One of the many impacts of the pandemic on golfer Michael Hoey was, for a time at least, a change in profession.
After 18 years as a professional golfer, that yielded five European Tour wins and was preceded by the Irish Amateur Championship in 1998 and the British Amateur Championship three years later, Hoey had time for reflection.
A career that peaked in 2011 and 2012 and a world ranking as high as 74, the last five years had been more of a grind for the Ballymoney native, struggling to make any headway on the Challenge Tour.
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Covid's impact on the sport, with the cancellation of Q School, allowed Hoey greater time to consider what the future held away from the course. In the short-term, he went for something radically different, a heavy-lifting job with global couriers DHL.
Part of it came down to simple economics with a young family, the other aspect was the mental challenge for the 43-year-old.
"I always thought a job like that was going to be incredibly difficult and that I would absolutely hate it," he told Greg Allen on RTÉ's Saturday Sport.
"I really surprised myself and enjoyed it. Every day I finished there was a feeling of satisfaction that even the most basic tasks in the world, I did it well.
"I took pride in doing the job the right way. I’m the kind of person who struggled to be self-employed, I struggled being my own boss, making tough decisions all the time myself. I think I’m more suited to a team environment and working for a company."
With more time on his hands in lockdown, he had conversations with friend and Tournament Administrator of the DP World Tour Andrew Snoddy, shooting the breeze over his future and the options available to someone coming towards the end of his competitive playing days.
Talk of becoming a referee was put out there and not dismissed, and from there the seeds were sewn. Hoey quickly started learning the rule book and signed up for the relevant exams.
"I thought it could suit me. I enjoy using my brain, I like a bit of study."
Last month Hoey officially announced his retirement from professional golf to become a referee on the DP World Tour, with his first tournament taking place at this week’s MyGolfLife Open in South Africa
Why did he decide to remain in the game?
"I always thought the lifestyle was good and my experience in the game would help me. Ultimately, I don’t have many qualifications, the real world is a tough place to be. I had to think, 'what do I have?'
"I played (golf) that’s about it. I needed to use it and I didn’t think coaching would have suited me that much."
Like the majority of retired sportsmen, Hoey feels there was more he could have achieved in the game, while accepting that his amateur success, five European Tour wins including the Dunhill Links Championship, plus four wins on the Challenge Tour, marks a fine return.
It was proof that when competitions were there to be won, he wasn’t found wanting. Hoey’s difficulties came lying further down the field, where he feels a lack of technical guidance early in his career came back to hurt him.
"When I took my opportunities, I was comfortable in leading a tournament, but in terms of trying to find a consistent golf swing, because I grew up with not much coaching at all and learned to find my own game, to try and get a more consistent swing, I would look at other players and coaches and different ideas on how to do it better," he said.
"I’m a bit of a perfectionist like other golfers, I struggled to find something that worked for me all the time.
"I found occasionally the odd week a good swing thought or feeling, or a putting feeling, and I was able to play well, but I was very frustrated that I wasn’t able to make more money in terms of 10th place finishes, 15th-place finishes.
"I didn’t do enough of that. It was up and down, an extreme of feast or famine."
Three of Hoey’s five European Tour wins came during a 10-month period starting with the Madeira Islands Open in May 2011, but it was his success at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship the following October that would be the career highlight, netting the player ranked 271st at the time a first prize of €588,148.
Hoey started the final round with a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy, only to see his fellow Ulsterman card four birdies and an eagle in the front nine to hit the front. The Ballymena man however dug deep with birdies in three of the last five holes to win by two strokes.
His final round playing group at St Andrews was laden with quality as he was paired alongside Graeme McDowell, winner of the previous year’s US Open, and South African Louis Oosthuizen, who had won the Open 15 months previous at the same course.
His main challenger, McIlroy, was the reigning US Open champion after winning at Congressional by eight shots.
It was the less heralded of the Irish trio, however, that came good.
"That was a dream come true for me (playing alongside McDowell and Oosthuizen) playing that well down the stretch. I just got in a zone.
"I could only get into that place, with my swing and attitude once a year, and it felt like it was 30 weeks wasted until that one week when everything was great."
Despite seven consecutive years in the top-100 and tournament wins, the doubts were always there. A missed cut at the 2012 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, where he felt he had no control over the ball, was a particularly low moment.
Able to see tournaments home down the stretch, yet unable to muster the game to often make the cut, the mental battles felt more extreme to him than it seemed for many other golfers.
"I took a lot of confidence if I was playing well in the tournament, I really believed in myself, but the opposite was also true. If I was on the cut line, I just didn’t believe myself. I was questioning my swing, my putting. It swung from one extreme to the other. I needed to think more level.
That said, 2021 was one of the most consistent and enjoyable Hoey had ever experienced.
He finished 24th at the Dunhill Links Championship, won the Pro-Am event and shot two nine-under par rounds of 63 along the way.
"I proved to myself I could still play."
The second oldest player on the Challenge Tour, he relished pitching up alongside the new generation of players, but back issues dogged him for the best part of six months. The wear and tear was taking more of a toll.
"I probably ended up being a little too old in a very power-dominated young man’s game."
And above all else, financially it was becoming harder to justify. Sponsorship was thin on the ground and the numbers weren’t really stacking up with a family to consider.
"I made 50k last year, spent 40k approximately."
Hartbeespoort, a small resort town in South Africa’s North West Province is where he makes his bow as a referee and already his eyes have been opened to the level of preparation and understanding required to excel in the role.
Excited by what is to come, Hoey doesn’t entertain thoughts of a playing return on the Champions Tour. The perfectionist in him wants to maximise his potential as an official - "I need to learn how to do this job well" - and there is real satisfaction that he is in a privileged position where the skills and experiences accumulated over the past 20 years provide a solid foundation block for the next chapter.
Now I feel like I am not going to have a split personality in order to fit in
"I have been very fortunate. At times I was tortured, no doubt, I think every golfer goes through that. Maybe I have had that more than most, but I won’t let that taint things for me.
"That’s the hard thing about pro golf.
"It’s very hard to have a split personality where you are the person that exists on Tour, and the regular person in the real world who has kids to look after.
"Now I feel like I am not going to have a split personality in order to fit in."
