José Cardoso Botelho;
Terras da Comporta
“For the region, it’s important that Terras da Comporta becomes a destination for golf. We could have made The Dunas Course closed but we didn’t want to do that because it’s important that we make the course available to everyone. Playing these 18 holes will be an unforgettable experience for any golfer, helping the region to become an outstanding golf destination boasting at least four courses.”
Ed Chapman;
Royal Auckland & Grange
“I came from working in a nice but small, traditional UK private club to suddenly getting a budget that was about $120,000 revenue, to be brought in by coaching. I was, like, ‘oh crap, how am I going to do that, that’s so much?’ Running the academy was in some ways being thrown in at the deep end of management because I went from having three coaches who were my peers to suddenly having to be their boss.”
Alfonso Castiñeira;
Las Colinas Golf & Country Club
“I always kept in touch with Troon, and they said at the time that they were lending me to my hometown for a couple of years, but whenever I was thinking about moving, to give them a call. Then another option came up in Panama. When I took the job at Santa María Golf Club, I told the GM that I wasn’t planning on being in Panama for a long time and wanted to progress my career with Troon.”
Stephen Hubner;
Jumeirah Golf Estates
“Having the opportunity to help and watch colleagues grow and develop is a really, really great part of the job. It’s a big family and some of them have been with us at Dubai Golf for 35 years. I would say about eight per cent of our colleagues are promoted every year. Sometimes they might move elsewhere but we’re delighted when that happens if they are moving on to successful careers and we’ve played a part in that.”
Tom Widley;
Holywood Golf Club
“In my last year at Long Ashton, I would be working six days a week, for ten to 12 hours a day, so I was a busy coach. It was physically demanding and by the end of the day, my back and knees would be aching, which is when I asked myself ‘can I do this for the next forty years?’ I remember looking at the GM at Long Ashton at the time thinking, rightly or wrongly, that I could do that job.”
El Saler;
Spain
When you think about golf in Spain, it’s often difficult to look beyond the Costa del Sol and the many world-class courses such as Valderrama, San Roque and La Reserva in a part of the country often referred to as the ‘Costa del Golf’. Other regions of Spain must fight hard for their fair share of the golfing limelight, which perhaps explains why, the likes of El Saler in Valencia are never revered quite so much as their more illustrious counterparts further down the coast.