How to Turn into a Golf Pro?

Hi,

I am writing to enquire on the steps one must take to become a golf pro. Not many people here in Singapore have their careers set on being a golf professional due to our culture of putting studies before sports.

However, there are a select few here, such as Mr Mardan Mamat and Mr Lam Chih Bing who have bravely trained themselves to compete as Golf Professionals in the Asian and European tour.

Anyone else here who knows more, please feel free to comment. Thanks and have a great year ahead!

There are 2 kinds of pro.

1. Tour Pro - They compete for a living.
2. PGA Pro - They mainly teach for a living, maintain golf course, and compete on the side.

In order to make the cut and actually make some money to survive on tour, you will no doubt have to be able to play under par on all golf course in SG and in ALL weather/playing conditions.

You will also need to have stamina to be able to play golf for 6 days straight. Monday, admin. Tues to Wed, practice rounds. Thurs to Sunday, competition.

You can qualify on your own during Asian Tours annual Q-school.
Or join one of Singapore's golf bodies.
Turning "pro" itself is just a simple declaration during a competition. 
It allows your to collect prize money. Yes. It's just a declaration on the registration form.

If just for the status, by all means turn pro but if one is thinking of making huge amount of money similar to the PGA players, I think better forget about it unless he/she is really talented OR have parents who can be the sponsor. Lots of touring pros around the world are trying to make ends meet and many have given up along the way. I have a few friends who turned pro and regretted because it is neither here nor there, i.e. they can't compete in amateur events and they can't win if they play in the pro tournaments. End up it is more for bragging rights and it can be difficult to find people to play with as well.

I believe young Master Khoe is enquiring about steps to become a pro in singapore.

Khoe, why don't sign up for SPGA's upcoming pro test in April?

Details are in:

http://www.sinpga.org/

Hi Khoe

As coe16arg has mentioned, entering the Singapore PGA's pro test gives you the chance to 'turn professional' . Now as far as Singapore PGA goes, you'd have to score 150 and under over 2 days to pass the playing ability test. Once you do so, you'll be able to enter our Singapore PGA medals that are held bi-monthly. 

Once you pass your playing ability test, you're required to attend coaching courses by Sport Singapore as well as a coaching seminar conducted by the PGA. 

As for myself, my professional career began in March 2009. I competed on the Asian, Asean, Malaysian, Thai and local tours for 3 years before taking up a teaching professional position in 2011 which I currently now hold at the MST Golf Academy.

There were serveral circumstances that led me to 'quitting' the tour but all I can say is that I have a dream job, I enjoy what I do very much and it's a thrill to know I'm helping people get better at the game I love.

Id be more than happy to share more. Feel free to drop me a line or PM if you'd like!

Cheers and good luck.

U know what?

Go for it Khoe

Give it your best shot and see how far u can go

U r jus 20 and there are many things you can do

Take the road less travelled and tell your stories in future

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for your replies. Hope you all have a great 2015 and a wonderful year of the Goat! 

Just wondering cause it's like a dream come true to be a golf pro. But i know how difficult it is to make a living doing it.

Imagine waking up everyday then going to the putting green, gym, range and playing 18 holes. That's like a dream come true.

But i'm not that good. Started golf very late. 18 years old. Only played golf for 2 years. I try hard to go range as often as i can and also have a round here and there. 

Thanks so much for your input and greatly satisfied with your replies. I'm currently just enjoying the game and going to the range and playing on the green as often as i possibly can. I'm also on a healthy diet with no unhealthy snacks and avoiding unhealthy food. 

I would also like to enquire as to how do retired golf pros become coaches and how does the coaching scene in Singapore work?

Another question i would like answered is how do professional golfers(be it local or international) train? Some players say they hit 1000 balls at the range while others say it's a variation of putting, sand shots, time at the gym followed by some range shots and also playing a round of 18 per day.

One more question,

To play at one's best...

Is it better to have the lean and skinny build, like Tiger Woods in his early days? 

Or to have a muscular build like Tiger Woods now?




Some Tour Info

Tiger Woods - 185cm 85kg
Jordan Speith - 185cm 84kg
Adam Scott - 183cm 82kg


Let me know what you guys think.

Reason i am asking this question is because i am now standing without shoes at 183cm and weighing around 78kg. I'm trying hard to drop another 5kg to weigh in at 73kg. For lean and compact frame. I have a more muscular build with a 4 pack. Used to weigh around 87kg but have shed the fat. 
I'm on a healthy diet with totally no snacks and junk food. Also play squash at a competitive level (grade B2 Player) and also do chin ups (can do around 15 - 18) and push ups as well as working out on my punching bag at home). 


I really want to bring my game to another level and perhaps gain some distance on green.

Please let me know what you guys think.

You should go and understudy justin for a month...maybe during your sch holidays.

Sorry. Don't get you. Any other useful inputs?

Strange, to me your question does not seem like you are very serious in training to be a pro ... If you wanna be pro, getting into muscularly lean physique is not the first most important thing on a newbie pro's mind. You may want to be fit but this should not be the most important question at this juncture ... Just look at Phil Michelson's, Angel Caberra's, Vija Singh's, Ben Hogan's (during his prime), Luke Donald's, Francesco Monlinari's , Marmat Marden, Lam Chih Beng's physique, etc. Are they muscular and very athletically built?

Well said. Just wondering what is the most ideal body type for golf? I know some golfers like Phil Mickelson, and even Kiradech Aphibarnrat do not have the so called athlete's body. Some guys i have met with have said that leaner bodies can hit the ball further due to being more flexible. That was pretty evident during the Tiger's early days when the lean Tiger Woods was dominating the golfing scene. His drives off the tee were much further in distance as compared to his other competitors who sported not so athletic builds.

 I mainly just want to become like what Tiger Woods has said before. "Become more EXPLOSIVE". Does that mean a more compact and powerful body? 

My driver and iron distance is already quite respectable, but i'm still looking into improving it to bring my game to a higher level. I want to be a golfer with a solid swing as well as a strong and athletic build. Not a chubby body that totally relies on talent and a good swing.

once I was strong n athletically build but I got no solid swing n play so-so golf...

then I put on abt 5-10kg, I got smooth swing n play the best golf of my life....

my kakis say god is fair.... solid golf but no love



kidding hor....

but the former part is true, but dun ask me why...

I dun know also...

5' 11", 168 pounds ~ 180.34cm, 76.2035kg
http://goo.gl/oHyx6f

I hope this helps in your search for the perfect body in golf.

Khoe, during the sudden death playoff between Angel Caberra (in his forties, plump w/pot belly & over weight) and Adam Scott (in his early thirties, tall, lean and well-built) @ Master Championship, Angel's 2 iron tee shot was about the same distance as Adam's FW #3 ... So what does that tells you?

Non-athletically built golfers like Fred Couple, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Else, John Daly, etc. all can hit very long off the tee ... Tall and lean but without muscle, Bubba Watson is the longest hitter on PGA Tour ... Short, lean and non-muscular Rickie Fowler is also very long off the tee ...

So what does that tells you?

Sometimes if one chances upon a magical genie, makes a wish, after the dust cloud settles, he/she will play like tiger woods. Yips and backpain included 

Tongue in cheek fellas. Tongue in cheek. I still love woods.

Hi Khoe,

just curious, what are your scores like now when you play a round of 18 holes? Do you currently play off the White, Blue or Black tees?

Hi khoe, 
Perhaps what u want to ask is whether
a chubby body will hinder the maximum
potential of oneself. Having a fit body
can give oneself more confident, but 
we shall not forget, good skill and swing 
are also important to play well.

Regards,
Eferata