What is PGA tour life really like?

[ladiesbballcoach]

Digger had alluded to the difficulties of the PGA tour life and I thought this was a good article in that these pros don't all live the life of Tiger and Phil.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/COL03/605170375/1078

 

Glamorous life, professional golf. You win your first PGA Tour event, you pack a suitcase. It's not all Tiger, Phil and private jets out there. Wetterich won the Byron Nelson Championship last weekend, packed his stuff and drove 30 miles west, from Dallas to Fort Worth, just in time to play 18 practice holes on Tuesday at the next PGA Tour stop, the Colonial.

 

Monday morning, pro golf's newest champion has a 7:40 a.m. tee time at Maketewah Country Club, where he has to play a qualifying round for the U.S. Open. If Wetterich makes the cut at the Colonial, he'll be haunting a Dallas-Fort Worth airport terminal at red-eye time Sunday night.

 

It's a glitzy life if your name is Woods or Singh. If it's Wetterich, you learn to roll your socks and you hope the phone rings. More than the money he made last week, the win gives Wetterich the sort of job security he never had before.

 

"I can plan my schedule now," he said.

 

When you are not in the top 125 or on the PGA Tour money list, you are generally an alternate at many tournaments. If someone who is in the field no-shows and you're first alternate, you play. You can go to a tournament site without knowing if you'll get the call. Wetterich had been high enough on the food chain this year that useless trips were no longer an issue. But he couldn't simply decide where and when he would like to try to earn money. Now, he can.

 

"Except for majors," he said. Wetterich, 32, has to qualify for the U.S. Open, the British Open and the Masters.

 

Some dreams happen slower than others. Some take 10 years, six trips to PGA Tour Qualifying School, stops on five satellite tours in Florida and hours and hours waiting to see if your name is picked as an alternate. Wetterich isn't some silver-spoon hotshot with a country club swing. He has lost his PGA Tour card twice.

 

 

AND then this sounded real interesting...........

 

His golf coach at Oak Hills, a social studies teacher named Brant Coleman, had a golf net in his classroom. Team members were free to hit balls into the net. It was a great stress buster. Wetterich used the net occasionally. Now, he doesn't need it.

[jahearme]

Digger had alluded to the difficulties of the PGA tour life and I thought this was a good article in that these pros don't all live the life of Tiger and Phil.

 

 

AND then this sounded real interesting...........

 

His golf coach at Oak Hills, a social studies teacher named Brant Coleman, had a golf net in his classroom. Team members were free to hit balls into the net. It was a great stress buster. Wetterich used the net occasionally. Now, he doesn't need it.

 

That's what I need in my classroom!

Great article. If you are a no name on the PGA Tour, life can be pretty rough.