PGA Member Heather MacRae opens up on a golfing life less ordinary that includes wins a plenty on the course as well as dealing with a cervical cancer diagnosis.
MacRae is not one to take it easy, even if there are plenty of people around her telling her that she should be. “My mum is always saying that I’m no spring chicken anymore,” said the 41-year-old with a chuckle. “But I’m a workaholic.”
That admission is perhaps not a surprise. As a proud and passionate member of The PGA, MacRae is sustained by the competition, the coaching and the companionship of a job that she loves. It’s a fulfilling golfing life for a woman who was given a new lease of it.
The forthcoming Women’s PGA Cup holds a special resonance for the Scot. This event, after all, gave her fresh focus and motivation in the gruelling, harrowing weeks that followed a devastating cervical cancer diagnosis in 2019.
As well as a revelling in the competitive cut-and-thrust of the Women’s PGA Cup, MacRae also savoured the camaraderie that this gathering of kindred golfing spirits fosters.
“I just love it,” added MacRae, who will be making her third appearance in a team tussle that continues to grow in stature. “The last Women’s PGA Cup was one of the best weeks of my life. The team got on so well, we got on well with the other teams too. Everything was amazing.
“You never get to play much team golf as a pro golfer. I’m never going to play in the Solheim Cup. The only time I’ll get to play for my country is through this and it’s an amazing opportunity.”
A professional since 2007, MacRae’s enthusiasm and energy for the game that has given her so much remains undiminished.
As a sporting all-rounder in her younger days, golf would swiftly become her pursuit of choice and she flung all her energies into it. MacRae has never regretted making that decision.
“I would do everything,” she reflected. “Hockey, badminton, swimming. I would try it all. My brother played golf and I thought I’d just tag along with him. At the time, I played at Callander Golf Club, and I was the only girl there.
“The fact I was the only girl perhaps gave me that extra drive. Even to this day, as a female PGA Pro, I’m still very much in a man’s world but it is nice to see more and more women coming through.
In between those triumphs, MacRae, who ventured across the Atlantic on a golf scholarship in Texas and San Diego, played for her country at all levels while representing GB&I in the Vagliano Trophy. It’s not a bad CV.
Having made the transition into the pro game, MacRae embarked on her PGA training at Gullane and Gleneagles. She would become something of a pioneer too.
In 2009, for instance, MacRae became the first woman in the modern era to compete in the Scottish PGA Championship. Lights, camera, action?
“It was good for the PGA,” she said of the blizzard of publicity that was generated by her qualification for the Tartan Tour’s flagship event.
“It was on the news, the TV turned up to film me. When I first started playing in men’s events, I wasn’t sure if people thought I was just doing it to make a point. But I wasn’t. I just wanted to compete.”
MacRae continues to give it her all, even though the lingering effects of her cancer treatment now meddle with her tireless endeavours.
The onset of lymphoedema in her leg, a chronic condition that causes swelling in the body’s tissues, is a source of considerable discomfort and frustration. Here in the midst of Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, however, MacRae remains an inspiring figure.
“The say around one in five people who have a cancer will get this,” she said.
“The doctor says there is nothing you can do. But there must be something? I can’t practice as much. If I’m standing for any more than an hour on the range, my leg gets bigger and bigger and bigger. I used to be on my feet all day and wouldn’t think anything of it. Now, if I’m playing an event, I’ll have a compression on or sit with my foot up. It all takes so much time.
“It’s very frustrating. I’m trying to find a pattern that will help me deal with it. What makes it worse, what makes it better? Standing up isn’t good, sitting in a car isn’t good, golfing isn’t good. And that’s all I do. It’s hard. It’s just the one leg. My trouser gets tighter and my leg just swells and swells.
“I don’t wear shorts or anything anymore. It’s a constant reminder of what I went through with the cancer. This is the frustration. I’d be pretty fit and healthy otherwise and I just want to get on with my life. But this is holding me back. It’s a pain but, hey, we are still here.
“The thing is, I’ve probably enjoyed my golf more this year because I’m not playing as much. Saying that, the start of the year was quite hard. I wasn’t practising like I used to, but I was still expecting the same results as before. I had to get my head around that and be more realistic.
“I didn’t think I could love golf anymore, but I do. And one thing I won’t be doing is sitting on my backside. It’s not my nature.
"When you’ve faced something so life changing as cancer, your whole outlook changes. I very much live for today and make sure I’m doing things I want to do with people I want to do them with. I want others to get the best version of me and that happens when I’m doing things I enjoy. I want to live the fullest life I can and just try to fit in as much as possible. Golf has also taught me that there are no short cuts. I’m not scared of hard work and that’s been more evident in recent years when I’ve become more than just a golfer."
