Millions of people around the world play golf. A lesser portion of those millions plays golf regularly. An even smaller part play golf well — shooting in the 90s and 80s. And a tiny sliver of that portion is made up of the pros. These are golfers who shoot consistently and play at a very high level. They’ve likely competed in tournaments and maybe even won a few.
If you’ve ever dreamed about becoming a professional golfer, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll break down exactly what you have to do to become a professional golfer. We’ll look at all the individual steps you need to take to get there and how to retain your pro status once you’ve made it.
Becoming a professional golfer can seem like a huge, intimidating impediment from the outside looking in. If you have the right skillset and are determined enough to do the work, however, then it might actually be more achievable than you think.
What Is a Golf Professional?
When someone refers to a golf professional, typically who they mean is someone who is playing at the highest level of golf and competing in legitimate tournaments — usually for large sums of money. The term “golf professional” will usually conjure up images of Tiger Woods fist-pumping at the final green of Augusta or Rory McIlroy strutting down the Old Course at St. Andrews. The vast majority of professional golfers, however, mostly work with little to no recognition.
While some do compete in the big tournaments fighting for the grand prize and a lifetime of respect, most are just fighting to make the cut, trying to make their dream a reality. As you’ll see in the next section, there are many different types of professional golfers.
Different Types of Golf Pros
While the most well-known type of professional golfer is probably those you see on your television on Sunday, there are a variety of pros out there.
Head Professional
You’ve probably met a head professional at some point if you’ve ever played golf. These are people who are in charge of maintaining the course — running operations like tee times and outings, managing employees and ultimately keeping the course in great working condition. A head professional is a little different than a professional golfer and requires a few different steps to earn the title.
Teaching Professional
You may also have encountered a teaching professional — these are golfers working on courses whose core duty is giving lessons to customers. Some teaching professionals may stick strictly to giving lessons, while others may have other duties similar to that of a head professional like working in the clubhouse and managing employees. Some head professionals also work as teaching professionals.
To become a teaching professional, you’ll have to get certified through the PGA and also work under the apprenticeship of a PGA player. Some retired professional golfers and even current professional golfers act as teaching professionals. This allows them to share their love of the game with others and also create another stream of income.
Mini Tour Golfer
A mini tour golfer doesn’t technically qualify as a professional golfer. Instead, these are golfers who play in local events where mini tours are held. In order to play, you have to register with a low handicap. Some tournaments may have certain restrictions you’ll have to follow. Instead of money prizes, the winner of these mini tour events will usually be given credit or gift cards. Although mini tour events aren’t as flashy as pro tournaments, they can still be great ways for amateurs to get noticed and work their way up the pro ladder.
If you’re looking to become a professional golfer, be sure to seek out these events near you to hone your game and spread your reach. These events may be held only in certain states such as Texas, Arizona, Florida and California.
PGA Professional
These are the cream of the crop professional golfers. PGA pros have to go through a long and rigorous process to get to where they are. The PGA Tour is the big leagues — much like the NBA or NFL is for basketball and football. It’s extremely challenging to get into the PGA — maybe even harder to retain your status and play well against the most well-known names in the game. Aside from the main PGA tour, there are also a couple of other branches:
- PGA Latin America: This branch includes events in South America, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Florida.
- PGA Europe: On this branch of the PGA, you’ll be playing events all over Europe.
PGA Latin American and PGA Europe aren’t as lucrative as the main tour. Instead, these branches can act as stepping stones that can get you to the top league. Still, these are very prestigious leagues and hold some of the best players in the world.
How to Become a Golf Pro
Knowing the ins and outs of the various types of golf pros will help you get a mental framework of the options you have. Like most aspiring professional golfers, you’re probably aiming for the top of the game – the PGA Tour. To get there, you’ll need to break the process down into manageable steps. Here’s how you can become a golf professional.
Start Playing Young
One of the best ways to get good at golf is to start when you’re very young. Tiger Woods notoriously started swinging a club as soon as he could walk. By the age of six he was playing rounds with his dad. Most of us won’t start when we’re this young or get that kind of guidance. But the sooner you start playing, the easier it will be to get comfortable with your swing and build good habits.
If you can, it’s best to start in junior leagues and play through high school, honing your skills and competing against other great golfers. From there, you may be able to play on a college team and follow a pipeline from there.
Now, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to have started swinging a club as a toddler to become professional. Some of the best seem to get better at golf as they get older. Vijay Singh, for example, became a golfing legend in his forties. Y.E. Yang didn’t start golfing until he was 19 when he worked at a golf range in South Korea. He beat Tiger Woods in a tournament at age 37.
These stories just go to show you that golf is an interesting sport and not like many others — sometimes, players become better with age. Even if you’ve started late, you may be able to get ahead by focusing on your skills and committing to your craft.
Play Frequently and Hone Your Skills
Aside from starting golf early, you’ll also want to play as frequently as you can. A lot of golf is about developing a kind of muscle memory — the sooner you’re able to replicate one exact swing, the more consistent you’ll be able to hit the golf ball. If you can, try to play every day. This will give you the best chance to develop your swing, improve your game and make small steps towards professional status.
The road to a professional golfer can’t be crossed in a day, after all — instead, it’s only achieved through hours and hours of work on your craft. Though it might not seem like you’re making much progress at first, those hours will add up and soon you’ll look back and see how far you’ve come.
Play Competitively
Hitting the range or playing a course on your own can be helpful, but to truly push yourself towards greatness you’ll need to play competitively. To begin with, this can be as simple as finding some friends and family to engage with in some friendly competition. If no one around you wants to golf, you could even play against yourself on the course by hitting two balls from the tee.
Once you start getting to that next level, you’ll want to start seeking out some more legitimate competition. This means finding local tournaments near you, seeking out great golfers in your town and embracing the competitive spirit of the game. If you want to become a professional, you’ll have to develop an edge and a hunger for winning. The best players in the world have an insatiable desire to be the best — if you develop this hunger, there’s no telling how far you’ll be able to go.
Take Lessons and Find a Golf Coach
With solid fundamentals, you can set yourself on the path to success. Take lessons to get those basic parts of your game solid and then go from there. Even as you’re progressing, you’ll want to reach out to a golf coach for some help. All professionals, along some stage of their journey to professional status, likely had a coach to tell them what to do. These coaches can point out little things in your swing that can significantly help your game.
Being prideful and refusing to get help from a coach will only delay your improvement. Get some help from the start so that you can have confidence in your swing.
Get a Golf Fitting
Some golfers love to blame a club for their poor shot. While in most cases this is likely just a mistake by the golfer, there is a lot to be said for having the right golf clubs. To make sure that you’re getting the most out of your clubs, be sure to get a fitting. A golf fitting will involve measurements of your height and wingspan so that you can find a set that matches your exact preferences.
The right set of clubs will allow you to have a more comfortable swing that you can rely on day in and day out.
Find Your Home Course
You’ll need to find one course near you that you can play frequently. This will allow you to get a feel for the terrain and then work on your game each day. By understanding the layout of the course and familiarizing yourself with the design, you can practice various strategies and types of shots.
Register Your Handicap
In order to even be considered for pro status, you’ll first have to register for a handicap. A handicap is a number that essentially measures your talent on any given course. As the name implies, more amateur players will have a higher handicap that gifts them strokes during a round.
To get a handicap, you’ll have to play a minimum amount of holes while recording your score — after that you can submit it and get your official handicap. From there, you can work on improving it. The lower your handicap, the closer you’ll be to pro status.
Amateur vs. Professional Golfer Staus: How to Make the Jump
All the steps up to this point have been something that relatively anyone interested in golf can do. In order to make that last jump from amateur to pro, you’ll have to really focus on your game and commit to making it. Here are the steps to make that jump from amateur to pro.
Attend Q School
If you’re consistently breaking par and feel like you’re playing at the top of your game, then it’s time to start thinking about attending PGA Tour Qualifying School — also known as Q School.
Q School is like the golf bootcamp for aspiring professionals — if you have the mental and fortitude to make it through, then you’re cut out for the big leagues. But many who enter Q School don’t come out on the other side — that’s why you want to make sure you’re at peak performance before entering.
Q School is designed to weed out the weaker players. To begin with, you’ll be playing other aspiring professionals looking to work their way to the top. If you’re able to defeat your competitors in this round, you’ll work your way to facing former tour professionals who have lost their privilege rights to play and are fighting their way back to the pro tour.
You’ll work your way through multiple qualifying stages that put you under immense and physical and mental stress and each round will be populated with better and better players.
You can sign up through the PGA and will likely need to put a few thousand dollars down to enter, with each stage requiring another monetary price. If you win a tournament or place, you’re looking at a $50,000 payday or more.
Play In the Korn Ferry Tour
After Q School, you’ll qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour, which is just one step down from the PGA Tour. Here, you’ll be traveling around and playing in various tournaments, attempting to earn your status into the PGA. If you’re able to make it to the finals in the top 25, then you earn a place on the PGA Tour. Placing in the 25-50 range gets you conditional status and a chance to make a debut on the Tour as well.
Earn Your PGA Tour Card
If you finish in the top 25 in the Korn Ferry Tour, then you’ll earn your PGA Tour Card. This is a momentous moment and it symbolizes all of the hard work, dedication and sacrifice it took to get to that point. The card cements your chances to play on the PGA Tour, play against legends of the game and offers a clear path towards winning a million-dollar prize.
Stay On the Tour
Even once you get into the PGA Tour, you’ll still have to continue to earn your spot once you get there. You’ll need to remain in contention and place in tournaments in order to keep your spot. That means you have to be continually committed to your game and focused on winning every time you step on the course.
The Advantages of Becoming a Professional Golfer
When you’re in the middle of the workload, battling for a spot and playing in day and day out, it can be easy to forget where the finish line is. When you get lost in the weeds, it can be helpful to remind yourself why you’re striving for that professional status. Here are some advantages of earning that title as a professional golfer.
Do Something You Love
So many people love the game of golf. If you do it for a living, then it’s even better — the golf course is your office, and every day you get to step out onto the tee box and play the beautiful game one more time. For many, becoming a professional golfer is a dream come true.
Play Against the Best
When you turn pro, you’ll likely face off against players who you’ve looked up to your whole life. Rory McIlroy used to watch Tiger win tournaments as a young kid — now he’s overtaking him as the PGA’s next best golfer. The PGA is the best of the best — only the most revered golfers are allowed. You’ll get to play against the best competition golf has to offer — and maybe even become one of the best yourself.
Earn Massive Paychecks
Each tournament offers millions of dollars as a reward. Nowadays, you have a real chance of making generational wealth all by merely playing the game of golf. As the game continues to grow in popularity, the cash prizes continue to rise, offering more incentive for people to compete and creating even fiercer competition.
Grow Your Status As a Pro
Becoming a pro also expands your reach as a golfer and as a business — you’ll likely get on TV and earn sponsorships because of your visibility. In turn, you’ll have more leverage in signing deals and be able to use your talent to earn more money.
Gain Respect From Your Peers
As a professional golfer, you become part of a historic line of legendary golfers who go back decades and even centuries. Golf is all about tradition — as a pro, you earn the right to find your place in that tradition and carve out your space in golf’s rich history.
Becoming a Pro Golfer: The Bottom Line
As you can see, becoming a professional golfer takes a lot of work and dedication. If you really want to get there and think you have what it takes, be sure to follow these steps and reach out to some local pros to help your dream become a reality.
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