golf professional

Question
hi my name is Christian. i am 17 and I'm thinking of going to professional golfers career college. I want to become a professional golfer like teach people or hopefully become a pro. I've been starting to play golf 3 times a week and already can tell I'm getting more consistent with my scores or beat my  lowest scores. I was wandering what your score would have to be for 18 holes to become a professional golfer i shoot around a 110 for 18 and getting better. Also i was wandering what i would need to do to try out to become a professional golfer. Please contact me back. Thank you very much.         
             Christian

Answer
Hi Christian,

I'm not completely sure whether you are wanting to become a club professional or play tour golf.  Tournament golf requires a lot of talent and a lot of hard work.  Only about 150 guys in any one year are on the PGA tour.  Of course there are other professional tours but still, out of the tens of thousands of golfers in the world, only a very few have a game good enough to compete at these levels.

Becoming a club professional so you run the golf operations, tournaments, provide lessons, manage the golf pro shop, and all the other duties associated with being a club professional is a different matter.  The primary requirements are being a person who enjoys helping other people, above average intelligence and a good (but not necessarily great) golf game.

The PGA of America has an apprentice program for becoming a club professional.  Your golf game will have to get a little better than it is now, but you've got some time to work on that.  You might begin by trying to get a job at a course in your area where there is a PGA of America professional running the golf operation.  Lots of young people around your age begin by working on the practice range picking balls, washing golf carts and doing all kinds of odd jobs for the professional.  The pro, in turn will help you become a PGA professional.  You can also contact the PGA of America directly in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  The website is www.PGA.com.

As far as how good your game needs to be, eventually, you'll need to score in the low 70's for 18 holes.  And to become an apprentice you'll have to do that for 2 consecutive rounds, usually played on the same day.  That's called a PAT or Playing Ability Test.  It's conducted at certain courses each month or so at courses around the country.

It is not easy to become a PGA golf professional, but I can tell you that if you love golf, there is no better job.

I hope I've given you the information you wanted.  Good luck to you!

Paul Dolman
PGA Golf Professional