Make sure you know what you're getting into and have a backup plan (BTW, the nationwide tour is now called the web.com tour).
One can make a lot of progress on one's handicap in a short amount of time. Heck, there's people on here playing to a 5 or lower who only started a year ago (and I hate them).
But the difference between 5 and scratch is HUGE. The difference between a scratch and +4 is exponentially larger than that. A lot of us can get to scratch eventually. Very few of us could get consistently in the +5 range, which is what it takes to make it on one of those tours.
Additionally, life on the mini-tours is a very tough life if you're not one of the better money earners. It's long drives (no money to fly) and Motel 6's. It's having to take a second job to earn enough to pay your expenses. Look at Bri Vega, who won Big Break VI, was a collegiate golfer and has won numerous amateur competitions. She's on the Symetra Tour (the LPGA equivalent to web.com) and her CAREER earnings are $57,043, and that's after 7-years on tour.
That is not to dissuade you from your dream. Not at all. On the other end, look at Tommy "Two-Gloves" Gainey, who failed to win Big Break IV, did win Big Break VII and is just a country boy with a very unconventional homemade swing. If you'd asked a thousand golfers whether he'd make it on the PGA tour or even the web.com tour for that matter, probably 95% would have said "No way. He'll wash out with that swing." But after a lot of perseverance, he made the PGA tour, made $2 million last year, and 1.5 million this year, with a PGA tour win to boot.
So absolutely go for it. Just be realistic and know what you're going to do if it doesn't work out, or be prepared for a hard life if success doesn't come immediately but you want to keep chasing the dream.
