Tyler Collet freely admits that, right now, he’s still “the low man on the totem pole” as an assistant golf professional on the staff of the John’s Island club. Besides giving some lessons, his job includes helping JI golfers with anything they need, including loading their clubs into the trunks of their cars. But Collet, 31, also says without any false modesty that he is “very close” to dramatically changing his life. He cruised to victory in a PGA sectional at Orchid Island in September and hopes to make the PGA tour soon, joining the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. And when he does, he hopes JI members will remember him as the nice, courteous young man who used to help them put their bags into the car and listen to their life stories. Collet previously earned the right to play in six tournaments on the PGA tour this year. He’s competed in four so far, starting with the PGA stop in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and has two more to go in November. His best result to date was a tie for 11th place at the last tournament he entered, the Wyndham Championships at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. Collet is enrolled at the so-called Q-school, which takes golfers through four levels of qualifying rounds to get a permanent PGA tour card. He’s already made it to the third round, needing to conquer only one more level to reach his goal of getting on the tour without having to qualify at special events. “I’m very close,” says Collet. Last week, he competed for the United States in the PGA Cup, which was played this year at the famous K Club outside Dublin, Ireland. The tournament is an annual meeting between the top 10 club pros from the U.S. and the British Isles. And just last month, Collet blew away the field on the island in Vero Beach at the 47th annual South Florida PGA Section Professional Championship, held at the Orchid Island Golf and Beach Club on its recently renovated Arnold Palmer course. Collet led from start to finish, scoring 63, 66 and a 67 over the three days of the September tournament, which was co-hosted by Orchid and Quail Valley Golf Club, for a total score of 20 shots under par for the 72-par course. He beat his closest competitor by 8 strokes. The top 14 finishers in the tourney at Orchid advanced to the 2027 PGA Professional Championship to be held next April at Streamsong Golf Resort in Bowling Green, Fla. Collet didn’t actually need to win or finish in the top 14 at Orchid Island to qualify for the April tournament. He won the annual PGA Professional Championship last year and was already slated to play as the defending champ. “I was just playing this one to win,” Collet said of the barrier island contest – and win he did, leaving no doubt about it. The top 20 professionals from the Bowling Green tournament next year will go to the 2027 PGA Championship, one of golf’s four major tournaments, which will be held at Fields Ranch East in Frisco, Texas. “We were thrilled to co-host the PGA Professionals on our challenging Arnold Palmer course, and we were grateful to work with our co-host, Quail Valley Golf Club,” said Rob Tench, Orchid Island Golf and Beach Club general manager. “We congratulate this year’s champion, Tyler Collet, assistant golf professional from nearby John’s Island Club.” Collet was born in Charleston, W. Va., and was introduced to the game of golf by his father. But he mostly credits a stepbrother from a previous marriage of his dad with showing him the fundamentals of the game such as stance, posture and grip. “He really helped me,” Collett recalls. Collet’s early skills got him into the prestigious professional golf management program of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, near Lexington, a 4 ½-year degree program that comes with guaranteed paid internships at PGA facilities around the nation. After graduating in 2017, Collet came to Florida for the year-round golfing and joined the staff at John’s Island, where he has been working ever since. Collet loves golf because of the social aspects of the game, as well as the intense competition. “I love it because of the people I’ve been able to meet and having them share some of their life stories with me,” Collet says. “But I love competing also. I love the feeling of adrenaline pulsing through your veins.” When he’s on the course with a foursome, Collet says he will engage in social banter with his fellow golfers but keep most of his attention on the game, maintaining his focus and avoiding distraction. “Ultimately, the only thing you can control is yourself,” he says, “and you have to shut out everything else.”