Should pros regain amateur status? What the mid-am champ says

Brandon Holtz secured the biggest victory of his career by winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur last month, although his title — and the resumes of those who advanced deep into the championship — unfurled a larger conversation in the golf world.

Should former pro golfers be allowed to regain amateur status?

The latest mid-am champ was the guest on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast, and a portion of the conversation focused on that controversial topic.

The U.S. Mid-Am is one of the USGA’s signature championships, and it’s for amateurs 25 years or older with Handicap Indexes of 2.4 or lower. Any professional has the ability to reapply for amateur status — as long as it’s approved by the USGA. Although the fact that 14 of the final 16 players in this year’s mid-am were former pros didn’t sit well with everyone.

But Holtz would like to offer an opinion on those who think former pros should not be granted amateur status.

“The U.S. Mid-Am was basically built for this in my opinion. … I’m a working man, I got a couple of kids, got a wife, like, for me, as far as competition is concerned, what else am I going to play in?” Holtz said. “My Bloomington normal city event, a town of 160,000 people? That’s fun don’t get me wrong and it’s great, but what else can I play in if we don’t have the mid-am?”

Holtz, 38, played college basketball at Illinois State, pursued pro golf for six years and regained amateur status in 2024. He’s now a realtor and lives in Bloomington, Ill.

“If you really want to get into the logistics of it all, 2010 to 2014, I played full time, sure if you want to call it full time — working, traveling on my own, doing everything on my own with a little help from my dad,” he said. “But we are losing money. I kept [my professional status], but I had flexibility in the job that I had to be able to go play in hopes of, ‘Hey, wife, I’m going to go play this weekend; hopefully I can bring a few bucks home.”

There is no one set of rules for every pro trying to regain amateur status though. The USGA reviews each application and makes a ruling based on things like career longevity and success.

Although Subpar co-host Drew Stoltz said that’s not a perfect system either.

“There’s a period of time that goes by where what you did 10 years ago as your job, it does not matter anymore,” Stoltz said. “There’s a point where it’s irrelevant almost. I’m not saying first year out after playing pro you should be able to play amateur events, but once you start working and you have kids and are playing once a week, it’s like, yeah dude, nine years ago I played a lot of golf, but a lot has happened since then.”

Added Holtz: “Rules are rules too, right? Follow the rules and it is what it is.”

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