Brad Wallis is a pretty handy golfer. His handicap puts him just a stroke or two off scratch.
And now the Whanganui born and educated 21-year-old is on a pathway that lets him meld his love of the game with a career as a pro golfer.
For Wallis it's notabout chasing the big bucks on the pro circuit; he knows his limitations so his ultimate goal is to become a teacher of the game.
He only started playing the game six years ago when his was a student at Whanganui Collegiate. His parents, Yvonne and Peter, are keen golfers and heavily involved at the Wanganui Golf Club. Brad used to caddy for his dad but he was into other sports.
But when he picked up a club he found his niche: "I just love being out there on the course."
Now he's a NZ Professional Golf Association trainee, working and learning his craft as a member of the team at Royal Wellington Golf Club in Upper Hutt. It's a big club, with more than 2000 members and at least 800 of them active players.
For two years, up until May last year, Wallis was playing at a junior college level in the state of Virginia in the US. He had the opportunity to go on to varsity level golf but wanted a break.
Getting an internship with NZPGA isn't a walk in the park. You need to have met a reasonable level in NCEA and play to a maximum of a 3 handicap.
"The whole reason I was going to college was to study for a business degree. I spent four months working with Mum (Yvonne is a partner in Balance Chartered Accountants) but found I wasn't a huge fan of it so I really had to look at what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go," he said.
Brad Wallis has found his niche in golf and has just begun a three-year course to become a professional golfer. Photo / John Maslin
The traineeship lasts three years and covers everything a pro golfer needs to know, including coaching, golf club fitting, and the business side of golf.
"Royal Wellington had a place for a trainee. I had two interviews and was offered the job after the second one. I started in February."
The other pros there mentor Wallis.
Every so often he and other trainees from around the country play in competition. On Monday this week Wallis was among a dozen newbies who played at Wairakei course north of Taupo. He was happy with his third place finish.
After his training he will broaden his horizons.
"Once you're a full member of the PGA you can go virtually anywhere in the world. I'd like to spend some time outside NZ, to Australia and certainly Europe and work on some courses over there for a while. But my aspiration is to become a coach," he said.
"I'd like to give playing as a pro a go, so the next three years will tell me if I'm capable of that. But even if I made it as a player I still want to be a coach afterwards. It's the main reason I've got into this," he said.
