In the current era, it's no secret that golfers are being paid more than ever, with World No.1 Scottie Scheffler pocketing around $64 million in prize money for 2024 alone.
Although the top players are earning mega bucks, those who are fighting it out on the mini Tours aren't, and in a recent video published to his social, Alex Romo, who possesses a near 40,000 followers on Instagram and works as a golf, health and mindset coach, detailed the harsh reality of lower league golf.
In the video, which has been shared on social media by the likes of X/Twitter page @acaseofthegolf1, Romo details all of his expenses from a week playing the Asher Tour, a professional golf mini-tour that takes place in California and the surrounding West Coast.
The tournament in question is the Wigwam Classic that took place in May 2024 and, speaking about the costs, Romo reveals that the entry fee alone was $1350. From there, he paid $600 for four nights in a hotel, $280 on fuel for a 1000 mile round-trip, as well as $60 for golf balls for the week.
Continuing with the expenditure, we see $200 for food before Romo then reveals that practice rounds for the event are usually between $100 to $200 but, at the tournament that week, they were, thankfully, free.
All of that totals up to $2,490 and, from there, Romo details the breakdown of the purse, with the winner pocketing a $20,000 paycheck. That sounds all well and good but, to break even for the week, the American would have needed a seventh place finish in a 117-player field.
Now we get to, arguably, the most eye-watering part of the video, the scores! In terms of the winner, Michael Feagles, he shot 16-under-par to win by one, with Romo breaking down the numbers on how good the score in fact was.
"The course measures 7,345 yards, has a 75.0 course rating and 137 Slope. That means a scratch golfer should shoot 75 on average," states Romo, who then goes on to explain that, in reality, the 16-under score set by Feagles is more like 25-under, due to the fact the course plays three-over its allotted par.
"That (score) works out as an average of 8.3 shots under scratch golf per day," claims Romo, who then adds "to put that in perspective, Scottie Scheffler, who is World No.1, says he is +7.5 handicapper. The guy who won this week played to a +8.3 handicap. The difference is that Scheffler would have won about $2 million, this guy won $20 grand."
You may have wondered how Romo got on? Well, the pro fired a one-over-par tournament total to miss the cut by three and take home nothing. Before you scoff, it's worth noting that his 72.5 stroke average would still work out as a +2.5 handicapper.
