When confronted with the question of semi-professional golf, a golfing purist would probably be quick to cite the United States Golf Association’s Rules of Golf and state that there is no such thing as “semi-pro†golf. Golfers, they would say, are either amateur or professional. They would also note that according to the Rules of Golf, an amateur cannot receive any financial remuneration. And yet there are a lot of golfers who seriously label themselves as semi-professionals. Exactly what is a semi-pro golf player?
Loosely defined, a semi-pro golfer is a player that has played a lot of amateur golf and in a few small professional tours. He or she is feels that they are good enough to play professionally and want to test the waters of professional golf without taking on the burden of the finances required Some golfers who label themselves as semi-pro run a club and play in a few tournaments. In either case, they are card carrying members of a professional golf organization and have a verifiable handicap of anywhere from 2.0 to 3.0.
There are a number of a large number of small professional or semi-professional golf associations nationwide. These organizations sponsor tours that give amateur players the opportunity to test their playing skills against professional golfers.
Golf is an expensive game to play and even more expensive to play as a pro on tour. One of the big challenges for semi-pro golfers is finding sponsors. As one commenter noted, “If you’re good enough, they’ll come looking for you…†The fact is that most golf amateurs or semi-pros look long and hard to find to find sponsors. Some golfers advise individuals who want to play pro golf to start looking for sponsors early on in their quest to turn pro.
The best golfers have to start somewhere – and start early in life developing the playing skills to compete at the pro level. Semi-pro is the first step from amateur status.