News Release
Golfer has five-year plan en route to PGA
March 7, 2008
Auction to be held tonight to raise funds for Dieppe's Marc Bourgeois
By Gerard McLaughlin
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Friday February 29th, 2008
Appeared on page D4
First, this is one mighty mountain to challenge.
Second, once you start out, it can't be done in a week, a month or even a year.
The challenge is playing on the PGA Tour, walking shoulder-to-shoulder and hitting shot-for-shot with stars like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Canada's own Mike Weir. It's a mighty big task.
It's the dream of many, including Dieppe's Marc Bourgeois, who turned pro last fall after four years on a golf scholarship at Kent State University.
Bourgeois, 22, jumped out on the fairways with the big boys this month and played in five events on the Gateway Tour, a winter grooming ground in Florida for young professionals. He missed all five cuts.
"Marc has a five-year plan and expecting more before that wouldn't be doing himself justice," says Louis Melanson, the local pro who coaches Bourgeois and is also working on his long-range plan.
"Marc's career right now is about doing all the proper work and making all the right decisions. The average age of players joining the PGA tour is 26.8 and Marc is only 22. He has lots of things to work on."
In his gut, Melanson feels Bourgeois has all the tools to make it.
In fact, many things about his game is already at the PGA level.
Melanson points out that Bourgeois' ball speed is 172, which is already higher than the 166-167 average of PGA players.
But perhaps most important of all is his willingness to work and his determination to succeed.
"Marc is a perfectionist and that's so important in golf," Melanson said. "There are no short cuts and you have to do things right. It's going to take time just like it did with almost everybody out there now.
"Look at Mike Weir. He was at qualifying school seven times. Look at Zack Johnson (2007 Masters champion). He wasn't even the best player on his college team but he worked his butt off and he did it. That's the attitude you need to have and Marc fits right into that category. He simply will not be out-worked."
But, it's also about financial support because this portion of the long road is very costly. Bourgeois has signed on with Nike as his equipment sponsor. That deal is important and will become much more lucrative as he improves.
A large local group is also supporting Bourgeois and tonight an auction will be held at Crystal Palace in Dieppe. Funds from this event will be used to assist with his entry fees to attend the Canadian Tour Qualifying School next month.
The Canadian Tour, where Weir and many other PGA stars groomed their games, is where Bourgeois hopes to play this summer.
Melanson said more corporate sponsorship will be a must to make the total game-plan run smoothly.
"A huge part of a project like this is financial," he says. "You can't be out there thinking; Am I going to be able to pay for my food, or my rent or my car? You need to be thinking about only one thing, how to improve your game."
While a New Brunswicker has never played on the PGA Tour, Melanson says there's no reason to think it won't happen soon.
"This kid has talent. He finished ninth at the world junior championship in 2002 and played in a PGA Tour event (Canadian Open) when he was only 18," he said.
"Marc was an All-American, All-Academic twice at Kent State. He's no flash in the pan. Actually he's been on the road to his goal for a few years now and every step so far has been positive."