Tribe, the reigning Chalambar Golf Club and Horsham Golf Club men’s champion, played at a high standard as a junior golfer before giving the game away. 

“I grew up playing alongside guys like Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby who went pro, so I realised pretty soon I wasn’t going to be good enough to go on the tour,” he said. 

“I gave away golf for about 20 years, and just had the odd game with mates.”

Tribe has had a solid couple of years on the Wimmera golf scene and said he was keen for a career change.

“I felt like I had given it a reasonable go as a junior, so I got on with my other career. I now have a company that builds walking tracks and I will finish that up shortly,” he said. 

“Because of my work for the past 25 years, my back is in a bad condition and golf is great for this. 

“I’m quite excited about it and it’s a total career change for me, but I’m definitely ready for it.”

Tribe has to complete his traineeship under the eye of a current professional golfer. He will complete the three-year course at Horsham under manager Paul Riley.

Horsham’s Jordy Briggs will also complete the course. 

“We will compete on Monday events pretty much every week as part of the traineeship,” Tribe said. 

“That’s compulsory and playing for money increases the standard and makes you play on different courses, too. I haven’t studied for a long time, but I am keen for it.”

Tribe said the Horsham Golf Club made the most sense geographically. 

“The opportunity arose at Horsham and geographically it’s the best option,” he said. 

“There are pros at Ballarat and Warrnambool but they are further away. I was already playing in Horsham and they have a pro now in Paul Riley, so it was good timing.”

In the long term, Tribe hopes to be able to teach people to play golf. 

“I’d like to be able to teach and it gives me a lot of flexibility because it’s an international qualification,” he said. 

“We are allowed to start teaching during the second year and that’s through a junior program.