Scottish Curtis Cup star Michele Thomson, who is leading the Ladies European Tour Access Series Order of Merit, has described how a two-year stint as a Police Officer helped to reignite her golf career.
Michele joined the Ladies European Tour in 2009 and decided to pursue a change of direction in 2010, but after two years with Grampian Police, she realised that she couldn’t bear to throw away her talents and returned to the LET Access Series in 2014, before winning the 2015 Ribeira Sacra Patrimonio de la Humanidad International Ladies Open in Spain and ending eighth on the LET Order of Merit, which she is currently leading, midway through 2016.
Now, she has a fantastic opportunity to achieve her ultimate ambition of competing full-time on the Ladies European Tour and on her career break, she explained: “Growing up, I used to watch the Bill all the time and I thought that if I wasn’t a golfer then that would be what I wanted to do. It sounds bad, taking it from a TV programme, but I always wanted to try it and I tried it and did it for two years and that was enough for me. I always wanted to be a police officer, but now I’ve experienced it, golf is definitely something that I’d rather do. I played Curtis Cup with people like Stacy Lewis and you see how well they are doing. I know I’ve got the talent to get me there so I just wanted to give it another go.”
Five years ago, her daily routine was a world away from competing in international golf tournaments. She explained: “As a police officer every day is different. One day you’ll deal with car crashes, sudden death and so on. I’m 28 now so I’m in the higher age range on the LETAS but I’ve come back to give it a proper go.
“Looking at people that I played the Curtis Cup with, Flory Parker, Sally Watson, all those girls have been successful on the LET and that’s what I want to do. I missed out on an LET card last year through the LETAS by three, which was really disappointing because I’d played so well. This year I’m hoping that I can gain my full card on the LET and then take it from there.”
With two runner-up finishes and a fifth place in her most recent tournament, from five starts on LETAS so far this season, Thomson is in the prime position to achieve her career ambition.
Her next tournament will be the CitizenGuard LETAS Trophy at Royal Waterloo from 14th July.
