How to Play Professional Golf

Start off by playing for your high school golf team and enter as many amateur tournaments as you can. The more you play under tough and competitive situations, the better a golfer you will become. Play older golfers and play against more experienced golfers whenever you get the opportunity.

Find an experienced golf instructor who will give you an honest evaluation of your swing and help you to improve it. Your swing is your most important weapon on the golf course and you can never be satisfied with it. Tiger Woods rebuilt his swing from start to finish after he had won five major tournaments because he knew he had too many flaws. Work on your fundamentals and get rid of mistakes. Use a video camera to help evaluate your swing.

Play golf at the college level so you can face a higher level of competition. Even if you are just a "good" golfer in high school and not a great one, you may be able to win a scholarship. Many colleges outside the Sunbelt do not fill all their golf scholarships. Write letters and include videotapes that demonstrate your ability. If you have good grades, you can win a decent scholarship and earn the chance to play against the best golfers of your age group in the country.

Go to PGA qualifying school. After you have reached the college level and played in high-level amateur tournaments, you can qualify for the PGA tour by going to play at qualifying school. This school is basically a two-round tournament. If you shoot a minimum score during the two rounds, you can win a spot on the tour and follow your dream of playing professional golf.

Play on one of the PGA "satellite" tours if you don't win a spot in qualifying school. You may miss qualifying by a shot or two or there may be limited openings to join the PGA tour. Don't give up. If you play successfully on the satellite tour and win a small tournament or two, you can earn a spot on the PGA tour.