A Comeback Story In Europe
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Hey Golfers —
Jordan Weber quit playing professional golf twelve years ago. Now he’s making a comeback. A comeback that was unexpected. A comeback with no expectations.
Jordan played his college golf at the University of Northern Iowa — he was a teammate of mine. And a few years after he graduated, he crashed on an air mattress in my apartment one summer while he was grinding on the Dakotas Tour.
Like many programs in the country, Northern Iowa Men’s Golf has limited resources. We didn’t have an indoor facility until my senior year, and that indoor facility was a 500-square-foot garage with three doors.
We traveled in rented 15-passenger vans. And when we flew, it was always with one or two connections and a two-hour drive to an airport. We had one scholarship for twelve roster spots.
The University of Northern Iowa hosts the Iowa High School State Football Playoffs on campus. The men’s and women’s golf teams worked in the parking lots for those events. Raising money to increase our budgets.
Our budget was a rounding error — tens of thousands of dollars. And we had to fundraise just as much.
Why do guys go to Northern Iowa? Two reasons.
Head Coach John Bermel
It was their only Division One offer
But I don’t remember my teammates complaining about a lack of resources. We were happy to get a shot.
So why does any of this matter?
Guys like Jordan aren’t supposed to make it. But every once in a while, they do.
Jordan turned pro after graduating from college in 2008. He sold shares in himself — raising $26,000 from friends and family. Jordan had success early — winning a handful of mini-tour events. But at Q-School — he got the yips. And they didn’t go away. He quit playing professional golf in 2012.
Jordan signed up to play in a simulator event on the Next Golf Tour this winter. The Next Golf Tour is in its second year — and it is an exciting take on professional golf. It is a simulator golf league with seven events where golfers play 18 holes worldwide. And the purses aren’t small. The largest one was $226,000.
The purses are great — but it isn’t the most important item the Next Golf Tour has to offer.
The Order of Merit winner earns.
One DP World Tour start
Three Challenge Tour starts
Jordan played well in the first event, finishing 47th and winning $300, which was enough to cover the entry fee of $130. He decided to play in the second event and had a similar result to his first. The competitive juices were back — he was hooked.
In his third event on the Next Golf Tour — he won. The first-place paycheck was $30,000 — more than he’d ever won in a professional golf event.
Jordan ended up winning once more and adding a second-place finish.
He won the Next Golf Tour Order of Merit. And he also won $90,000.
In early April — Jordan learned the events he was exempt into on the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour.
His DP World event was the European Open — a quick six-week turn. And especially quick when you consider he hadn’t played professional golf on grass in twelve years.
A 38-year-old from rural Iowa would tee it up at a DP World Tour event. He had never played an event higher than the now-defunct Hooters Tour.
But it was time to get to work.
Jordan’s college teammate is an agent who represents golfers on the PGA and LPGA Tours. He quickly stepped in and started working with Jordan to arrange clothes, sponsors, PR, etc. He worked on several deals; some worked with Jordan, and some didn’t. And he didn’t charge Jordan a dollar.
TRUE Linkswear provided Jordan with clothes and shoes. One of Jordan’s former college teammates is the CEO of an Iowa-based company, and he received a hat deal worth $1,000 per event this summer.
Jordan was able to get $1,000 from sponsors for the European Open. How does that compare to a player on the PGA Tour? A guy ranked around 100 on the PGA Tour could command around $125,000 for a hat deal. A player of a similar caliber on the LPGA Tour would be around $25,000.
At 25 events per year, Jordan’s deal was about $4,000 less per tournament of a PGA Tour and around the same as that of an LPGA Tour player.
It cost Jordan $9,500 to play in the European Open.
Flights: $7,000
Lodging: $1,300
Rental Car: $600
Food: $600
Jordan’s flights were $1,300 a piece but paid for his family and his caddie (his brother). He did not pay his brother a base fee to caddie. A caddie's average weekly base fee on the DP World Tour is $1,500.
Jordan said they did have courtesy cars at the European Open, but to save money, they flew into Berlin and drove to Hamburg, thus the rental car fee.
His tournament week did not get off to a hot start—his golf clubs didn’t arrive with him in Germany. So he went to a tour truck on Monday to get some clubs, but they didn’t have his specs. His clubs didn’t show up until Tuesday at midnight, so he had one day on the golf course to practice with his clubs before the tournament started.
He shot an even-par 73, which put him in a tie for 48th heading into the second round. Then, his driver got squirrely in the second round, and he shot 80. He missed the cut and tied for 126th out of 156 golfers.
Jordan needed to make the cut and finish 51st or better at the European Open to earn his money back.
Now — Jordan has three Challenge Tour starts in August that he is preparing for. He will spend around $12,000 combined for the three events.
And if he plays well enough to earn some sort of status in Europe?
He’s looking forward to having those conversations.
I’ve spoken with European golfers about accepting the top ten PGA Tour exemption, and it’s not a slam dunk. And I think Jordan has similar feelings. He has a family and enjoys spending time with them.
But that isn’t his main focus right now. He needs to put himself in that position — and that is what he is working towards.
He parlayed a $130 entry fee on the Next Golf Tour to four starts in Europe. It is a truly remarkable story for a guy who hadn’t played in twelve years and, not too long ago, was working at Wells Fargo.
And that is why golf is the best game on the planet.
Have a great Monday. We will talk to you next week!
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As someone originally from Northern Iowa, I love this story. Thanks for sharing.