GOLF


Macclesf ield Golf Club


Worth his weight! P


Macclesfi eld Golf Club is situated in picturesque landscape on the edge of the Peak District National Park. On a clear day, views stretch across fi ve counties. The course is not long, but it is a great test, with some interesting and beautiful golf holes. On a very wet winter’s day, Lee Williams met up with thirty-four-year-old Head Greenkeeper Phil Worth, who joined the club two years ago and admitted 2020 was one of the most challenging years he has had in greenkeeping


hil’s fi rst career choice was to become a designer so, after leaving school, he went on to do a course in Sports Equipment Design at Salford University. In the summer breaks, he would work as a seasonal greenkeeper to get him away from the desk and to help pay for tuition fees. He enjoyed his time on the golf course so much that he decided to do a u-turn and pursue a greenkeeping career. “I fi rst started off at New Mills Golf Club in Derbyshire in 2007 as an apprentice greenkeeper and did my NVQ Level Two there. It’s fair to say it wasn’t the most affl uent of golf courses, but it certainly taught me a number of valuable lessons such as operating sustainably on a minimal budget and the importance of teamwork to achieve the highest possible standards.” “After two years, I had the ambition to move my career forward and work at a more prestigious venue that off ered far superior resources and investment. In 2011, I joined The Mere Golf and Country Club as an Assistant Greenkeeper which was a world away from New Mills; a resort-style venue with all the latest Toro machinery, bigger


budgets and a better chance of gaining the experience I was looking for. During my time there I achieved a lot, with the main highlights being preparation of the course to Championship standard for ‘The Open Regional Qualifi er’, being accepted as part of the BIGGA support team to work at the PGA Championship at Wentworth, starting my Foundation Degree in Sportsturf and, most signifi cantly, gaining a promotion into the role of Greenkeeping Supervisor.” Being a young man in his twenties, and having no real family ties, Phil decided to send his CV to lots of courses on the other side of the world. He got a job off er a month later and took a leap of faith and went to work in New Zealand and Australia. “I got a seasonal greenkeeper position at Jacks Point in Queenstown, New Zealand. I was only planning to be out there for six months, but that escalated to two years as I enjoyed it so much. I also worked for Royal Sydney Golf Club and New South Wales Golf Club, which was number three in Australia at the time. I gained a lot of experience about warm-season grasses, revetting bunkers and a variety of overseas management techniques.”


I pride myself on attention to detail and,


given the characteristics of the site coupled with its unique topography, it has a lot to offer when presented in the right way


22 PC April/May 2021


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