Duncan rolls with punches in golf's school of hard knocks

These thuds, dunts, clatters and batters are not just reserved for that small spherical object, of course.

“Let me tell you about one of the worst golfing days I’ve had in my life,” said Louise Duncan as she regaled a tale from a recent outing on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa that should be accompanied by some smelling salts and a fistful of painkillers.

“I knifed a shot out of a bunker and it hit the forehead of the mum of one of the players. She was ok eventually, but I was so rattled. It’s the first time I’ve hit anybody and I had to walk off, I couldn’t hack it.

“Later that night, I was back at my shared hotel room. We had our washing out on the balcony and Lorna (McClymont, fellow tour pro) shouted, ‘the washing is about to blow away’.

“I sprinted towards it, ran straight into the glass door and smashed it. My knee, nose, forehead and knuckles were the four points of contact and I was cut and bruised all over.

“I ended up more injured than the woman I’d hit. I was thinking ‘what have I done to deserve this day?’.”

Those pesky golfing gods work in peculiar and occasionally painful ways. “Things can only get better,” reasoned Duncan as she prepares for another season in professional golf's school of hard knocks.

It’s five years now since Duncan made her mark on the global scene with a thrilling performance as an amateur in the AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie.

The West Kilbride youngster was just two shots off the lead heading into the final round and eventually finished 10th. Duncan would join the paid ranks the following year, but those amateur dramatics have been harder to replicate on the professional stage.

“The Women’s Open was a great experience and a great result, but I want to make some new memories,” said the 26-year-old, who is plying her trade on the second-tier Ladies European Tour Access Series (LETAS) as she tries to work her way up the ladder.

“Straight after that result in 2021, I struggled with the expectations as that was such a high bar to set.

“I was the last person in the world that would think I’d finish 10th in a Women’s Open as an amateur.

“You turn pro and there’s money, ranking points and your own reputation on the line.

“After that Women’s Open, people think you’ll be a world beater. That clearly hasn’t happened. I’d love to be a world beater, but golf is not as easy as that.”

Life is not easy either. In the same year as she turned professional her dad, who was suffering with the devastating ravages of dementia, finally passed away.

“My dad kept going for as long as he could,” she said. “It was a big year, a busy year and I think that all hit me a couple of years later.

“I had a bit more time to reflect and I realised I wasn’t quite in the place I thought I was. Things in life happen and it moves on.”

With each passing season, it gets harder to establish a sturdy foothold with fresh waves of talent barrelling on to the scene and jockeying and elbowing for position.

The life of a touring golfer, at any level, can be a mind-mangling cocktail of success, failure, fear, pressure, hope and adventure. It sounds a bit like a day on The Herald’s sports desk.

The 2026 campaign could be a make or break one for Duncan. “I always said I’d give myself three years,” she said of her timeline of progress.

“Well, those three years are up now. But I’m going to give it another shot. This year is a bonus year. I’m a realist. If I didn’t think I could get to a higher level then I wouldn’t be doing this.

“But I know there’s more in my game than what I’ve shown in recent years. It’s just tough not knowing what’s coming next. One week, your golf can be brilliant, then the next week it’s dog s**t. Finding consistency is so hard.

“Last season I gave up a bit. But I found a bit of form near the end of the year and fell in love with the game again. A bit of love and a bit of hope. That’s all you need in life.”

A bit of good fortune from the golfing gods would help too.