With the kind of tireless energy that the Duracell bunny used to display in those adverts championing long-lasting batteries, Heather MacRae doesn’t seem to stop.
“My mum often gives me a row about charging around,” chortled the 37-year-old about her zealous lust for golfing life. It’s hardly surprising that MacRae continues to plough boundless enthusiasm into her profession.
Nearly two years ago, MacRae had surgery to combat the ravages of cervical cancer. Normal life came shuddering to a halt. Now she has a new lease of it.
This weekend, the former Scottish Girls’ champion returns to action on the Ladies European Tour for the first of back-to-back events in Italy and France. It’s amazing she has time to fit it in. “I’m always busy but that’s the way I like it,” she said of a hectic, rewarding diary of coaching and competitive outings. “Obviously, there was a time when I didn’t know when or if I would ever play again. I feel very fortunate. It was a horrendous time and the outcome could have been a hell of a lot worse than it was.
“I’m just a bit more philosophical about everything. I do things that I want to do and enjoy doing them. I had so much rest after my operation, I just want to make the most of what I do.”
MacRae dipped her toe back in the waters of the Ladies European Tour in Saudi Arabia at the tail end of last year. After all she had been through, it proved to be a reassuring week. “After that, I knew I had something to work towards and I’ve been going at it 100 mph ever since,” she added of an event in which her caddie and PGA colleague, Craig Lee, gave her plenty of encouragement.
READ MORE: All eyes on Himmerland for Robert MacIntyre after his American exploits
“I knew I wasn’t fully prepared that week because I had been coaching so much and I asked Craig bluntly if I was past it and just wasting my time coming back to the tour. But he said, ‘no, with hard work we’ll get there’.”
Hard work is something MacRae is certainly not shy of. The clouds of the coronavirus pandemic still hang heavily across all walks of life but MacRae did find a silver lining in its overwhelming bleakness.
“Physically and mentally, I wasn’t ready to be playing last year but when most of the schedule was cancelled or postponed everything seemed to be on pause,” said the former Women’s PGA Cup player. “That gave me the chance to be a golfer again, to get up to train, to practice and get myself back to where I needed to be. I’m back on a level-footing again and ready to go and I don’t feel like I have lost a lot of ground.”
In partnership with the aforementioned Lee, MacRae is covering a lot of ground too as the duo bounce about the golfing nooks and crannies of Scotland with a ‘Pros on the Road’ venture which takes coaching, custom fitting and other essential PGA services to smaller, rural clubs around the country.
She may be focussing on competing this season, but getting people of all ages into the game she loves remains an enduring passion.
“I don’t want to say no to someone who wants a lesson,” added MacRae, who was a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour’s Access Series.
READ MORE: Shane Lowry ready to hand back Claret Jug as fans prepare for Open return
“It’s very rewarding when someone who has never played golf is suddenly really into it and loving it and the coaching is certainly something that I don’t want to shut the door on even if I am playing a bit more.
“The best thing about working with Craig is that I can fit it in with my playing schedule and don’t need to ask anyone for time off.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work at Muckhart, and the club has had maybe 200 new members in the last few months with lots of female members. A lot of people have got into it to meet people, especially after the year we have had. There’s always been more to golf than simply just playing it.”
Golf continues to sustain and fulfill MacRae. “I had my last check-up with my consultant before Christmas and everything was fine,” she reported. “I’ve had my vaccine too. I feel just like a healthy 37-year-old. And I love golf more than ever.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here