Insider: Journey worth it to Potter with card now secured

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Potter has played in 71 Nationwide Tour events in his career and has made just 16 cuts. Ten of them have been this season.

After turning pro at the tender age of 19 some might think Ted Potter Jr. has been through a lot in his journey. But Potter doesn't feel that way because the journey has been worth it.

Now, at the age of 27, Potter can sit back and enjoy what has been his best season as one of the top players on the Nationwide Tour. And with this Potter, there's been no magic in his rise to the top but a lot of sheer hard work.

Entering the final regular-season tournament on the Nationwide Tour at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open, Potter has won twice, is ranked third on the money list, and says there's little doubt what the Tour has done for him.

"It's changed my life," Potter said about the Nationwide Tour.

Potter, a left-handed player who is right-handed in everything else, was content to continue to play the mini-tours this season until he qualified to play in the South Georgia Classic in Valdosta, Ga.

"Starting out this year I didn't even know if I would play at all on the Nationwide Tour," Potter said. "I was going to just play on the Hooter's Tour, then I (Monday qualified) into Valdosta and I won so that was unbelievable."

With little expectations Potter wound up winning and his days of playing the mini-tours were over. That victory gave him full membership on the Nationwide Tour, and in late September he won again at the Soboba Golf Classic in California.

His future next season will be on the PGA TOUR, something he's dreamed about for a long time.

"It's been a lot of work but that's the ultimate goal to be on the PGA TOUR," Potter said. "It's been my dream for a long time - ever since I was playing junior golf."

Potter, who has made 10 cuts in 16 tournaments this season, also has seven top 10s and has shown consistency. He's not a big hitter, ranking 94th in driving distance, but he hits a lot of greens in regulation and his putting is vastly improved.

Last season on the Nationwide Tour he played in just 11 events and made three cuts. He also played on the Nationwide Tour in 2007 and played in 20 tournaments but struggled and made just three cuts.

Making three cuts in 20 tournaments, however, wasn't as bad as in 2004 when Potter, who was just 20-years-old at the time, played his first full season on the Nationwide Tour but never cashed a check as he missed every cut.

"I think I've just been more comfortable out here," said Potter, a two-time Hooter's Tour player of the year who has seven victories and has made more than $500,000 in his career on the Hooter's Tour.

Potter, who was born in Ocala, Fla., had an outstanding junior career and after graduating from high school in 2002 wasn't interested in going to college. He said that at the time it just wasn't what he had in mind and decided to take a chance by turning pro.

"It was a struggle starting out but I just didn't feel like college golf was for me," Potter said.

He initially struggled on the Moonlight Tour in Florida but then did well enough in 2004 to make it to the Nationwide Tour.

"I didn't want to go to college at the time," Potter said. "And I was playing pretty well so I decided to give pro golf a try. And I made it to the Nationwide but I was only 20 at the time."

He looks back at those early years as a time where he learned a lot about golf and about himself. He said he never regretted his decision to bypass college and said there was never a low enough moment where he thought about changing careers.

"I was young when I turned pro and I just figured I'd have a lot of years in front of me," Potter said. "When I was playing minitours I just kept going and kept playing and knew my time would eventually come....

"I stayed positive for the most part and while there were some ups and downs, it worked out."

He's been all positive this season, and says that life on the Nationwide Tour has gotten easier because of his consistent ball striking. Heading into this week's tournament Potter has played in 71 Nationwide Tour tournaments in his career but has made just 16 cuts, but 10 of them have been this season.

"I've been doing a pretty good job of putting the ball into play," Potter said. "I've been hitting a lot of greens and my putting has been pretty solid so everything is kind of working well for me."

Potter said it's all about going low because it's so competitive on the Nationwide Tour.

"I've been playing well but there's such a fine line out here," Potter said. "But if you make the cut you have a good chance of winning on the weekend. It's a matter of making a putt here and there."

Even though Potter knows the PGA TOUR is in his future he's not looking ahead. He also isn't sure what he'll be facing in 2012 in his first crack at the PGA TOUR.

"Honestly, I don't know what I'm looking forward to because I've never been out there," Potter said about next season. "I've never seen those big galleries that they have out there so that's going to be different. I'll have to get used to that."

John Dell has covered golf for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina for the last 18 years. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. You can reach him at johndell@triad.rr.com.