‘I fell in love with greenkeeping all over again’

20 August 2026 Feature Article

Adam Willoughby can pinpoint the moment he fell back in love with greenkeeping.

After several months away from the industry, Adam came to realise what he was missing. He was offered a route back into it at Army Golf Club and it didn’t take long to know he had made the right call.

“I was cutting tees on my first day and I just fell straight in love with it all over again,” he said. “I thought, ‘This is where I want to be’. I love being outside and being on a golf course.”

That certainty followed a period in which Adam had begun questioning his career aspirations. He entered greenkeeping from a job as a locksmith at Broadmoor Hospital, having realised during a conversation with his other half that he wanted a more active career spent outdoors. An application to Wentworth led to his first role on the West Course in 2022.

“At the time, I didn’t understand how big Wentworth was because I wasn’t part of the industry,” he said. “When I turned up, I realised it was quite a place to start. I was working under Stefan Carter and learned everything from the beginning there. He taught me well and gave me those foundations.”

Adam later sought experience within smaller teams, moving to Chobham and then Worplesdon. He enjoyed much about the work but increasingly found himself considering what else a career might offer.

“You go through different stages in life and start thinking, ‘Could I do more or earn more?’,” he said. “I was slowly losing some of my love for the industry and wondering whether I wanted to do something different. My friend Dan Hill, who I’d worked with at Wentworth, told me there was an opportunity on the new Academy Course. I thought going back to where it had all started might help me find that love again. I enjoyed the first couple of months back and particularly working with George Clark and Joe Ferguson, who I’d worked with on the West Course before. But then it hit me that I still wasn’t sure whether I wanted to stay in the industry.”

Having enjoyed working on his partner’s parents’ garden, Adam decided to explore gardening professionally. It offered a chance to remain outdoors and develop his knowledge of plants but views across nearby golf courses repeatedly stirred something familiar.

“There were a couple of jobs where I could see a golf course, and I would look across and think, ‘I miss that’,” he said. “Sometimes you have to leave something to realise how much you miss it. I was still completing my Level 2 in greenkeeping while I was gardening, so I was continuing to learn. The more I learned from Dave Adlam, my college tutor, the more it gave me the itch to go back. It made me think, ‘I’m actually not too bad at this and I do love everything about it’. I spoke to my partner and she said that, if I loved it and missed it that much, I should go for it.”

Adam approached his return carefully, looking for a club where he could settle, continue his education and build towards a long-term future.

“I didn’t want to rush into it because I didn’t want to keep moving around,” he said. “I wanted to find the right course and understand what I wanted from the industry, how far I wanted to go and what sort of environment would help me get there. I reached the point where I was beginning to think the right opportunity might not come along. Then Dave Watkins, who I’d worked with before, messaged me about Army Golf Club and asked whether I wanted to come down and have a look. As soon as I arrived, I knew it was the place I had been looking for.”

The opportunity owed much to Course Manager Phil Wentworth and Deputy Course Manager Harry Scott, who looked beyond the movement on Adam’s CV and listened to the reasons behind his time away. Their faith gave him the route back he had been searching for and an environment in which his enthusiasm for greenkeeping could flourish again.

“I worried people might look at my CV and think I’d moved around a lot,” he said. “I told Phil and Harry what had happened, what I could do, where I needed to improve and what I was striving for. They listened to my story and gave me a chance. I can’t thank them enough because, without Phil and Harry giving me this route back into the industry, I wouldn’t be loving the job as much as I am now.”

Army Golf Club has certainly won him over. Adam describes the Hampshire course as a “hidden gem”, with a quality of presentation and layout that deserves wider recognition.

“I never knew it was here because it is quite low key, but once you’re here, you realise what a hidden gem it is,” he said. “Everything is crisp and everything is green. It’s a lovely layout. The trees, greens and bunker positions all work really well together and it is a great course from a golfer’s perspective. It is challenging, but it is fun challenging. You can come here, enjoy the course and still have your game tested. I’m proud to be working somewhere like this with such a great team who work really hard to maintain high standards.”

Adam relishes the changing challenges of producing a golf course and the depth of knowledge required. Ultimately, he envisages climbing the career ladder all the way to the top, but for now he is happy to keep building his skills and experience at a club where he feels supported.

“The weather is never the same, the grass is never the same and you’re dealing with disease, plant health and presentation,” he said. “People can think you just cut grass, but there is so much science behind everything. I want to progress to deputy and, later in my career, become a course manager. At Army Golf Club, I’ve got the facilities and the support from Phil and Harry to keep pushing towards that goal."

“I can’t think of much better than waking up in the morning, seeing the sunrise and knowing you’re going to work on a golf course.”

Adam’s advice when career doubts emerge

Take time to work out what you want from your job, rather than making a rushed decision
Be honest with yourself about what you like about your job and what you don’t like
If you’re re-entering the industry, be honest with prospective employers about why you left in the first place
Remember that no decision is final and it’s okay to change your mind
Don’t assume the grass is always greener

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Photo by Aiden Hare, Pine Ridge Operations

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‘I fell in love with greenkeeping all over again’

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