There is an old joke, "What do you call the person that came last at medical school? Doctor". It's funny because it is true. I'm sure the new doctors look the part and they charge a fortune and the diploma on the wall is convincing even though it doesn't show a 'placing' so we are none the wiser. The same can be said about your local golf pro.Here's a guy or girl that is little more than a glorified personal trainer and charging about the same rate. One would assume since these people have completed a three year apprenticeship that there would be some uniformity in teaching and perhaps some physiological understanding of the human body and biomechanics, apparently not.
I've had lessons with quite a few different pro's due to my moving around and not one pro has really respected my previous coaches advice, asking nothing more than if I'd had lessons before. Maybe I've only ever had dud coaches as I do prefer to frequent the public courses.
Most of the time the golf pro's dress like they mean it, in there slacks, polo and cap but there must be more to this gig. I did some research on what is required and apparently, to my surprise, it is not exactly rocket science.
To qualify, they must have a reasonable ability at golf, be competent at club fitting and repair, some business skills and learn the rules of golf. From then on, the hardest part is probably finding a job. In my opinion, their ability at golf should carry more weight then business savvy, however that is not the case. I'm not sure how many professional football players can make a soccer ball, or if Michael Jordan has ever painted lines on a basketball court, but it seems that golf is an anomaly when it comes to professional status.
So next time I look for a golf pro, I'm looking for the trophies, or the Ferrari in the car park before I hand my hard earned cash over to the golf club repair man!
