Staff WriterJen Saxton has long been one of Scotland’s brightest amateur talents, and this autumn she’s swapping spreadsheets for scorecards as she tees it up for her country on one of golf’s biggest amateur stages.
The 28-year-old has earned selection for the Scottish team at the 2025 World Amateur Team Championships (Espirito Santo Trophy) in Singapore — proof that you don’t need to be a full-time golfer to take on the best in the world.
By day, Saxton is the marketing manager at Edinburgh-based performance tracking company Shot Scope, a job she’s held for seven years. By night (and early mornings, and whenever she can squeeze it in), she’s still honing her game—only now with less range time and a lot more strategy.
Her latest accolade comes on the back of an impressive showing at the Women’s Home Internationals, where she racked up four points, including two wins from three singles matches.
“Going into that week, I had been playing OK but not great,” said Saxton, who has now played the event in all four countries that participate – England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
“I knew if I played well, I had a chance to get picked for the World Amateur Team Championships, so I wanted to perform well that week,” she continued. “I went out first in the foursomes and singles, playing against girls who are full-time college athletes in the states, Curtis Cup players and have played in the Vagliano Trophy – which is GB&I against Europe – and I beat a couple of them and halved with another one. I was quite happy that I could compete with these full-time golfers when I’m just sitting at my desk, working most of the week.”
It’s a remarkable balancing act. Jen Saxton missed out on a Worlds spot a couple of years ago, but this time she made sure her name couldn’t be ignored. She also joins exclusive company at Shot Scope—chief commercial officer Gavin Dear was part of Scotland’s victorious Eisenhower Trophy team in 2008.
“I can’t imagine there are too many golf companies that have had two employees playing in this event or the equivalent,” Saxton said.
Data, Driver, and Discipline
So how does a full-time marketing manager keep pace with college athletes who spend their lives grinding on the range? For Jen Saxton, the answer is part data, part discipline.
She uses Shot Scope performance tracking to monitor every facet of her game, from driver tendencies to wedge dispersion, and the numbers have shaped her practice.
One recent discovery: she’s better off pulling driver more often. After a dedicated gym stint boosted her clubhead speed by 6 mph, the data backed it up.
“I think the key thing for me since starting at Shot Scope is that everything points towards distance being key,” said Saxton, who considers driver to be one of the strengths of her game.
“I’ve started hitting the ball better—carrying the ball another 15 yards or so, but have also gained accuracy, hitting 10% more fairways too. All the stats show that the closer you are to the green, the closer you’re going to hit it.”
Of course, the numbers don’t flatter everywhere. Her wedge accuracy has been flagged as an area for improvement, prompting a recent switch to fitted Vokey wedges from Titleist to go alongside her new Titleist driver and irons.
“I do tend to hit a lot of greens, and I two-putt quite a lot,” she said. “I’m just making a lot of pars. I need to sharpen up the wedges to give myself more birdie chances.”
Mind Over Scorecard
Another transformation for Jen Saxton has been between the ears. These days, she’s gentler on herself and, intriguingly, often doesn’t even know her score mid-round.
When she won the 2022 St Rule Trophy at St Andrews, she reached the 18th green blissfully unaware she was leading by three.
After a “spectacular” quadruple bogey on the 11th, she kept her head down and rattled off a string of threes coming home. When she finally turned to her caddie for an update on 18, he told her:
“They’ve got you leading by 3. Just enjoy your moment on the green,” Saxton recalled. “It was a really nice moment,” she said.
Her philosophy is simple: don’t let the last shot dictate the next. “You’re just trying to hit the best shot you can, whether you’re leading by five or trailing by five,” she said.
Perspective and Performance
Perfectionism once saw Jen Saxton fume over bad swings, but perspective has softened her edge.
“I used to get quite angry,” she recalled. “One day, I was playing and hit a terrible shot and started to get annoyed. Then I thought, ‘I’ve got no right to get annoyed because I’m not putting in the practice.’ So I’m less harsh on myself now.”
Even with less practice, her scoring remains solid—hovering in the mid to low 70s, with a 7-under tournament round in the bank.
“It’s about putting a score together when you don’t have your ‘A’ game,” said Saxton. “The mid to low 70s is where I’m at. I just need a hot putter.”
As she prepares to represent Scotland on the Tampines Course at Tanah Merah Country Club from October 1–4, Jen Saxton is proof that modern golf isn’t just about hours on the range—it’s about using your head as much as your hands.
She may spend most of her week behind a desk, but on the course, she’s still very much a force to be reckoned with.
