GOLF Director of Golf and Greenkeeping, Kenny Mackay


I had an ambition to get to Wentworth and I got here. I’m still progressing my career within the business and I can’t ask for more than that


Pitchcare: What is your official title?


Kenny Mackay: Since March this year, I have held the title of Director of Golf and Greenkeeping at Wentworth Club.


What sports were you involved with in your younger days - did you play golf?


I come from East Kilbride near Glasgow and football was ‘the’ sport we played the most. But I played everything really, usually depicted by what was on television at the time … when Wimbledon was on I played tennis and, when there were major golf tournaments, I wanted to play golf. I think that’s a trend that still happens with the youth of today which can only be a good thing!


How did you become a greenkeeper and what was your career progression?


It was through my love of golf. I played a lot when I was in my late teens and


subsequently applied for a few PGA assistant positions, but they never amounted to anything. So, over the next few years, I got into the industrial trade and worked as an apprentice builder, but I didn’t like that, and it didn’t last long! I then turned my hand to bar work and anything really to pay the bills until, at the age of twenty-seven, my passion for golf was still at the forefront of my career wishes and I enrolled in a full-time greenkeeping course at Elmwood College. I was lucky enough to get a placement at St. Andrews on the Old Course and, from there, I moved to the London Golf Club in Kent, where they were constructing two courses. It was there that I worked my way up the ladder pretty quickly, gaining various qualifications along the way, including management levels, leading to my position as Deputy Head Greenkeeper at Hanbury Manor Golf Club. In 1997, six years after giving up the bar career, I was Head


PC December/January 2020 13


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