Conference 7.286::golf

    It would help to have lotsa money to start with cause it is gonna
    take a lota time and you gotta pay the bills still...
    
    
    (don't give up your real job yet!!!!)
    

    seriously though...
    I'd like to add to Gene's question in .0 and ask:
    
    1) what does it take to qualify for the senior tour other than AGE=50
    
    2) What does/will it take to qualify for the new Ben Hogan Tour?
    good questions Gene, hope you saw that smile on my face when I
    wrote .1
    
    dick
    

    This is a good question.  Last year the pro job at our course was
    open.  One of the members applied.  He's a good player, but has
    no management experience etc.  The committee responsible for picking
    the new pro said thanks but no thanks, because he wasn't a member
    of the PGA.  There was talk that he asked for 6 months to go to
    school to become "qualified" whatever that meant.  He was turned
    down.  Can anybody shed any light??
    
    Chuck

    All you have to do is find a PGA Class A pro who will hire you.
    The Class will then get you into the apprienticship(sp?) program
    I think that this is Class C. You have to go to two management courses
    that are run by the PGA and then pass the playing proficiency test,
    this is part of an "Assistant's Tournement". 
    
    To become a tour player all you have to do is fill out the form
    and send in the entry fee... then qualify... As soon as you sign
    the check for the entrance fee you are a golf "Professional" according
    to the PGA...
    
    Don
    
    
    
    
    
    Don

    
    	RE: .4
    
    	What is a Class "A" pro?
    
    	Tour pro - As soon as you sign your check you are a pro....!
    	You mean that no matter how well you play during the qualifying
    	rounds, you are going to be a pro....!!!!
    
    	
    	RE: .2
    
    	Senior tour - This I do not know for a fact, but from what I
    	have heard, it is like the regular tour in that you have to
    	go to qualifying "school" and qualify for you card (and be
    	50 or over)...
    
    	Good question on the Ben Hogan tour since this tour is for
    	people that didn't/haven't qualified for their tour card...
    	Can you just pay your bucks and go out and play...?

    A class A pro is one who has completed at least 5 years (I believe)
    as an assistant, completed all  the PGA business schools.  Classically
    a head prof will be Class A although that may be up to the club that
    hires him/her.
    
    About being a pro.  Yes you may declare youself a professional.  As a
    matter of fact that's the back door to qualifying for the US open.  As
    an amature you must have an 8 handicap or less to enter the open
    qualifying.  Since a professional has no handicap, just declare
    yourself professional and your in.  Of course you'll never get to play
    in the open unless you're a real good player, but you are a
    professional.  To get into the PGA schools all it takes is money.  You
    don't have to be a very good player.  I've kicked some butt playing
    against assistants.  There are guys at my club that have to give the
    pro strokes in a match.
    
    To teach all you need a a class C card and you can be a teaching
    professional.  
    
    Gee Gene just ask Rick and whatshername.:-}
    
    					KO

    
    RE: .6
    
    Kevin,
    
    Since Rick is still in Arizona, it is much cheaper and faster to
    try to get answers here, BUT since I am getting various answers
    and none very concrete I just may give Rick a call or send him a
    note...
    
    Also, from what you are saying, you don't have to be a pro and
    you don't even have to have a card to enter some of the tourneys
    as a pro. I find that hard to swallow...!
    
    Gene

RE: .6

Declaring yourself a Pro may get you by the handicap cutoff for amateurs for 
the US Open but it doesn't get you past the potential need for qualifying.  
(Remember Arnold Palmer not getting a special exemption and having to try to 
qualify for the Open in the recent past.)

Re: .7

You don't have to have your card to be a Pro and enter tour events.  If you 
don't you need a sponsor's exemption which are limited and hard to come by.  (I 
think PV had 5 last year).  If you are so lucky as to win the tournament that 
you received an exemption to then you automatically acquire your card for the 
next year.  (Remember Jim Benepe!)

Re: ?

To become a Pro/loose your amateur status all you have to do is to accept $400 
or it's equavlent in prizes, or making money from teaching, endorsements, 
writing, etc. about the game of golf.  (Gene don't worry club making for sale 
doesn't make you a pro.  However if you introduce your line of Kelley Green 
Seeker Irons you could be in trouble.)

Larry

PS.  What's the difference between loosing your virginity & loosing your 
amateur status?

You can regain your amateur status!

    
    RE: .8
    
    Larry,
    
    Thanks, I will be able to sleep better now....! No, seriously I
    am not concerned about loosing MY amateur status, for making clubs
    or any other reason...
    
    Gene (who_only_wishes_he_played_good_enough_to_worry_about_it)

    I've just read an interesting piece in the Golf World (Europe's
    biggest selling mag) which mentions the need to complete a business
    class. The article reads:
    
    "Divot of the month goes to the PGA of America. They have retained
    the ridiculous rule that kept Paul Azinger out of their 1987 Ryder
    Cup side. As a result, Steve Jones, winner at La Quinta and Palm
    Springs this year, has no chance of earning selection for this year's
    match unless he wins the USPGA Championship. That's because he is
    only a PGA apprentice and he will remain so until he completes a
    business class. 
    
    The Ryder Cup is supposed to be a confrontation between the best
    golfers of Europe and the USA. The fact that Steve Jones doesn't
    have a certificate to confirm that he can fill out an invoice for
    a sweater shouldn't really matter."
    
    
    This seems a pretty strange rule and one which makes you feel for
    a guy who really has got his game in gear. What exactly do you need
    to do in this business class ? Good job the likes of our Nick, Sandy,
    Seve and Bernhard were all good boys and did their homework!
    
    
    Phil (who's_doing_a_business_class_but_not_sure_that_counts.)
    

    To become a touring pro you must obtain a "card". How does one do
    this. Well, to sum  it up you have to basically do something like
    this:
    
    1) Go to the PGA qualifying school.
    2) Enter the qualifying tournament (entry fee about $1500).
    3) Finish high enough (ie almost win) the tournament.
    4) You now have your PGA tour card.
    
    There are a few gotcha's here. $1500 is the first one. Winning the
    qualifying tournament is another. Then there is the tour. You must
    sustain a certain dollar figure in order to KEEP your card. Winning
    a tour event guarantees the safety of your card for a period of
    time.
    
    About the US Open... I think someone back a few said your handicap
    must be 8 or less. I think (according to Golf Journal published
    by the PGA) it must be 2 or less to enter as an amateur. Entry is
    easy. But then you must win your local qualifier, win the sectionals
    and then go to the final qualifier. If anyone is interested, I can
    look in Golf Journal and tell you where this year's major qualifying
    tournaments are taking place.
    
    The bottom line is if you want to be on the tour, you still have
    to play good golf. Make that great golf.
    
    It is much easier to become a "class A" or teaching pro. In fact,
    if you have a good personality and good golf skills and peope skills,
    you could become a teaching pro at courses in dire need of someone.
    Some of these places will hire you, send you to the PGA school in
    Florida and pay your tuition for the 6 months and then put you to
    work when you return. Being a pro shop pro is a lot different. You
    must be adept at golf club repair, business management, sales, golf
    and be able to run/organize tournaments. The PGA school teaches
    these things.
    
    Mike

    
    	RE: .11
    
    	Thanks Mike, this is the kind of stuff I am looking for...
    	
    
    	Gene
    

    Hi Golfers,
    To become a member of the PGA, you need to serve a 40 month period
    as an assistant to a CLASS A pro, take various tests, score equal
    to or better than a definite 36 hole number for that pro's course
    and take various formal courses from the PGA. In this method, your
    pro is your mentor and grader on local "tests", but not the final
    granter of your PGA card.
    
    This is not the easiest way to do it, but is now the only way to
    get your PGA card. There is no money or grandfather way to beat
    the current system. Also, the 40 month pay is very low and great
    competition for the slots any CLASS A pro might have.
    
    To get a PGA Tour Card or Senior PGA card has already been answered
    in earlier notes. Of course, there is a distinct separation between
    a club pro and a tour pro!
    
    That's the process. Money or wins will not get you there. Move to
    a golf intense area and sign on for the 40 months to get that chance
    to call yourself a "PGA pro".
    Tom
     

    Re: .13
    
    	I don't think that it is the only way. There are a couple of
    Universities that upon completion of you bach degree in something
    you become a Class A. The Asst pro at my club got his Class A this
    way...I think that he went to some school in Mississippi.
    
    Don

    
    	To maintain their tour card the pros have to win a tourney or
    	win "X" dollars does anybody know what the amount is?
    
    	Just how many players have cards to play on the tour each
    	year?
    
    	Thanks again
    	Gene

Gene,

	I believe the only $$ criteria for a pro to keep his tour
card is to be in the top 125 on the money list.  

	I don't believe there is a set limit of tour cards each year.  
Doesn't the winner of the Player's Championship get a 10 year tour
card?  There could be ten different winners in a ten year period.  

Jeff

        re: .14
    
    	"Wake Forest" is the college that alot of Pro's have graduated
         from, and then they're on the PGA Tour almost before the ink
         dries on their "SheepSkin". note: Arnold Palmer is an alumnus
         of Wake Forest, and I think that Jack Nicklaus is an alumus.
         If a "Getto Kid" like myself had been exposed to the game of
         Golf in my youth, then I'd probably have been inspired to try
         for acceptance at Wake Forest, and then Tour. Lee Trevino used
         Golf as his ticket out of the "Getto", and Computers was my
         ticket out of there!!!
    
    
    						see ya at the 19th.,
    								Bob
    

    	I think Jack went to Ohio State didn't he? Curtis is from
    WF, Lanny Wadkins, and as you mentioned a hsot of others all
    that their alma mater.
    	I think that last month's Golf Digest listed the touring
    pros on both the Senior and Regular tour. It gives their age,
    hometown, and their college if applicable.
    
    Keith - Just waiting for spring

	Yes Fat Jack went to OSU.  If you are considering collegiate golf
	you should apply to both Wake Forest and Oklahoma.  They have
	an alumni role including Bob Tway, Willie Wood, Scott Verplank,
	and several others.  They probably would give these guys their
	tour card at Freshman orientation if it wouldn't disqualify them
	from collegiate competition.

	Larry

    Hi,
    Of course Jack went to Ohio State and was also our state golf champion
    in his high school days. His high school is know as the GOLDEN BEARS!
    
    Do not rule out Clemson or University of Houston as good golf
    schools,but only the PGA grants club pro status to golfers.
    Tom

    Ref:  .17
    
    The reason these players went to Wake and others is that they 
    received a golf scholarship to these golf powerhouses. They leave
    college and enter qualifying school. If lucky they get their card.
    This could happen before they try to obtain their Class "A" card.
    I don't believe qualifying for the tour automatically makes you
    a class "A" pro. There is probably a shortcut or two. I'm reasonably
    sure all the qualifications have been mentioned in earlier replies
    except a 4 year degree. This is now a must.
    
    Ken   who_at_one_time_was_in_the_PGA_assistants_program_and_had_to
    _regain_his_amatuer_status.
    
    Generally due to lack of talent and the lack of money you make as
    an assistant. $100. per week + lessons + commision on merchandise
    sold in the shop.
    

    There was an intersting article in Golf World here in the UK a couple
    for months ago that listed all the tour members of the European
    Tour and their "classification" of exemption. It served to emphasise
    just how difficult it is for up-and-comers to make it - the number
    of comps the low down people can get into is so restricted by waiting
    to see who else wants to play first, they have to try and make
    proportionally more money from the smaller amount of comps they
    can get into. And presumably these will be the ones with smaller
    purses anyway! The problem is compounded in Ryder Cup year by all
    the big guys playing in the early season comps to build up points,
    restricting the small guys even more.
    
    It's hard work for the rookies!
    Paul N