
What are the different jobs at a golf course?
There are a variety of possible jobs at golf courses, ranging from golf instructor to sales clerk to the laborers who cut the fairways and greens. However, there are only a few jobs that offer potential careers, with opportunities for solid advancement in position and pay.
How many workers does a golf club manager work every day?
I know one guy who started out as a outside attendant of a golf course, and he is now a manager at a club, managing around 20 workers every day. You don’t want to be working on a landscape crew for the rest of your life. You don’t want to be a bag drop guy for the rest of your life.
What are the benefits of working at a golf course?
Here are some benefits of working at a golf course: Employee discounts: When you work at a golf course, you typically get to play the golf course at a lower rate or even for free. Golf course employees may also receive discounts at the golf course's pro shop and any of the course's restaurants.
Is golf a profitable industry to work in?
Many people don’t see golf at a profitable industry. At times, it is a rough industry. But, if you get in the right spot, you make make a lot of money doing something that you truly enjoy. So congrats on stepping out from the normal office jobs and deciding that those aren’t for you.

What is the job of a caddy master?
That person is the caddy master. His biggest job is to manage the course caddies, coordinate their work schedules and develop training programs for the caddies.
What is a staff professional in golf?
Staff Professional. PGA teaching professionals are sometimes called assistants and work underneath the head pro. Many of them teach, work in the golf shop and coordinate golf course events and tournaments. These staffers are many times certified PGA professionals or in the PGA apprentice program.
What are the jobs at golf courses?
There are a variety of possible jobs at golf courses, ranging from golf instructor to sales clerk to the laborers who cut the fairways and greens.
What is a head pro in golf?
Head Golf Professional. The golf course's head pro usually oversees the golf shop operations and the golf teaching staff. She is almost always a certified class-A PGA professional and generally has been an assistant professional or a staff teaching professional at a golf course or driving range. According to the PGA of America, as ...
What is a golf food and beverage manager?
The food and beverage manager oversees dining and food budgets, orders needed supplies, manages food staff and helps to coordinate special course events , such as golf outings. She may also work as a sales associate to help promote the golf course's dining or banquet facilities.
What is a starter in golf?
The starter is the first tee's gatekeeper, managing the tee times as players begin their rounds. This position requires organizational skills and a personable demeanor, as starters welcome golfers to the course.
How do rangers manage golf?
Rangers manage play around the golf course by keeping tabs on pace-of-play and helping assist players with such things as misplaced clubs or a lost ball. Many starters and rangers are paid on an hourly scale.
What is an assistant golfer?
According to PGA.com, “an assistant golf professional refers to an individual who is primarily employed at a PGA Recognized Golf Facility and spends at least 50% of the time working on club repair, merchandising, handicapping records, inventory control, bookkeeping and tournament operations.”
What do golfers do on a daily basis?
what they do on a daily basis: run pro shops, run practice ranges, in charge of setting up, planning, and running lessons. In charge of many club events. Expected to speak at many or all golf events at their place of work.
What is drone technology?
Drone technology and golf course mapping software are both entering the golf industry with the goal to create more efficient and attractive courses. If you are interested in these types of services, this a great way to tie your interests with golf. You’ll get a lot of time with working on different golf courses and designs, which would be a lot of fun to work with.
What is a GM in golf?
Large golf clubs, especially private ones, often have GM’s who are in charge of running all sorts of operations, such as: maintenance, pro shop, food/beverage, membership. They are typically in charge of overseeing many employees and making sure the club is in good financial health. They make sure all members and customers are treated correctly and that all employees are doing exceptional work around the club.
Who said a good caddy is more than a mere assistant?
Henry Longhurst once said “A good caddie is more than a mere assistant. He is a guide, philosopher, and friend.” Nearly all caddies are exceptional golfers in their own rights, or at least have had so much experience caddying that they have made it their career. You’ll be in a lot of lime light, but you don’t have to deal with all of the pressures and stresses of the golfer. Instead, you will have your own stresses to worry about! For 10% of the income of the pro golfer, you’ll have to weight the pros and cons to determine if this is something that you could make a living on.
Is golf a profitable industry?
Congrats on deciding that you want a job or a career in golf. Many people don’t see golf at a profitable industry. At times, it is a rough industry. But, if you get in the right spot, you make make a lot of money doing something that you truly enjoy.
Do you need to be a professional golf caddy?
requirements: there is no formal training for professional caddies. They just need to have great golf etiquette, an excellent golf understanding and background, typically experience in the golf industry in some way, an analytical and intuitive mind, a great network among pro golfers and other caddies.
1. Golf cart attendant
Primary duties: Cart attendants can work at designated clubs or work for professionals that may travel to various locations. Their tasks can include greeting guests, driving them through the course and performing caddy duties such as cleaning and organizing clubs, handing clubs to the golfer, rake sand traps and smooth ball marks along a course.
2. Greenkeeper
Primary duties: The greenkeeper, or groundskeeper, on a golf course helps maintain the course itself. Their primary duties can include setting pins and tees, measuring the speed in which balls can travel on the green and clearly marking hazards so patrons stay safe.
3. Sports writer
Primary duties: Golf sports writers are often professionals passionate about the sport who attend golf matches or watch competitive golf on television. Sports writers can write recaps about matches, professional features or predictive articles that speculate the results of matches in the future.
4. Golf professional
Primary duties: Golf professionals are often master golfers who help run the operations of a golf course. This can involve determining daily and event tee times, answering customer queries and assisting customers in the course shop. Golf professionals may spend much of their time golfing themselves or holding lessons to teach others how to golf.
5. Golf coach
Primary duties: Golf coaches assist golfers in organizations or at clubs to improve their golfing skills. These professionals schedule and facilitate practices, managing team budgets and managing equipment like clubs, tees and uniforms.
6. Marketing associate
Primary duties: Many golf equipment companies, facilities and clubs hire marketing associates to create promotional materials for them. This can include writing email campaigns, pitching design ideas or managing social media content for a company.
7. Sales associate
Primary duties: Golf sales associates can work as associates in shops on a course, retail companies or for companies as inside or outside sales representatives at larger companies. For example, at a golf equipment company, you may need to manage customer accounts, call prospective sales, generate leads and reach a regular sales quota.
What is a golf course mapper?
A golf course mapper uses drones, otherwise known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), to provide aerial surveying for golf courses and clubs. You will provide maps of the entire terrain of the course, helping course management make decisions about agronomy, course redevelopment, coastal erosion, television broadcast setups and other engineering challenges.
Why do you need to know each course?
You must know each course intimately in order to provide the best advice and counsel. In addition, you act as a sounding board, therapist and emotional grounding point for the player you work with. In that regard, you are as much mental coach and partner as you are employee.
What degree do you need to be a golf course architect?
They have to have a degree in either architecture, landscape design or engineering.
How many hours a week can you spend on golf?
For some, the sport of golf can become an obsession. You can spend 20 hours a week on the course, watch every second of the week's PGA Tour or LPGA Tour tournaments and still not get enough.
What is the job of a golf course superintendent?
A golf course superintendent has the responsibility of making sure that the greens, fairways and roughs are cut to specific level, that the grass is watered, the pins are moved, the tee boxes maintained, the pesticides and lawn chemicals are applied and that the lawn equipment is properly cared for.
Where is Patrick Cameron?
He works out of his home in Denver, Colo. He received his Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from the University of Minnesota.
How employable are golf pros?
CareerExplorer rates golf pros with a D employability rating, meaning this career should provide weak employment opportunities for the foreseeable future.
Are golf pros in demand?
Between 1999 and 2003, Tiger Woods won an estimated thirty-two golf tournaments, among them seven majors. During this period golf was, not coincidentally, at its most popular. Since then, the industry has struggled to regain traction.
How to become a golf pro
Requirements for becoming a golf pro vary with the type of position desired. For touring professionals, there is usually no certification required other than a …

Overview
General Manager
- The person who oversees the entire operations of the golf course is the general manager. He hires and manages staff, oversees the budget and implements marketing plans. At some courses, the general manager is also a PGA teaching professional. According to a number of job websites, as of 2010, a golf course manager's salary generally ranges from $60,000 to $100,000 annually.
Head Golf Professional
- The golf course's head pro usually oversees the golf shop operations and the golf teaching staff. She is almost always a certified class-A PGA professional and generally has been an assistant professional or a staff teaching professional at a golf course or driving range. According to the PGA of America, as of 2010, a head pro's yearly salary can range between $35,000 and $100,000.
Staff Professional
- PGA teaching professionals are sometimes called assistants and work underneath the head pro. Many of them teach, work in the golf shop and coordinate golf course events and tournaments. These staffers are many times certified PGA professionals or in the PGA apprentice program. Job websites estimate annual pay at between $25,000 and $60,000 as of 2010.
Course Superintendent
- To become a golf course superintendent, or head greenskeeper, you must have an education in agronomy or turfgrass management. The job is to take care of all the different varieties of grasses, trees and shrubs on the golf course, to manage the landscape crew and to handle the obstacles (heavy rains, storms, obsessive heat) Mother Nature may bring. The superintendent al…
Caddy Master
- Mainly at private golf clubs, someone is needed to oversee caddy operations, train caddies and coordinate caddy work. That person is the caddy master. His biggest job is to manage the course caddies, coordinate their work schedules and develop training programs for the caddies. According to sports and recreation job websites, a caddy master can make between $20,000 an…
Starters and Rangers
- To help manage tee times and player start times, and to help facilitate play around the course, golf clubs hire starters and rangers. The starter is the first tee's gatekeeper, managing the tee times as players begin their rounds. This position requires organizational skills and a personable demeanor, as starters welcome golfers to the course. Rangers manage play around the golf cou…
Food and Beverage Manager
- If the golf course has dining, bar or banquet facilities, there is likely a position for someone to manage this part of the golf club's operations. The food and beverage manager oversees dining and food budgets, orders needed supplies, manages food staff and helps to coordinate special course events, such as golf outings. She may also work as a sales associate to help promote th…