I see so many talented youngsters who would love to be professional golfers and when I ask them which tour they would like to play on they usually tell me immediately. However, when I ask them if they know how to get onto that particular tour, I'm met with a blank stare. So, what does it actually entail being a professional golfer?
To start with, there are basically 2 routes that can be taken. The first is to become a PGA club professional, which requires the person to do a 3 year apprenticeship under a qualified PGA professional. The apprenticeship covers business management, sports science, rules and tournaments, equipment, and coaching. After 3 years, having passed the requirements of the PGA programme, the person can either continue working for the training professional or look to become the head pro at a golf club. The problem with this is that these jobs don't open up too often, and when they do, there are usually many professionals vying for the position. The second route is to become a playing professional. This is what most youngsters aspire to: they want to PLAY, they want to play with Tiger, Rory and Ricky (or Annika); they want to become multi millionaires and become famous :)
Ok, so you think you have the talent to make it on tour? What do you have to do to play on tour? Which tour do you want to play on? There are basically 2 main tours, the 2 that all young pros aspire to play on: the U.S. PGA Tour and the European Tour. There are also a few tours which are very competitive and can almost be seen as stepping stones for these 2 main tours, namely the Asian, Sunshine, Canadian, Japanese and the Australasian tours. Afterall, if you are a playing professional, you need tournaments to play in? The problem is, becoming eligible to play on a tour.
To be able to play on one of these tours, a person would first have to go through what's called a qualifying school. Let's say you decide you want to play on the U.S. Tour, there are 3 qualifying stages over a 2 month period that you would have to go through. The first stage is held at over 13 different venues, and if you are good enough to make it through, you will move to the second stage where Nationwide and U.S. Tour players (some Major winners!) who haven't made enough money to keep their cards, will join you. These first 2 stages are played over 4 rounds each, and the 3rd and final stage over 6 rounds! The top 30 players will receive their cards to play on the main tour, and usually the next 50 will be eligible to play on the Nationwide Tour the following year. The qualifying scores at all 3 stages are without doubt always under par (sometimes well under par) and the 30th player at the final stage would probably have to shoot around 10 under for the 6 rounds to qualify! Did I mention that the courses aren't that easy (last year PGA West, a Nicklaus design was used)?
What many youngsters don't realise, and consequently don't plan for, is the costs associated with going through this process. The entry fee for the U.S. Tour is around $4500, you will have to fly to the venues, between stages you would need accomodation, food and a rental car. If you do qualify through the school, GREAT! But, now you have to come up with the money to in the tournaments! Granted, if you make it this far you will probably have a sponsor to cover expenses, but if you have qualified for a smaller tour, you will need to pay your own way. The general figure per tournament was $1500 when I was playing on tour, but this can vary and can be considerably higher for some far away events.
Playing professionally can be a wonderful way (maybe one of the best ways) to make a living, but, it is more than just about playing. You can have all the talent in the world, but you also need to understand business, be very organised, and realise that you are the CEO, the product and the marketing manager of your own business. You will have to sell yourself to big companies, be able to talk to the big boys in these companies, and hopefully, be able to make speeches and speak to audiences.
It is still the best thing I have ever done and will never forget the many wonderful experiences that I had while playing professionally!
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