Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2014 - 23

Great Minnesota
amateur golf
can launch pro careers-and be a viable
option when the pro tour ends as well.
By Joseph Oberle
M
any highly successful amateur
golfers dream of turning pro.
The popularity of the professional
game and lure of PGA
Tour riches is stronger than it's
ever been. But the decision regarding
a successful state amateur's
next step should not be taken lightly.
Consider legendary amateur Bobby Jones, who won the
third leg of the Grand Slam at Interlachen Country Club in
1930. He was 28 and at the peak of his ability and success
in the game, yet rather than turn pro, he retired and began
practicing law.
Jones' golf talent and fame certainly contributed to his
later success as a lawyer, but he forged that second career
by attending law school while playing amateur golf. Today,
some young golfers will combine lesser ability with loftier
golf dreams and launch headlong down the gold-paved fairway
only to fi nd they aren't in Kansas anymore.
Jones' unique path is not a blueprint for success-100
percent dedication to golf is required to make it in today's
PGA. But perhaps it's sound counsel for amateurs considering
their next step: keep your options open.
One option if the dream of a PGA Tour career doesn't
work out is returning to the amateur game (see sidebar, p.
24). But the question remains: How realistic was that PGA
pipedream in the fi rst place?
And what of the next promising local amateurs who have
grown up watching Tiger Woods' fi st pumps? Should they
not chase the dream that's rolling around in their head like
a double-breaking putt? What advice is out there for them?
Win Before You Leap
Donald Constable was one of those players-a celebrated
Minnesota amateur golfer and 2011 MGA Amateur Champion.
He graduated from Q-School in 2012 and turned pro
last season, winning the 2013 Coors Light Open of the PGA
South Florida Section in February. But he played in 16 PGA
events in 2013 and didn't make a cut. Even for a very good
amateur, the road to the PGA Tour can be diffi cult.
Trent Peterson, the MGA Player of the Year in 2008,
turned pro in 2009 and played for a couple years on the Adams
Tour, Gateway Tour and the Dakotas Tour-where he
won once. But it wasn't the life he envisioned.
" It's fun playing golf every day for a living, but at the same
time playing every day turns it into a job, " Peterson says. " After
two years, I was just kind of breaking even and decided I
had to choose a different career path. I started kind of hating
the game a little bit. It's a lot different than amateur golf,
because every putt means a dollar amount, and you start
thinking differently. Finally I thought, 'I love this game of
golf, why am I hating it?' "
Peterson tried to make it on the pro tour with his own
money, rather than worry about being able to repay potential
sponsors. He said that purses on the lesser tours don't
always meet expenses, entry fees and travel costs. But after
a couple of seasons of scraping by, he decided he needed to
fi nd more gainful employment. He went back to school and
ultimately returned to amateur golf.
" I'm a nurse at United Hospitals, " Peterson says. " I love it.
I work the night shift and get to play golf during the day-
and get a pay check every two weeks. "
Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2014

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