It takes more than being a good golfer to make a successful PGA professional. Here is an insight into what the role is like day-to-day.
A Day In The Life Of A PGA Professional
If you were to ask most people about what a PGA professional does, they would say they only give lessons and sell chocolate bars. However, they couldn't be more wrong!
Will Hobbs has been the Head Professional at Mendip Spring Golf Club in Somerset since March 2020, with his hard work and dedication seeing great results at the club.
Working near 12 hour days, Hobbs splits his time between running the pro shop, coaching, club fitting, management and retail.
"My day normally starts at 8am with the morning shift in the shop. Most of the members at the golf club will play in the morning and then, once the visitors come in the afternoon, that's when I let my staff take over the shop," Hobbs told Golf Monthly.
Related: How To Become A PGA Professional
"In the afternoon I will generally just teach and club fit till 7-8 o'clock in the evening. We also have our General Manager at the club who obviously takes care of the management side, but quite often he will come in and have a chat with us about how we can help from the shops point of view.
"We also attend all the handicap committee meetings, as well as the general committee meetings."
Mendip Spring, like many other clubs, has seen some changes over the last 18 months, with the Covid pandemic causing havoc to businesses and courses alike.
Despite this, the club has seen a whopping 350 new members join its 27-hole layout, boosting its membership total to north of 1000.
Related: Golf Participation Numbers Reveal Huge Increase Despite Pandemic
"The membership increase was mad, it was crazily busy and, with the restrictions still in place, it was so difficult to manage things," Hobbs said.
"It was also awkward for myself with the shop. This was because golf opened before retail did, so we weren't allowed to use the shop. It was an interesting time trying to adapt."
Having taken over the head pro role just as the pandemic hit, Will noted that "it was a really difficult time taking on your own business."
However, having worked at the club since 2013, and having therefore built relationships with the members, he encountered a lot of support.
"The members were incredibly supportive through sales and just coming in and asking 'how are things going?' So it was nice knowing they cared about the situation," he said.
Another important factor of a professionals day-to-day life, is making sure the business, and the shop, remains stocked, so that it can cater for all the golfers' needs, but, yet again, things aren't always simple.
With Covid restrictions changing on a regular basis, plus the sudden boom in golf participation, knowing week on week what was required was tricky business.
"I think a lot of pros were unaware of how things were going because it was a really awkward time," Will said.
"Even in lockdown we were in constant contact with the reps, just finding out if they knew what was going on and working out what we could do with our orders.
"If you were getting low on things then you would contact them straight away and get things in the book ready just so you weren’t struggling with stock."
Coaching golfers of all abilities, Hobbs says he "loves his job," with the satisfaction of seeing people improve being his main drive.
Related: Want To Improve? Buy Lessons Not Clubs
With the large influx of members, he has added a simulator to his arsenal; as well as purchasing a brand new GC Quad, with his aim to always keep improving on what is already on offer at the club, making it a great location for teaching and club fitting.
However, Hobbs does admit that the "long hours can affect family and social life" and that "when you finish your day, it doesn't necessarily mean you've finished working.
"You come home and you may have to go through accounts, so it can be difficult to switch off, but I'm adapting to it. I've got a great set of staff behind me, which is really important."
Related: How Pros Use The Latest Technology To Teach
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