Friends and family help define us all, but in the case of Beth Allen that definition feels sharper than most.
Consider that in her 20s, the native Californian relocated to Europe when one friend suggested the continent’s vibe would be a good fit for her (and it was). Or that approaching her 30th birthday, she donated a kidney to her brother, a selfless act with unexpected, as well as hoped for, consequences. Her first professional win? Another friend helped out, offering vital advice and reassurance as she carried the bag.
And now, at age 40, Allen has had a third friend step up to the plate, being the catalyst for her return to California as head women’s golf coach at the Academy of Art University, an NCAA Division II program in San Francisco, the latest chapter in a golfing life that has been less a professional career than an awfully big adventure.
Yes, it’s been a rollicking ride, one that took Allen to the top of the Ladies European Tour rankings, and yet it began with faltering steps in the professional ranks following her 2004 graduation from California State University at Northridge.
Indeed, after four years spent yo-yoing between the first and second tier, she was in a flustered state when she found herself at an airport in Illinois, chatting with the veteran player-turned-caddie Mardi Lunn.
“I was struggling, not making money and not really enjoying it,” Allen said in a recent conversation with Global Golf Post. “Mardi thought the more communal atmosphere on the LET would suit me, and she was right. I was happier on the course and off it.”
The Australian’s shrewd advice had been welcome, but the transition from happy golfer into leaderboard contender was the next step, and it came in early 2011 in a distinctly unconventional manner with the removal of one of her vital organs.
As Adam Olarenshaw, the circuit’s physiotherapist, said at the time: “When every athlete is looking for that extra 1 percent, Beth went the other way and sacrificed a percentage. A big percentage.”
Allen had no doubts though. She knew that her older brother Dan was on dialysis every day and that she could transform his future. What she didn’t foresee was the effect it had on her mother and herself.
“His life was completely changed and, touch wood, he’s still doing great,” Allen said. “My mom had been worried about him all the time, so she had more of a life, too.”
And Allen herself? “Initially it just felt like I’d done a million sit-ups. Then it lightened my outlook. I’d stand over a putt and would think, ‘Well it’s not such a big deal. I’ve just saved a life.’”
English golfer Mel Reid suggested: “It’s a big deal for her brother, but I think it will change Beth’s life, too. You can’t do something so big and not feel the benefit.”
It was an astute observation. After returning to action in May 2011, Allen missed just two cuts in her first 12 months back from surgery and then became a regular fixture on the front page of leaderboards. The only thing missing was a win.
Time, therefore, for another friendly intervention.
In mid-2015, the recently retired Sophie Gustafson texted her. They’d already mooted the idea of the Swede caddying, and the message read: “Shall we do it? Are you up for it?”
“I could tell Sophie was really excited,” Allen said. “It’s one thing for a player like her to do it for a laugh, but she presented the idea that she had faith in me, that she could help and that she really wanted to. It was so flattering and exciting.”
Their debut also offered a significant test: the Ladies European Masters at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club in England.
Allen had first played the tournament and course three years before. On the final day, she led the field and took the safe route on the short par-4 17th hole, yet her second shot plugged in a bunker. Understatement: the ball did its best to find the earth’s core.
“I could literally see no more than a dime-size bit of the ball,” Allen said. “I will never forget seeing that lie and then looking up at the leaderboard. It was one of the worst things that ever happened to me. I didn’t sleep for a week afterwards, but it also changed my mental game. If defeat could haunt me like that, it made me realize how much a win mattered.”
“It’s been a very tough four or five years. … I haven’t had a mind like this, one that has escaped from golf, for so long.” – Beth Allen
The venue continued to spook her. In 2014, the USGA introduced U.S. Women’s Open Sectional Qualifying in Europe and Buckinghamshire, aka “the Bucks,” hosted. Desperate to book a ticket to her home Open, Allen fell one shot shy of a place and missed a reserve spot in the playoff. Twelve months later, she endured the exact same agony.
Just weeks later, she was contending again as she headed into the back nine on Sunday and conceded: “I was nervous, and I knew I’d not dealt well with that in the past. I needed Sophie.
“There was a long wait before hitting into the green on 16, and she gave me a pep talk that I will never forget. She talked about a Solheim Cup match, told me what she had been thinking, how she had told herself to dig deep, how she stood over every shot telling herself to forget everyone else and remind herself that she could do it.
“It was a special moment. Pretty cool.”
It also emboldened her to face her demons on the sneaky 17th and complete victory. “The relief, being able to say that I was a winner, especially in that event, on that course, wow.”
The following year, she added two more wins and ended the season atop the LET’s Order of Merit, the only American to have achieved that feat.
“It was an unusual choice,” she said, of heading across the Atlantic. “And I’m really proud of taking the plunge, of what I achieved and all the experiences I had. I also think that because I was older, I appreciated it so much more.”
Allen became more than just a visitor to Europe, however. She took up residence in Edinburgh, Scotland, and became an honorary Scot, taking her clubs by bus to the East Lothian coastal courses, enthusiastically caddying at North Berwick and becoming a Fringe Festival regular.
The move to San Francisco is not permanent. For now, she has a foot on both sides of the Atlantic. “Scotland is in my blood,” she said. It’s also in her accent. Only slightly, but enough.
The latest move came courtesy of Bill Harke, a friend from his days as a caddie on the LPGA and who now loops for the PGA Tour’s Ryan Moore. Harke knew that Allen had been struggling with form and had heard about a coaching role in San Francisco which he thought might suit.
“I said, ‘Yes,’ ” Allen said, “and they offered me the job two days later.”
She already is in her Union Square office, relishing the work, but is yet to completely call time on competition, saying: “The fairytale ending would be the Scottish Open.”
What is quite clear is that the new role has lifted a weight from her shoulders.
“It’s been a very tough four or five years,” she said. “Now I can get to the end of a day and not worry that I should have worked harder or longer, or not relive every shot if I have been competing. I haven’t had a mind like this, one that has escaped from golf, for so long.
“I’m doing something I am passionate about. I love it, and I feel free.”