You probably have a lot of interest in golf. From your overflowing interest in golf, you want to pursue your career in the field. Maybe you are okay with any kind of job as long as the position is in the golf industry.
But the issue is, the internet does not show you much regarding jobs in the golf industry. At least, not directly that is.
You want a comprehensive guide that will show all the available jobs in the golf industry. That sparked the idea for this guide. This inclusive guide tried to compile all the jobs in the golf industry in one place.
That is for anyone who is looking to get a job in the golf industry. The guide will make it easier to find you a suitable job.
Different Aspects to Focus on
The guide will be focusing on various aspects of different jobs in the field. That is to help you analyze which suits you more and the ones you would not like to waste your time on. Here are the aspects we focused on (not necessarily in that order):
Job’s Duty
This will show how the job operates throughout the year. Also, what you can expect to be doing daily if you got the job.
Job’s Demand
The thing with any job is that you cannot hop onto the train and start working. Most of the jobs will have specific demands or requirements they want from the applicant.
These can vary from demographic to experience and much more. You might need a university degree or no experience at all (which is highly unlikely).
Job’s Pros and Cons
No matter what job it is, there will always be a right side to it as well as the bad. We will point out what benefits you will be getting as well as the disadvantages in a job.
Job Pay
This will show how much the job will be paying for an entry-level position. It does not provide much value to the guide. More focus will be put on the average pay for different situations.
The free benefits or reduced prices of playing golf will not be included as that is mostly dependent on the individual’s preferences. It also relies on how much they want to play or will be playing.
Now that we know about what we will be discussing regarding different jobs, let’s dive right in.
Pro Golfer
When you talk about the golf industry and different kinds of jobs there, the first thing you think about is a pro golfer. Anyone who is even slightly a bit serious about golf, dream about it. They dream about becoming a professional golfer.
From an amateur point of view, the profession appears glorious but it might not be as high as people might think it is. Well, that is unless you are making it in the industry, which is difficult to make without sponsors or endorsements.
However, about 100 or so in the top golf pro scene are doing great, whereas the rest is not.
Requirements
As for conditions go, first off you need thousands of hours of practice. Most of the golfers who made it started at a very early age. So, if you are starting late, the chances are not very high for you.
You have to play at very lower levels at the beginning. These can be mini tours, college events or the likes of those. Then moving on to PGA, you need a lot of funding.
The funding is for hiring instructors, buying proper equipment for yourself and other traveling expenses. You also need a lot of motivation as well as dedication to make it in the field.
Duty
Daily operations or work for the job would be very obvious. You would be practicing regularly under an instructor. You would not be only practicing in the courses but gyms as well.
It is the repetition of staying healthy and golf practice. If you are participating in events, that will be included as well. At the higher levels, there is much more traveling involved.
Pay
When you are just starting as a golfer, the pay is not much. If you play about 20 events a year doing reasonably well in them, you will get about ten thousand dollars annually.
Moving up into the midpoint range in PGA, you will be making a lot more in a year; and the ones who are making it have their salaries in the millions.
Pros
- The highest income among all sectors in playing golf
- You get fame and people will look up to you
- You will have assistants and sponsors paying for your expenses
Cons
- You do not get to make much money at the beginning
- Have to spend a lot of money on yourself to improve
- End up being away from your family
- Always on the move
- Extra 15% tax on your income and you will get no benefits
Pro Instructor
If you are not looking to become a pro in the sport and looking for the next best thing, instructing can be a good option. If you are into teaching and at the same time love the game a great deal, this is the job for you. Almost every single country club requires a PGA certified golf instructor.
You can teach people both individually and in groups. You get to teach from children to elderlies as well as men and women. Becoming a pro instructor opens up a plethora of opportunities for you.
Requirements
The requirements for becoming a pro instructor is quite different than becoming a pro player. For this job, there is a playing ability test you have to pass to qualify. There you have to score 36 holes and has to be below 15 shots of the course rating.
You have to be a great teacher and be able to explain the concepts clearly to the audiences. On the other hand, you pay the fees and various complete levels of progress in your timeline successfully. You should be trying to build a good network on moving to places as well.
Duty
The daily work of a pro instructor involves setting up lessons, running shops, practice ranges and similar things. You often get to manage different golf events. Manage budget properly to be on top of the job sector.
Pay
Starting, a new pro instructor will be making about a little under a hundred thousand per year working at a mini-golf course. On average from all levels of instructing, pro golf instructors can make about more than half a hundred thousand a year in the US.
Pros
- Freedom of movement
- At higher levels, you get to meet various famous people
Cons
- Comes with tons of responsibilities
- Might end up working on weekends
- A lot of different managing activities at the same time
General Manager of a Golf Club
The bigger clubs often have general managers. These managers are in charge of various operations. These operations can be a maintenance of the club, membership management, pro shop etc.
These general managers are primarily found in private clubs. They are also in charge of maintaining customer relationships. They make sure that the customers are treated properly.
Also, they ensure that the employees of the club are doing their work as they are supposed to.
Requirements
The requirements for the job are very obvious. They are similar to the demands of any other management job. The interested person will have to have a management degree.
Concurrently, they will have to have great leadership skills and should be able to communicate efficiently. The manager will need to have a decent understanding of the course as well as the golf industry.
Financial knowledge gives the manager extra edge, which is required to run a club and gain profit at the same time.
Pay
In the United States, the average pay for a general manager of a golf club is about more than half a hundred thousand. The ones in the top levels make as much as a hundred thousand per year in the US. They operate bigger private clubs that have a lot of members.
Pros
- Get all the golf benefits any member of the club could get
- Get to do different things constantly
- Get to manage while moving around in various places
Cons
- You will most likely be on your own
- You have to keep yourself motivated to do your job
Assistant Professional
An assistant golf pro is an individual who is firstly employed at one of the PGA recognized golf facilities. These individuals spend half of their time on various things. They start from club repair to tournament operational work.
In addition, they are involved in handicapping records, merchandising, bookkeeping and inventory control.
The more repetitive and dull work is done by the assistant pros. These activities can be for a golf course or even an entire club. Usually, an associate pro will be working under a professional player.
You are required to get a PGA certification to work in this job. If you want to be succeeding in this field or sector of work, you need a lot of experience. Try to learn as much about the industry as you possibly can. Moreover, focus on creating a network in the industry. That will build a strong foundation for your near future.
Duty
As far as operational work goes, assistant pros have tons of those. As an assistant pro, you will have to run pro shops, regrip clubs, input handicap data and much more.
You will even have to run events on various occasions. Perhaps you will end up running lessons and teaching children all by themselves. These are not all the responsibilities an assistant pro will have.
Kind of work you have to do will depend on the club. Do not forget that as an assistant pro, you have to assist the pro whenever he or she requires it.
Pay
Being an assistant pro is a temporary job. However, whatever you are getting as payment will carry over to the rest of the time or the pays will be similar over the period of working in the field.
The amount of pay can vary from place to place and depends on the golf course type or the size of the club. In the United States, the average pay for an assistant pro will be around a third of a hundred thousand in one year.
Pros
- Get to work and gather experience of various kinds of tasks
- Can learn tons of things about the golf industry
- Experience how a professional instructor works by teaching children
- Get the chance to broaden your network as you meet new people
- Get to play golf as much as a pro would get to play
Cons
- The initial pay is just not enough
- Often you will be overwhelmed by responsibilities
- Takes a long time to even get a decent salary
- Have to spend long hours at work
Golf Club Accountant
As far as jobs go in the golf industry, another great one is being an accountant at a club. There are a lot of big clubs that need accountants to manage their regular or day to day activities.
Duty
The accountant’s job is to manage the books. They also have to create financial reports for the club to understand how the club is doing. The accountants have to answer with this to the people in the decision-making chairs.
The requirement for the job is not very complicated. All you need to be able to apply for the position with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Pay
On average, the accountants working in golf clubs in the US get about a bit more than half a hundred thousand. This pay is quite lower in the smaller clubs. The workload is much less than other larger clubs though and hence, that reduces the pay as well.
Pros
- Get to be an essential part of the club
- After a while, you get used to the work and work becomes easier
Cons
- It can get repetitive
- Small mess-ups can lead to more significant problems
Some Different Kind of Jobs
So far, in this comprehensive guide, we have only talked about various traditional jobs you can get in the golf industry. Apart from these, you can find newer jobs that cater more to the new media. We will talk about those a little.
Social Media Manager
Most of the time pros will be busy with their work. As a result, they do not get enough time to work on their social media presence. As of late, most celebrities and famous people hire people to manage their social media accounts.
The job will not be much trouble if you are good with handling social media. If you think you would do great there, by all means, go for it. It can be very profitable depending on how big your employer is.
Product Development
The main work of this job is developing golf equipment. Over the last 20 years, technology in terms of golf has improved by leaps and bounds. If you think you have to expertise to develop the equipment, give it a try. The pay in this kind of job is very good compared to other menial jobs.
Golf Blogger
You will mainly be writing about golf on the Internet. You can get decent pay by blogging about golf as a side job. The job is not an office job but a hobby of sorts that pays.
A lot of golf related product companies will advertise on your blogs. That is if your blogs have good contents. The pay from these is decent for a side job. You will get to work at your own pace and nobody will be telling you what to do.
Tour Caddie
The work of a tour caddie is to carry around the golf equipment of a pro. In the pro scene, golfers will hire golf caddies to relieve themselves of taking their equipment. The tour caddie also helps to put down tees or drive the player around in the course.
The best thing about golf caddies is that you get to roam around with the pro golfers. You can enjoy it fully without having much concern about the actual game. The job has decent pay and often you will get a small portion of the prize money form the pro players.
Our Final Thoughts
The golf industry has a lot more jobs that require very specific kinds of expertise such as marketing assistants, course mappers, course shapers, etc. There are more general jobs like recreation manager, writer, tour caddies and what not.
In this comprehensive guide, we have tried to give you the idea of more traditional jobs you can get in the golf industry without having masters in certain areas.
