So you want to be a golf pro??, but how??

[vjsinger]

Reading the "Why isn't golf teaching better" thread has motivated me to start this thread to pick some brains. For those of you that still don't know..I haven't played golf long and I definately have the BUG..BAD too. At first, I thought that I wanted to try and play this game for a living, but I should have known better than that, I don't have the hours/funds needed to spend to get my game anywhere near the acceptable level to play for a living at a high level, it just isn't realistic. I have a full-time job as a professional musician and that takes plenty of time as is to maintain skills and keep my job in that. I am looking to change fields though in about 10-15 years and would really like it to be in golf in some sort of capacity. My goal is to be a golf professional and teach this game that I have fell in love with. I still would like to learn all I can about my swing and game and would like to compete in tournaments at some club level, but that is about all I can really do I believe.

I have so many questions and really don't have a clue where to start to reach these goals. I am so lucky to live where I do. I am only a short drive from both Louisville and Pittsburgh and can see Brian or Kevin almost anytime I want, funds allowing, so I have those guys to lean on and bother with questions, which I have not done yet, but will do soon. So, I ask, What advice would you give a very driven, highly self motivated guy that really wants to do this as a "retirement" gig? Thanks in advance for any and all reasonable help

__________________

 

[flyers66]

Great question, been wondering about teaching too-as a profession. What are the different routes one can take to begin working as a teacher? Are their ways to do this without going the PGA certified, working in the shop route? Can one get hired as a teacher (country club, golf school, or at a golf center, etc) without a PGA teaching card? What are the pluses and minuses to the PGA teaching route vs the non route? What is the non-route? I quess the real gist is: what is the most efficient way to pursue teaching as a profession?

 

[Richie3Jack]

Great question, been wondering about teaching too-as a profession. What are the different routes one can take to begin working as a teacher? Are their ways to do this without going the PGA certified, working in the shop route? Can one get hired as a teacher (country club, golf school, or at a golf center, etc) without a PGA teaching card? What are the pluses and minuses to the PGA teaching route vs the non route? What is the non-route? I quess the real gist is: what is the most efficient way to pursue teaching as a profession?

IMO, the PGA is pretty much a sham. It's pricey and time consuming for a golfer to become PGA certified and IMO they really don't give back to the golfer. It's teaching training is pretty much a joke, but golf pros need to be PGA certified because it's tough to get work as a head professional or Director of Golf without it. IIRC, Jimmy Ballard is not a member of the PGA, so you can be a teacher and a successful one without PGA certification.

In order to start the process of being PGA Certified and getting your Class A certification, you need to pass the Player Aptitude Test (aka PAT). This usually consists of playing the white tees for 36 holes and shooting at least about 155. They have 6 tough pin positions, 6 intermediate and 6 easy pin positions. I took mine years ago and passed it on the first attempt, but I knew quite a few really good players that took it a few times before passing it mainly because it's such a mental thing to get over.

As far as teaching the game, I believe that becoming TGM authorized is a great place to start. It gives you some credentials, it's a good program, and it's a good place to network. I also recommend that any serious teacher to become authorized in AimPoint's putting program. It's blown my mind on how to read greens and where to aim and has already improved my putting quite noticeably and I've only grasped about 1/4 of it so far. Lastly, if you can afford Trackman, get it because at the very least the student can work off of objective data to improve their swing.




3JACK

 

[Brian Manzella]

Becoming a Golf Teacher, plus The GTE Component

Start here:

Are planning on doing this for a living, and are you planing on doing it for the long haul?

If so, you need to get through the PGA program.

I could give you a million reasons why, but let's just take the top three.

#1. You get some instant credibility.

#2. You will get less doors slammed in your face.

#3. You will meet more folks, have more education opportunities, and more chances to play in events.

No brainer.
​

If you are doing this as a last profession, so-to-speak, or part-time, the PGA program would not help you as much.

As far as any other "program"?

You have to make a cost analysis decision on that.

Is it worth it money wise?

Period.

Do I learn X amount of dollars worth of info? And, are the "credentials" that come with completing the program marketable in the spot you'll be teaching in.

That's why I am doing the GTE Program.

If you go to the PGA Program, pass the PAT and all of the written and oral tests, you are in.

If you go to any of the other teacher certification programs, and jump through their hoops, you get in.

Not the GTE.

You have to make it pass our panel of experts.

The panel, of which I am the chairman, will only "GTE Certify" those teachers who are deemed "excellent."

It is a great job, as jobs go, but probably the worst way to make a lot of money ever invented.

Get in ONLY if you love helping people get better.

 

[vjsinger]

Thanks Brian and Rich. I gotta get to the GTE then. How much time do I have to gather funds and make arrangements?

 

[gravity003]

Reading the "Why isn't golf teaching better" thread has motivated me to start this thread to pick some brains. For those of you that still don't know..I haven't played golf long and I definately have the BUG..BAD too. At first, I thought that I wanted to try and play this game for a living, but I should have known better than that, I don't have the hours/funds needed to spend to get my game anywhere near the acceptable level to play for a living at a high level, it just isn't realistic. I have a full-time job as a professional musician and that takes plenty of time as is to maintain skills and keep my job in that. I am looking to change fields though in about 10-15 years and would really like it to be in golf in some sort of capacity. My goal is to be a golf professional and teach this game that I have fell in love with. I still would like to learn all I can about my swing and game and would like to compete in tournaments at some club level, but that is about all I can really do I believe.

I have so many questions and really don't have a clue where to start to reach these goals. I am so lucky to live where I do. I am only a short drive from both Louisville and Pittsburgh and can see Brian or Kevin almost anytime I want, funds allowing, so I have those guys to lean on and bother with questions, which I have not done yet, but will do soon. So, I ask, What advice would you give a very driven, highly self motivated guy that really wants to do this as a "retirement" gig? Thanks in advance for any and all reasonable help

__________________

Need to be aware that when you are around something 50 hours a week that sometimes it not longer has the love. I use to love to hunt and fish. Got into that industry 30 years ago and today I am a buyer for a major distributor of hunting products. My passion is now golf and I will not move to that industry as my vocation.

Sometimes the wanting is better than the having?

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

I do it as a second profession and i like it that way plus i love helping people get better.

 

[Richie3Jack]

Need to be aware that when you are around something 50 hours a week that sometimes it not longer has the love. I use to love to hunt and fish. Got into that industry 30 years ago and today I am a buyer for a major distributor of hunting products. My passion is now golf and I will not move to that industry as my vocation.

Sometimes the wanting is better than the having?

So true. When I graduated college I was set up to have a teaching job for me. Went back home for Xmas and when I got back, the day before I was supposed to start the job they called and told me that it fell thru do to some economic issues.

That presented a problem because I refused to work at a pro shop which at the time would consist of working in 60+ hours a week for about $20K a year (and this was 1999). Very, very easy to get burned out doing that. Not only that, becoming a head pro at a golf course is almost akin to making it to the big leagues as an umpire, you almost have to wait for somebody to die and be in the right place at the right time to get that job (that being said, most head pro or Director of Golf jobs are pretty sweet deals).

I have one friend that makes out really well as a 1st Assistant as far as Assistant Pros go. He gets $40K for working 7 months out of the year, then he collects unemployment when the course is closed and moves down to Florida and makes good money under the table working as a caddy at a famous course.

That's far better than just about every other assistant I've personally met and it still takes having to move back and forth each year.





3JACK

 

[vjsinger]

I do it as a second profession and i like it that way plus i love helping people get better.

That's my plan. Teach golf during the day and play music a couple of nights during the week. I teach music now and I LOVE helping my students, because they all really want to get better. For a couple of years in college I taught lessons in a public school system and had some kids that loved music and some that were forced to be there. Teaching the ones that didn't want to be there was really tough for me, but I needed the money and wasn't about to tell the kid to take a hike and get myself fired. Dealing with things like this will be hard for me. Overbearing parents, kids that don't want to practice, you know things I can't control will drive me nuts. Goes with the job description I suppose. I'm used to it, but it still bothers me.

 

[johnnymac2201]

Would you still recommend becoming an AI?

I've just started teaching part time, and would love to come to the GTE seminar, but it just doesn't work out for me schedule wise.

I wonder Brian, would you still recommend becoming an AI? They are offering courses here in Europe end of October, begining of November. The price for the two Levels to become an GSEB is 2600$!! Is it worth it, or should I just save my money for the next GTE seminar? Any plans for the next one?

John McCullough

 

[cmartingolf]

V, I have known a few guys who teach for a living and aren't members of the PGA. Not too many and usually have some credential, such as becoming an AI. You pretty much have to set up your own venue unless you go through the program. It's not impossible, just harder.

If you really love to teach, donate your time when you can. Go to some location that gives a bunch of lessons/clinics and request to watch and do the grunt work. When you donate yourself, good stuff comes your way.

I've talked to countless guys who think they can really connect and help people with thier golf and don't have the foggiest idea what goes on in the swing. The PGA is an apprenticeship that leads to membership. It's like college, you don't necessarily learn all the tools you'll need when you get out, but it's the right of passage and a necessary one.

Richie, easy on the PGA. Sham? Get a grip. I bet if you think about it, a lot of PGA Shammers have helped you in many ways. Tip here, scoring a tourney there, helping you with equipment, etc...

If you haven't received good service or help along the way from guys like BRIAN MANZELLA, PGA who set up this awesome friggin forum, sorry, you have had some really bad luck and timing. I personally know hundreds of excellent PGA members that do a great job and I know a bunch I wouldn't hire if I owned a course. There's good and bad in every industry.

Oh, and by the way..."my sweet job" is sweet, but I work my ass off. I paid my dues and did that job you didn't want to do, because I loved the game and the business of the game.

That 20K - 60 hour per week job? That was a test. Only duds stay confined to those type of jobs. Good guys vault up the ladder for obvious reasons. Most guys burn out, blame everybody else and leave the biz.

The truth of getting a great job. Be great, do the stuff nobody else is doing and do it better. The jobs find you.

 

[LiftOff]

The truth of getting a great job. Be great, do the stuff nobody else is doing and do it better. The jobs find you.

True in life!

 

[ggsjpc]

Two things vital for success in the golf business:

1) Do what you say you are going to do.

2) Have it done when you say you will have it done.

So many requests coming from all over and a desire to please everyone mandates the two above.

 

[twitch127]

That's why I am doing the GTE Program.

If you go to the PGA Program, pass the PAT and all of the written and oral tests, you are in.

If you go to any of the other teacher certification programs, and jump through their hoops, you get in.

Not the GTE.

You have to make it pass our panel of experts.

The panel, of which I am the chairman, will only "GTE Certify" those teachers who are deemed "excellent."

It is a great job, as jobs go, but probably the worst way to make a lot of money ever invented.

Get in ONLY if you love helping people get better.

Brian,

Is passing your "GTE" not the same thing as passing your PGA exams, passing the AI exam etc. If you fail first time round you just improve your knowledge base and try again until you get the "qualification" you are after. In all adult education programs you are paying for the qualification that you need, so you can work in that field as a deemed "professional". The knowledge you have to aquire along the way is just part of the journey.
Your Golf Education Program might become the best around but you still have to give the student the qualification they are after. If they pay substantial money to attend your course, take time away from their busy schedules, listen intently, take notes and study all night and fail the test and not receive their qualification some folks are going very dissapointed and upset. The PGA will just make you repeat the exams you fail, but I know that TGM and TPI etc have a 100% pass rate (fancy that). The qualification is the starting point not the end goal - I'm sure your GTE will have "continuing" education courses and programs - I'd just becareful "failing" people who took the time to pay and come on your course.