Do You Really Want To Be A Tour Pro?

Fame, fortune, bright lights and caviar, who wouldn’t like to be a Tour Pro? It is a career choice that looks appealing to the average golfer and it is a question that I have been asked and, indeed, have mulled over myself on more than one occasion.

In my eyes, playing and qualifying for a major tour has similarities akin to breaking into Hollywood; the aspirations of thousands of hopeful wannabes are quashed each year as no more than a couple of dozen talented individuals gain entry to the glitzy world of flash cars and designer clothes.

The European Tour has already passed the halfway stage of its season and searching questions will have already started to roll around the heads of many of the players languishing in the lower ranks.

There is no doubt that as each year passes the major tours get more competitive and as grass-roots golf continues to develop, the pool of prospective tour stars will grow.

So how does a player get on to a major tour? Let’s skip past the boring bits – the hours upon hours of practice, playing, tournament experience, more practice and oh yes there’s talent thrown in also – the process of qualifying for a major Tour is relatively straightforward, but arduous.

Qualifying stage 1 for the European Tour starts from September 11 in England, Germany, France and Italy, where more than 700 hopefuls will participate in a 72-hole tournament in the hope of making it through to stage 2.

Only 180 or so players will qualify from stage 1 to join the exempt players for stage 2, which will total around 310 players.

Another 72-hole tournament will see around 80 players qualify to go through to the final stage and join another list of exempt players (generally players that failed to keep their tour card that season), in which, yes, you’ve guessed it – they will face another 72-holes.

The final stage will see only the top 30 and ties win a full tour card for the following season.

Tour School graduates will be given a Category 11 card, which will give them access into an average of around 18 events.

Jules' gem tip of the week 

Tour golf standards call for modern professionals to be both mentally and physically unbreakable.

Four-round events week-in, week-out, travelling through different time zones, broken sleep patterns, psychological trauma of missing cuts and jubilation at making them, are just a few of the daily issues that are sucked up by the “Tour Lifestyle”. If you have what it takes, give it a go.

Sponsorship is key to relieving the financial burden, which goes hand in hand with being a tour school graduate.