How do you practice to be a pro?

[EBA]

Heres the question, its a question without an answer really... but how do real people practice to be a pro. How do you find time to practice, how do you pay for greens fees. How do you find the cash to stay up to date with equipment, how do you pay for coaching, instruction. I know the odds are slim, but you have to practice to ever get close. Im not talking about being the next Tiger, I would settle for being a grinder on the Nationwide Tour. But still, these are the top 1% of golfers in the world. How can anyone afford to practice to be a pro.

[Quinn07]

It starts when you are a junior when you don't have to worry real life things like supporting a family and paying a mortgage. I would say that's when the grinders and obviously the Tigers get good at what they do.

I have thought long and hard about this. I have concluded that you have to be in a pretty unique situation (Rich or own a company that runs itself) to be able to decide to put in the effort to become a pro, if you haven't done so as junior/intermediate through college/university. You could also market yourself and see if you can get some sponsers, either at your club or from your area.

You could also buy the DVD "Practice like a Pro" it may have some good information in there, so how to practice efficiently.

[Jay-Bird]

You'll need someone with a ton of money to bankroll you (a sponsor) until you can pay them back with earnings/winnings. Or you could win the lottery. You'll need to practice atleast 8 hours a day, like a real job. It would probably be beneficial to hire a teaching pro or two...

[Shindig]

Passive income and low responsibility. If your non-golf expenses are seriously limited and you have enough invested in passive income generators, such as bond funds in hand instead of stock indexes in an IRA, you might be able to cover your expenses by working part-time, letting the passive income cover some or all of the bills, cover the rest with your part-time income, and working on your golf the rest of the time.


Or do the Paper Tiger thing and go into serious debt to do it.

[Ben]

Its all very simple, if you are willing to take an extreme cut to your financial lifestyle for a while. Here's how its done...

Get a job at a golf course: Unlimited access to your golf course and practice facilities.

Befriend the Membership: Access to possible private sponsors.

Befriend the manufacturer's sales reps: Pick up an eclusive contract to play a companie's equipment and get stuff from other companies at Person Use Discounts (PUD)

Get in the PGA/PGM program. Ability to play other courses for free, enter local Monday Qualifier events, network with other PGA Pros.

[MiniMoe]

I have been good enough for the last few years to try to turn pro. I won some money for a hole-in-one and used most of that to pay for a year on a mini-tour. Unfortunately, the tour went defunct after only one tournament. There went my $$. Now I save money and try qualifiers when ever I can, but it is very expensive.

The small mini-tours like the Gateway, Adams, or Hooters tour do have sponsors, but purses are generated by player entry fees. Each tournament will cost between $600 -$900 at the very least. It might have been a few years ago that one tour had entry fees of $1,200. That is per tournament. Add in Travel, equipment, food, practice rounds and what ever else, it will cost at least $50,000 to play one year on a mini-tour. That does not include your normal at home expenses. To break even or make any money at all you have to place in the top 5 every week, or win a several times.

The guys on the smaller mini-tours must have sponsors. I still have not figured out where they find them, but I'm working on it. It helps I think to have played in college. I figure there are a few ways of getting sponsorship after graduation for these young players. 1) Alumni get together and pool their money, 2) Mom and Dad pay for everything, 3) People from their home country club pool their money to sponsor. Most of all I think finding a sponsor is about finding the right person with enough money that spending up to $100,000 without a guaranteed return does not matter.... a sugar daddy of the golf world.

If you don't already have the skills to take your shot, it will take years to see if you have what it takes to even try to play on a mini-tour.

[Bluenoser67]

Last Time I checked you have to have a Turd behind your name as in Davis Love the Turd or Charles Howell the Turd, etc.....etc..... Says it all.

[SubPar]

With very rare exception people who make a living playing golf are pretty gifted golfers by the time they are 10 or 11 years old. I mean like scratch at 10 years old.

Now and then you will hear of someone taking up golf in their teens and making it as a pro, but those are usually people who are great athletes in some other sport already and they cross over. Sadly, even if you are an 18 year old 6 handicap wondering if you can get good enough for the PGA, it's already too late. If you are a woman, your chances are better. Most of the people who start in their teens and make it to the pro ranks are on the LPGA. i.e., Annika started playing when she was 12.

How hard do you have to work? I know a guy who played mini-tours for a while and is a +3. He tells me stories of spending 10 straight hours in a bunker practicing, or 12 hour sessions chipping. It is a grind and you need quality instruction as well.


SubPar

[anthonykim3]

i don't quite know about scratch cause in mike weir book all it says is that he was a single digit golfer when he was 12. and i think if he were scratch or close to scratch it would of said it. it talks about half way through the summer when he was 12 how happy he was when he broke 80 so my guess is he was probably a 8 like me or some were near there. and i forget were but i read camilo villegas was a 6 at age 13 and anthony kim was and 7 when 13 so i don't think scratch at 10 might be a little over egsageration i think it might be be they time you get out of high school you have to be +1 or +2 something like that. then play college and get sponsor. after college be at +4 +5 then play mini tour all the way up maybe cpga then go nationwide tour and get to a +6 then go pga tour . and well when you think about it it isn't expensive if you get good when young cause when your good it pays for you self by getting a sponsor. like its 500 bucks for a membership and unlimeted practice use for juniors at a nice course.

[anthonykim3]

i hope that was readable it took 15 min to correct it to best of my abilities

[Ben]

Also, don't listen to the people who tell you its too late.

I'm 32 and in my second year of real competition (since high scool) and I still haven't hit my stride. I also play with guys in the mini-tours who are in their 40s and are successful, whom also try each year at q-school. Its got little to do with age. More to do with desire.

There is no too late, except maybe 62...

[michaeljames92]

This is why I am so dissapointed i didn't take up golf when I was a toddler like tiger. I have only been playing 12-18 months consistently and still have a lot of improvement. I read somewhere that brett ogle took up golf at 12 and had reduced his handicap to 1 by 14. How amazing is that? Shows that some people are gifted and can quickly improve and master a sport.

[Shindig]

Also, don't listen to the people who tell you its too late.

I may have to remind you of this when I'm 32. A large part of me doubts that I'll be a plus handicap at that age, but it will give me something to shoot for. Having a good practice grounds will be a priority, and that's related to what we're discussing, because, while I don't foresee myself doing the Paper Tiger thing, I can see myself getting to low single digits and wanting to maintain that.

i hope that was readable it took 15 min to correct it to best of my abilities

This may be a bit off-topic, but I think I should add:

Compared to other folks your age, and to some members in the past on this forum, you aren't that bad, but if you were to make an effort to make a few posts presentable, you'll find the habit sticks with you. And you tend to have good things to say, so this will make that more obvious to other folks. I'm not saying you need perfect grammar or spelling, but punctuation and capitalization go a long way to making text readable on the internet.

[wedge player]

well if u think your good enough i think its 3000 to pay your way into q-school and if your good i mean real good you could possibly pick up sponsers im not sure but i believe it to be a 3000 entry fee

[Sir Hack a-lot]

Its all very simple, if you are willing to take an extreme cut to your financial lifestyle for a while. Here's how its done...

+1 to that....get a job at a golf course part time, and spend the other 50 hours a week playing.

[jonanthans]

I know a few local guys who play or have played the mini-tours, and they all have a similar approach. They all work part time in some capacity at the local golf courses in exchange for free range/rounds, etc. Most of them trade out giving lessons that the courses keep the fees for. Pretty good deal. Second, most of them have fundraisers to raise money. Golf tourneys, Softball tourneys, poker tourneys, etc.etc...Third, they all have a lot of small sponsors, people who own businesses or private interest individuals who give them anywhere from $50 to $200 per month each. That can really add up. They also will put 5-6 guys to a hotel room and eat McDonalds/BK/Wendys a lot. I've heard several figures, but $40k is what most of them say they can play on if they are very careful with their expenses.

[tonyy]

Sadly, even if you are an 18 year old 6 handicap wondering if you can get good enough for the PGA, it's already too late.

Why is that? Let's say in 5 years, when you're 23 years old and get to scratch or better? That's still too late to make it on tour?

[mkrolewski]

Not to put too much on this, but no one is addressing the question -- How do you practice to be a pro?

Granted you have to get sponsors/money to play.

And you have to be good.

But what makes you good? Some are born with it. Some acquire it. Can you train? Almost all sports have mechanisms to extend or improve or perfect ones skills.

What is the year long practice/play schedule. How often in tournaments? once a month, twice, every other?

What is a typical practice day - how many days a week, how many hours per day? How much short game, putting, sand practice, etc. Do you work on cardio or strength, etc. I hear that the pros go to the range and they do what? for how long? how often? How do you determine that you are making improvements ( measure the pattern that you are hitting?). Just playing seems inefficient.

Do you have a coach with you every day? once a week? never? Do you need a swing coach, physical trainer, or other coaches? Can one person do it all?

How often do you evaluate your progress? (how -- just another round, under tournament conditions, for money )

How do you build skills for playing 4 days in a row?




Mike Krolewski