It’s been so long since Pamela Asher played a full season on the Ladies European Tour, you half expect footage of that particular campaign to be stored in the British Pathe newsreel archives.
“Bear with me, I’ll have to think,” chuckled the Scot as she mulled over this passage of time and counted out the years on her fingers. For the record, Asher’s last full stint on the circuit was in 2017. There’s been plenty to keep her busy since then, of course.
His first daughter, Kirsty, was born in November 2018. Asher had planned the odd tour outing in the early part of that year but a “terrible pregnancy” put the kibosh on her plans. “I was sick every single day and simply couldn’t travel anywhere,” she reflected. “I think I weighed less going into labour than I did when I first became pregnant. It was horrendous.”
Asher dipped her toe back into the competitive waters with a cameo appearance in the 2019 Scottish Open as she prepared for a full-on assault in 2020 but then Covid flung a spanner in all manner of works. Asher then became a mother for the second time and was given another maternity exemption. After two pregnancies and a pandemic, which sounds a bit like some jolly celluloid caper that Hugh Grant would star in, Asher is gently building herself up for a return to the frontline.
“It will be like starting as a rookie again and learning what will work and what doesn’t,” said the former Curtis Cup player, who joined the professional ranks back in 2012. “And I can’t just think about myself now. It’s a different prospect as a mum. I’ve never been away from the girls. If I go myself, it’s time away from them and that will be hard. If they come with me, there are additional costs. As a golfer, I’m paying out a lot to travel and try to make some money. We’ll have to find a balance.”
Juggling the demands of touring life and the contentment of family life is never easy but a prolonged spell away from the cut-and-thrust of her profession has given Asher fresh perspective. “I have a different head on now,” she said. “I’m out of the golf bubble. Before parenthood, golf was everything. It was my life and sometimes it maybe meant too much to me. Now I have stepped back, I look at it with fresher eyes. I’m more settled in my head with it all. It’s a job and then you come home. It’s not as all-consuming as it once was. There’s a nice distraction now with the family. And there’s less time to dwell on things. I’ll still get a cuddle regardless of what I shoot. Well, I hope I would get one.”
Things have changed on the Ladies European Tour since Asher’s last full-time year. In 2017, amid troubled financial times for the circuit, there were only 16 events on a threadbare schedule that made Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard look like Borough Market. Here in 2023, there are 30 tournaments and record prize money of over £30 million. Asher’s various maternity and Covid exemptions means she still holds the status she had six years ago. “The tour have actually extended its maternity exemption to two years so you have to take your hat off to them for that,” she said. “They want to make it easier for players to find their feet again professionally and it gives the girls more opportunity if they want to start a family and then come back.”
As for Asher’s actual golf game? Well, the unrelenting duties that come with being a parent to a couple of bundles of tireless energy have had certain spin offs. “I’ve started hitting balls again recently and, oddly, I feel like I’m striking it better than ever,” Asher noted. “Mummy muscles appear to be a real thing. Kids are a great natural work out. My arms feel stronger and my swing feels freer. I’ve not had time to miss being on tour but I’m sure it will be nice to feel the buzz of competition again. The competitive spirit is still there, even if I’m just playing games with the kids.”
After her touring hiatus, Asher will be hoping her return is, well, kids’ stuff.
