The time hurtles by. It’s 10 years now since Bradley Neil won the Amateur Championship as a teenager and underlined his billing as one of the rising stars of the golf scene.
The Blairgowrie young ‘un was such a hot property, you half expected his results in various competitions to appear in the estate agent’s window.
Here in 2024, Neil is still, well, a young ‘un. He’s only 28 for goodness’ sake. The trials, tribulations, toils and troubles of touring golf, though, can put years on you.
“I do feel much older,” he said with the kind of involuntary groan those of a certain vintage give out when they bend down to pick up their specs. “Tour life definitely ages you.”
Neil, of course, is not quite ready for the bus pass and cut-price meals at the day centre just yet. He still has ambitions of making the grade as player, but he’s opted to try a different route after stumbling down a road to nowhere
Neil is starting his PGA training and will combine his studies with action on the domestic front in an effort to regain some competitive fulfilment and find some financial security.
“Being a player is still at the forefront of my mind but for so long I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself to make a living solely from playing,” said Neil, who is hopeful of landing an assistant club pro post to supplement his income and give himself a fresh outlook and new motivation.
“Maybe this route can rejuvenate me? I don’t view this as a step back. Maybe I did a few months ago when I was thinking about doing it. But I’ve been on the same hard, pot-holed f***ing path for so long I just needed to try a different one.”
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The sense of frustration is clear from the cursing and cussing. Neil earned a European – now DP World – Tour card for the 2018 season but lost it after a trying rookie season. It’s been a sair fecht ever since as he spiralled down the order.
“My game has been slowly dwindling and the bank balance has been dwindling along with it,” added Neil, who has taken up zero hours contract work as a barman and waiter to top up the war chest.
In an unforgiving competitive environment, where any weakness tends to be ruthlessly exposed, Neil has plumbed some desperate lows.
“I’ve thought many times that it was getting all too much,” he said of the emotional strain. “I was having breakdowns after rounds. It’s not the walking away from tour life that’s the issue. But you feel like you’re walking away from the game as a whole.
“I never got into golf thinking about making money. When you’re, say, 10, you play golf because it’s fun and you love it. But when the game makes you feel as horrible as it made me feel, when it used to make me feel so alive and happy, then it’s very, very tough.
“When I first broke out on tour, I would see guys in their 30s or early 40s packing it in. I would think, ‘I can’t believe they are quitting, that’ll never be me’. Now, of course, I commend them for being able to walk away. It’s so hard to confront it and do it. I’ve thought about it. But, even after everything, I’m still not quite ready to do it.”
Amid the struggles, Neil did claim his maiden professional win, in his 10th year in the paid ranks, earlier this season when he won the Newmachar Classic on Paul Lawrie’s Tartan Pro Tour.
The former Scottish Boys’ champion showed his undoubted talent by closing with a thrilling 61 to romp over the winning line. When he returned to Newmachar a few weeks later on Challenge Tour duty, however, he opened with a shattering 82.
“That summed up my year,” he said. “My golf has been either outstanding or absolutely shocking. There’s no middle ground.”
While his old amateur sparring partners, like Robert MacIntyre, Grant Forrest and Connor Syme, have established themselves at the top level, Neil’s career trajectory has gone the other way.
“I’ll admit it, I’m incredibly jealous of them,” said Neil. “I watched Bob carry the match ball out at Murrayfield the other week (for the Scotland rugby autumn test). It’s brilliant what he’s achieved. All that still gives me motivation. The way I was doing it, though, wasn’t working.”
As well as making some professional changes, there’s a change to his personal circumstances on the horizon too. “I’m getting married in 2026,” he said. “And who knows where my golf will be then?”
Hopefully, back on the right path.
