The life of Billy Bomar: this golf champion is one of few who makes living off industry in Alaska.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: RECREATION

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In the world of Alaska golf, the name Billy Bomar rolls off the tongue as naturally as the words "tee it up." What sets Bomar apart from most of the 40 other statewide pros is that he is one of the few who manages to make a full-time, year-round living by teaching and playing golf in Alaska. Here the season is only four or five months long and brings everything from 24 hours of sunlight and 80-degree days to torrential downpours, hail, and even surprise snowfall--hardly the makings for lush fairways and velvet putting greens.

About 95 percent of professional golfers make their main income as club or teaching professionals, rather than from competing. Those known as touting professionals, tournament golfers, or pro golfers, who make their living from prize money and endorsements, are a small elite group in the golf industry. While the very best golfers make up to eight-figure incomes, for most players and those like Bomar, tournament golf is a gamble and often a costly one when entry fees, travel and lodging is factored in. Most tournaments also have a cut and those with the worst scores are eliminated from the chance to earn any prize money. After costs, this can put players in a tight spot.

FROM ARIZONA TO ALASKA

Originally from Mesa, Ariz., 45 year-old Bomar has managed to do what he loves by spending his summers teaching and playing small-purse local tournaments at courses in Alaska. The winter months are spent playing in tournaments Outside, teaching at the indoor Tanglewood Lakes Golf Dome in Anchorage and guiding high-end corporate golf outings and incentive trips in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

After attending college in Arizona, Bomar turned pro at 22, but since he wasn't yet experienced enough to teach, he played as many competitions as he could with the hopes of getting on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour.

His limited success, combined with marriage and fatherhood, ended that dream. Instead, he learned to teach from John Jacobs, the founder of John Jacobs Golf Schools, before leaving Arizona to work at the Anchorage Golf Course for the summer season, eventually deciding to settle in Anchorage.

Throughout the '90s, Bomar attended five different PGA tour-qualifying schools, worked summers in Alaska and taught and competed Outside during the winter months. He became one of the owners of Settler's Bay Golf Course in Wasilla in 2002. Since leaving there last year, he has gone back to teaching and playing...