St. Michael’s grad learning the struggles of being a pro golfer
Sanchez learning struggles of being a pro — and that balls don’t go as far at lower altitudes
Marty Sanchez is learning that par is his best friend — because it’s merely the minimum that a professional should so.
Even though Sanchez has been playing golf for most of his life — and doing so as one of the more well-known golf families in New Mexico — the transition from an accomplished amateur to the pro ranks is still a steep climb. And the best example Sanchez, a 2012 St. Michael’s graduate who turned professional in 2017, can provide is to compare it to the score of par.
“No matter how bad these guys out on tour are playing, an average bad day is a 71 or a 70,” Sanchez said. “Occasionally, depending upon the conditions and how tough the course is, they might 74. Those guys who are making the cut are never shooting over par.”
So, Sanchez’s goal as he competes at the lower level professional tours in and around Phoenix is to aim for par, which at most golf courses is 72, and better. Sanchez said he has done no worse than 72 in every round since July, as he competed in state opens around the country and in some Latin American Tour tournaments. He moved to the Arizona desert in January to work on his game and to get a chance to compete in some tournaments in an area where the idea of snow in winter is a foreign concept.
When Sanchez started his pro career, he went to Texas for the winter, having heard the weather is usually good. Instead, he dealt with mostly rain that dampened his hopes, as well as the opportunities for eight-hour practice rounds and playing in tournaments.
He recalled when his dad, Lee Sanchez, came out to meet him in College Station, Texas, it had rained three straight days — which meant Marty Sanchez was unable to practice. The Sanchezes were heading to Colombia as Marty went to qualifying school for the Latin America Tour.
“I went out there thinking the weather would be good like everyone told me,” Marty Sanchez said. “It was terrible. I was putting on my rug in my apartment.”
Productivity has been much better in Arizona. Sanchez has played in a couple of tournaments the past three weeks. He competed in a one-day qualifier for the PGA Tour’s Western Open in Phoenix, shooting a 1-under 71 that was good for 23rd.
This past week was Sanchez’s first multiday tournament of the season, the Outlaw Tour Pro Series’ Ken McDonald Classic in Tempe. He finished tied for 21st at 8-under. He said his biggest problem on the Ken McDonald Golf Course was the front nine, as he was 2-over total. He rebounded on the turn, recorded a 10-under, but felt his putting hurt him.
“This [past] week, I hit 17 greens on the first day, 17 again on the second day and 15 [on Friday],” Sanchez said. “I’m hitting a lot of greens. I’m just not sharp with the putter. But we all go through those rounds.”
Still, the adjustment to professional life has been intriguing for Sanchez. The first realization he encountered is that he doesn’t hit the ball as far as he does on New Mexico courses, which he attributes to playing closer to sea level. The altitude on the Phoenix area is 1,086 feet, while Santa Fe is at 7,199 feet and Albuquerque is at 5,312 feet.
“It’s so different getting acclimated to the [lower] elevation, which is tough,” he said. “It’s harder for people in higher elevation to go back down because you hit the ball a little shorter. When you’re used to hitting a 9-iron 195 yards, then you only hit it 162 yards here, it’s a little depressing. It hurts your ego a little bit.”
The other part comes with time and experience. As Sanchez learns his way around different courses, he also is competing against golfers who are more familiar with them as well as the normal grind of playing minitours and state opens. However, he said he found plenty of kindred spirits from New Mexico. Sanchez pointed to Sam Saunders of Albuquerque, a 2010 graduate of La Cueva, in helping him during the Latin American Tour, often picking his brain about how to handle his nerves.
In Arizona, he has Zach Berhost, a 2013 St. Michael’s graduate and former teammate, who lives in Phoenix and gives him an outlet from golf. And then there is Collin Pratt, a Desert Academy graduate who was a pro for three years and a caddy for a couple more years before returning to Santa Fe. He took on the mantle of being Sanchez’s golf coach.
“Collin and I have been friends for a long time, and Collin is a fantastic player,” Sanchez said. “He’s accomplished a lot playing. When we talked about golfing and that stuff, what he said made a lot of sense. It was a friendship that turned more professional, and we talk every day [by phone]. He has so much to offer as far as what I can do to get better.”
Pratt said the friendship they built was important because it makes some of his frank observations more palatable.
“You can’t be brutally honest with strangers,” Pratt said. “It kinda rubs them the wrong way. You have to have that close relationship to be brutally honest. He can tell me a decision he made and I can say, ‘Frankly, that was stupid.’ ”
Pratt helped Sanchez tweak his swing and also avoid some of the mental lapses during a round that sometimes get him into trouble. Pratt said Sanchez’s work on his swing helped add 25 yards to his driver, and now he is swinging 8-irons and 9-irons into greens, compared to 6- or 7-irons before.
One thing Pratt emphasized with Sanchez was about being less aggressive on a course. It worked at the Nevada Open in Mesquite, Nev., in November after Sanchez struggled through a 1-under score on the first day.
“Collin and I talked about scaling back my aggression and being more patient,” Sanchez said. “The next day, I go out and shot a 65.”
Pratt said one thing he learned while caddying on the LPGA Tour was how golfers managed the course. It wasn’t about making a string of birdies as much as it was minimizing the impact of mistakes they sometimes make.
“You gotta take advantage of when you are in a good situation,” Pratt said. “When you’re in a bad situation, you have to know when to take your medicine and play for par. I think when Marty first started to play professionally, he thought he had to shoot 59 every round and you had to hit driver on every hole.
“When you’re playing at a high level, it’s not about how many birdies you make. It’s how many bogeys you don’t.”
And the good pros cling closely to their friends, especially par.