Matt Wallace has been a regular mainstay of the DP World Tour and PGA Tour for several years now. Having been a professional golfer for a decent amount of time, he tends to fly under the radar as he is not consistently at the very top of the rankings. Wallace’s highest position on the OWGR was 23rd.

Having had a topsy-turvy career so far, he would need a support system to keep him motivated and encouraged through the ups and downs. Let us find out what his support system is, who are the people closest to him, and what they mean to the diehard Manchester United fan and OWGR 91st-ranked golfer.

Athleticism runs in the family

Matt Wallace was born on April 12, 1990, in Hillingdon, England. Both his parents are PE teachers and although his parents live a private life currently, his father was a professional rugby player for the Wasps in the 70s. Due to athleticism being the professional focus of his parents, in his upbringing, Matt Wallace was very much involved in sports. He has played cricket, football, and rugby at a high level.

Having taken up golf seriously at 18, he went over to the other side of the pond to Jacksonville State University for college but only spent one year there, as he was then selected for England Golf’s elite squad. From then on, due to the conditioning and athletic guidance he surely received from early on in his life, he went on to become a huge success.

Who is his significant other and constant?

The 5-time DP Tour winner has long been going out with Chelsie Joce. Joce was also an avid blogger for many years but has stopped writing her blog, Girl On Tour, since 2020. She is a Briton of Spanish descent and did her schooling at St. Alban’s Girls School. To fulfill her dreams of becoming a businesswoman, she studied at the University of Leeds, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Resource Management in 2014.

In the same year as she started to study at university, she met Wallace during one of the nights out in the club. According to her blog, he told her, “You’re lucky you met me tonight. I’m a professional golfer. I’m never here. I travel a lot.” This adorable exchange led to them dating from 2014 and have been going strong for 10 years.

Admirably, she has been with him since his time as a budding pro playing in the Alps Tour. She’s been with him through every cost-saving car journey and ‘dire’ hotel stays and witnessed his struggles and triumphs in those difficult early years. She has written of one point when he was struggling with his swing, “We would often spend our winter weekends at the range, myself sat in 100 layers with chattering teeth watching every single shot.”

Since then, Matt Wallace’s rise has been meteoric and Chelsie Joce has been with him every step of the way. She has walked with him on many a course as he’s played his rounds and joined in other ladies on ladies’ days. She truly is a great support for Wallace.

Swing and Bag Support

In his professional life, Matt Wallace leans on coach Liam James, who is part of Robert Rock’s team. Having had several coaches over the years, Wallace seems to have hit his stride when he was being coached at Robert Rock Golf Academy, which also coaches Lee Westwood and Wade Ormsby. Liam James has since struck out on his own and coaches in Dubai and the UK.

Of his coaching, Robert Rock has said, “I’ve learnt to trust my own judgement of what I see and I think I’ve been around enough good players to see good golf shots, you can see them, hear them, tell people when they’re in the right frame of mind and when their swings are in order you can see it clearly.” He doesn’t use Trackman and says that it sends golfer down the wrong route and stops them from playing their best.

Matt Wallace currently relies on Jamie Lane for bag-carrying duties. The veteran caddie has been working with top golfers since the 2000s such as Matt Fitzpatrick and Bernd Wiesberger. Wallace has previously worked with Samuel ‘Sam’ Bernard, memorable for the altercation he had with Wallace at Valspar in 2023.

Having been a golf pro for the better part of the last ten years, these are just a few of the people that surround the man from west London. There are surely many more who have been with him on this golfing journey, supporting and encouraging him in his bad times and celebrating with him in his good times. Constant improvement has been Matt Wallace’s approach to the sport and we will surely see his best in the coming times.