Q&A spotlight: Jerry Pearsall
Q&A spotlight with Jerry Pearsall
Q: What is your background?
A: I grew up in Billings, Mont. I went to Billings Senior High School and got an accounting degree at Eastern Montana College, which is now Montana State University-Billings. I started playing golf when I was about 5 years old. My dad was an avid golfer and he would take me out before he went to work. We were dew sweepers and we'd be out there as early as 5:30 a.m.
Baseball was my No. 1 sport as a kid but I liked golf. I began picking the range at Lake Hills Golf Club when I was 13. It's a public course and I was assistant pro there from 1986-93, when I came to the Northwest PGA Section as assistant director.
Q: Are there days when you think no one understands that the PGA of America is the organization for club pros (including pros at public courses) and the PGA Tour is the outfit for Tiger Woods and friends?
A: Every day that comes up. It's not all bad to be confused with that group. But the PGA of America member is the one in the trenches building golf every day at public and private courses. Q: What kind of program does someone have to complete to become a PGA club professional?
A: You have to attend a PGA of America training program and serve a three-year apprenticeship and complete a combination of course work and work experience. Even after you have your PGA license, there is a lot of continuing education.
We have classes in everything from the rules of golf and tournament administration to how to be an effective manager, golf psychology and how to teach golf. There also are classes in accounting, food and beverage management and golf-cart fleet management.
At 11 colleges in the country, including the University of Idaho, you can take a lot of golf-related classes and cover most of our coursework that way. You graduate with a business degree and get one year of apprenticeship credit for the degree.
Everyone has to be able to play a credible game of golf and pass our playing test. It's a one-day test where you play 36 holes and must shoot no more than 15 over the course rating for the combined rounds. If the course rating is 70, that means you have to shoot 155. You can retake this playing test until you pass it.
Q: What does your organization do besides providing training for current and future pros?
A: We run tournaments such as the Merrill Lynch Washington Open. The tournaments are primarily for our members, but top amateurs and Tour pros also can enter. We also run a lot of Monday pro-am events. We are involved with junior golf, and our focus is to introduce kids to golf. We have a "golf-in-schools" program and we're involved with First Tee of Olympia. We conduct a golf merchandise show in Portland each fall, which is a trade show for Northwest professionals. We are partners with the Pacific Northwest Golf Association in the Pacific Northwest Golf Show in Seattle every spring.
Q: What is the range of salaries for club pros in the Northwest? How do they make their money?
A: Head pros make from $40,000 to about $180,000. Every contract varies but every pro makes some of his money from lessons. At some clubs, the pros own and operate the golf shop, and at others they just get a percentage of the profits. Assistant pros make anywhere from $18,000 to $45,000.
Q: Talk about your own golf game.
A: My best competitive round was at the Sheridan Country Club in Sheridan, Wyo. I shot 63. I played in some early Hogan Tour and Nike Tour events. I have one hole-in-one. I shot it in 1980.