Touring Professional

Question
I live in the Central Florida area and would like to know the best route to take to becoming a Touring Golf Professional or where I can locate the information.  Thank you for your time and assistance.

Answer
Hello Tim:  I also live in Central Florida and know of one "starter" mini tour(www.moonlightgolf.com) that plays in the area.  Another source of information is (www.golfsminitours.com) which asks for a yearly membership.  I'm not advising joining this organization, just visit the site and you'll get some leads off the home page.  You can't link to the various tours from there but can use that information to search the web for them.  That's exactly how I found this one.

I might also suggest having your swing looked at.  When playing professional tournaments, you want the simplest swing possible because when you're under the gun and your timing is affected by tension, you don't want to have to deal with a bunch of compensating moves.

If you're aspiring to the PGA tour, access is gained through a lengthy qualifying process consisting of 3 multi-day events.  The Nationwide Tour, which is the stepping stone for the PGA tour, is made up of people who just missed qualifying for the PGA.

Some other smaller tours will have qualifying tournaments or merely require a membership fee and in some cases, several entry fees in advance.  The old Golden Bear tour required pre-payment for the whole season of 15 tournaments whereas others I know ask for 3 or 4.  Each tour that requires up-front payments will have policies regarding non-use of those entries.  It's best to check with each tour for that information.

Tim, you're about to embark on an exciting career and I wish you the best of luck.  If I can be of further assistance, please don't hesitate in contacting me again.

Fairways and Greens,

John
www.golfnutts.com