PGA Tour Cards
One way is to get a job at a golf course working under a class A pro. Then you can become an apprentice and you are on your way. After proving your playing ability and course and pro shop knowledge, you too can become a class A pro . It takes about 3 years. Another way is try to get your PGA tour card. That’s 6 days of tough golf for only a few spots. You have to be a player. Remember there are two types of golf pro’s….You have professional golfers (they play for a living) then there’s golf professionals ( they work at a golf course) The first ones generelly don’t know anything about the day to day operation of a golf course. Good Luck
Answer
The most straitforward was is to pay the $4000 entry fee for the “Qualifying” school. There are 3 stages: 1st stage is 4 rounds and the top 10% get to 2nd stage, and then the top few get to the final stage which is 6 long rounds. The top 25 finishers there get their card. Another way to get a Tour card is to play on the Nationwide Tour and win 3 events in a season or finish in the top 15 on that money list.
Additional Information
To keep your tour card, the top 125 ranked players on the “Official Money List” are exempt for the following year. Also, if you win a tournament, you are exempt for the following year. As of this writing, the 125th player has just over $740,000 in winnings.
Correction
Q-school is now $5000 or$4500 if paid before a certain date. There is also an additional stage that has been added called the pre qualifier which is 4 rounds. players that don’t meet any of the qualifications to get into 1st stage play in the pre qualifier. The entry fee is reduced ($2500) with an additional $2500 due after a player advances to stage #1. In 2006 there were 4 sites used for this stage. I played at PGA West and 40 players were advanced from this site a little less than half the field. PGATOUR.com has any Q-School info you may need or call pga tour headquarters competition department for any additional info.
If I can say it in here, much of the discussion concerning Tiger Woods will be put to bed now that his divorce, which we weren’t told about, is over and done with and he can continue with what he does best – playing golf. Go Tiger!