Ask any established club professional about his or her experience with the PAT, and the response tends to be universal. First comes a slow smile; then you’ll be instructed to find two of the tallest, coldest beers on property; and finally, a request to locate two comfortable stools in the breeze. And oh, right, one point of clarity: “How much time did you say you have?”
What’s the PAT, you ask? The Playing Ability Test, its official name, is a 36-hole, frequently pressure-filled examination in which a player aspiring to get into the golf industry through the PGA of America must finish at, or below, a targeted 36-hole score taking into consideration a course’s rating, or difficulty. Basically, the question becomes this: You want to make a career in golf – can you play it?
On this piping hot, near cloudless Tuesday at Esplanade at Azario Lakewood Ranch, a three-year-old facility just emerging from the ground outside Sarasota, there are 28 players choosing to give it a go in the latest PAT. (Full disclosure: This longtime golf writer’s 22-year-old son was one of them.) For $96, the players are guaranteed 36 holes on a very nice, well-kept course, with the chance to encounter and battle nerves that will churn much like the turbulent ocean waters off Florida’s nearby Gulf Coast.
This day’s assembled field includes one female and two players who are on the north side of 50 among its 28 starters. The simple beauty of the PAT is this: If you can shoot the number, it becomes the key that allows you through the golden gate. Old, young, whether one hits it long, short, hooks it, cuts it, or swings as smoothly as Ernie Els, it doesn’t matter. You can spray tee shots like open-field buckshot if you’d like, all across the premises, which will be fine as long as you putt like Ben Crenshaw.
Just shoot the number. Find a way.
CLICK HERE TO READ THIS UNLOCKED STORY AT GGP+... AND USE COUPON CODE GGP48 TO SAVE 20% ON AN ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION