6 Best PGA Tour Championship Jobs for Golf-Lovers

Are you a golf fan? If so, you might not be the type that’s content to merely follow the sport. Maybe you’d also like one of the PGA Tour championship jobs. As one of the top sports organizations in the world, the PGA Tour offers a wide range of career opportunities to anyone willing to work hard and pursue their goals.

Top PGA Careers to Consider

The following PGA Tour championship jobs are just a few noteworthy options to consider. Keep them in mind as you plan out your career path!

1. Caddie

Anyone who’s even a casual golf fan knows that a caddie plays a very important role. They certainly do more than carry a golfer’s bag. When they have a strong relationship with a golfer, a caddie offers advice, helps a golfer choose clubs, develops a strategy, and more.

Caddies also provide moral support in many cases. After all, professional golf requires a lot of concentration, which can be stressful for a golfer on the PGA Tour. Therefore, part of a caddie’s role involves helping a golfer remain calm as they navigate the course.

There are also numerous ways to become a caddie. If you’re just starting out, you can contact golf courses in your area to ask about caddying opportunities. You can also enroll in training programs through the Professional Caddies Association. By developing your skills and making a good impression on the golfers with whom you first work, you may climb the ladder and land a job on the PGA Tour.

This golf career may also be fairly lucrative. For instance, PGA Tour caddie Steve Lohmeyer (who actually started as an intern at golf company Ping, knowing nothing about caddying when he first transitioned to the role) reports that $1,500 per week, plus 8% of the prize money a golfer takes home, is a fairly common rate.

2. Golf Rules Official

The rules of golf are somewhat unique when compared to other sports, partially because every course is unique. On the PGA Tour, well-versed officials must be present at all matches to make rulings and provide advice when necessary.

You may be interested in this PGA Tour job if you’re highly familiar with golf rules. That said, like many jobs on the PGA Tour, this is the type of position that will require a substantial amount of travel. Although that may appeal to some, if you don’t like the idea of being away from family and friends for extended periods of time, you might want to consider a more flexible option.

3. Golf Coach

All sports organizations rely on coaches to help athletes perform to the best of their abilities. The PGA Tour is no different.

Granted, to become a PGA Tour coach, you’ll almost certainly need experience playing golf yourself. You’ll also likely have to work your way up to this position. Doing so may involve coaching at a high school, university, or other golf courses before joining the PGA Tour. That said, if you’re passionate about golf and willing to devote years to building connections and getting experience, you could eventually land this exceptionally rewarding job in golf.

4. Golf Marketer

Sports marketers on the PGA Tour develop and implement strategies to ensure matches attract as many viewers as possible. Luckily, if you’re interested in this PGA Tour golf job, there’s arguably never been a better time to pursue this sports job. 

That’s because sports marketing channels have expanded significantly in the past few years. Marketers no longer launch campaigns solely via such traditional channels as TV and print. Now, digital channels also play a major role in marketing campaigns. That means there’s a lot of demand for marketers who understand how to capture an audience’s attention at a time when people are bombarded with more marketing content than ever before.

5. PGA Tour Golf Professional

Some jobs on the PGA Tour are highly specialized. Rules officials focus on (you guessed it) the rules of the game. Caddies must understand strategy and yardage. Coaches need to know how to help golfers develop their skills.

However, if you’re interested in a role with broader duties, you may want to become a PGA Tour golf professional instead. Your responsibilities in this role will range from teaching amateurs how to play golf to coordinating with facilities managers to ensure courses are properly maintained.

6. Golf Journalist

It’s important to understand that you don’t necessarily need to work for the PGA Tour to get one of the PGA Tour Championship jobs. For instance, as with all major professional sports events, PGA Tour matches are covered by journalists and reporters. This role allows you to attend matches and even interview professional golfers.

You don’t necessarily need a degree in journalism to get this type of job. Although it does help, some PGA Tour journalists start in different fields and merely blog about golf on the side. In some cases, these blogs attract the attention of professional journalists. You could potentially follow the same career path if you demonstrate strong writing and reporting skills.

(As well as a thorough understanding of golf, of course.)

Starting a Career in PGA Golf

As the above points might have made clear, there are numerous ways to land PGA Tour championship jobs. That said, in most cases, you’re far more likely to get a job on the PGA Tour if you earn a PGA certification first. Earning the proper certifications is key to landing many sports jobs.

There are two main ways to become PGA-certified. You can enroll in the PGM Associate Program or enroll in the PGA Golf Management University Program. Research both to determine which is more likely to help you achieve your career goals.

Just remember that jobs in golf are almost always rewarding for those who are passionate about the sport. While it’s true that you will have to put in some work to get a PGA Tour job (regardless of which position most interests you), your efforts can lead to a career you’ll genuinely love.