His point wasn't about the golf. It was that a few hours inside the ropes buys you a decade of caring what happens to those people. He's followed all four ever since.
That's his story and I'm not going to retell it. But it raised a question I couldn't answer, and when I went looking, the answers were scattered across a dozen pages and contradicted each other. So here's what a pro-am actually is, what it costs, and the version almost nobody writes about.
What One Is
A professional plays a round with a group of amateurs, usually the day or two before a tournament starts, on the tournament course in tournament conditions.
The format is where the sources start disagreeing. Golf News Net describes the standard as one pro with four amateurs. The Left Rough describes LIV's as one pro with three. It's likely both are right for their respective circuits, and it varies by event — so check the specific tournament rather than trusting a general answer, including this one.
The amateurs play off their handicaps. The pro plays from the tournament tees. There's a team score, prizes, and usually a party the night before where the pairings are announced.
You don't choose your professional. Marquee names go to executives from the title sponsor and the significant underwriters. Everyone else finds out at the draw.
What It Costs
For a PGA Tour event, roughly $2,500 to $10,000 per person, depending on the tournament and which day you play. Monday pro-ams are cheaper than Wednesday ones because the Monday field of professionals is less well known.
Some sell out anyway. The Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit routinely filled its spots at $10,000 a head.
Then there's Pebble Beach, and here the reporting genuinely doesn't agree. Golf News Net put the AT&T pro-am at upwards of $70,000 for two days in 2024. The Left Rough estimated north of $40,000. Golf.com reported $25,000 per person back in 2021. Those are three different numbers from three credible outlets and I can't reconcile them — the event is invitation-only, so the figure may not be published at all. What everyone agrees on: you need an invitation before you're allowed to pay.
LIV's pro-am has been reported at around €7,500, which included VIP passes for the week.
The Part Nobody Puts in the Headline
Your local PGA section runs pro-ams too.
These are hybrid events — part serious competition, part social day out, usually at a good private club you'd otherwise never see. The Oregon PGA's schedule has included Waverley Country Club, Eugene Country Club and Pumpkin Ridge.
A one- or two-day section pro-am can cost $200 to $400 per player, food and drinks included.
That is not a typo. It's between one-twelfth and one-fiftieth of a Tour pro-am, and you still get a round of golf with a professional at a course you couldn't otherwise book.
The professional won't be Rory McIlroy. It'll be a club or teaching professional, or a mini-tour player, which — if what you actually want is to watch someone very good hit golf balls from four feet away and ask them questions — is arguably a better afternoon. A Tour player on a Wednesday has a tournament starting in about eighteen hours and four strangers to be polite to. A section pro has a normal Tuesday.
Champions Tour pro-ams are also widely reported to offer the best access to the professionals of any tier, for what it's worth.
Why Tournaments Run Them at All
Because they pay for the tournament.
Nathan Grube, tournament director at the Travelers Championship, has described pro-ams as the single largest revenue line for the majority of events. Proceeds cover operating costs and fund the charitable donations that are the entire justification for a lot of these tournaments existing.
When Covid cancelled pro-ams in 2020, tournaments and their charities lost serious money. Detroit's response was to invent a September event at $3,000 a head for 144 amateurs, with Finau, Fowler and DeChambeau playing scrambles with the groups — which the executive director described as something they'd never have created without being forced to.
So when you pay to play in one, you are not buying access. You're funding a golf tournament, and the access is what they give you for doing it.
Some Things Worth Knowing Before You Enter One
Pro-am results don't count for anything. They don't affect a professional's world ranking and they aren't a route onto any tour. It's an exhibition with a scorecard.
Your handicap is the entry requirement, not your ability. Most events don't set a standard. You'll be playing badly in front of someone who plays golf for a living, and they will have seen far worse, that week, from someone who paid more than you.
And take the slow round as part of the deal. Bamberger's nine holes took nearly three hours. Pro-ams are long, hot and unhurried by design, because the point isn't the golf.
Which brings me back to his actual argument, and I think he's right: the reason to do it isn't the round. It's that afterwards, for years, you find yourself looking up somebody's finishing position on a Sunday because you spent an afternoon walking next to them.
That's worth two hundred quid at your local section event. Whether it's worth seventy thousand at Pebble Beach is between you and your accountant.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a golf pro-am?
A round in which a professional plays alongside a group of amateurs, usually on the tournament course a day or two before the event begins. The amateurs play off their handicaps and there's a team score. Formats vary — commonly one professional with three or four amateurs.
How much does it cost to play in a PGA Tour pro-am?
Roughly $2,500 to $10,000 per person, depending on the event and whether it's the Monday or Wednesday round. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is invitation-only and reported figures vary widely, from $25,000 to upwards of $70,000.
Is there a cheaper way to play with a professional?
Yes. PGA section pro-ams — run regionally rather than by the Tour — can cost $200 to $400 per player for a day, often at private clubs, with food and drink included.
Can you choose which professional you play with?
No. The best-known players are paired with title sponsor executives and major underwriters. Other amateurs learn their pairing at a draw, usually at a party the night before.
Do pro-am results count for anything?
No. They don't affect a professional's Official World Golf Ranking and they aren't a qualifying route to any tour.
Do you need to be a good golfer?
Generally not. Most pro-ams have no handicap requirement, though you'll want to know the etiquette and be ready to play at pace.