Never mind the top, it's tougher down below

HOME AND AWAY MARTINA GILLEN:SEVEN TOURNAMENTS, three cuts made and cheques totalling €9,232.50 illustrate why Martina Gillen's third season on the Ladies European Tour (LET) is likely to evolve into an uncompromising battle to retain her status, writes JOHN O'SULLIVAN

At the moment she lies 71st in the Order of Merit and by season’s end must be in the top 80 or face a trip to tour school.

There is very little glamour attached to the distaff side of European professional golf, a tour that is light years removed from their male counterparts.

Courtesy cars are a rarity; the funding of travel to and from venues largely the prerogative of the competitors.

Cheap hotels, budget meals and pulling your own bag are the staple requirements to alleviate costs in competing on the tour.

Outside of a couple of tournaments like the Evian Masters or the Women’s British Open, the prize funds for LET tournaments range between €200,000 and €300,000.

The recent AIB Ladies Irish Open at Portmarnock Links is the fourth richest on this season’s schedule with an overall kitty of €500,000.

The 27-year-old former Beaverstown golfer knows that with eight or nine ranking events remaining – it depends on pre-qualifying for a couple and whether she’ll go to China or not – she realistically needs a couple of top 20 finishes at the very least.

The Cavan resident is able to defray some of the costs associated with life on tour thanks to a Government stipend as a member of Team Ireland but it doesn’t diminish the pressure to succeed financially in tournaments.

She handles all her travel arrangements, from booking flights to accommodation to car hire, journeys usually undertaken in the company of Claire Coughlan Ryan and Tara Delaney: Rebecca Coakley and Hazel Kavanagh make up the remainder of the Irish contingent on tour.

Gillen admitted: “The travel aspect of things does become a bit of a chore and while you do get tired of doing it after a while it still has to be done. I have noticed this year that flights are becoming more expensive and can be quite tricky to nail down at times because of some of the venues.

“You are trying to make the arrangements as straight-forward as possible.

“It’s definitely a little bit easier this season because I have found my feet on the tour at this stage and am going back to venues to which I have been before. You know the pitfalls in terms of the travel aspect of things.”

Her debut season on the LET was 2007, when she played in 14 events, making five cuts but her finishing position of 119th on the money list, sent her straight back to tour school.

It was something of an eye-opener to a gifted amateur who won six college tournaments in the United States while attending Kent State University and apart from winning various national championships was a member of Vagliano (2005) and Curtis Cup (2006) teams.

She chronicled her experiences in that rookie professional season in a diary column in The Irish Times, offering an interesting insight into managing a career that includes so many more distractions than simply playing golf for a living.

Her aptitude to play at this level can be gleaned from the fact that she finished fifth in tour school and would go on to claim 50th place in the Order of Merit in 2008, winning just under €44,000.

One reason for the upturn in fortune was the presence of her brother Wayne as a regular caddie. Unfortunately work commitments preclude him from fulfilling the role this season.

“You wouldn’t believe the difference that makes. There are caddies available at most venues but these are usually just members who are trying to be helpful. They can end up costing you shots because they’re not used to the role and can be more of a hindrance because you’re acutely conscious of looking after them to some extent.”

Gillen had to cope with the death of her mother last season, taking three and a half months away from the sport. Her best finish to date this season came at the Irish Open (tied 26th), a result that defied a persistent problem in pulling her iron shots.

“I should have been five or six shots better off which would have given my season a big lift.

“The standard on the LET is getting better all the time and I know there are aspects of my game that I have to improve, especially my short game and also holing more putts.”

In order to achieve those goals she has started working with one of Ireland’s most celebrated swing coaches, Brendan MacDaid, hoping to fast-track her development.

This must be undertaken against playing competitive golf, a regimen that sees her travel to a venue on a Monday, practise on Tuesday and Wednesday (unless she makes the Pro-Am on the latter day) and then compete in the tournament.

Her enthusiasm remains undiminished but she knows that over the next three months she must grasp every opportunity.