It’s Try, Try Again For Many At PGA Of Alberta’s PAT
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- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2015-12-20
by Gord Montgomery - Entering the work world as a golf professional entails more than just having a love for the game and deciding that’s the career path you want to follow.
Besides going to college to learn business skills and serving time working long hours in back shops before ever stepping behind a pro shop desk, hopefuls must also show their stuff on the course where a nerve-wracking 36 holes stands between them and their hoped for vocation.
Oh, did we mention those two rounds have to be played within a set number of strokes, or better, to earn the credentials to become a Candidate for Membership in the CPGA ranks?
Image Caption : Dustin Risdon Realized His Place In The Game Of Golf Was To Teach Young Up-And-Coming Golfers The Ropes En Route To Their Pro Dreams - Image Courtesy Golf Canada
That’s just part of what hopefuls must pass through to become an assistant golf professional.
Following are the brief stories of four men who recently earned their stripes. Three had to go through the PAT while the other was granted an exemption due to his past record.
Try, Try Again
For Robert Pfau from the Stony Plain Golf Course, the desire to earn that coveted pro card was so great he figured he’d just keep going after it until he nailed it down.
“Lucky number seven,” he said of failing in his bid six previous times before recently nailing the number at RedTail Landing GC in Edmonton.
“The big thing was, I knew my golf game was better than I was playing,” he said about never giving up on his desire.
“I can play with anyone. My game is there; I just didn’t show it in those (previous) events. I’d blow up or make big mistakes.”
Image Caption : Robert Pfau Is Persistence Personified As Evidenced By His 7th-Time Lucky Success In The Alberta PGA PAT - Image Courtesy Robert Pfau
The biggest obstacle Pfau discovered he had to overcome in qualifying was his mental approach to the two rounds.
“Honestly, my golf game (right now) is worse than it’s ever been,” he said of the fact he’s a new father who hasn’t had an over-abundance of time to work out the kinks.
“Not practicing, not playing (hurt his game) but my mental game was better.”
Because of that, Pfau, 27, said he took a different approach to his seventh journey onto this battlefield. “I decided I just had to go out, hit the ball, find it and hit it again. I didn’t bring a caddy. I didn’t bring a yardage book. I just went out, hit the ball, and it paid off.”
In sticking to his plan to become a pro, Pfau said past work experience in the retail tire industry showed him this was the field he should be in and why he never gave up his dream.
“I didn’t like the pace; I didn’t like going to work everyday,” he said of his past job. “I like coming here (Stony Plain GC) every day. Even before this they treated me like a pro. I didn’t want to leave this. I wanted to do everything in my power to get my card to do this because this is what I want to do long term.”
By the way, seven as it turned out, really was the lucky number this time out for Pfau. That was in fact the number on the Titleist he used in the second and final round of his credential-qualifying journey.
No Real Plan Beyond Becoming A Pro
The desire to become a golf professional was never a big deal for 42-year-old Shawn Hofman when he was a 20-something. But after several years in the Canadian Armed Forces, and tour related injuries, he had to switch his train of thought as to what would be his life’s profession.
After settling on golf, the ‘Wounded Warrior’ went to work on obtaining his pro status.
While most hopefuls are young, flexible, and can rip shots far into the distance, it was a different case for Hofman.
Image Caption : Shawn Hofman Fought His Way To Get To Where He's At In More Ways Than One - Image Courtesy Shawn Hofman
His body had been ravaged by the effects of battles fought in Afghanistan and elsewhere and the Special Forces vet had to cut-and-paste his game together en route to achieving his latest goal.
Hofman, who works at Cougar Creek Golf Resort west of Edmonton, made it through the PAT grind on his third try and he made it right on the number.
He noted his mindset changed dramatically over the time it took him to obtain this status.
“The first time I went I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said of the PAT journey.
“I hadn’t done any tournament play on that level prior, so I was kind of walking in blind. I guess my mind wasn’t into it. I had a lot of personal things going on.
“The second time I went into it, I went with a plan because you know what to expect. I had it, I had it going into hole 15 on day two, but my ego didn’t want to get checked and you make a dumb shot, repeat it, and it’s kind of over from there.”
On his third attempt, Hofman just went out and took care of business despite a shaky warm-up where he said he almost quit before he started. But, some extra pressure he put on himself actually carried him through.
“I told myself, 'I need to get this done now or I’m never going to get it done,' ” he related, adding that the thought of, “If I don’t get it now, am I ever going to get it completed?” crossed his mind.
With those thoughts swirling in his head he went out and captured his card by finishing right on the number, parring his final two holes, including a clutch 15-foot putt on No. 17 to earn his Candidate for Membership status.
Home Course Advantage
For Jean-Mikel Velasco, 23, a bit of home cooking was the order of the day in securing his card on his second attempt.
Velasco, now a Candidate for Membership at the host RedTail Landing GC, said playing on familiar ground was critical to his success. “It was easier because I knew the layout,” he said of that benefit. “I approached it as a usual golf game instead of a PAT,” where he went “chasing birdies,” instead of playing cautiously.
The first time he took the PAT was at Goose Hummock Golf Resort, north of Edmonton and a track that is significantly different than RedTail. “It’s always a challenge to play a different course, especially in that kind of a tournament,” he noted.
As for the stress factor on the hopefuls, Velasco agreed it is huge. “We’re playing for our career,” he stated. “There is pressure,” but for a reason many might not think of.
“In a tournament, you’re playing against other people so it’s a different mind set. In the PAT, you’re playing against a score and that’s in your head when you step up onto the first tee.”
In the end, Velasco also hit the qualifying number on the nose after a shaky second day back-nine, but all the same, he joined the ranks of soon-to-be assistant golf professionals in Alberta and across Canada.
Special Exemption
Another man about to become a new assistant professional is one who was able to forego the PAT because of his past status. Dustin Risdon, of Calgary, was granted an exemption thanks to an illustrious playing career where he was a top-ranked amateur as well as picking up three wins on the Canadian Tour and three top-10 finishes on theWeb.com Tour as a playing pro.
Risdon said he was just on the fringes of tournament play as of late and thus the changeover to becoming a teaching pro wasn’t a difficult choice to make, although it was a recent one.
“Probably two weeks ago,” he said of when he made that decision.
“I haven’t played real tour golf in probably five years. I was just down in Dallas, caddying on the side, and playing an amateur handicap tour that allowed pros to play.
Image Caption : Dustin Risdon Has Got His Life And Golf Back On Track At The National Golf Academy At McCall Lake in Calgary - Image Courtesy Facility
It paid money so I was paying the bills through that and caddying at some high end clubs down there. And finally, I got sick of that lifestyle and decided to get a real job with constant pay.”
Risdon, 34, returned to Canada about six months ago after he “Went and recovered my life at a rehab centre which I’m proud of.”
Those changes in his life and lifestyle led to a job offer to become a teaching pro at the National Golf Academy at McCall Lake in Calgary, which he accepted.
Given his portfolio, Risdon didn’t have to go through the stressful PAT trial and thus found himself on the fast track to a PGA card. “It amazed me how quick I became a Candidate for Membership. I paid my dues, registration fee and they told me right away I could play in tournaments,” although he wasn’t planning on competing as a teaching pro.
However, some coaxing from his new boss saw him tee it up at Stewart Creek in the PGA of Alberta Championship for a win and he followed that up with another victory at the Golf Supply House Professional Series at the Sundre GC, setting a course record in the process.
Even given those performances, Risdon said he is now first and foremost a teacher for young players in particular. He feels his past is going to help those gifted youngsters find their way in a competitive environment.
“That’s the whole thing. I want to focus on getting them prepared for tournaments, the mental side of things. Having been a highly ranked junior in Canada myself, I’m trying to get into helping those kind of kids,” something that is sure to serve the students, and the new CPGA professional teacher, well in the coming months and years.
About the writer: Gord Montgomery is a retired sports editor of two weekly newspapers in the Edmonton area and is a member of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. He has written for Inside Golf for the past seven years with the majority of his coverage in north and central Alberta. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. He’s also on Twitter at @gordinsidegolf.