Wow, it's one thing to play competitive golf like USGA amateur events and another to play on professional circuits. For every Jordan Spieth that drops out of college after 3 semesters and qualifies for PGA Tour, there are hundreds in small circuits in places like Florida, Texas, and California. For those - golf will be your day job. The first step is being prepared to make a big sacrifice. The web.com and PGA tour players are better than scratch handicaps. It will take you to have the "whatever it takes" ego and some financial resources to get to making money above expenses on your journey. So if this is what you want and are willing to commit, then go for it. Even being competitive at an amateur level means being a student of the game for learning how to improve and committing the practice time on the range and on course to be the best you at your ability.

Every player I know who has turned professional has had one thing in common: lots and lots of available money.

It's incredible how expensive the professional game is.

WW

FYI, Jason Kokrak new Titleist staff player started off on the egolf tour, then progressed thru the ranks. May want to look into something like that to see how your game stacks up.

I would recommend watching the guys on the mini tours play - there is some good golf played on the tours like the Hooters Tour and Swing Thought Tour.

Something like 80 guys earned full or partial status on the web.com tour from the swing thought tour two seasons ago....that is huge.

Get sponsorship because it is expensive to try and play for a career. If you are not a plus 6 or so handicap I would recommend college golf and get an education to fall back on. Once you make the decision play and practice as it is you job. Don't be afraid to face some setbacks and rough patches. Best of luck with your decision.

Make sure that you have well over $100K to part with. Any tour will be expensive. Not only do you need to travel, stay in hotels and eat out pretty much every meal, but you also have entry fees , caddie fees, coaches and possibly trainers.

Expect to be a solid +2 or better to actually make a cut out there. If you can't beat everyone you play against locally, you will be in big trouble unless your local group has a handful of tour players in it.

Best of luck, it is a very had road to travel.

Be prepared to be humbled, fast. I want you to be confident in your ability, but get used to guys throwing 66-68 at you consistently. Give it a solid year of top effort, and if your bad rounds are over par you have to figure out how to score 70-72 on your worst day........That's why i am a construction engineer, as 70-72 gets run over.....And like 19hole said, it's VERY expensive on the road. Oh, and sponsors don't just give money away, they'll be looking for at some return on their investment.......