Bronte Law heads into the new Ladies European Tour season with 'absolutely no idea' on what to expect, as she returns to action for the first time since becoming a parent.
Law is back in action for the first time since September at the season-opening PIF Saudi Ladies International, joining former Solheim Cup teammates Charley Hull and Carlota Ciganda as part of a strong field at Riyadh Golf Club.
The Englishwoman and her wife welcomed their first child in November, with Law excited to be back but admitting she now has a different perspective about the sport since the arrival of their son.
"It's not the best preparation I've ever had going into a season!" Law told Your Site. "I have absolutely no idea what's going to come next week, but I'm going to go out and obviously prepare as well as I can once I get there.
"I always say that preparation comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes I've had weeks where I felt really good going into an event and then would miss a putt. Equally, I've had times where I felt really injured going into a tournament, not really in a great place, and I would do really well.
"It will just be great to be back out again competing and seeing a lot of friends that I haven't seen for a while. It has been a minute but I'm always up for it - whether I've had great prep or not!"
Law plans to play around 10 Ladies European Tour events this year, juggling playing with parenthood and her roles vice-captain of Team Europe's PING Junior Solheim Cup and her Bronte Law Junior Series.
"My wife has been enrolling my son in baby classes and then I've been whisking myself to the golf course when that's happening," Law admitted. "The hardest part was actually getting in the gym with no sleep, but I'm back into the schedule of doing three workouts a week now.
"My body seems to be recovering a bit better but, after the off-season, I'm usually feeling pretty fresh and not feeling so fresh! I have a really great team around me who have worked really hard to get my body back to sort a base line where it was before.
"It will look a bit differently for me this year but I'm going to use it as a learning experience for myself and also for the family, getting that balance right and not putting too much pressure on myself.
"I certainly have a change of perspective and suddenly golf doesn't seem like the most difficult thing anymore. I guess there's a lightness to that, in that I'll just go out and play for the enjoyment of it and ultimately that mentally can be a really good place to come from."
Catriona Matthew famously won the AIG Women's Open just 11 weeks after giving birth in 2009, while Michelle Wie and Lorena Ochoa are among those to retire from full-time golf young to pursue a family, with financial pressures for players a factor when deciding whether to continue competing after having children.
"They [Ladies European Tour] have a great maternity policy which supports players very heavily with what they want to do, whether they want to come back sooner or whether they want to delay that and keeping the status," Law explained.
"Ultimately that's huge, because you don't want people to feel like they have to rush back to anything. I know that emotionally and hormonally it's a time of great fluctuations and equally some people are ready to come back sooner.
"I think that you should be able to have the option one way or the other, and I think that the tour do a really good job of that. Obviously with us being self-employed, there is a level of us not having as much support and protection in terms of making a living, which is difficult.
"We are very nuanced and in a lot of other sports you're part of a team of which you paid, whether you're on maternity or not, whereas we obviously don't have that.
"We certainly wouldn't want it [money] to be a reason that women choose to not have a baby, because they feel they have to play their career and then have it afterwards. You don't know when your body's going to be ready to be able to do that or not, so I would like to see that [support].
"Whether there's someone, like a big corporation, to step in and support women in that respect, who knows, but that would be something that would be very much great to see. I think that a lot of women would massively benefit from that and it could potentially change the course of their life."
Who will win the PIF Saudi Ladies International? Watch throughout the week live on Your Site. Live coverage begins on Wednesday from 10am on Your Site Golf. or .
