How to become a pro

Question
I was wondering about the different ways to become a professional golfer. I have been playing for 7 years. I play in many tournaments and shoot mid to high 60s and the occasional low 70s. Is there anyway I can make it to the pro level without college or Q-school?

Answer
Dear Cort,

The simple answer to your question is "yes".  

The college golf experience is just that...experience.  Today's college players are playing in dozens of tournaments each year, competing against some of the best players in the country and are being toughened in tournament golf.  There are no tour exemptions just because you've played college golf, but the experience is extremely valuable.

Q school is the quickest way to the tour.  If you can get into a stage one qualifying site all you have to do is play well for that week.  The top players at each site advance to stage two.  The top players at stage two go to the final stage.  And the top 30 at the final stage get a tour card.  It's highly competitive as I'm sure you know.  It's several thousand dollars to try.  If you go out in stage one...it's just too bad.

The next way to get to the tour is to make it through the Nationwide tour.  The top 25 money winners from that tour get a tour card for the following year; or, if you win 3 Nationwide Tour events, you get your big tour card immediately.  A number of guys begin by playing in a mini tour for a season or two before trying to make it on the Nationwide Tour.

Your scoring average is impressive, but the PGA Tour wants to identify the best players (not already on tour) when they are competing against each other.

For information on how to get on the Nationwide Tour I would recommend to talk with someone at the PGA Tour headquarters at Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  It changes from year to year and has gotten progressively more difficult just to get an invitation to Q School or the Nationwide Tour.

Best wishes to you Cort.

Sincerely,

Paul Dolman
PGA Golf Professional