Lee Sayers

“When you rake a bunker or cut a green you can see the impact that you’ve made.”

When Lee started playing golf at 16, he never imagined that one day he would be managing the golf course. “I thought I didn’t want to do manual work. My Dad was an electrician and I helped him in the school holidays. Now I have ended up doing manual work which is funny. I was initially driven by money but there was no end goal.”

Lee’s first job after leaving school was for NatWest bank, followed by a job selling advertising for a regional newspaper. They were both well paid and good industries, but both were office based. The turning point came in 1991 when Lee emigrated to Western Australia to work for a newspaper. “I hated it and realised I wanted a career where I could be outside. I also needed something with an end product that I could see. When you rake a bunker or cut a green you can see the impact that you’ve made.” Lee contacted a local golf course in Australia and got two weeks unpaid work-experience. The head of the golf course got Lee a job at another golf course where he worked for 3 years before returning to the UK and starting work as a Greenkeeper at London Golf Club.

Lee soon realised that to progress into a supervisory role, experience on its own was not enough. He looked at the syllabus at SRUC (then SAC (Scottish Agricultural College)) and the HNC Golf Course Management via Distance Learning was the obvious route to progress. It was demanding trying to juggle working 12-hour days, studying and becoming a dad and he needed to be disciplined.

“I entered the industry when a lot of head people didn’t have qualifications. In the 1990s you needed the experience and the education to progress. Without the qualifications I wouldn’t have got on. It is really important and even more so for the new guys coming through today.”

Not long after graduating in 1997 Lee was offered his first Golf Course Managers role. “The qualification along with my work experience were pivotal in me getting the role.” Since then, he has progressed through various Golf Clubs finally returning to London Golf Club as Estates & Golf Courses Manager in 2017.

“Greenkeeping is a great industry to get in to. You want to work for a good employer who will develop you and really bring you on. The job satisfaction is the reason people do the job. Put your best foot forward, go for it!”