Nationwide Tour

[Grind Guy]

Anyone follow the Natiowide Tour? Those guys are tough. I'm following four players around while they're trying to get to the PGA Tour. Midsize markets, so-so accomodations, on the road for 30 weeks a year, and small purses. It's definitely a grind. If you got some time, check out The Grind 2007. That's where I'm telling their stories! It's really intriguing stuff on blog format, all about life as a pro golfer. And I got Odyssey Golf to sponsor the whole thing.

[footballking732]

so you came up with the idea as well?? smart man!! i thought Odyssey thought of this, and thought to myself, what a great move by them...

and yes, it sounds like a very tough job... ive seen bits and pieces of life like that on the Golf Channel... the winner of each event makes something like 150-200... thats a good 3 place finish in a regular event, more like a 10th place finish at the players or another major...

but still, they are getting paid to play a game that us "normal" people pay to play... we have to buy all our expensive clubs, they get paid to play the high end ozik stuff... they are paid to play the nicest courses in america, we shell out $50 for 18 at the local public course...

[VtDivot]

Originally Posted by footballking732

but still, they are getting paid to play a game that us "normal" people pay to play... we have to buy all our expensive clubs, they get paid to play the high end ozik stuff... they are paid to play the nicest courses in america, we shell out $50 for 18 at the local public course...

They are also 50 times better than we are.

They also have to foot the bill for all/most of their expenses. t's definitely a grind. You can make a decent living at it, maybe... most guys though are eating MacDonalds and are on the road every week trying to catch a break

[Grind Guy]

Let me clarify, these guys are lucky to be playing golf for a living. But on the "AAA" Tour, they are certainly not on easy street. First place typically only wins about 80K and they still have to place a couple more top-10s to ensure they get their Cards. It's a struggle the entire year. The PGA is a MUCH better life. Just ask Craig Kanada. He was on The Grind 2006 and he earned his card last year with two big wins. This year, after on one top-10 finish on the PGA, he earned more than he had his entire career on the Nationwide Tour! Crazy! He is actually submitting a few posts here and there from the Big Tour. It's a world of difference compared to the journal entries of the four guys on the Nationwide Tour.

[SplooGe]

Somebody hit 15 posts and can now post links.

[SiberianDVM]

I'd say it's more like the PGA Tour guys are WAY overpaid than it is the Nationwide Tour guys are WAY underpaid.

Sure the money for the most part comes from sponsors, who get advertising, and TV, who gets money from advertising, but all of that advertising money ultimately comes from US, the consumers, who pay inflated prices because we have no say in the matter.

These guys play golf, for goodness sakes. They don't save lives, they don't get shot at, they don't cure diseases, they don't blast off into outer space. Their hardest decisions involve which free color coordinated outfit covered with 19 sponsor emblems to wear that day.

There are lots of people who risk their lives daily for this country and us who make a lot less than $80,000 a year.

[warbirdlover]

My thoughts exactly Siberian. They've got it made and I would guess the guys who place decent make a lot more money then we shottalkers do. Unless of course you're a DVM..

[Grind Guy]

I thought it would be a while before someone pulled the "c'mon it's not like they are saving the world" card.

Truth is, these guys know they aren't saving lives by swinging a club (aside from the millions that go to charities every year). They recognize how lucky they are to have the chance to play some of the most beautiful courses in the world. They understand that Doctors Without Borders is a much more noble profession. However, they were blessed with the ability to play golf (many of them blessed with ONLY that talent) and like 98% of us regular people they are just trying to get by. And, especially in comparison to the PGA Tour, that is no easy task. This is a job to them. A job with big perks, granted. But as many, if not many more, downsides as a 9 to 5.

[SiberianDVM]

So remind me again why I'm supposed to care whether or not these guys get their tour cards? It's not my concern that instead of studying in school they were whacking golf balls. Hell, most of them got "scholarships"! And then dropped out after 2 or 3 years to go pro. Meanwhile, kids that might actually have learned something can't get scholarships and can't go to college.

These guys have chosen to pursue a career with very slim odds of succeeding, with success being defined as reaching the top plateau of PGA Touring Pro. I admire their ambition, if not their motivation. The greatest golfer I ever heard of was an amateur.

Pro golfers are more than amply rewarded, yet purses keep going up and up and up. Meanwhile the prices we pay for products goes up and up and up. The big names rake in millions more endorsing products they may or may not even use. How is this not lying for money?

I chose to NOT buy these products whenever possible. Kind of reverse marketing. I buy generics whenevers possible. My clubs I buy used.

And think carefully before implying again that I am pulling any kind of "card". That has some overtones that I really don't like.

[DaveE]

Personally I have no problem with the money they make. Unlike other professional athletes, at least they have to perform on a regular basis to make the big bucks. And they do donate millions to charity.

When you compare them to bench warmers in the NBA making millions for sitting on their butts, what the top PGA players make is ok with me. Of course we could argue that all pro athletes are over paid I guess.

I certainly don't worry about them but I don't think their success has any real effect on me either. Advertising and marketing are going to happen regardless if it's to promote a golf tournament or a sitcom.

[Grind Guy]

The only sport that is performance based. In other words, playing poorly translates to no money , whatsoever. A leadoff batter who goes hitless for a three game series still gets his six-figure check. Same for a wide reciever who drop five passes in a playoff game. Based on these facts alone, I have much more respect for pro golfers than any other sport.

To your point Siberian, you don't have to care at all. This is not a story for the front page of my newspaper either. But, that doesn't take away from the intrigue of the story. These guys take big risks for the slim chance of big rewards. It's the manifestation of one of life's oldest cliches. And personally, that makes it worth telling.

P.S. Most of these guys finished college and won big there, too.

[SiberianDVM]

What did they study in college? That I would be interested in.

World #1 dropped out.

[Grind Guy]

I'll ask them. That is a great question!