PROFESSIONAL GOLF EARNINGS

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 February 1937, Page 4

PROFESSIONAL GOLF EARNINGS

LUCKY TO GET L 5 A WEEK. Numerous persons who have read with sympathy the news of Jack MacLean's decision to capitalise his skill as a golfer, on the grounds that the cost of playing as an amateur had become prohibitive, must have fell to wondering what it is possible for him to make out of the game as a professional (writes Henry Longhurst, in the London “Sunday Times’’).

It would be an unwarrantable intrusion upon privacy to inquire into, or io publish if one knew, the exact terms of his contract with the Buchanan Castle Club. But a comparison with the earnings of others in the profession may give a fair estimate of what his new line of life is likely to be worth.

The earnings of golf professionals are sometimes exaggerated. The value of the vacant post at Sunningdale is often Staled to be .LT.OUO a year. Thai may potentially be so, but it is going to be an exceptionally able business man who finds himself .£4O per week in pocket at Sunningdale, or al any other club in Britain. In the old days, when the cluimmkcr’s art was a flourishing one. jf might have been possible, but private export trade, the stand-by of one or two famous professionals of the immediate past, has been reduced almost to a standstill by the admirably finished mass-products of the large settle manufacturers. A few professionals, it is true, may earn a thousand pounds in a year, but a large percentage of this may come from prize money—and the num-

ber of prize-winners in any given year is small. Last year. lor instance, it was reduced almost to mm, namely. Allred Padgham. Yet he. despite a series of successes that can only be described as fantastic, netted onlv

.£1,10(1 in direct prize money. The other sources of income open to paid players are: retainers from their club, profits from the sale of halls, clubs and equipment, and fees from manufacturers for their exclusive use of certain clubs or balls. The lastnamed may vary from £5 a year, plus a dozen free balls per month, to £5OO a year and an unlimited supply. But the number who are able to command the latter may be counted on the fingers of one hand. RETAINING FEES SMALL. In the more normal spheres a man is lucky to receive a retainer of as much us I'l a. week, while a good many fail to command .£lOO a. year, 'fhe profits from the professional's shop depend partly on the nature of the members of the club and partly on the)

11 professional's own ability as a sales- : man and business man. A bad winter can, of course, have a ■devastating effect on any professional’s takings. As an instance 1 would quote ■the case of the professional at a perfectly well-to-do provincial club who, less than a month ago. told me that his entire takings for (he past week had been 10/6.

Here are the opinions of two men who ought to know their subject: — Archie Compston: “There seems to be a general idea that golf professionals earn big money. They don’t. Ninety per cent, barely make a living.’’ •I. 11. Taylor: “The £G-a-week golf professional is the exception rather than the rule these days. There are few professionals earning £G per week; Gm majority get less. There are hundreds attached to small clubs who find it difficult to earn more than £1 or

25/- a week.” It is a safe conclusion to say that whereas the Open champion in his “year of office” may, if he is astute, net himself £3.000 or £4,000, the income of the average professional does not exceed £5 a week.