Bermuda's top female golfer Kim Marshall has joined the Ladies Professional Golfers' Association (LPGA) Tour...but not as a player as she had once hoped.

Qualifying for the Tour was one of the Bermudian's dreams when she graduated from Wake Forest in December, 1996, and later turned pro, playing on the Futures Mini Tour for a year.

That dream did not materialise, but Marshall, soon to turn 24, has used her golf connections to land a job in the Marketing Department of the LPGA as an on-site promotional assistant.

Marshall, who holds dual citizenship, was about to take a job with the American Junior Golf Association when an opening came up within the LPGA.

"I was in a law firm for a couple of months in Atlanta but the office life just wasn't for me and I was thinking `what else could I be doing','' she said during a short visit to the Island this week.

"I thought about getting back into golf because I missed the golf environment, not playing but just being around golf and outside everyday.

"l was looking at working for the AJGA as an intern and then my college coach Dianne Dailey called me and said she heard a position for the LPGA was available and to to call this lady, Mindy Moore. So I called her up and ended up meeting with her at Atlanta Airport for an interview.'' After not hearing anything for a few weeks, Marshall was preparing to start work with the AJGA when Moore contacted her in Bermuda to offer her a job at the LPGA.

She started work there in May this year and is now on the road almost constantly, spending little time in Atlanta where she lives with her brother Chris who is an assistant professional at Crooked Creek Golf Club.

One such assignment brought Marshall back to Bermuda this week for the Gillette Tour Challenge at Mid Ocean Club.

She is spending a few extra days in Bermuda with her family before returning to Atlanta this weekend.

"My college coach and my boss (Moore) played on the LPGA Tour and are very good friends,'' Marshall explained.

"I don't have any marketing experience but because I know a lot about golf she thought it would work out, and it's been fun. There are some great people there and the players are wonderful and this is going to give me some opportunities and good experience for the future.'' Most who followed her career felt Marshall had the potential to go far as a professional. But in the year she played as a pro, Marshall discovered the life wasn't for her.

"I played on the Futures Mini Tour for a year and I met some great people but I decided it wasn't what I wanted to do.

"I wasn't completely happy playing professionally so I decided to pack it in.

I quit about a year ago and haven't played (competitively) since. I have a lot of fun doing what I'm doing and enjoy it a lot more.

"I was burnt out, I had a lot of junior golf, golf in college and then as a pro on the Mini Tour, but it wasn't what made me happy. Golf requires so much dedication and you have to decide that you totally want it.'' She has played about a half dozen times in the last year, but hasn't ruled out getting back into the sport competitively at some point.

"I might play again, but right now I'm happy doing what I'm doing and I don't miss it,'' said Marshall, adding that regaining her amateur status like Scott Mayne was not something she was considering.

"Right now I don't want to go back as an amateur because there is nothing I would want to play in as an amateur. I would rather play for money.

"Maybe in five or six years, if I decide I really don't want to play professionally again, I would apply for my amateur status so that I could play in club championships.'' As an LPGA staff member, Marshall is on the road just as much, or even more, than the professionals. She will spend just a day back in Atlanta before flying out again to the Tournament of Champions in Alabama and then on to Daytona where the LPGA has its headquarters.

"I've been on the road now for three weeks,'' she explained.

I travel pretty much full time.'' KIM MARSHALL -- swapped a professional playing career for an administrative post with the LPGA.