Golf

__ The Process of Becoming a Professional Golfer __ __﻿__Jack Corcoran

The process of becoming a professional golfer is long, difficult, and expensive. Only 1% of golfers competing at Q-School, qualify for the PGA Tour. Professional golfers are extremely skilled and it takes several years devoted to golf and working hard to get to their level of skill. Many professional golfers begin playing golf at young ages, Tiger Woods began when he was two years old. Tiger Woods started playing golf at the age of two and did not become a professional golfer until the age of 21. Debatable the greatest golfer of all time, practiced for 19 years before becoming a professional. Tiger Woods also grew up California where it is warm year around and he can play and practice golf year around, unlike northern states. Most professional golfers live in southern states, and the golfers that did grow up in the north eventually moved down south in order to improve and increase the opportunity of becoming a professional. To become a professional you must be devoted to practicing everyday because being a golfer is a full-time job therefor you must practice a lot, just like you would for any other profession. Golf is a very expensive sport. A complete set of golf clubs can cost up to $2,000. Once you have the clubs it costs $20-100 to play a single round of golf. Practicing at a driving range costs roughly $8. Private lessons cost $50-100. And if you live north then you should move south, if you want to have a good opportunity to become a professional, which will cost a fortune.

After playing and practicing for a while and you notice you're skill level to be advanced, and you are consistenly shooting one or two over par for 18 holes, you should compete in some amateur events to compare yourself amongst other golfers. Depending on the tournament, Amateur events typically cost at least $100 to enter. Once you notice you are dominating amateur tournaments, winning consistently, you should try to qualify for the US Amateur. Each section of America has qualifiers and at the qualifier, the top two or three players will advance to the US Amateur tournament. There, all the best amateur players in America compete. The winner of the the US Amatuer will be exempt to play in the US Open, which is a professional tournament. If you don't win the US AM. and you aren't exempt for a professional tournament, then you should go to Q-School, to become a professional golfer. Q-School is a longer, harder, and more expensive process. Theres a $5,000 pre-qualifying fee for Q-School. At the first stage only 25 people are exempt to the second stage.

The second stage is three rounds and only a few players advance to the third and final stage. The players that advance into the final round must shoot around 15-20 under par for the three rounds.

At the third and final stage of Q-School 156 players from all over the world compete to become a professional. The top 25 players are exempt to play in the PGA Tour. 26-50 are exempt to play of the Nation Wide Tour which is a less competitive and has lower winnings. Because the Nation Wide Tour has such low winnings players must dominant to earn a living, unlike like players on the PGA Tour.

The process of becoming a professional golfer is a life long journey, but if one is successful it can be the most exciting, fun, profitable job there is. For anybody that is thinking about becoming a professional golfer, have fun and I wish you the best of luck!

__INTERVIEW:__ I know the interview is a little bit longer than "brief" but it just shows how difficult the becoming a professional golfer really is. OK, so I worked with this guy at the local country club (golf course) over the summer who is an amazing golfer and he in our dialogue he describes how difficult Q-School is.

[|Jack Corcoran] So, how long have you been playing golf for?

[|William Ciccotti] roughly 12 years. Got anymore brain busters ?

[|Jack Corcoran] whats your handicap?

[|Jack Corcoran] have you ever thought about giving Q-school a try? if not why?

[|William Ciccotti] Current handicap is 0.0 I continplated attempting Q-school last season ... I was a plus handicap and felt if I took time off to properly train and practice that if I played well I might be able to pull it off and make a smaller tour and in a few years work my way up to the nationwide or possibly the PGA depending on how good I became

[|Jack Corcoran] and why didnt you? you didn't want to? or you didnt think you were good enough? how difficult is it to be on the PGA tour?

[|William Ciccotti] I didn't go for it due to two reasons ... (1) an extreme amount of money is needed to back soneones inital start of their professional golf career (Qschool entry feel ... Weekly tournament entry fees ... ect) so I would have had to search for a sponsor (which I'm sure I could have found) and give them a % of my winnings to pay them back their $ they invested in my career ... From then on iwoyld feel I owed them so getting me on a

Also if I made it ... I truely believe I would be "Monday play in" in the beginning (paying each Mondays quilifying fee where they only talk 1, 2, or 3 plays from 50-100 and the scores that get in are mid-low60s ... Which would b a frustrating way to start a career ... Constantly 2nd guessing ur abilities when you r shooting below par which isn't good enough) [|William Ciccotti] I would no b happy living out for my car moving from week to week across the US wondering if I will qualify let alone if I'll make the cut to earn some $ back ... It would be an extremely difficult life and a good way to loose your mind and confidence [|William Ciccotti] And yes that does give up my ability to be the best golfer I can be, but overall I will be happier in life [|William Ciccotti] The hooters tour, gateway tour and other mini tours are easy to make for a 2 handicap or below to make and play on ... But the winnings are so close to the entry fees that you cannot make a living without a 2nd job ... And with a 2nd job you cannot practice as much as needed to win (tough combo) [|William Ciccotti] Nationwide is extremely difficult unles u have a sponor or some local exemption (every club that hosts a nationwide event is give a few (1,2,3 or 4) exemptions for that event to give out to players or club pros they feel can compete on that level) [|William Ciccotti] And the PGA Tour is a whole other level ... The players the courses the mental game ... Everything is on a much higher level

[|Jack Corcoran] how difficult is the Q-school process. How slim are the odds one qualifies from Q-School to the PGA TOur?

[|William Ciccotti] Q school requires you to shoot multiple rounds in the mid to low 60s fr multiple stages .... On PGA West (really difficult course in CA)

[|William Ciccotti] There are roughly 6 stages of Qschool ... As u advance each stage better players get tossed into the mix (the ones with exemptions ... Then the money leaders from mini tours ... Next nationwide tour pros looking to move up to the PGA ... Finally PGA tour pros looking to keep their card)

[|William Ciccotti] As each stage goes by it become more and mor difficult until nearly impossible ... But it is possible ... You need to be ready to go low (mid/low 60s each stage and each round within the stages). I felt more secure with staying a PGA club professional where I can still qualify for PGA Tour events, but where my life/job was much more balanced [|Jack Corcoran] Thanks Bill. That was a huge help. Hope to see your around, good luck where ever you're going next year!

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