Golf to stay a sport not a job for happy amateur Megan Briggs
FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By Martin Dempster
Hallelujah! So there are still people out there who are actually content to play top-level amateur golf and enjoy trips around the world as part of Scotland sides instead of turning professional and, in some cases, completely wasting their time.
That may sound harsh, but the truth often hurts and you just have to take a look at the fields on circuits like the PGA EuroPro Tour, the Alps Tour and the EPD Tour to see names that were written in the stars as amateurs yet these days are struggling to make any sort of impact in the paid game.
The introduction of such tours may have provided more playing opportunities for aspiring Tour professionals but, at the same time, it has created a situation where there is a ridiculous amount of these individuals, many of whom would have been better off staying in the amateur game.
True, amateur golf in 2010 is a lot different than it was in the days of Charlie Green, Ian Hutcheon, George Macgregor and Belle Robertson, but it's certainly worth looking at people like them to illustrate that golfing careers can be fulfilled without necessarily having to turn professional.
Green, for instance, travelled the world representing both Scotland and Great Britain & Ireland, playing in five Walker Cups, two Eisenhower Trophies, eight European Team Championships and 19 Home Internationals. Robertson, too, could have clocked up her fair share of air miles as a Curtis Cup player alone, having played in that fixture seven times and been the non-playing captain on two other occasions.
But in recent times, it has simply not been fashionable to be a Charlie Green or Belle Robertson. The closest we've seen probably are Glenn Campbell, a Blairgowrie greenkeeper who has been part of the Scotland set-up for the past seven years, and three-time Scottish champion Anne Laing – though her Curtis Cup career involved an unglamorous trip down the M6 to Formby.
She did, however, play against an American side that contained both Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer – now two of the leading lights on the LPGA Tour – and that sort of opportunity is exactly why the amateurs of today shouldn't be so hasty to move on to the next stage without giving themselves a proper chance to fulfil that particular phase of their career.
Nigel Edwards, the current Walker Cup captain, is a fine example of someone who has had his share of thrills from playing amateur golf, the little Welshman having been a team-mate of Luke Donald, Nick Dougherty, Graeme McDowell, Marc Warren and Oliver Wilson, as well as coming up against the likes of Anthony Kim and Ryan Moore in his four playing appearances against the Americans. It was so refreshing, therefore, to listen to Megan Briggs, the defending champion, talk about her future plans during the Scottish Ladies' (Close) Amateur Championship at Craigielaw.
Briggs is studying law at Strathclyde University and will only be 21 by the time she finishes her degree. With that behind her, the Kilmacolm player will have some welcome security but, even then, it sounds unlikely that she'll be tempted to join that band of aspiring Tour professionals.
"Making it on Tour is so hard unless you are making money week in, week out," she said. "Whenever I go on a website to check on results, it is evident that the prize-money drops down so rapidly. I'm quite happy for golf to remain my hobby – I don't want to find myself in a position where it's my job and I'm starting to resent it because of that.
"Anyway, what's wrong with staying as an amateur? I know from personal experience that you get to travel to loads of places while playing in top-level tournaments at the same time."
Nairn Dunbar's Kelsey MacDonald, who succeeded Briggs as Scottish champion at the weekend, will almost certainly end up in the professional game but she too, talked about wanting to make sure she is "ready" before making that leap.
Far too many, especially in the men's game, are nowhere near ready when they're making that leap and, in doing so, leave behind what could be a fulfilling career in the amateur game.
Photograph of Megan Courtesy of Calcarson Agency
