I’VE never been particularly keen on having a byline photo. And is it any wonder? I mean, look up there to your right. I’ve seen cheerier faces at a bloodhound’s funeral.

“Looking good,” lied The Herald photographer through his teeth as we creaked and groaned into a facial contortion that was part smile, part grimace and wound up resembling the tortured, strained rictus of a man struggling with a particularly rigorous bout of constipation.

It could be worse, of course. We could be trying to chisel out a career in professional golf. For the women of the Ladies European Tour (LET), there has not been a lot to smile about.

The cancellation of a fifth tournament and the doom-laden assessment from one anonymous player that the circuit was on the brink of collapse has been about as cheery as reading a row of tombstones.

While the women’s tennis champion at Wimbledon will walk away with £2.2 million, the good ladies on the European golf scene can only dream about that kind of financial fillip.

Merely getting an opportunity to play these days is almost a reason to hang out the bunting. There have been just four events on the European circuit this year and none since April.

A trek to Thailand is coming up this week and some extremely under-cooked players may have to use that to simply sharpen their competitive edge for the following week’s US Women’s Open. It’s hardly ideal preparation for a major.

The LET is the peak for female golfers in Europe. The fact, however, that a number of players have to seek alternative employment just to get some income because there is simply nothing to play in is a sobering and dispiriting reality.

The demands of professional sport requires more than enough hard graft, sacrifice and commitment without the added burden and distraction of so many hours of other work on top of that.

A total of 30 players earned a full Ladies European Tour card through the qualifying school last year, while a further five earned promotion from the second-tier LET Access Series, but many of them have precious little chance to gain a foothold and development is stifled.

What’s the incentive for a new generation coming through? A willing sponsor or benefactor is hardly standing on every street corner and the prospect of financially hefty trips to Australia, China and India is a daunting one.

LET members essentially now have less opportunities to make money while the travelling expenses have increased. At times, the business plan must look as perilous as the one devised by the inventor of the inflatable dartboard

Progression to the lucrative LPGA Tour remains the ultimate goal but, for the majority, that dream is getting further and further away while, for the leading lights, competing in Europe is just not feasible.

On the men’s European Tour last year, the player who finished 100th on the rankings earned around £240,000. The same position on the LET was worth £8,300.

A few weeks ago, Women’s Golf Day, an international initiative in 46 countries aimed at encouraging more females into the game, took place.

There continues to be a growing movement towards making golf more appealing and accessible to women but plenty of challenges remain.

This week’s Scottish Girls’ Championship, for instance, attracted a field of just 42 while last month’s Scottish Ladies Amateur Championship had an entry of 74. The number of female golf club members in Scotland makes up just 14 per cent of the overall total.

There is plenty to do in an age when the women’s game at the top level has never had so many young, talented and inspiring characters at its global vanguard.

On the Ladies European Tour, meanwhile, there are numerous young and talented players trying to make it on the rocky road of professional golf.

At the moment, though, it must feel like a road to nowhere.