Life on the Amateur Circuit – Bethan Popel

Post by Golf Journalist Joshua Carr

When you tell somebody you play golf for a living, quite often you won’t be greeted with a nice response. Most people think life as an amateur golfer is an easy one but England Golfer and +3 handicapper Bethan Popel would beg to differ.

The reality is that life as an amateur golfer can actually be extremely difficult. With the ever increasing hotel costs, it is often difficult to find a hotel that is both comfy and in close proximity to the course. Entry fees for the big amateur events also do not come cheap. If you add this to hefty travel costs then you’ve spent a fair bit before you’ve even reached the golf course.

When asked what the worst thing about touring the amateur circuit is, the England golfer described how playing the same courses every year gets a bit boring. “The hardest thing I find is it’s the same tournaments year in year out and it gets a bit same old. It will be nice when I turn pro. It will almost be like a new start, different people, different tournaments, and of course lots of different countries.”

However, Popel also went on to add: “We do get to play some really amazing courses. I play Royal Troon every year, and St Andrews too. I also played Portstewart in Northern Ireland this year in the British Amateur, which is the best front 9 I have ever played, it's stunning. Also seeing all of the girls is great too. It's great to catch up.”

In her last event of the year, and arguably her biggest of the season, Popel finished tied 8th and top amateur in the WPGA International Challenge, an LET Access Tour event. Finishing ahead of some well-established players was pleasing for Popel who said: “Yeah it was great to finish 8th and get a nice solid top 10 finish. It's my third year in that event and every year I've started with a good round and then fell away, I started good again this year and of course that was in the back of my mind, but I was pleased with how I managed to put 3 solid rounds together without playing my best golf.”

This win moved Popel up to 175th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and it is fair to say she was very pleased with that. “It's awesome. It is a funny system but when you do well in big events you definitely get rewarded for it.” Results in major tournaments and moving up the World Amateur Golf Rankings are key to gaining opportunities and invites to some of the larger scale events on the LET Access Tour.

However, this was not to be her proudest moment of the season. This came after a third place finish at the Welsh Ladies Strokeplay. “My proudest moment was my third place finish in The Welsh Ladies Strokeplay, as it was the week after my Grandad sadly passed away. I was proud of how I managed to keep it together and get the result for him,” said Popel.

A lot on non-golfers also assume that once the golf season is over then you just sit back and relax for the winter months. Popel would be quick to tell you that this is not the case.

Weekly sessions with a strength and conditioning coach as well as extra hours in the gym make up a lot of the winter months. All golfers will know the struggles of finding the motivation to go to the driving range over the winter especially when you finish work and it’s pitch black, there’s a wind that wouldn’t go a miss in the Artic and the rain is coming at you sideways. The last thing you want to do is go outside. When asked what her goals are for the coming winter months Popel replied: “Hopefully to continue where I finished this season and continue to improve, both on and off the course in the gym etc.”

However, it is them long, cold hours on the driving range that make the difference between performing and collapsing in the big tournaments. The goal now for the +3 hanicapper is to do one more year as an amateur then go to LET Q School in October.

So next time you talk to an amateur golfer, don’t assume it is an easy life. It is most definitely an expensive one of which needs hours and hours of practice on the range, on the course and in the gym.