What it is really like to play on small UK professional tours..

The journey to the European Tour, for some is just a case of when. Rory McIlroy is a prime example of that. For the average journeyman professional, it takes years of scrapping on small tours trying to earn a living whilst gaining vital experience.

Between 2009-10, I took my chance to join a Starter Tour and compete against golfers starting their Professional journey. I joined the Jamega Tour, which was a tour that ran Professional Tournaments In England & Wales.

The annual joining fee for the tour is around £200 a year. The entrance fee for

each event is £225, with around a £3,000 first prize. The standard of play was good on the tour, where scores between -8 to -12 for 36 holes, would see you in with a chance to take the £3,000 cheque home. In most events, 100 - 130 players competed, with the tournament purse going to players in the top 20%.

Life on a small UK Professional Tour

Life on a small UK Tour can vary; sponsorship, location & personal preferences can play a factor. I played with many players on the tour, where money was no object. They could stay in the best hotels in town and eat in the best restaurants, I was not in this position.

I worked on a 3 day budget of around £500 - £600 per tournament, that would include -

• Entrance Fee - £235

• Travel - *Average travel time was around 5hrs round trip

• Food & Drink - *2 dinners, 2 Lunches & course drinks and Snacks

• Hotel/B&B - *2 Nights

• Equipment - Balls, Glove etc.

As you can see from above this was not easy, I had to find the best deals on hotels and couldn't afford to eat in a steakhouse every night. I had help in my 1st year on tour, I also received a generous £3,000 sponsorship in my 2nd year. This allowed me to play more tournaments. I wouldn't use the money stay in nicer hotels or eat in more expensive restaurants. A lot of the time I would find somewhere I could get a cheap pasta meal, either from a restaurant or supermarket. From memory the Tour ran around 20 - 30 events a year, that would equate to a minimum of £10,000 to play a full season. I had to be picky with my events, I would pick courses I had played before or would suit my game.

How easy is it to play under the competition pressure?

Competition pressure was always something I enjoyed. There was a good buzz around the tour. The pressure to perform, felt no different to the pressure you would put on yourself at a regular County amateur competition. After a few events I began to make friends who could sympathise with my position. One of my Golf College friends was also competing during this period. In my 2nd year on tour, we started to room share to save on cost. We also started to meet up with other competitors, playing practise rounds and having lunch on competition days. On and off the course there was never any bad vibes between players, all happy to see each other doing well.

The hardest pressure to play under, was spending at least £500 whilst competing. Sometimes you would need to earn £300 at an event, so you could play the next week. To earn £300, you would need to be in the top 7 every week. If you were trying to earn your £500 back, you would need to be top 5 at every single event. Knowing that you will be losing money most weeks due to the standard of golf, was not easy but something you had to accept.

It is not uncommon in professional golf to lose money in more weeks than you earn. It is something you need to do, in order to gain experience. Every year on the European tour, there are players spending £50,000 - £100,000 a year. In 2017, the top 110 players needed to earn 363,000 Euros to keep their Tour card. Looking into the 2017 Race To Dubai, I just came across Steven Tiley. Steve earned 35,219 Euros from 18 events, losing his tour card. Steve was a player I played against every time I turned up to a Jamega Tour event. Steve would be found every week in the top 10, winning 3 times in his first year before moving up to a bigger tour.

Is there still a place in golf for small tours?

Professional tours Like the Jamega Tour and Euro Pro Tour are a vital part of a professional golfers growth. Not every golfer is as talented as Rory McIlroy or Shane Lowry, who earned their tour cards without going through the small tours or Qualifying School. It's through playing on these small tours, a player will learn if living out of a suitcase and traveling every week is for them. Life isn't easy, being away for weeks on end, only popping home to earn some money for the next event. Sponsors will play a big part in the growth at this level, the average player will not have the money to fund themselves for a whole season.

I do fear that junior golfers and aspiring professional golfers aren't aware of tours like The Jamega Tour. On social media you can see players travelling the world on private jets and staying in 6* hotels. I also look at county and England golf, talented players are looked after until they turn professional. It seems like once a player becomes ineligible for their county or national team, they wished off before returning to concentrate on the next generation of county and England players.

I felt then, like I do now. I wanted the English Golf Union to play some part in these small tours. Financial backing will never be the route this partnership takes. Could the EGU run workshops, where professional golfers could learn off of guest speakers and tour players?

There are some success stories of players coming through small tours, one personal example is Andrew Johnson (Or Beef as he is more known now). I competed on the Jamega Tour with

'Beef', he has already gone on to be a popular player on the European Tour with fans, recording his maiden European Tour win at Valderama in 2016.

Would I go back and change anything?

It is always easy to look back and think it was a waste of money. True, it has not helped me in my career, but I wouldn't trade any of the experiences I gained, for another 2 years working at a driving range on £6.20 an hour.

I will never regret giving myself the opportunity to become Tour Professional, traveling the world. I chased a dream I had shortly after taking up golf. I would have seen it as a regret, if turning 30 like I have now, I sat down wondering if I ever had what it took to make money out of playing golf.

The pressure of playing golf for my Living was to much for me. I decided to turn back amateur to enjoy my golf again. I hope my story will give you an example to show an aspiring professional golfer. This is just my experience of small UK Professional Tours, experiences can vary.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my story, I hope you found it informative and eye opening.

GOC - Professional career earnings £250 (2 tournament Cheques)