USA -- Is it really the "cash cow" opportunity for golfing aspirants?

Is it the chance to crack it on the main PGA Tour and get amongst all the trappings associated with the Tour; money, success, coverage and fame? We're led to believe so, as the majority of young guns will tell you "I want to be in America playing the PGA Tour within two years".

Is it the be all and end all? One alternative, should you not pass Q-School, is to fall back on to another main or secondary tour and wait a further 12 months, adopting a wait and see approach? Many a seasoned professional has purposely focused on obtaining a European or Asian Tour Card first, before even considering the Q-School. It is hard to believe they have suffered any disadvantage as a result.

For some it is a difficult decision when to give PGA Tour Q-School a crack. There is a lot at stake. You have to be ready both financially and mentally, your game needs to be capable of withstanding the grind of playing on a main Tour and your competitive juices need to be flowing as every other player you are up against at Q-School thinks they're better than you. Failure is measured by some in the number of attempts you have made - then again you have to be in it, to win it.

November is make or break time for PGA Tour aspirants, having saved the dollars to meet the entrance and travel fees just to tee up. It's a risky business, yet every year at this time so many from the four corners of the globe are there (some prematurely) - hoping their form will come right and success will follow.

That's right - it's time for the PGA Tour's annual qualifying school. While most of us have an entire calendar year to position ourselves for a promotion, having spent the previous 12 months greasing, boozing and sucking up every possible person in authority to make such a decision, golfers have but one. Even then, they pay US$4,500.00 just to be considered.

If you are one of the better players on the Nationwide Tour you get onto the main tour through victories and/or finishing in that top 20 money leaders position. For the rest, the alternative is Q-School. How arduous and difficult is it to get that sought after PGA Tour card through the Q-School process?

Well, it's like this. To be considered you are one of roughly 2,000 other hopefuls, all of whom have resumes and a game just as impressive as yours. You are put into a pool, which is divided into 14 different test sections, each with about 80 people.

Only the top 20 and ties from each section advance to the next test stage, where you, along with everyone else who advanced through first stage, will compete against previous seasoned main Tour players who want to get their card back.

We are not finished yet, yes there is more and it is known as "Second Stage".

Second Stage has the same criteria as the first and is scheduled for November 10-13 & 17-20, except there are only six test sections. The top 20 and ties from each section advance to Final Stage, where you, along with everyone else who advanced through Second Stage, will compete against others who had a bad year on the main Tour.

At Final Stage scheduled for December 1-6, only the top 30 and ties, from a field of 170, will get their PGA Tour cards, with no guarantees that you'll make a dollar. The top finishers below them will receive some conditional status, but nothing of that will see them earn in one year what a main PGA Tour player makes in one week. Many will fall back onto the Nationwide Tour. Others are discarded and scatter back to where they originated from; for them they have to wait another year.

That is PGA Tour Q-School.

One of our most promising professional players, Aron Price is about to embark on this journey. Aron, 23, turned professional in June and immediately joined the Grey Goose Gateway Tour Beach Series. He has made 6 out of 7 cuts, sits 14th on the money list with US$44,469.00 earnings and won the Bear Lakes Tournament in his 5th start. With a scoring average of 69 and 8 out of 23 rounds shot in the 60's, Aron feels he is ready to give Q-School a crack.

What lies ahead for Aron?

Should he make Final Stage, he will have played approximately 985 shots and 252 holes over fourteen rounds, mostly under par. He'd have travelled from Ponte Verda Beach, Florida to Murrieta, California, then back again to Orlando, Florida. He's had to sleep in cheap hotel rooms (probably sharing with his caddie), trying to grab a much sleep as possible, not to mention eating the delicacies at the many fast food outlets along the way.

Thirty lucky souls will earn their PGA Tour cards this December, but many more will miss out - it's not failing, but is just part of the journey and the sacrifices you make in the search of becoming a PGA Tour professional to join that cash cow known as the PGA Tour.

Let's hope Aron is one of them - as he deserves it.