There is a saying that anything worth having is worth the wait. Well, after years of toiling without much reward, Jack Yule has a shot at the big time.
A promising talent as an amateur, the 31-year-old has played on satellite tours in recent years but a debut campaign on the DP World Tour awaits after a career-changing fortnight.
The prospect is a thrill for Yule, who was competing on the Clutch Pro Tour earlier this year before coming through two stages of Qualifying School in quick succession to earn his playing privileges for the first time.
The Englishman will take his place alongside some of the world's leading lights in the BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland next week.
“I just can’t wait to be teeing it up next to the big boys,” he said. “It will be astonishing.”
Yule has never played on the DP World Tour as a professional before, making his one and only appearance on golf’s global tour as an amateur at the Made in Denmark in 2016.
As simple as it may sound, the availability of Tour trucks and first-class practice facilities was something he yearned for.
While fortunate to call upon the generous financial support of sponsor come friends since turning professional in late 2017, Yule was aware he couldn’t just continue grinding away without taking the next step in his career.
Buoyed by a fifth-place finish at Second Stage, Yule was in a share of 27th place ahead of the final day at Final Stage before he produced a closing six-under-par 65 to finish in a share of 12th place to claim his DP World Tour status.
Remarkably, he did so despite having had to call a two-shot penalty on himself for playing the first hole of his second round with one too many clubs in the bag.
That was just the latest obstacle he has faced in his career, with Yule admitting he arrived at Final Stage focused on making the 72-hole cut at the very least to give himself a chance of playing rights on either the DP World Tour or HotelPlanner Tour.
“It was operation get off Clutch, basically,” he said of his mindset going into the six-round Final Stage.
“I love Clutch. I love the people. But I wanted to experience something different.
“It is hard at development level, finding sponsors, people that can sponsor you, plus trying to start a family.
“I basically gave myself a two-year window at the start of this year and unbelievably it’s paid off.”
Having played alongside Marco Penge and Dan Brown in England teams as amateurs, the duo – who now have five DP World Tour titles between them – have served as a reference for what is possible with persistence and belief.
A recent message of support from Penge – who will play on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR next season – meant a lot.
“It was the morning of the last round at Final Stage and he said ‘foot on the gas, you can do this’,” Yule recalled.
“I just thought that was brilliant, such a nice message to receive from him.”
Brown, meanwhile, has already been on the phone to invite him to stay in Dubai if he wishes and doesn't get into the field for next month's Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.
“I've watched a lot of golf on TV this year and I've just been buzzing to see them on TV and how well they're playing," he said.
"I was like, ‘I'd love to be playing again alongside them and on the courses they play'. When you see it on TV, the courses they play are immaculate.”
While Penge is riding high in the world rankings after a breakthrough year, it wasn’t long ago that he was struggling to ‘make it’ and Yule believes his friend’s story only highlights that hope springs eternal.
“There's a reason why people think golfers earn a lot of money, but they only see the big boys on TV,” he said.
“Of course, they've got a lot of money because they're successful. [But] I guarantee you half of them have gone through the same situation as what we have.”
While those at the top of the game are making big money, those less fortunate face a hard, uncertain life.
"If you don't have the right people around you and guiding you in the right direction, it's always going to be difficult," he added.
“It’s a horrible feeling because you never want to give up on your dream.
“Going forward, if I didn't have the sponsors I had, I'd be mentally unstable.
“I have had three seasons in a row of finishing top 15 on the Order of Merit. It feels like you’re so close to getting a Challenge Tour [now known as HotelPlanner] card.
“After the season has finished, even though you have had a good season, you have got nothing from it. It feels quite demoralising."
During the Covid pandemic, Yule worked a part-time job as a delivery driver. He had initially bought a van to try and cut costs while attending tournaments but made another use of it when the outbreak caused events to be cancelled.
While rare at the top end of the global game, such scenarios are more frequent further down golf’s professional ladder.
Only last year, Matt Baldwin made headlines when he led at the BMW PGA Championship just years on from working £15-per-hour shifts in the winter months for Amazon after a middling campaign on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2021. Joe Dean, another Englishman, worked as a delivery driver for Morrisons – even after coming through Qualifying School in late 2023.
Now, Yule is back in the driving seat - as is fellow 2025 Q-School graduate Baldwin - and excited to plan out a schedule that will take him around the world.
“Australia has always been a dream of mine, not necessarily golf wise, but I've been told the golf courses are outrageously good out there. I've always wanted to go on holiday there and just experience it," he said.
“The next place I’m looking forward to going to is South Africa. It’s always been a dream of mine to go on a real safari. Would definitely take a day off to go on a safari.
“I really like safaris, me and my missus like going to the zoos. I just find it fascinating. It’s one of my dream spots to go. I have been told the golf in South Africa is one of the best experiences.”
However the opening events of the campaign play out, with Yule expecting to play the Australian double-header followed by the year-ending AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, his story of patient resolve has been rewarded.
