Tony Rohlik knows the trials and tribulations of being a PGA of America member while also trying to play at higher levels – like the PGA Tour.
Last year, the club pro from Mesa captured the PING/Southwest Section PGA Championship and earned exemptions into the FBR Open and Chrysler Classic of Tucson, where he failed to make the cuts. Hard knocks, sure, but it’s the reality of club pros trying to compete against touring pros, Rohlik said.
“That’s why I give Don Yrene so much credit,’’ Rohlik said of the Scottsdale pro who last week made the cut at the PGA Championship in Chicago, where he ended up as “low club pro.’’
“It’s really hard to get starts (on tour), but the more you play the more comfortable you get with it. I think you’re seeing that with Don.’’
Now, if Rohlik could just get going after a zero-for-nine start in three FBR Opens, three Tucson Opens and three Gila River Classics on the Nationwide Tour.
“It really depends on your definition of success,’’ Rohlik said of his inability to break through at a higher level. “I’ve played in those nine tour events – none very well – but I’ve won a lot of other tournaments at other levels, and (six times) was able to Monday qualify (for the tours).’’
Rohlik will be back on more familiar turf Monday through Wednesday, when he defends his title in the PING/Southwest Section PGA Championship at Paradise Valley Country Club. Yeah, it’s not as tough of a field, but it’s no push-over, either.
“Last year, I had a two-shot lead and somehow made double (bogey) on the last hole and still won,’’ said the 38-year-old Rohlik, who prevailed at Las Vegas Country Club. “But golf is a crazy game, with so many factors that can go into it.’’
Rohlik probably didn’t look at it that way 20 years ago, when he left the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire after two years of college golf and set out to make his name as a play-for-pay guy. But when life on the minitours took their toll, he became an assistant pro at Lost Spur Country Club in Eagan, Minn., in 1994.
“It’s tough to support three kids and a family on a minitour salary,’’ he said.
Six years later, several of the members at Lost Spur recruited him to be the head pro at Apache Wells in Mesa. More recently, Rohlik took a job as a club-fitter at the Ace of Clubs in Mesa. He said the job allows him to play a “little bit’’ and still earn a steady income.
“We’re just a little repair shop on the corner of Power (Road) and Main (Street) specializing in custom clubs,’’ Rohlik said of the Ace of Clubs. “By comparison, if Hot Stix (the high-end custom-fitting shop in Scottsdale) is Disneyland, we’re the county fair.’’
The big job perk for Rohlik, however, is that he gets to play in events like the section championship, with exemptions like the FBR Open on the line. Tucson was eliminated this year because of its new stature as the host of the WGC Match Play Championship.
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