Two prime movers behind some of Europe’s biggest golf events gave Applied Golf Management Studies (AGMS) students a glimpse inside the ropes during a special one-off seminar at The PGA’s National Training Academy.
Ladies European Tour tournament director Michael Wood, above, and the London Golf Club’s head of operations Dan Naudo held a unique talk for the budding golf professionals at The PGA’s Belfry headquarters, which centred on an in-depth look at hosting large-scale golf events.
Wood, a former PGA tournaments official who will be acting as a player liaison officer at the Olympic Games in Brazil this summer, talked through the work that goes into hosting a major tour event including tournament management, course setup and logistics.
Meanwhile PGA Professional Naudo, below, took to the floor to discuss the role he has played during the London Golf Club’s staging of some of golf’s leading championships. Naudo has been based at the London club for six years and was part of the team that successfully held the Volvo World Matchplay Championship in 2014.
“I really wanted to come here and show the sort of things that you can achieve within the golf industry,” Wood explained.
“There are a lot of opportunities out there and all these students need to do is have a look around and find out which route they are going to take. For me that was my time at The PGA – it opened a lot of doors for me.
“It’s going to be important for the students here that they continue to work hard. They need to figure out exactly what they want to do within the golf industry and push themselves out there to make it happen.
“It’s worth working for. Golf is a great industry to work in and I’ve been very lucky to have many money can’t buy opportunities since I first got involved with the sport.”
The talk was a part of the Managing Golf Events module of the AGMS degree which will lead to the undergraduates eventually planning and running their own golf event.
Mark Skinner, module leader and education officer (business) at The PGA, added: “I’m really grateful to both Michael and Dan for taking time out of their busy schedules to speak to us. They are an inspiration to any student aiming for a successful career in golf.
“What the session provided students with was two different perspectives of larger golf events in practice. Dan from the host venue’s point of view, and Michael from the Tour. All the students went away with a greater awareness of how larger golf events are pieced together from the planning stage right through to implementation.”
