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You are here: Home / Golf Tips / What Are The Odds Of Becoming A Professional Golfer? (What To Know)

What Are The Odds Of Becoming A Professional Golfer? (What To Know)

September 9, 2020 by Brittany Olizarowicz Leave a Comment

Golfer at sunset, Man swinging golf club with dramatic sunset sky

 

Becoming a professional golfer is not an easy task.

When you look at many professional sports, thousands of athletes can make it.

When it comes to golf, the number is more like hundreds, not thousands.

This will significantly reduce the odds of becoming a professional golfer.

If you have thought about becoming a professional and want to know what the road will be like, we have some helpful information for you.

 

What Are the Odds of Becoming a Professional Golfer?

Athletic young man playing golf, golfer hitting fairway shot, swinging club

 

Sometimes the term, “professional golfer,” can be a bit misleading.

Some golf professionals are teaching and club professionals.

These professionals will give golf lessons, run tournaments, and grow the game of golf.

Although they may play in an occasional golf tournament or event, this is not how they make the majority of their income.

The playing professional is the golfer who devotes all of their time to playing the game for money.

Over ninety-five percent of people who call themselves professional golfers are not playing golf on tour.

If you look at the PGA and LPGA tour websites, there are about five hundred professionals who are on tour earning money and playing on tour.

When you think about the fact that more than 30,000 people will be recognized as a golf professional, but only a few hundred will play on tour, the odds are very low of touring or playing professionally.

To become any kind of a golf professional, there are many requirements you must go through.

It is extremely unlikely for a golfer to become a playing professional.

People can make a career out of golf, but playing on tour and winning money is something that hundreds of thousands of people will fail to accomplish.

Part of the reason becoming a professional golfer is so rare is that golf is a challenging game.

Most people are not naturally great at golf, and there are not that many spots open to play in a tournament each week.

If you think about the NFL and the number of players on each team, the PGA Tour is a very small group of people.

 

How Long Does It Take to Become a Professional Golfer?

Handsome young man playing golf thinking an idea

 

Some golfers have a quicker road than others to the professional golf tours.

You will have no idea if your game is good enough to play on tour until you start competing in local events.

If you can dominate at the local and state level, then you can start to move up and play in bigger and more competitive events.

When you start winning these events, then you may be able to get to the national tournaments and qualifiers.

Many golf professionals play junior golf, which leads to college golf, which will then help as a way to get on the professional golf tours.

To make it as a playing professional on the PGA Tour, you will have to earn your tour card.

Your card can be earned in several different ways, but it is going to take lots of great rounds of golf to make it on the PGA Tour.

If you don’t have a tour card, you will have to qualify for an event week after week.

This is a very costly process when you consider traveling to each event and paying for tournament fees.

 

Can Anyone Become a Professional Golfer?

man pondering decision

 

Technically, anyone can become a professional golfer, but there are some characteristics you will either have or not have that will make or break you on tour.

 

1. Athletic Ability

Golfer hitting tee shot with driver from teebox, on beautiful course and good strike

 

If you are going to make it as a professional golfer, you will need to have athletic ability.

Hitting a golf ball well is not always easy.

It would help if you had balance and coordination and timing.

Overall, the more sports you have played and excelled at, the better you will be at golf.

If you have never played a sport in your life, it will take you quite a bit of time to become a golfer.

Golfers on the professional tours spend a lot of time in the gym and working on their overall physical strength and conditioning.

The better shape you are in, the easier it is to repeat your golf swing and get more consistent distance and performance.

 

2. Work Ethic

Close up image of a male golfer playing a shot on the fairway on a golf course in south africa

 

Golf is hard work.

It takes a lot of time and dedication to start lowering your scores and getting your handicap down.

Golf is not something you can do part-time if you want to become a playing professional.

You will need to commit to your golf game as you do to a full-time job or a business.

Becoming a professional golfer while working a full-time job is very difficult.

This is typically why you see young people in high school and college starting to make the run for a PGA Tour card.

Generally speaking, these younger golfers have the time needed to focus on their golf game and make it on tour.

 

3. Focus

Low angle view of man holding golf club against sky

 

If you are a person who has a hard time concentrating, you will struggle to become a professional golfer.

You have to pay attention to so many different factors and variables during the course of a round of golf.

When it comes time to hit a golf ball, you need to let go of swing thoughts and life thoughts and distractions and more.

This can be difficult to do, and without the ability to focus and tune out the world around you, you will struggle to shoot low scores.

 

4. Competitiveness

Group Of Male Golfers Teeing Off On Golf Course

 

When you become a professional golfer, you will have to be hungry to win.

If you don’t care about winning, then you may as well not head down this route.

Of course, money is essential, but if you want to set yourself apart, you will need to have a desire to win tournaments and events.

For the most successful golfers on tour, money is not why they play.

They want to accumulate wins and break records.

They enjoy being better than other golfers out there—they want to be the best.

If you are becoming a professional golfer to make a living, you will have a long road ahead of you.

The majority of people who try to make it on the professional golf tours will fail.

These people will have to spend tens of thousands of dollars on their game to give this professional golf thing a shot and will come up empty-handed.

If you are looking to make a living, then maybe a career as a golf teaching professional or assistant golf professional at a course is a better road to head down.

However, if you have the skill, the time, the focus, and competitive nature, you may want to give the PGA or LPGA tour a shot.

 

Conclusion

Golf is a tough game.

Many people take up the game every year and quit.

If you find that your scores are dropping and you are consistently shooting below par, then you may want to consider playing professionally.

Playing golf professionally is a gratifying but very stressful career.

Expose yourself to some great players at the local level before making any big decisions about going pro.

If you can stand out at the local level, then it certainly makes sense to start working your way up to the Tour.

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Filed Under: Golf Tips

About Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt Olizarowicz started playing golf at the age of 7. She played Division 1 College golf at St.Johns University, where she won two tournaments at the collegiate level. After college Britt went on to become a Class A PGA Professional. Her love for the game spans almost her entire life. Today Britt loves sharing her knowledge of golf through her writing. After all, to teach the game of golf, you must first have a love for it.

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