His long-term partner Lyle had “carried the bag” for him as caddie from the very beginning after they met as aspiring junior golfers.
He had sent her a text asking if he could be her “girlfriend” over the Christmas holidays.
Eleven years later at Christmas, he asked her again for permission, this time to be his wife.
Their professional relationship has up to now worked well too.
Dean, 32, said: “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.
“Emily gets that and knows I don’t really want lots of input.”
Both concede that there are times when the dynamic on the course has 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 says.
Lyle adds: “On the course he’ll sometimes talk about the shot to me, but he doesn’t want a response from me.
“He’s just talking out loud. I get that. It’s very, very rare I’ll butt in and say anything.
“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.
“We’ve never been in a position where we’ve ever thought about separating or it’s never got that bad. You just sit in your room together, literally miserable.”