Salisbury & South Wilts golfer overwhelmed with support as he turns pro this year

Salisbury & South Wilts golf club’s Tom Stagg has become professional following his success last year.

The local golfer made the decision to take up golfing fulltime after qualifying for the UK’s largest golf tour.

The 22-year-old told Love Salisbury, “It’s always been the goal for me, I think from a little kid, when I was about 13, I kind of knew what I wanted to do in life and that was to be a professional golfer. It’s been a long time coming but we’re here now.

“I kind of had a plan as to when it was going to be and that was dependent on if I qualified for the Europro tour- which I did in October. So, as soon as I heard that, I knew I was going to turn pro this year.

The talented golfer had been working at the Co-op on Castle Road but has since quit to pursue golf as his full-time career.

Although optimistic for the future, Tom is wary that it will all rely upon his success, “It’s going to be difficult, especially the first couple of years.

"Because this tour- I mean there’s not an awful lot of money in it but if I play well moving forward then there will be other opportunities to travel the world and make a living from doing what I love. It’s exciting and will be life changing if I can make it work,” he said.

Comparing golf to football, Tom explained, “Ultimately I want to get to the premiere league of golfing but right now I’m in league 1. So the next step is getting to the championship.

“Basically, the goal is qualifying for more tours,” he added.

Thankful for all the support he has received throughout his golfing journey, Tom told Love Salisbury that, “It’s been a big effort from a lot of people”.

This year, the newly professional golfer has also received sponsorship from a Salisbury construction company. The 22-year-old said, “D&N construction have kindly sponsored me this year, so they’ve given me a little bit of help with the entry fees and the travel costs, which is massive.

"It's brilliant that someone has reached out and has offered that support to me. They’re a fantastic company – I know the guy who owns it quite well- he’s a member at the golf club.”

Last Friday (1st April), Salisbury & South Wilts golf club hosted a day-long event for their young pro who was overcome with support, “The day went better than I could have ever imagined to be honest.

"I think we had over 100 people all there playing 18-holes. The amazing thing for me is that almost all of them stayed to watch the presentation.

"Usually, people leave straight after their food, but I think I had nearly 100 people stay and watch my speech. I couldn’t believe it- the support on that day!” Said Tom.

Next year, the Salisbury star hopes to have a website in which people can keep up to date with his progress. In the meantime, Tom encourages those looking to support him to, “keep an eye out and follow my journey on social media”.

Instagram: @tom_stagg_golf

Twitter: @stagg3_tom

Photos taken by sports photographer Michael Berkeley.

The Salisbury and South Wilts golfer is due to start his Europro Tour journey later next month (25th May) at Harleyford Golf Club. To keep up to date with Tom’s progress visit the Europro website here.