The scene is a familiar one. Mother, or father, asks a starry-eyed teenaged off-spring who plans to spend his or her lifetime trying to earn a living in sport: “Why don’t you go and get yourself a proper job?” Such parental concern is both natural and understandable.
To them, learning how to play football or rugby, how to shine on the tennis court, how to swim faster, or even how to fight bulls, is fair enough for spare-time recreation. “But you’ll never earn a living that way, will you?” Well, actually...

While I’m not qualified to speak for other sports on the subject of career opportunities, the reality is that for those young people with the necessary basic aptitude, golf is not only a proper job, but one with glittering prospects.

The All-Purpose Golf Pro

True enough, only one young golfer in every few hundreds of thousands or so is going to make a lucrative living as a player. But golf’s gradual elevation to its current status as a lifestyle asset and tourist attraction has transformed it from a sport into an industry, and a booming, beckoning one at that. Career opportunities are there for those young people prepared to undergo a quite rigorous programme of education, and here’s a spot of proof. Consider the following six examples, though it could be a hundred and six, or a thousand and six:

Ian Poulter
Engaging, modestly extrovert young man, wealthy at 29 and destined to get wealthier by the year. He moved golf from the back to the front page by means of the colourful lead he took as a golf fashion role model, winner of the Volvo Masters at Valderrama in October 2004 and a member of the European Ryder Cup winning team at Oakland Hills, Detroit USA.

Paul Dellanzo
Clearly at first glancea mature, top business executive, mobile telephone and laptop computer at the ready, another flight, another destination on the agenda in his role as Vice-president of Operations Europe for Troon Golf, international property developers.

Dave Thomas
Left his signature across large swathes of this planet’s most desirable landscapes, not written in boring old biro, but carved out in verdant fairways and greens for this and subsequent generations to enjoy and admire in pursuit of competition and healthy exercise. As one of the world’s outstanding designers he has been involved in the creation or improvement of over a hundred golf courses.

Donato di Ponziano
A leading coach and administrator, president of the Italian Open Championship, joint deputy chairman of the PGAs of Europe, a travelling R&A Golf Development Consultant who has played a significant role in the remarkable progress of the sport in India, and also is an author and commentator.

Pia Nilsson
She has been a successful international tournament player, was Captain of Europe in the Solheim Cup, has been a leading administrator in Sweden, has written books on her specialist subject, is an entertaining afterdinner speaker and is coaching in the US.

Doug Poole
Managing director of the European arm of two international companies, Snake Eyes, who manufacture and market golf clubs and other equipment, and Golfsmith, who supply components for clubmaking and fitting and also stage educational seminars.

They are, indeed, a diverse selection in terms of age, nationality, specialist subject and range of occupations, yet they have one thing in common: they are all PGA qualified professionals.

An indication of the sheer depth of knowledge and expertise available to those who set out as a trainee on a PGA training course, (usually over an initial three-year period), in any of the 34 countries who are members of the PGAs of Europe, is contained in an annual scheme known as the Five Star Professional Awards. In a slightly tongue-in-cheek way, but with a serious message, Lawrie Thornton, previously general secretary of the PGAsE, explains that in seeking nominations for the awards from national PGAs, the judges are looking for the perfect, all-purpose pro.

He or she has the playing skills of Tiger Woods or Anneka Sorenstam, has earned a David Leadbeaterstyle reputation in teaching, communicates with Peter Alliss panache, has a shop to rival Harrods, creates golf courses of Dave Thomas quality, designs golf clubs to Karsten Solheim perfection, and runs a golfing operation such as St Andrews. No such superhuman species exists, of course, but a glance through that lists illustrates the point made earlier: that pursuing a career in golf is well worth the effort.

OK, so how does a young, or maybe not-so-young individual, (there is no age barrier), acquire the sheer depth and breadth of knowledge on so many diverse subjects, to contemplate striving for PGA qualification?

To become a trainee at one of the national training academies a student has to acquire a playing handicap of around four (it varies from country to country) and to have achieved a reasonable standard in general education. Then, during the next three years, they undertake such subjects as the mechanics of the golf swing, business studies, merchandising, basic agronomy, sports sciences... virtually everything required for a career as a club professional. After that there are opportunities to continue with Advanced or Further Education towards the ultimate goal of being acclaimed as a Master Professional. Is that a proper job, or what?