How to make the Tour

[JYB]

i'm not asking how "I" would make it because I'm about 10-15 strokes a round away hah but, what are the options for someone who has an excellent handicap and can play at that level?

[Dent]

Well you need money, and you need to get into Q (Qualifying) School somewhere. In the tournament you need to come in a certain place to Get to the PGA. Thats all I know.

[MrKadash]

If anyone is a 1.5 USGA index or lower, try to qualify for the US Open.

[obsessedgolfer]

If anyone is a 1.5 USGA index or lower, try to qualify for the US Open.

you mean +1.5 under par because there are a ton of scratch golfers out there if you want a realistic shot at playing on tour you need to have atleast a +4

[iacas]

you mean +1.5 under par because there are a ton of scratch golfers out there if you want a realistic shot at playing on tour you need to have atleast a +4

No, he meant 1.5 or better, since that's all that's required to enter qualifying.

I think it's actually 1.4, though.

[MrKadash]

1.4 is correct.

[Shindig]

i'm not asking how "I" would make it because I'm about 10-15 strokes a round away hah but, what are the options for someone who has an excellent handicap and can play at that level?

Read

Paper Tiger for an entertaining take on someone trying to do this via Q-School route. And keep in mind how many people Tom Coyne would've been a hero to, had he succeeded! There are a few routes to the Tour. I assume you mean the PGA Tour. I assume other top-tier tours have similar means. 1. Annual Qualifying Tournament, "Q School." Each stage the top X many move to the next stage ; at the final stage, everyone gets some status on one of the tours, either PGA or NWT. 2. Play your way on, as Tiger Woods did in '96, Steve Stricker in '06, and Anthony Kim almost did in '06, or Jay Williamson did in '07. (a) Get a sponsor exemption(s) to a tournament(s) and/or Monday qualify for tournaments. A top-10 gets you into the next event, modulo invitationals. Earn enough money that, had you been on tour that year, you would have retained your card. This also works for the NWT. (b) Win a tournament that you got into through some means, such as those in (a). I think Mickelson and Verplank got their initial cards this way, and Daniel Summerhays did this last year for this year's NWT. 3. Get into the NWT through some means, such as (1) or (2), and finish in "THE 25." (top 25 in NWT order of merit).

[Everardo]

Read

Great read in my opinion.

[JYB]

okay cool but where do these tournaments happen? not Q school, but the tournaments where you would be able to earn sponsorship, etc. to get noticed and be able to jump to the NWT or PGA

[Big_M]

okay cool but where do these tournaments happen? not Q school, but the tournaments where you would be able to earn sponsorship, etc. to get noticed and be able to jump to the NWT or PGA

they happen on mini-tours every weekend across the globe...

http://www.dmoz.org/Sports/Golf/Orga...ns/Mini-Tours/

[Wisco-Kid]

Read

I loved that book! It explains everything so well. Makes you realize how darn good you have to be and the close many of those pros are to being really good consistently.

[Shindig]

okay cool but where do these tournaments happen? not Q school, but the tournaments where you would be able to earn sponsorship, etc. to get noticed and be able to jump to the NWT or PGA

This isn't a team sport where you need a sponsor to play in the big leagues. They generally don't have competitions for sponsorship. You could write letters to the sponsoring company, give them your golf resume - hopefully you've won or done well in some tournaments - and tell them your goals. I imagine that if I were to do this, I would also include a promise that if I made it to the big leagues, I'd be a regular at their tournament spot for so long as they were a sponsor.

[Jeepthrills]

The only real way to get noticed is to play well in tournaments. Pro or amateur. You need to put up some good numbers with regularity. This will potentially get you some sponsors if you are not already able to afford the costs. It's not just entry fees, but travel, meals and accomodations.

John Feinstein's book about Q School was great. As I recall all you need to enter is proof of your competetive ability in tournament golf and $3500. If you have not earned any kind of exemption you start with Pre-qualifying. After 4 days, the top 30-40 finishers from each of 4 sites go on to the First Stage. This has about 12 sites and the top 25 or so from each of these move on. Second Stage is about 6 sites and the top 20 from each move on to the Finals. Unlike the first two stages, which are 4 rounds each, this is a six round tournament where the Top 25 finishers get their PGA Tour Card. At each round there are players that were exempt into that stage based on their status on various world wide tours.

Pretty simple.

[zmzman]

you mean +1.5 under par because there are a ton of scratch golfers out there if you want a realistic shot at playing on tour you need to have atleast a +4

Let's put it this way Tiger (and I know this is an extreme example) has a +13.5 at his home course of Isleworth.

I know a few +1 through +3 and they are the best I have played with/seen and they can't Monday qualify. But at the same time they need to have jobs and time to do other things besides golf. Money, Time and some ability is what is most important I would think. Or you could get some backers if you know people with money. I know a couple of guys that decied to back Kevin Streelman that is kind of paying off. It's like investing for those guys because they have the $$ anyway and thought it might be a positive return. No idea on the specifics, I'd never ask but I thought it interesting.

[JYB]

wow, lots of nice info. i'll def. pick up Paper Tiger.

Now, let's say i've written to some companies, let' say, J. Lindeberg for example, and get them to sponsor me. Now that they've sponsored me, how does that entitle me to a "sponsorship exemption" in a PGA or NWT event? Would i just be able to call up the PGA and be like "hey, i'm sponsored by JL and i want to play in this event". hah what i'm asking now is how sponsorship exemptions work

[Lefty731PM]

Now, let's say i've written to some companies, let' say, J. Lindeberg for example, and get them to sponsor me. Now that they've sponsored me, how does that entitle me to a "sponsorship exemption" in a PGA or NWT event? Would i just be able to call up the PGA and be like "hey, i'm sponsored by JL and i want to play in this event". hah what i'm asking now is how sponsorship exemptions work

The sponsor's exemption is decided by the sponsors of the tournament - it has nothing to do with the sponsorships a golfer might have. So..if John Daly hasn't qualified for a tournament, the sponsors may give him an exemption or invitation because they know that the coverage he gets will be good publicity for them. The people who underwrite tournaments have no interest in the fact that a company other than their own pays a player to wear their logo. A company like Buick might choose NOT to give an invitation to a non qualifying player who is sponsored by one of their competitors, though.

[JYB]

ahhh i see now. So if Michelob sponsors player A but player A isn't doing so well, they might give him an exemption and let him play in their tournament just because they want to. i get it..cool.

[ChvyKc]

ahhh i see now. So if Michelob sponsors player A but player A isn't doing so well, they might give him an exemption and let him play in their tournament just because they want to. i get it..cool.

But if player B is sponsored by Budweiser and is playing better than Player A but misses the cut he probably won't get an exemption by the sponsor since he is associated with a competitor. I don't know of anybody that is sponsored by an alcoholic vendor but if Dunlop ever drops Daly then maybe he could pick one up.