Plant turns focus on profiting from his personality
Silver Medal winner Alfie Plant revealed he plans to turn professional after the Walker Cup in September as he completed a memorable week at Royal Birkdale to rapturous applause on the 18th hole.
Awarded to the Open’s lowestscoring amateur, the Silver Medal has been handed to the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory Mcilroy in the past, while other recipients drifted into obscurity.
Plant, from the Sundridge Park club, was the only amateur to make the halfway cut at Birkdale and was given his medal during the traditional prize-winning ceremony on the 18th green yesterday evening.
The 25-year-old said: “I’ll be turning pro in September, hopefully going to be picked for the Walker Cup in September, and try out for tour school after that.”
The Walker Cup is, of course, the amateur version of the Ryder Cup, while “tour school” is a famously brutal process as approximately 1,000 golfers compete for 25 or so places on the European Tour.
Attention will now turn to mat- ters of management, finance and marketing, and potential pitfalls await the inexperienced golfer.
“Yeah, there are probably a lot of discussions that need to be done now with management companies and regarding the business side,” said Plant. “But I feel like I’m something different out there. I’m quite relaxed. I don’t mind having a laugh and a joke.”
Plant has been supported throughout the week by a contingent of 150 family and friends. Younger brother Albert caddied for him at the Open, though he might find himself out of a job with his sibling on the lookout for a fulltime caddie.
“We have been staying in Formby,” Alfie Plant said. “It started out with three of us at the start of the week and ended up with 15 of us in there.”
Were he a professional, Plant would have received a cheque for around £20,000 at the Open but, as an amateur, he did not receive any prize money. What might he have spent the money on?
“If you ask my girlfriend, she would definitely say a ring,” Plant joked. “Some new clothes would be nice or a nice holiday.”