Why do we have a separation of pros and amateurs?

[disaster]

This is not really a question on rules per se, but a historical and background question:

Golf is the only sport that I know of, where there is such a strict separation between professionals and amateurs (there might be others, but I don't know any right now). We all know the consequences of that: Amateurs, even if they qualify for a professional event, are not allowed to win their share of the prize fund. On the other hand, professionals give up their rights as an amateur which are .... uhm .. well, they don't have a handicap anymore and might not compete in your club's fun tourneys anymore ...

 

For me, I only see disadvantages of that system: No professional is willing to compete in small amateur tournaments, where is not going to win anything anyway. And the number of amateurs which have the skill to compete and qualify for a tour event is very small anyway.

So the question is: Why do we have this separation? I am sure there is some historical reason behind it. But even more importantly: Should be abolish it?

And since this is a forum, feel free to post your opinion on this topic :)

 

 

The reason for this thread is that I was chatting with some non-golfing friends yesterday and they were quite baffled that I for example could participate in a 3rd tier tour event here (if I pay the fee), but have no chance of winning anything.

[newtogolf]

Golf is no different than any other sport, including all college sports and tennis.  Accepting money to participate in a sport means you are a professional and therefore should no longer be competing with amateurs.  You can't have it both ways.  

[Dinoma]

In the UK not all sport is like that. Both Football and Rugby have lower tiers of sport that are Amateur, which as you go up the leagues you will become semi-pro (basically you get paid but not enough to consider it a full time career) and then as you go up the leagues more Pro. Any one team can (and does in some cup competitions) play versus the opposite format. The only distinction is the actual money you make, you are a pro if you are making money and an amateur if you aren't and you can change between the two as many times as you like.

[disaster]

Well, here in Germany it is actually quite common for the top tennis players to compete in the German league for their teams (if they have no professional events at these dates). These club teams consists of mostly amateurs.

 

On the other hand, I know that some of the top amateur golfers actually get paid by their clubs. Not directly, but they have some "jobs" in the club or a sponsoring company.

Edited May 4, 2016 by disaster

[newtogolf]

3 minutes ago, disaster said:

Well, here in Germany it is actually quite common for the top tennis players to compete in the German league for their teams (if they have no professional events at these dates). These club teams consists of mostly amateurs.

 

On the other hand, I know that some of the top amateur golfers actually get paid by their clubs. Not directly, but they have some "jobs" in the club or a sponsoring company.

Well many believe the top college football and basketball players have similar arrangements but believe it's only against the rules if they get caught.  

[Patch]

These are not my words, but surprisingly I was part of a discussion the other day on this very subject.  In addition to the making, or not making money for your golfing skill level, one old timer had his own answer.

His take was that the separation of professionals, and amateurs can also be based on their egos. He also called it the elite vs the non elite. His explanation was the better the golfer's skill level, the less the the better golfer wanted to be bothered by the less skillfull golfer.

I kind of greed with him to some extent. I can recall professional golfers not being happy that they had to play in pro ams. I have seen better golfers, in the amateur ranks show disdain for the less skillful golfer in those same ranks. 

Talk about separation values....lol