GOLF
Ingrebourne Links Golf and Country Club
Following the paper trail
Ingrebourne Links is situated in Rainham, Essex, just twenty minutes from Central London. Its futuristic clubhouse - more akin to a ‘Grand Designs’ construction - boasts more glass than is perhaps sensible at a golf course, yet off ers visitors and members a striking welcome and stunning facilities. Lee Williams visited this new club to meet Course Manager Ben Adams to discover how the fi nal work is progressing
I
ngrebourne Links boasts twenty-seven holes of championship golf, made up of three loops of nine holes: The unique “Inland Links” style of the championship course off ers a very diff erent challenge to the traditional parkland courses in the local area. As any golfi ng purist would know, a “Links Course” is normally close to the sea, but the rolling fairways, sleeper faced bunkers, gorse and large undulating greens at Ingrebourne really provide a ‘feel’ of playing golf by the coast!
Before carving out a career in the sports turf industry, thirty-six-year-old Ben Adams’ fi rst job after leaving school was
32 PC December/January 2021
as a quality assurance controller at a paper manufacturing plant. This was not the job for him, so he decided to seek out something new. Whilst reading the local paper, he saw an advert for a job as a trainee greenkeeper at the London Golf Club in Kent. “I started there as a trainee in June 2003 at the age of eighteen,” begins Ben. “I worked there as a greenkeeper until November 2006, before moving to Kings Hill Golf Club for a year, but I was asked to return to the London Club as their fi rst assistant. Then, in 2012, I was promoted to head greenkeeper at the age of twenty- eight, a position I held until 2017 before
moving to Ingrebourne.”
So, how did he get the position at Ingrebourne Links and was there no more room for progression at the London Club? “I was fi rst asked to take a look around by David Whitaker, who worked for ALS (now Agrovista Amenity). He was the consultant here for three months helping out with the development of the site. For various reasons, the Head Greenkeeper had moved on and David came on board to assist in getting the fi rst nine holes opened. They were looking to appoint a replacement and David contacted me, asked if I would be interested and off ered me the position.”
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