Patience, perseverance, resilience? Golf tends to demand such varied attributes and PGA Professional Stella McClure will certainly vouch for that now that her own custom-fitted studio is up and running.
From to-ing and fro-ing with lawyers, to parrying and jousting with builders and enduring setbacks with illness, it’s been a long haul.
But McClure, a former PGA Trainee of the Year who didn’t begin her journey with the association until she turned 50, has finally achieved her goal.
Amid the myriad ups, downs, trials and tribulations, the memory of her late husband, Ian, gave her the drive and determination to continue, particularly when she was at her lowest ebb. This has been a true labour of love.
“It never dawned on me how much the project meant to me from the perspective of my late husband until it was finished,” said McClure, whose husband was a passionate golfer and member of the Royal & Ancient until his untimely passing back in 2012.
“In the back of my mind, I think he was always in there saying, ‘c’mon you can do this, you can get this over the line’. My husband was a real driver of it. If I was doing it purely for me, I may have given up.”
McClure’s intimate and wonderfully appointed studio at the bottom of her garden stands as a monument to the memory of her husband and to her own spirit too.
“It’s been a very emotional journey,” she said of the various logistical hassles, negotiations and issues that dogged the development.
The purchase of a small, three metre patch of land from a neighbouring farmer, for instance, took over eight months to complete as the process got bogged down in legalities.
Dealings and quotations from various building firms, meanwhile, became something of a minefield. “I’m not sure I was equipped at the start to deal with all this but now I am very much aware of a professional building firm and those who, shall we say, are not so professional about they way they go about their business,” she added of a project which required a hefty, five-figure financial investment. “I needed wising up on that front.
“One of my friends sat me down, listened to me and went through everything and just got me motivated again. Another friend met one of the team from a company called MyCabin at a networking event in Dundee.
"She explained to them what I was trying to build and they came on board and it took off. We finally started with the build in early February and it was completed by the end of March.”
With high-tech equipment supplied by Foresight Sports EU, McClure’s cabin of golfing excellence features a simulator and launch monitor which is all part of her own Stellar Golf Coaching enterprise.
It is the latest chapter in a varied career which was predominantly spent in the medical profession.
“I was talking with a friend one day and she said, ‘if you had your time again, what would you do?’,” reflected McClure, who was a senior lecturer in her area of expertise when The PGA opportunity arose.
“I stopped and thought about how much I loved sport and teaching and I thought I’d love to do something like golf coaching.
"But I didn’t think there was a hope in hell really. I was coming 50. I didn’t realise The PGA had a distance learning programme. Before I knew it, I’d landed a job with Owen Leslie at Piperdam in Dundee. He was brave enough to take me on as an assistant. I got on the programme and never looked back.”
With an unquenchable thirst for learning, The PGA programme suited McClure down to a tee.
“The PGA training really did invigorate me,” said the 57-year-old, who also does some coaching clinics at Crieff Golf Club. “I love learning. And here I was learning about golf, something that I have cared about all my life.”
McClure’s PGA training, allied to her considerable medical knowledge and expertise, has given her a broad skillset which benefits the various golfers under her shrewd tutelage.
“I do have a life coaching qualification too, so I understand a lot about personality preferences,” she said of this impressive armoury. “I like to think I’m good at tailoring lessons to suit different golfers.
"Some people just want a quick fix, and they want the lesson delivered in that matter. Some want to take their time and have a deeper understanding of the processes.
"And others simply just want to chat and have fun. Every golfer is different. There’s no one size fits all for golf.
“I also have clients who come to me because of my medical background. They maybe have injuries, some physical challenges or just general wear and tear with age. They may be worried about what they can do with a club, but I can help them find a way to do it, without hurting a shoulder or whatever it is that bothers them.
"I enjoy using my medical knowledge to help people who are struggling and keep them playing the game they love.”
With her studio in full swing, McClure is now savouring the fruits of her own labour of love.
You might also like
Tournaments
MacRae up for the cup as Scot looks forward to GB&I outing alongside evergreen Nicholas
Heather MacRae is the relishing the prospect of teaming up with a true golfing great in the Women’s PGA Cup at the Twin Warriors Club in New Mexico. The 39-year-old Scot forms part of a GB&I side which…
