After four years as a member of the Mizzou Tigers golf team, I'm now paying for my own golf tournaments... That is the downside to being a young gun in the world of professional golf. The upside, however, is that I do have the opportunity to make money playing a game that I have loved for the last 10 years of my life. As long as the weather is decent, I go to work everyday in the greatest office the world has to offer: a golf course!

In May of 2009, I graduated with a degree in Communication, and was suddenly no longer a student-athlete. While all the responsibilities that go along with being a student-athlete definitely can make life seem pretty stressful, I quickly realized that the "real world" has stresses of its own. All of a sudden I was paying more bills than ever (because I had to pay for my own entry fees and travel expenses for golf tournaments), and I wasn't getting a scholarship check anymore. I wanted to play amateur golf for one last summer, too, which meant no cash winnings from the golf course. Needless to say, I was feeling a little strain by the end of the summer.

Despite financial hardships, I knew that I had the motivation, talent and desire to play golf professionally, and I set about making that a reality towards the end of the summer. After achieving a life-long goal by winning the Tennessee State Amateur with a 72-hole scoring record in early August, I set my sites on making my professional debut. But I needed financial help. So I put together a Limited Liability Company (LLC) called PeterMalnatiGolf, and filed it with the State of Tennessee. I then offered "shares" of my company to family, friends and anyone else who wanted to support me. The money from the shares will fund the first 16 months of my professional golf career, and my shareholders are entitled to 80% of all winnings and 50% of all sponsorship income during those 16 months. I didn't quite raise all the money for which I was looking, but I had more than enough to get me started!

So start I did. In September, I traveled to a little town just north of Lincoln, Nebraska and made my professional debut in the Nebraska Open. I shot 70, 65 the first two rounds to sit in the top 10 heading into the final round. I learned an important lesson the last day, though: you can't think about the money while you're playing! After a great front nine had moved me up the leaderboard, I began to see dollar signs over every shot. The result was a lousy back nine and a final round 71 which dropped me into a tie for 18th. It was an expensive, but valuable, lesson to learn, and I still consider that a nice tournament for my debut.

Since then I've had some real successes (I shot 68, 63, 69, 66 to win the First Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying) and a disappointment (My four-under-par total at the Second Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying was not quite good enough to advance to the finals), but overall I have played very well and I feel really good about the trajectory of my career. Because I didn't make it all the way through PGA Tour Qualifying, I will start the year next year with no status on either of the major professional tours in the United States, but I will be playing on a smaller professional tour on the East Coast and will have the opportunity to play in weekly qualifiers to get into events on the major tours. 2010 is a year that could send me in a lot of different directions, but I am just thrilled that I will get to do what I love every day, and potentially make some pretty good money doing it!

As far as where I'm living... I wish I had a good answer to that. I still have a place in Columbia and love everything about this town except the weather. I will spend plenty of time here. I grew up in East Tennessee almost on the North Carolina line. That is a convenient location for the tour I will be playing on quite a bit next year, so I will likely spend a lot of time there as well. I'm trying to relocate to the Orlando area for January and February, but the aforementioned budget issues are hindering that plan. I'm still thinking I will find a nice family or couple to rent me a guest room affordably for a couple of months, but it just hasn't happened yet. I'm still hopeful. I'll be a little bit of everywhere next year, though, and it should make for a fun year!

Lastly, I just want to say that I miss being involved with everything that goes on in this place (MIZZOU!). I'm so thankful to all of the people that really helped me while I was a student-athlete, and I know that some of the friendships I made while here will last a lifetime. Oh, and as for things lasting a lifetime, this Tennessee boy's blood now runs Black and Gold. Let's go Tigers! Tigers are winners--in sports, in school, and most importantly, in LIFE!

Contact me at malnati_peter@yahoo.com and follow me on my blog at petermalnati.blogspot.com