You have to make sacrifices when you play this game. Many of us, for instance, often forfeit our dignity by the time we’ve taken six to reach the apron of the first green.

For Craig Lee, the sudden addition to his 2023 diary of four DP World Tour events worth a combined $20 million means that something has to give.

The 46-year-old from Stirling came out on top in the PGA Play-offs in Cyprus recently to earn a series of potentially lucrative starts at the Betfred British Masters, the ISPS Handa World Invitational, the Horizon Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship, as well as a couple of bonus outings on the second-tier Challenge Tour.

To give them his best shot, however, he has to get shot of something else. For the last couple of years, Lee has been travelling around Scotland in his modified camper van and taking his expertise in coaching, club repairs and custom fitting to various remote outposts as part of his Pros on the Road venture. The end of the road is nigh, though.

“I had to sacrifice something and unfortunately it’s going to be that,” he said of a valued service which would see him make regular treks to Skye, Wick and the Isle of Seil to help the natives with their golfing needs. “It is a bit sad. I put a lot of work into it and it’s proved to be a working business model. But I’ve pulled that selfish string again. I’m going back on the road for myself. I wanted to play a bit more this season and I can’t give up the opportunity to play four massive tour events. I want to do them justice, so I need time to prepare for them properly.”

Lee is no stranger to the rigours of the main tour, of course. He had five seasons at the top table, and was beaten in a play-off for the European Masters title by Thomas Bjorn back in 2013, before calling time on that particular chapter of his career in 2017. The competitive drooth is hard to slake, though.

“I’ve tried my hand at all sorts of things since coming off tour but nothing comes close to the adrenaline and the emotional roller coaster that you get with playing competitive golf,” said Lee, who fills his schedule with outings on the Scottish PGA circuit and Paul Lawrie’s Tartan Pro Tour. “It is like a drug. I’ve always been keen to learn and try things and golf never stops giving you that. No matter how good you get, or how long you play for, there’s always something to improve on. You get addicted. I thought my outings on the tour were over and I wasn’t going to chase it. But now, the cage has been rattled again."

While his Pros on the Road business gets parked, there’s another part of Lee’s life that is being sacrificed too. “I’m downsizing and I’m selling my five-bedroom house, complete with the golf studio which I put in,” he said of his own personal centre of excellence which is kitted out with all manner of golfing gadgets and gizmos. “The indoor studio was a godsend for me and my own game has been galvanised since I built it. I’ll miss that because it’s played a big part in my improvement.”

Despite the various aches and pains that are par for the course when you’ve spent a lifetime thwacking at a dimpled ba’, Lee is intrigued to see how his body, and his game, stand up to the robust examination of the main circuit when he tees-up in these guest appearances.

“My game is great shape so it’s not a technical battle, it’s more of a physical one,” said last year’s Tartan Tour No 1. “I’m keen to put it all to the test against some of the best players on tour. Maybe I’m being delusional and it’s just the shorter more generous courses I play more regularly in Scotland are making me look good. We’ll see.”

The first date circled on Lee’s calendar is June’s British Masters at The Belfry. “Funnily enough, I have The Belfry on my simulator in the studio,” he said. “The only problem is that the trees don’t get any taller on the simulator. I can still hit it over them on that.”