What’s the difference between an amateur golfer, a golf pro and a golf professional?

There is a big difference between professional and amateur status in golf, and the line between the two is strictly adhered to and maintained to separate them. Amateur tournaments will ban any player that has been paid to play even once, and coming back from professional status to amateur status is very difficult indeed. In fact just one paying game and the professional permanently loses their amateur status. And simply agreeing not to get paid for playing is not going to bring back that status either. Why would anybody not want professional status? Because then they have to play against professionals and cannot ever enter any Amateur tournaments again. Once you are a professional golfer, you fall into one of two groups. You’re either part of the ninety-five percent that make their living from running golf clubs and courses, teaching or tutoring the game to others or dealing in golfing equipment.

This is where the term golf pro comes from. It refers to people who assist or service other players. The senior professional golfer at a club is called the club professional. Any registered golf professionals who work for the club professional are called assistant professionals. A tutor or professional that solely teaches other players is referred to as the golf instructor or teaching professional or a golf coach. These guys will occasionally enter a tournament against other coaches and perhaps even qualify for a major tournament against pro golfers. Pro golfers are also known as tournament pros or tour professionals. They are the smaller elite group of golfing individuals who earn a living from prize money and endorsements. These are the high profile players that you would see competing in tournaments. Ironically though the original distinction between amateur and professional golfers came from the divide in the social class. It was a game for the rich and royal for pleasure only in the 18th and 19th century of Britain. So the original golf professionals were those who maintained the course or looked after the game by club making, green keeping, caddying or playing challenge matches.

When golf spread over to America, it kept its elite status. That was at the end of the 19th century when many American Clubs brought professional players from England over to compete on their behalf. But at that stage one couldn’t support oneself simply by playing golf. It wasn’t until the middle of the 20th century that player started making a living from playing the game, with Walter Hagen attributed the honour of being the first player to ever do so. Today however, class is almost not an issue at all in the developed world. Golf is accessible and affordable to a large part of the population. Most Professional golfers are actually from the middle class and some from the lower class being educated in the game as well. Grass root projects are developing a whole new group of golfers that have to practice in very difficult conditions but ultimately play the same game. Unfortunately in some developing countries there is still a class distinction that divides players. Golf is reserved for the elite minority, the upper crust of society. In most cases the professional golfers in these places are from relatively poor lower income backgrounds and start their careers as caddies or gardeners on the grounds. This has happened before, for example Angel Cabrera of Argentina and Zhang Lian-Wei, the first professional golfer of any standing from China. The Open Golf Association Tour is currently being developed in America to eliminate the issue of class being an element in the game. They wish to remove the privileges provided to the few wealthier players by exempting selected players from open qualification. In most countries the Professional Golfer’s Association serves both categories of the golf pro and the professional golfers.