The PGA has always prided itself on being at the heart of golf. That particular mission statement will certainly resonate with Hazel MacGarvie.
This game, after all, had left her decidedly downhearted but a fresh start with The PGA would rekindle her passion for it.
“I always remember the first PGA event I played in when I started my training the other year,” reflected the Royal Troon trainee.
“My mum and dad were walking round with me, and they asked me how it went.
“I told them it was the first competitive round of golf that I had enjoyed for a long, long time. I felt like I loved the game again.”
“As a result, my golf suffered and it was simply nowhere near as good as I knew it could be.
“Everyone thinks it’s this glamourous lifestyle but it’s not. Yes, you go to some lovely countries and see some nice places but for the most part it’s airport, hotel, course and repeat.
“My friends would always say, ‘is that you off on holiday again?” and I’d reply and say, ‘trust me, it’s not a holiday’.
"When you are playing well, it’s the best thing ever. But when you’re not playing well, you get so down and it becomes hard to bounce back the following week as you get in such a spiral.”
It was time for a re-think. Discussions with both her family and the Royal Troon head pro, Kieron Stevenson, helped MacGarvie map out a new career path.
“I’d spoken to Kieron about how I was feeling and what The PGA route would look like,” said MacGarvie, who earned her first professional win last year when she shared the honours in the WPGA Series event at her home course.
“I was just picking his brains. After a couple of conversations, he came back to me and said he could make something work at Royal Troon.
“Coming off the tour was a tricky decision. I had this niggling worry that people would think, ‘oh, she’s just stepping away from the tour because she’s not good enough’.
“But The PGA option ticked a lot of boxes for me. I thought it would be nice to have something that gave me a job in golf, provided some financial security and allowed me to still play in a few tournaments.
“I staged a high-tea Texas Scramble with Prosecco on the first tee. That certainly relaxed them.”
MacGarvie graduated from Stirling University with a degree in sports and business. Getting back into the books has not been such a shock to the system. Then again?
“After finishing university, I was thinking, ‘no more exams, no more studying’ and here I am back in it already,” she said with a chuckle.
“I’ve played golf for years and you build up quite a bit of knowledge about it along the way. But I’m now learning so many new things with The PGA.
“Take equipment, for instance. If someone fitted me for a set of clubs, I wouldn’t really know the ins and outs of it
“If the clubs worked for me, that’s all I cared about. But now I’m learning and understanding all of that.
“From a coaching perspective, I’d know a lot from playing the game but now I’m learning how to put all that knowledge into words and getting the message across to different levels of golfers.
“There are so many opportunities in this industry and I thought The PGA qualification was a huge thing to have on my cv.
“The tour is always going to be there if I want to give it another go. At the moment, though, I’m very happy with the decision I've made.”
