You won’t believe how much it cost to play four weeks on the LET

EDITOR'S NOTE Hannah Gregg is a 31-year-old tour pro who was born in Sacramento, grew up in Cool, Calif., and attended the University of Nevada in Reno. She turned pro in 2019 and has played much of her career on developmental tours while also earning her card on the Ladies European Tour. This season, she has played in 12 events and ranks 181st in the LET Order of Merit.

I play on the Ladies European Tour. It's the second-highest women’s tour in the world and co-hosts events like the Solheim Cup, as well as some of the majors. Playing a full season on the LET would include 25-30 tournaments across 24 countries. Beneath the glamour of a season on the road—a new country every week, a myriad of hotel stays—is a deeply erratic lifestyle. For a majority of players, each week is a high-stakes gamble, and an expensive one at that.

On tour, players are responsible for their own expenses. The early stretch on the LET begins in Australia, since the weather in Europe is sub-optimal for tournament golf. Players have to plan for four weeks of tournament golf and front the cost of those events well before actually arriving Down Under. I was lucky to receive tournament invites to those Australian events this year—a welcome blessing in my quest for early-season ranking points that would get me into more tournaments throughout the rest of the season.

I played in four events, all in varying parts of the East and Southeast. I shot 72-72 to miss the cut by one in the Ford New South Wales Open, and four of my 36 holes in the Australian Open kept me from playing the weekend. I didn’t see many redeeming shots in my third event to keep my hopes afloat. Morale was low. I’d come to Australia in hopes of gaining ranking points; I’d bought flights, booked hotels, brought a caddie, rented cars, and it felt like I was lighting money on fire as time ran out to achieve my goal.

My final week was the WPGA Championship at Sanctuary Cove. With beautiful weather, kangaroos hopping about, and nothing to lose, I went into the event with one performance goal, courtesy of a fortune cookie I cracked open the night before round one: "No matter what happens, remain absurdly positive."

I opened with a bogey-free round of 69, a career first. I followed it up with rounds of 72-72 and, despite my putter going ice-cold in the final round, drained a 20-footer to shoot 73 on Sunday, clawing one more spot up the leaderboard and securing my top finish (tie for 41st) on the LET. Though it wasn’t the Aussie stretch I’d been dreaming of, it was enough to secure improved status on the LET and earn myself a spot in the mid-season tournaments.

Weeks like that (heck, months like that) will quickly reveal things to you as a pro. Showing up when your back is against the wall and delivering, even if you don’t have your best, is a strangely comforting experience. I take a lot of solace in the fact that I didn’t give up when things looked blea. I also take note of many critical aspects of my game that held me back in those weeks prior.

Those four weeks were expensive. I don’t have full status on the LET, which means I often don’t know if I have a playing spot in many events until just before they begin. This struggle is not singular to me; anyone outside of the top 100 in tour ranking has to make the same judgment calls. But as a result, travel and accommodation costs stack up rapidly. So here's a look at what the trip to Australia cost me:

Expenses:

Visa: $306
Entry fees: $523
Flights: $3,051
Train: $18
Sim room:$18
Hotel: $864
Physio: $35
Gym: $56
Ubers/Rental Car: $1,215
Player and caddie food: $1,250
Host Housing for 3 of 4 weeks: $0 (this saved me approximately $3,000)
Caddie Fee: $0 (my husband caddied for me. The caddie fee per week is $1,500, saving me approx. $6,000.)

TOTAL: $7,336

Earnings:

Ford NSW Open: Missed cut bonus fee, $450
WPGA Champ: T-41, $2,236.52

Total: $2,686,52

As you can see, my spending far outpaced my earnings for that stretch—and that’s even with me cutting some massive costs with housing and caddie fees. It is a difficult lifestyle, but you would be hard-pressed to find a woman on tour who would complain about it. It is challenging, exhilarating and fulfilling in ways that I never thought I would experience. I’ve met some of my closest friends, even my husband, through the game of golf. Even though it’s cutthroat, there’s no place I’d rather be than chasing my dream.