When Sheffield golfer Joe Dean realised he had missed the cut at the British Open last Friday, he did not dwell on the disappointment for long. For one thing, he had done remarkably well to be at Royal Birkdale at all, having squeaked through by a single shot as the first-ever “Last Chance Qualifier.” For another, he was getting married on Tuesday, to his caddie.
Dean married his long-term partner Emily Lyle in a quiet ceremony at Hodsock Priory near Worksop, and admits it was “more nerve wracking” than teeing off at the Open. “We were outside at the altar and I was literally fine all morning but then waiting for Emily it felt like an eternity,” he said.
The tranquil setting on the Nottinghamshire border was a world away from the drama of Royal Birkdale the previous weekend, when the couple had faced a “mad scramble” to find a local Airbnb in Southport for the tournament. It was only Dean’s third appearance at the British Open, and by far his most dramatic, after he initially failed to qualify and was handed a lifeline by winning an off-qualifier against 11 other players on the Monday before play began. As recently as 2024, the Yorkshireman had supported himself as a Morrisons delivery driver.
A Partnership on and off the Course
Lyle had “carried the bag” for Dean from the very beginning, after the pair met as aspiring junior golfers. He had once sent her a text asking to be her boyfriend over the Christmas holidays. Eleven years later, again at Christmas, he asked her a second question, this time to be his wife.
Their professional partnership has worked well, though not without moments of tension. “I’m quite an independent golfer so the more input someone has on me the more I don’t trust myself and that’s when I start doubting and questioning and stuff and I don’t really play well,” said Dean, 32. “Emily gets that and knows I don’t really want lots of input.”
Both concede the dynamic on the course has, at times, put a strain on the relationship. “The amount of times which is fun being out there is unfortunately very minimal so when I come off that golf course I try and flick a switch and say ‘I’m not a golfer,'” Dean said. Lyle added that on the course he sometimes talks through a shot without wanting a reply. “He’s just talking out loud. I get that. It’s very, very rare I’ll butt in and say anything,” she said. “It can be really difficult to separate your emotions on the course with your emotions at home and that is something we struggled with. I understood it as a golfer myself.” Even so, she said, they had never come close to separating. “You just sit in your room together, literally miserable.”
Wedding Bells After the Cut
When Dean missed the cut by just three shots on Friday, Lyle found one silver lining. “I’m terrible at leaving things to the last minute so suddenly when he was out on Friday I was gutted for him but it meant I could finally do the DIY bits for the wedding like the name-place cards and menu bits for the table,” she said.
The couple’s first dance was to a Callum Scott song, and while golf was largely kept out of the day, there was one exception. “My mother-in-law hired a nine-hole crazy golf course for the guests to have a go at. I was useless,” Dean laughed. “I think I came last.”
Lyle admits to struggling a little in the days after the wedding. “It’s been pretty hectic, which I think contributed to the emotion afterwards. I felt a little low, I think. It’s all gone and done now, and I just want to do it again.”
What Comes Next
Years of travelling the world on the European tour have left the couple keen to avoid airports for a while, so a honeymoon closer to home, perhaps in the Lake District or the Cotswolds, is on the cards, along with their two dogs, a West Highland Terrier called Kim and a miniature Labradoodle called Sadie. Then the tour resumes, with upcoming trips to Denmark, Scotland, and Switzerland.
Whether Mr and Mrs Dean will continue their professional partnership remains an open question, though it will certainly last until the end of the season. The golfer is philosophical about the future. “I know Emily really wants kids and I want kids. I really enjoy my lifestyle at the minute and the freedom I have but at the same time there’s only so much that golf can fill within your life and my coach always says to me never let the game define who you are,” he said. “We’re sort of getting to a point where we do need something else in life that makes our life more meaningful because, like I said, golf’s great but I don’t want my life to be golf, be all and end all. I want something else.”
