“Until the money drops in the account, I don’t think it will feel real,” Joe Dean says.
Back in Yorkshire, the 29-year-old is reflecting on the best week of his professional golf career.
On Sunday, in just his second start since securing a DP World Tour card at the end of last year, Dean finished in a tie for second at the Kenya Open, taking home £170,000.
Two weeks earlier, Dean was scrambling around for last-minute flights and accommodation after making the field in Qatar, where he missed the cut. A week before that, he was working shifts as a Morrisons delivery driver, as he has done for the last four years.
“Normally I live a typical Yorkshireman’s life - it’s gone very hectic,” he says.
Dean’s previous biggest payday came at the 2017 Open, when he won £20,000. Last week’s winnings are more than three times his earnings from various golf circuits over the last four years.
He admits he was not brimming with self-confidence ahead of the tournament, feeling the need to prove himself, but Dean still trusted his more relaxed methods. A Tuesday visit to the range was his last of the week.
Inches from a slam dunk! 🏀
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 24, 2024
Joe Dean moves to -7, just one back off the lead.#MKO2024 pic.twitter.com/DZbZUs0tRT
“It was over 30 degrees, I don’t know how much warmer you want to get,” Dean laughs, as he talks through his pre-round routine.
“I said to my caddie we’ll do some stretching. I’ve always been a player that can jump straight out of the car, have a quick chip and a putt and go and play.”
Dean estimates he will have £80,000 of his winnings left after taxes and paying those on his small team. That is a sum that will be quickly eaten into, with the cost of playing in tournaments outside of Europe regularly topping more than £4,500.
Making the cut is not necessarily enough to break even. A month of shifts with Morrisons generally covers one flight to a tournament.
“Hopefully there will be some kind business people out there that love the game of golf, think that I’m an alright guy and would love to help out,” Dean says, after friends covered the costs of the first events of the year.
The financial strain of the sport is nothing new for Dean. His fiancé Emma watched on last week in Nairobi, now very much behind the ropes. Qualification for the Challenge Tour in 2019 initially brought opportunities for Dean, but ultimately left the couple in a “really dark place”.
“We had no practically no sponsorship,” he says. “We travelled together, she caddied for me and we were running off the savings we had.
“A couple of errors that year, bad planning and we ended up pretty much blowing through all the savings. We had to start again.”
Alongside starting Morrisons shifts, Dean built his golf career back up through success at one-day events. He opted against a three-day tour in the UK when considering his options 12 months ago, knowing the £20,000 annual cost was not feasible with no sponsors or club manufacturers supporting him.
Dean instead played on the 2020protour, topping the order of merit last year with £8,860.57 to his name from 17 events.
Sponsors then paid for his place at DP World Tour Qualifying School, where he progressed through the three stages and birdied his final hole to snatch a tour card. However, a move away from smaller UK events is not necessarily one he relishes.
“It’s my Achilles heel, being away from home,” Dean admits.
“Leaving to go to the airport and getting over [to tournaments] is my biggest demon.
“It sounds a bit ridiculous with the job that I’m in, but unfortunately it’s one of those things. Once I’m on the golf course, everything else switches off. I’m the most comfortable when I’m out playing.”
Dean has returned to familiar surroundings for the next few weeks, unsure of his playing category and eligibility for upcoming tournaments, but eyeing events in Asia in late March or early April.
“We ended up pretty much blowing through all the savings”
Before then, he plans to help out at his friend’s car valeting and detailing business, along with a couple of Morrisons shifts to “keep me out of trouble”. Chloe, in charge of the delivery drivers’ rota, can continue to pencil in his name for now.
The focus will soon revert back to the golf course though. Dean is up to 671st in the world, having been just inside the top 3000 before his strong week in Kenya.
Those four days have resulted in an unexpected spotlight shining on him, and so too, he hopes, more sponsorship opportunities. Dean’s priorities, though, have not changed.
“This result has been fantastic, but the gameplay stays the same,” he says.
“I just want to make cuts, whether that means making it by one or being up near the lead. I want to be able to make this lifestyle as financially beneficial as possible for us.
“I want to enjoy it rather than what it was previously, which was a big struggle and a lot of pain and pressure.”
