re: do professional golfers typically come from money backgrounds?

A lot of people that know little about golf sometimes assume that all golfers are born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

A lot of pro golfers were fortunate enough to grow up in areas that weren't necessarily that affluent but had country clubs or municipal courses that were/are very supportive of junior golf. A great example is the country club in Milton, FL that produced Bubba Watson, Boo Weekley, and Heath Slocum. I played junior golf with those guys and they were about as middle class as they come but their parents were members of a local country club that happened to be supportive of junior golf.

I will say that starting out on the PGA Tour or the Nationwide Tour is a different matter. The expense of playing in 25 to 30 tournaments across the nation is obviously very expensive. It is expensive to those players that don't have equipment endorsement deals yet.

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Tiger woods dad was a green beret they don't make shite for money unless he did something else after but I don't think he did.

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Come on man, obviously Tiger fricking Woods is the exception.

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I will say that starting out on the PGA Tour or the Nationwide Tour is a different matter. The expense of playing in 25 to 30 tournaments across the nation is obviously very expensive. It is expensive to those players that don't have equipment endorsement deals yet.

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Truth. Entry fee to a Hooter's Tour event is $1,200, plus travel expenses, and hotel costs. Guys on the Hooter's Tour have to finish in the top 5, 10th at the lowest to make any profit. Most have a business plan with an investor or investors. Usually they have their entree fees and travel expenses paid for, but they are usually paying their investors back 70-80% of each check they make.

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Truth. Entry fee to a Hooter's Tour event is $1,200, plus travel expenses, and hotel costs. Guys on the Hooter's Tour have to finish in the top 5, 10th at the lowest to make any profit. Most have a business plan with an investor or investors. Usually they have their entree fees and travel expenses paid for, but they are usually paying their investors back 70-80% of each check they make.

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Good point, especially regarding the Hooter's Tour where "paying your dues" applies the most.

During the PGA final stage of Q school telecast the commentators discussed the financial impact of earning a PGA Tour card and a Nationwide Tour Card. I'm pretty sure they said that earning your PGA Tour card almost gaurantees you high 5 figures to 6 figure dollars in equipment contracts/endorsements before you even hit the first shot on tour. I'd imagine that these contracts cover most of if not all expenses each season.

I'm not as sure about the Nationwide Tour though. They do get endorsement money but it's obviously less at that level but then again the expenses are likely less as well.

I'd say they come from at least OK money a lot more often than Basketball or Football players bc half of them seem to come from the hood. But it's not on the level of US pro Skiing, which is basically all WASPs