Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2014 - 24

Turning Pro & Back Again
Bill Israelson
Bill Israelson was ready to go pro,
but he waited. Israelson was one of the
most celebrated amateurs to come out of
Minnesota. He turned pro in the fall of
1980-after finishing his college degree.
He won the first two pro tournaments
he entered: the North Dakota Open and
the St. Cloud Pro Am. But it took him
five years to make it to the big tour (he
spent time on the Asian tour, where he
won three times). Once he did, he played
well and achieved a couple of top 10s but
never realized his goal of winning a PGA
event. Now Israelson feels he should have
made the leap to the pros sooner.
" In hindsight, I probably should have
turned pro two years earlier, when I
was playing my best amateur golf back
in 1978, " he says. " That was after I won
three straight amateurs. There is a lot to
be said about confidence, no matter what
sport you are playing. When your confidence
is at a high point, that's probably
when you want to make a move. "
Israelson said the key for anyone making
the decision to turn pro is to do so
when you are winning at the level you are
playing.
" Win your junior club championship,
then your club championship, then
go out of town to see how your game
holds up there, " he says. " There are a lot
of great opportunities to play competitive
golf now. But a lot of times guys are
jumping up and not winning at levels
where they are at yet, and they are kind
of spinning their wheels. "
John Harris took his own path to
professional golf. In 1975, at age 21, he
joined the PGA Tour right out of college.
He was the second youngest player on
tour and not yet competitive enough to
flourish there. He regained his amateur
status and had a successful career in the
insurance business, all the while playing
top-level amateur golf.
In 2002, he gave it another shot. He
joined the Champions Tour and has so
far enjoyed 11 years of professional golf.
" There is no one formula that works, "
Harris says. " The pro tour is a hard thing.
It doesn't matter if you were first team
All American in college or you played at
a DIII school, there is no guarantee that
22
MINNESOTA GOLFER Directory 2014
you are going to make it. It's probably the
most difficult of the major sports to be
successful in as a young player. There are
great advantages that come with [youthful]
enthusiasm, but there are great limitations
that come without experience. "
Money Matters
Former MGA president Jim Lehman
agrees with Harris. He is a longtime
sports agent and now president of Medalist
Management, a management company
that represents many pro golfers
(including his brother, Tom Lehman,
and Constable). He knows that perseverance
is a key.
" Everybody knows about Tom's struggles,
but he made the PGA Tour three
years in a row right out of college-going
through Q-School each year, " Jim
Lehman says. " He made a few cuts here
and there but didn't make very much
money at all. It was part of a process. He
hung in there because he knew he was
right there. I have told Donald the same
thing. If this was a sprint, we've got an
issue, but it's a marathon. "
When deciding to take on a player as
a client, Lehman said he looks for players
with game, but also those with a certain
attitude: " A competitive spirit that I
think takes people farther than others. "
www.mngolf.org
Don Constable
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2014

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