 400 players entered in the second stage of q-school that they were more likely to be selling strip malls in five years than they are playing on the PGA TOUR you would probably get a 5-iron to the gut.

"Every player at the second stage believes that they will win the U.S. Open next year," Ryan Gioffre explained.

Ryan should know, too. He was a standout at Wake Forest in the 1990s. Then he took his game to the next level and was a fixture at the "Fall Classic" every year for a decade. He spent some time on the Nationwide Tour and made it to the final stage of q-school a couple of times -- but for unknown reasons he just wasn't able to take that next step.

He is happily living in North Carolina now with his wife and young family -- and he should be. He can now be found weekdays working at Triad Commercial Properties just outside Greensboro, N.C. So you see, there is peace in life after golf, especially when it comes to q-school.

Ryan is far enough removed from his playing days to talk about q-school now with relative calm. However, every player who has ever written the big check for his entry fee still reminisces with some trepidation. Ryan and I agree that q-school's most harrowing moments don't come at the final stage. Not by a long shot. The most pressure comes in the second stage. A successful trip through the second stage and at the very least you are in the system. Even a conditional Nationwide Tour card (a guarantee to all players who reach the finals) can be the beginning of a career-changing year.

But you can't get too far ahead of yourself. Every player at the second stage has accomplished something to get there. Whether it is a kid fresh out of college or a veteran coming off a bad year, they have earned their spot. There are wild cards at the first stage; simply put, guys who don't belong. At the second stage, though, everyone has the game to advance. Furthermore, everyone believes that they have earned the right to advance.

I was told very early in my career that you either have to be really dumb or really smart to play this game for a living. I am not sure that I fall into either category. Mental oblivion certainly seems like it would be an asset at the second stage, though. It certainly seems to work in other sports. But at the second stage of q-school most people are well aware that everything that they have worked for their entire lives is on the line this week. If you stumble you are a full year away from a shot at redemption.

The second stage is a four-day competition much like the first stage. There will be roughly 80 players at each site with 20-22 tickets to the finals. Obviously you don't have to win to advance but you certainly have to play well. Desperation does not bring out the best in everyone but it certainly does bring out the best in some.

I opened this piece by suggesting that most of these guys will be doing something else within five years. And while that is certainly true there is an interesting extension of logic that doesn't quite compute. If a player comes to the second stage with no plan B, no fall-back position, he is far more likely to advance than the guy who works at his father's car dealership to supplement his earnings on the mini-tours.

To be successful at q-school you have to have the mindset that all your eggs are in one basket. It is impossible to eliminate all thoughts of failure. But if you try to find comfort in your options those options will become your reality. Sports psychologists may disagree -- but then again how many of them every made it through q-school? Trust me, if you start speculating about life after golf that life will start a lot sooner than you want it to.

Perhaps that is the biggest difference between the guys who will be playing in December at the finals in Winter Garden, Fla., and those who will be looking at the big world around them trying to figure out where they fit. The guys who succeed don't think they have any options. That dynamic runs contrary to a society constantly hedging their bets and looking for the next great opportunity.

To be successful at q-school you have to believe that in some ways this is your destiny. And more importantly, that you deserve it.