Proette
A proette is a female golf teacher or professional player, in other words the female form of the pro.
The proette is the female counterpart to the pro. The term comes from a time when golf still separated professional titles linguistically by gender, similar to the female amateur. In practice, the proette has the same training and the same tasks: teaching, tournament operations, club management. On the professional ladies' tours, the players compete for prize money and ranking points, organised for example by the LPGA in the American region or on the European ladies' tour. Today the title is mostly used in a gender-neutral way as pro in Germany.
In everyday club life you come across the term mainly in older entry forms, chronicles and reports. An example: in your club's commemorative publication you read that in the 1970s a proette built up the coaching team. This refers to the golf teacher of the facility at the time. The word also appears in historical tournament results when ladies' competitions with professionals are described. So if you read old golf literature, you should be able to classify the term without actively using it.
The most common misunderstanding is confusing a proette with a good female amateur. A proette is not a hobby player with a low handicap but a professional golfer with completed training or tour status. As with the pro, status is separated through prize money: anyone who accepts prize money as a player is no longer an amateur. In today's language the neutral term has prevailed; the background to this is regulated by the PGA as the professional association of golf teachers and tournament professionals.
FAQ
Is the term proette still used today?
Practically no longer. The term has prevailed as the gender-neutral pro, as has happened with many job titles. Today you find the word mainly in older texts, chronicles and entry forms.
Where do I still come across the word proette?
In club chronicles, old golf books and historical tournament reports, for example when the 1960s or 1970s are talked about. There it denotes the golf teacher or professional player of the facility at the time. It is therefore a term to understand, not to use actively.
What distinguishes a proette from a good female amateur?
The status: the proette earned her living from golf, as a teacher or with prize money on tour. An amateur, by contrast, may not accept prize money above the permitted limit, no matter how well she plays. A low handicap alone is therefore still a long way from making her a professional golfer.