Golf VS a career

This question coming from a guy who is considering turning pro? The professional world is always going to be there bud. I worked a great internship a couple years ago. It was a fantastic experience that I will never forget. I played about 6 rounds all year, and my game went to shambles. If you have any desire to try and play professionally, DO NOT TAKE THAT INTERNSHIP. That said, if you're not going to be able to play professionally, you're going to want a good job.

Figure out what's most important to you, but don't half-a** it either way.

The big question is how good are you, honestly how good are you? If you were a +3 to a +1 i would say play golf. Otherwise the internship seems to be the way to go. And even if you can make time to play atleast 4 rounds a month you wont fall that far off the wagon

I disagree. Playing pro golf is the proverbial needle in a haystack. Take the internship. 8-5 M-F is nothing. I had an intership one summer in college with the same hours and still was able to play during the week. You just have to be singular of purpose (outside of the internship of course). It can't be that your free time is spent playing golf, and drinking with your buddies, and hanging out screwing around. Go to work, take off at 5:00, get to the course at 6:00 play or hit balls until dark, play 36 both weekend days, make good money to pay for it all, get good experience on your resume, wash, rinse, repeat. Trust me this will be the best plan for the future, in both golf and professional respects. Unless of course you are (or your parents are) independently wealthy, in which case just play golf all the time until life forces you to do otherwise. And by all means, if you pass on the internship, don't waste your time: do nothing but play golf all day every day except when you are eating, sleeping, or training for golf.

8-5 is pretty much a luxury these days for a career.... If you take it, you'll still have a few hours of daylight each night to play 9-18 or practice plus weekends to play all day.

[quote name='CallawayLefty' date='01 February 2010 - 03:54 PM' timestamp='1265057695' post='2219826']
I disagree. Playing pro golf is the proverbial needle in a haystack. Take the internship. 8-5 M-F is nothing. I had an intership one summer in college with the same hours and still was able to play during the week. You just have to be singular of purpose (outside of the internship of course). It can't be that your free time is spent playing golf, and drinking with your buddies, and hanging out screwing around. Go to work, take off at 5:00, get to the course at 6:00 play or hit balls until dark, play 36 both weekend days, make good money to pay for it all, get good experience on your resume, wash, rinse, repeat. Trust me this will be the best plan for the future, in both golf and professional respects. Unless of course you are (or your parents are) independently wealthy, in which case just play golf all the time until life forces you to do otherwise. And by all means, if you pass on the internship, don't waste your time: do nothing but play golf all day every day except when you are eating, sleeping, or training for golf.
[/quote]


I agree with you.


As for me I do an internship in the winter, and do golf course work in the summer. its an accounting internship, so it ends (end of tax season) right when golf picks up. I get the experience, I get the money, and it will look good on a resume. Then from mid-May when school gets out until September, I work 40 hours a week at a golf course and play/party/hang out during all the hours inbetween. To be honest, I have the best of both worlds, and I'm enjoying it to the fullest before the real world hits me in about 2 years. See if you can swing a similar schedule.

What is the internship? Who do you have to pay to do it?

Unless your off +3 or 4 at your home track, do the internship and play golf in your spare time.

I'm a 1.6 index I've been playing for 4 seasons, I've been tracking my game and working on minor things that will make me a consistent and a scratch to plus player. Last year I logged in roughly 446 hours of golf related activities (practice, gym or playing) and other stats (GIR, Fairways, Pars, Birds, Sand Saves/misses,putts, etc...)
Internship: Its underwriting for a major insurance company, in the area, I have to pay roughly 600 bucks for the internship but it pays 12-14 an hour which i estimate to make 8,000 in the summer... Internship can lead to better jobs and networking.

My thoughts:
The internship lasts 10-12 weeks 8-5 M-F and I'll summarize the job description: Extensive training on policies, experiences in other departments, working in a confined building and you'll make pretty good money... But college was always my back up plan to golf... I lived by a motto "Things that you want most in life are never easy".

My questions, to everyone to who reads this (I'm truly honored and humbled for you to take the time to read and reply) and I'm assuming have the same dreams in golf I do:

[size="3"]How much are you're dreams worth?[/size]
[size="3"]At what point did you settle for something less?[/size]
[size="3"]What if you were in my shoes?[/size]

[size="2"]I look forward to your replies.[/size]

It all depends on what you want to do, and what is realistic. What do you want out of life? Is it 'GOLF'? or just 'ya, I'd love to play golf'?

Unless the answer is 'GOLF', in my opinion take the internship and it will lead to greater things. If it doesnt work out, as has been said there is easily time for 9 after work in the summer, and play/practise more on weekends and see where you stand down the road.

For me, I do not have interests outside of golf. I compromised and left college in North Carolina halfway through my sophmore year and returned home to Canada, but it was not a compromise for golf, but a compromise for personal reasons and I made my avenues to golf work. Now looking back on it, I can safely say I have done better for myself as a person for compromising and coming home, and even though I'm a little more in dept now, I am definitely a better golfer for it.

I am still in college, and recently changed majors, to try and find something I am a little more interested in. I still work fulltime between my day job currently and working at my home course in the summer (with the weather here, should be no more than a month away ). But in my life, there aren't other interests. There are other things that seem interesting to learn a bit about, but that's it, just interesting. The only thing I am truly passionate about is golf, I realized something last weekend when I was with my coach. He was showing us a different type of fade that was a really cool shot, and I sat there completely immersed in what he was saying and showing a few of us. Then after I realized, in the three years I've been taking classes in college, and the umpteen years I was going through the schooling system before graduating highschool, I never gave any of my schooling that much attention, in that 15-20 minute span! I just was not and am not truly interested in school, and I am still trying to find something to major in besides business as a "backup" (cuz if I have to sit behind a desk crunching numbers for the rest of my life, I'll work towards a corner office above the tenth floor and then jump).

I have read things regarding the odds and stuff like that about becoming a professional golfer, about how the best players in junior dont make it, how the top college players often dont make it. I've heard stories from friends and others about how they've known people and all the sudden they just made that jump to playing good golf and all the sudden they were great. It is all about one thing to me; Passion. If you are truly passionate about golf, then GOLF. If there is stuff you could consider doing instead of golf, then you know that you are not truly passionate about becoming a playing pro. If you can see something you could do other than golf, I'd recommend it, because from what I can see, golf requires a one track mind of determination, and a helluva lot of sacrifice.

To me, unless golf is the be all end all of what you want to do in your life, it is not worth going after, go after that good paying job instead. But if golf is what you want to do, until the day you find out you either aren't good enough or cannot justify following the dream anymore, don't settle, ever.

And to directly answer your question; My dreams aren't for sale, period. And I have never yet, nor will I ever settle until I am dead. I will give my dreams the best shot possible with what I can find available to me until I have nothing left. Whether they are golf, or change to something else. I was taught not to roll over and settle, to give everything the best I have to offer. And I will teach my kids the same thing.

One of my favorite things I've read was something to the effect of 'if you shoot for the moon, at least if you miss, you'll land among the stars'.

The internship is for 3 months, 8 till 5 is standard working hours for most folk. I work 8.30 to 5 and still manage to hit the range and play at the weekends at improve. Having taken a 3 year break from golf last year i managed to get going again and get a 4 handicap, this year im hoping to get down to scratch, while working full time.

At the end of the day, 3 months isnt a long time, your better off doing the internship and hitting the gym and range in the evenings and then playing at the weekend. That way your game stays in shape and you dont hinder your prospects by turning down an internship.

Youd be surprised at how many people in business play golf, you never know you may well be able to combine the two over the 3 months!

If you were taking a job that was going to be for the forseeable future you may have to think about what YOU really want, but for only 3 months it seems at least for the short term you can do both.

Given the new insight I have gained through friends, family and some new people I have decided that I'm going to pursue golf. I can't picture myself confined to the concrete jungle where the only joy I may get is watching that clock strike 5pm and hitting the range and maybe squeezing in a few holes, I'd eventually hang myself by my neck tie. I only have one 3 piece suit in my wardrobe and thats for special occasions and its something that I don't like to sport on a regular basis.

My main reason: Golf isn't just a game to me, its a way of life.... and like my ex's have said to me "If you can't commit to me then there is no future".

Future: I'll be finishing college because I never like to quit on things, practice and play during the summer, and in my off season head south for extended periods of time and then eventually hit the mini tours and then Q school.

Thank you to everyone who gave me constructive input and I hope the best for everyone when their season starts!

If that's your decision, then go with it. But note what I said above, if you were going to work 40 hours per week for 12 weeks (and presumably play golf whenever possible), I would redouble your efforts to play golf more. If you passed on a 40 hour per week internship, you need to play 40 hours of golf per week at minimum to maximize your decision--I would say more like 8 hours per day 7 days per week--course, range, green, lessons, gym, etc. As I am sure you are aware, a 56 hour golf week is not quite the same as a 40 hour work week in terms of effort required. And trust me on this, I fouled up a similar opportunity basically to drink beer all summer. I encourage you to not do the same.

1st, generally summers in college are about 16-17 weeks so if you work 10-12, you still have 5-6 weeks of nothing but golf if you choose. Plus, 8-5 leaves tons of time to work on your golf game. Dreams are obviously important, but at some point (and only you know that point ). I went from playing 4 or so rounds/ week for the last 2 years of college during the fall and spring, so playing a total of 20 rounds all last year. Its tough, but at some point you have to start a career. I say take the job, still time to golf around that schedule.

Let me tell you right now. Playing golf for a living is a GRIND! Your a 1.6 now but how old are u? At my best when I was 22 I was a +1 and I knew I couldnt hack it playing, I couldnt even walk on at the UofA thats how good competitive it is and their home track is my home track also! Not to say do not follow your dreams but! The input will greatly exceed the output for sometime to come

[quote name='Clark' date='02 February 2010 - 12:56 AM' timestamp='1265090175' post='2221477']
I'm a 1.6 index I've been playing for 4 seasons, I've been tracking my game and working on minor things that will make me a consistent and a scratch to plus player. Last year I logged in roughly 446 hours of golf related activities (practice, gym or playing) and other stats (GIR, Fairways, Pars, Birds, Sand Saves/misses,putts, etc...)
Internship: Its underwriting for a major insurance company, in the area, I have to pay roughly 600 bucks for the internship but it pays 12-14 an hour which i estimate to make 8,000 in the summer... Internship can lead to better jobs and networking.

My thoughts:
The internship lasts 10-12 weeks 8-5 M-F and I'll summarize the job description: Extensive training on policies, experiences in other departments, working in a confined building and you'll make pretty good money... But college was always my back up plan to golf... I lived by a motto "Things that you want most in life are never easy".

My questions, to everyone to who reads this (I'm truly honored and humbled for you to take the time to read and reply) and I'm assuming have the same dreams in golf I do:

[size="3"]How much are you're dreams worth?[/size]
[size="3"]At what point did you settle for something less?[/size]
[size="3"]What if you were in my shoes?[/size]

[size="2"]I look forward to your replies.[/size]
[/quote]

I see your other post says your going to turn down a good internship that could lead to a good job for years into the future in order to play more golf for 10-12 weeks. Based on your own post your only logging 1.5 hours of golf activity a day on average (446 hours last year). How is that not attainable while working this internship? I know the days are shorter in Maine but there not that short. You said your going to "finish" college, so I assume your already attending somewhere. Are you trying to play for your college team? Are you playing during the school year? Are you playing in local, state, national tournaments? How are your results? Biggest question is are you able to play near your hcp in tourney situations. If the answer to those is no or not yet then your doing yourself a disservice by turning down the internship. Connections matter, many times matter more than talent. Even if "pro" golf doesn't happen other golf industry jobs certainly can, and successfull people know people. 12 weeks of making decent money for a 9-5 desk job is not going ruin your golfing career.

You've made it to a 1.6 in only four years, that's impressive and you obviously have talent. You seem to be dedicated to the game. Take this for what it's worth from someone else who has/had aspirations of going pro. You can absolutely do this internship and still make gains in your game. Practice short game twice a week for two hours a day after work, goto driving range one day a week. Gym 3-4 days a week, and play 54 holes of golf on the weekend. Switch those up the next week so one short game and two driving range. That gives you 6 hours of range time, 3-4 hours of gym time, and 3 rounds of golf per week. Assuming you focus your attention during that time, how is your game not going to get better during that time?

Chase your dream of pro golf, by all means, I took my run and dedicated a full year after college to nothing but golf. Got down to a +3.1 index, hell of a player at the time and had a couple of magical rounds on the course. Doing that in a tournament situation is an entirely different animal. Point being 12 weeks of "normal" work at the age of 21 is not going ruin your chance. Taking the internship gives you a chance to make some money, make some connections that can lead to future jobs/referrals, and perhaps find another talent or a "backup" plan.

I thought I would chime in for what it is worth (and I am guessing not much). I struggled with the same question when I was in your shoes. Only difference was, I was playing top at a Top 65 D1 (so mid+ tier) and was a +2.5, playing all summers in State and National tournaments. So in all I would say I was a few steps ahead of you. I chose to give golf a shot. Grinded it out for a few years on mini tours, overseas, Mex, Can and all over the states. And I had the GREAT fortune of having sponsors to cover the bill, which is a whole different conversation to have. I have always been a realist self evaluator. I chose to give it up a few years back an now have a good job as a Financial Analyst. I will say that the work that goes into golf is FAR beyond any of the longest work weeks that I encounter. I have, at times, had regrets that golfing set me back professionally a great deal from where I would have pictured myself had I not golfed. With that being said, if I could go back I probably would have done it all again.

But you have a great opportunity to have a great internship in which you can gain quality experience, sustainable networking (which is invaluable), AND still leave the golf option open. You have only been golfing for 4 years and are down to a 1.5, (cudos BTW) so obviously you have raw talent and the capability to learn and advance quickly. So I pose this question, what is a 10 week layoff in the grand scheme of things? You will still have time to practice and at the very least "maintain" your game. So to me a 10 week mini-break from intense golf to secure valuable career experience is an easy trade off.

So for a quick recap, I say do the internship and keep the golf dream alive. Cause even if you do make it, sooner or later there will be a live after golf. Best of luck to you.