Sarah Walton

Golfing Herald met up with Sarah Walton, Head PGA Professional at Belton Park GC for our Meet the Professional series.

Sarah’s golfing story began when she persuaded a college friend, who was an absolute ‘golf nut’, to go to the local golf driving range when they should have been studying for their A-Levels!! Although that first shot did not go very far her love of golf was ‘up and running’.

Aged about 19, Sarah joined Green Haworth Golf Club and was allocated an initial playing handicap of 24. A couple of years later Sarah joined Accrington & District Golf Club.

Juggling full-time work with amateur golf, Sarah achieved her initial goal, which was to represent the Lancashire Ladies County Team. In 2001 she played for the ‘B’ team but from 2002 to 2009 she played for the ‘A’ team, a team whose achievements included winning the England Women’s County Finals in 2002 and 2009.

In 2003, Sarah won the British Ladies Mid-Amateur Championship played at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake. After 54 holes Sarah finished in a tie for first but clinched the title in a playoff.

Wishing to combine her ability to teach and love of golf, Sarah joined the professional ranks in 2009, enrolling for the 3 year PGA qualification course. Sarah was named PGA Assistant of the Year for 2013, the most prestigious award for a trainee (meaning that over the 3-year course she was the best out of 300 trainees).

In 2013, Sarah secured her first Head Professional post at Kington Golf Club, Herefordshire. Whilst there, she became the first woman to gain the PGA’s Director of Golf qualification.

In 2017, Sarah became the Head Professional at Belton Park Golf Club, Lincolnshire where she combines coaching with initiatives such as introducing novices to golf…and when time permits playing in local and national events!!

Belton Park Golf Club

Belton Park Golf Club is located within the National Trust estate of the historic Belton House near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. It is an England Golf Championship Venue and in 2018 hosted the English Senior Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

This challenging and attractive parkland course, with fine views of the Lincolnshire countryside, is rated by Golf Monthly in their Top 100 ‘Hidden Gems’.

The course is comprised of 27 holes, configured in 3 loops of 9, with each loop starting from the clubhouse. From this configuration, Belton Park offers the following 3 courses:

• Brownlow – Holes 1 to 18, Par 71, 6490 yards
• Ancaster – Holes 19 to 27 and 1 to 9, Par 70, 6278 yards
• Belmont – Holes 10 to 27, Par 69, 6028 yards

Founded in 1890, Belton Park was originally a 9 hole golf course. Records show that their first match was played in 1892 against Beverley Golf Club (which is very spooky as Beverley is my home club!!).

In 1908, the course was extended to 18 holes. After WW1, the 18 hole course was redesigned and as part of the ‘celebrations’, the legendary British Professional golfers Harry Vardon and Ted Ray participated in an Exhibition Match.

In the mid-1970s, an additional 9 holes were planned with input and advice from Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas to further expand the course to the current 27 holes. In fact, later this year, Belton Park will be holding a 40th Anniversary ‘Inner Nine Course’ Am Am competition followed by a dinner and an after-dinner speech from none other than Peter Alliss!!

The First Tee

Golfing Herald (GH): Thankfully Sarah and I had not planned to chat whilst playing a few holes of golf as when I arrived at Belton Park the heavens opened with a storm of almost biblical proportions!! In the dry of the welcoming Belton Park clubhouse I ‘teed off’ by asking Sarah where and how her golfing journey all started?

Sarah Walton (SW): Very long story short!! I came from a Badminton background. I played Badminton to a decent standard. County-level. One of the players for one of the teams I played for started a Badminton team at their school. I was about 14 or 15. I went down and helped and met some new friends and ended up at college with one of these new friends called Danny. He was an absolute ‘golf nut’ and when we should have been studying for our A-Levels I persuaded him to go to the driving range and had a go from there really!!

(GH): Did you fall in love with golf as a consequence of those ‘visits’ to the driving range?

(SW): I was fortunate that I was able to hit the ball albeit not very far but yes there was that euphoric in the air moment and I sort of got the bug from there. I remember as a child we did pitch and putt at Fleetwood but there was no golfing background but I do remember enjoying that experience as well. I just carried on from the driving range really.

First Club

(GH): After those initial forays into golf via the driving range did you then join a golf club?

(SW): Not immediately. I was about 19 before I took up golf ‘seriously’. Danny was very good in that he made me do the pitch and putt courses first so very much ‘backwards chaining’ which I still do a lot today in my coaching. The whole point (of golf) is getting the ball in the hole and so I got around pitch and putt courses and then I progressed onto a 9 hole municipal in Burnley and then finally up to 18 holes. In the middle of all of that through Badminton again it turned out that 3 of my friends who I played Badminton with had all started playing golf. Unbeknown to each other at the same time. So we had our own little group of four, five people who were genuinely right at the beginning of their respective golfing journeys. It made it a lot easier to play.

(GH): At the end of that initial learning process, which club did you eventually join?

(SW): A little 9 hole course called Green Haworth Golf Club which is on the tops of that wonderful town called Oswaldtwistle. I had an awful lot of fun playing there.

(GH): Can you remember your first handicap?

(SW): I think it was 24. I was a member of Green Haworth for about 2 years and then I moved to Accrington Golf Club which is an 18 hole course.

(GH): Very much continuing your path of gradual progression?

(SW): Yes, a natural progression really.

Juggling Work & Amateur Golf

(GH): Can you remember how quickly your handicap came down?

(SW): I can’t remember exactly when but I got down to single figures but reasonably quickly. But I have always worked full time. I have never played golf full time. I have always had a full-time job.

(GH): Did you leave college after your A-Levels or did you go to University?

(SW): I didn’t want to go to University. After my A-Levels, I worked with Special Needs for 3 years but then I fell in love with golf so much that I wanted to make the (Lancashire) County team so I left and joined the Post Office so that I could try and generate some more time for playing and practising which is what I did.

(GH): When you say the Post Office do you mean ‘out and about’ delivering post?

(SW): Yes. Starting at 04:30 and then try to finish around lunchtime which gave me the opportunity then to play.

(GH): Effectively full-time employment to fund your real passion for golf?

(SW): Yes. Very much. As most ladies will tell you, most ladies golf is played during the week and not at weekends so working at the Post Office enabled me to play in more competitions.

Representative Honours

(GH): You mentioned that you wanted to make the Lancashire County Team.

(SW): I made it eventually!! I played for the ‘B’ Team in 2001 and then I made the first team in 2002 when we actually won the National County Title. I played for the first team until 2009 and we won the National County Title again in that final year.

British Ladies Mid-Amateur Champion

(GH): Did you play in any other National Events?

(SW): I did a little bit. Although it does not exist anymore I won the British Ladies Mid-Amateur Championship back in 2003. It ran for about four or five years for Ladies aged 25 and over.

(GH): Why did this event run for such a short period?

(SW): It is quite difficult to play amateur golf if you are working and you will see the age range is a lot younger perhaps than it is in the Men’s. It’s a shame as I think there is a market for a tournament along the lines of the Mid-Amateur. I do know quite a few girls who played at the highest level and just don’t play anymore, and they are only in their twenties. Today the pathways to get into (girls) golf are very good but the retention is not so good.

(GH): Looking back at your success in 2003, was the Championship a Stroke Play or a Match Play event?

(SW): It was stroke play. I entered it because it was at Hoylake which had just gone back on the Open rota for 2006 so I thought…ooooh, an opportunity to play another Open course!! I was off 4 at the time. It was wild, absolutely wild. In the first round, I shot 81 (7 over par). I just thought that was a load of rubbish. But then I shot two level par rounds which took me into a playoff and I shot birdie-birdie to win the playoff.

(GH): Not bad!!

(SW): Little bit naïve really. Just turned up and played as I wanted to go and play Hoylake which I did!!

Amateur to Professional

(GH): At what point did you decide to move from working full time and playing elite Amateur golf and joining the professional ranks?

(SW): After starting my own driving school I left the Post Office in 2005 as Royal Mail did not like you to take one day off work (as a holiday) so it ended up having to take a full week off work to play in an event which basically meant if you were not careful you would have no holiday left for time away.

(GH): What was the thinking behind becoming a driving instructor?

(SW): The driving instructor role enabled me to utilise skills of working with people again.

(GH): And it was your own driving school?

(SW): Yeah. I became self-employed. Further down the line difficult to justify taking holidays all the time and playing golf. Another friend of mine, Karen Heywood, who I played county golf with, talked about the PGA and I thought I will have a look at that and decided that actually, that would blend my ability to teach with my love of playing golf. With the driving school, being self-employed, I could very much run that in the background for a few years whilst I got qualified as a PGA Professional and that is what I did as backup income.

(GH): Did you see yourself very much becoming a Teaching Professional or did you have any aspirations to join say the Ladies Professional Tour?

(SW): Realistically to be a tour professional I never really had the time to put into it. The good is good enough but the bad is not good enough!! Ultimately to make it at the highest level your bad has got to be very good!! I still enjoy playing and play to a decent standard but teaching is my forte.

PGA Qualification

(GH): For the benefit of the readers, could you provide some background to the format of the PGA Training course?

(SW): It is all underwritten by Birmingham University. It’s a foundation degree (equal to the first two years of a three-year honours degree). Primarily through distance learning and then every year you spend five full days at The Belfry in a residential classroom. Lots of points weighted on assignments and then end of year exams made up the criteria and then coupled with that there were practical examinations for things like coaching, equipment repairs, custom fitting.

(GH): To which club were you attached during your PGA training?

(SW): I was attached to Accrington Golf Club for the vast majority of my training and then I moved to Lytham Green Drive Golf Club just before I started my final exams. That gave me more opportunity for more earnings.

(GH): What was your role at Lytham Green Drive?

(SW): A Teaching Professional. Did a little bit of shop work but I was mainly coaching.

(GH): Were you also playing competitively?

(SW): Played a little bit in WPGA events. Through your training, you have to play a minimum of 7 qualifying scores every year which was fine as Lancashire had a good county set up so there was plenty of opportunities. Played a reasonable amount and finished T1 in a couple of events. I did find it hard through the training period as your head was so full of how to tell other people to play but to play golf actually became quite difficult!!

(GH): A sort of contradiction in many ways in that you fall in love with golf through playing but then as a professional golfer, playing is sort of quite low down in your list of priorities!!

(SW): It does. People warn you about it and you think don’t be so silly but actually, you end up going I really need to do this (training and course work). The exams run up until the end of April so then you finish all of those and you try to play your golf from May through to September alongside teaching commitments!!

Coaching at Ladies British Open

(GH): I read an article which said you had gained some great experience coaching at the 2012 Ladies British Open Championship at Hoylake in the Swing Zone. How did that opportunity come about?

(SW): John Heggarty who is the Head Professional at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) is also a PGA Tutor so he does a lot of the assessing of Level 1 and Level 2 coaching. At the time, I think the Professional had a lot of say in the tented village at their club and John wanted to try and get as many female professionals to teach in the swing zone. John contacted Karen Heywood, Clare Brown and myself so were very much ‘hand-picked’.

(GH): What did the role entail?

(SW): There were two parts to the role. One was in the tented village offering 15-minute lessons to the public (via a sign-up sheet) and the other part was in the hospitality tent running a nearest the pin challenge so we rotated between the two parts.

(GH): A fantastic experience.

(SW): It was really good. It’s a different style of coaching. It was a nice team…me, Karen and Clare travelled over together every day. They were very long days but I am really glad that I did it. In fact, I am off to Woburn later this year as I have been selected as part of the Ladies British Open Swing Zone Team there.

Move to Kington Golf Club

(GH): How did the role as Head Professional at Kington Golf Club (in Herefordshire) in 2013 come about?

(SW): In the background, unofficially, I had the letter to say that I got the ‘Assistant of the Year’ but you can’t announce that until the appropriate time. At the same time (my partner) Chris was being made redundant from his job of 20+ years. Really it gave me the opportunity to go “I think we will have a look and move out of Accrington to be quite honest!!”. Just had a look on the jobs board and thought “why not”.

(GH): Kington golf course looks absolutely stunning from the pictures on their website.

(SW): It is a beautiful golf course. If it wasn’t in the middle of nowhere it would be a much sought after course to be a member of in my opinion. Its location is a blessing and a curse. I submitted my CV and was able to include that I had got the award and that helped. I got an interview. Went down for the interview…it was snowing!! The course was under about 4 foot of snow. I went to the interview which was kind of funny in itself.

(GH): The words ‘Interview’ and ‘Funny’ don’t usually appear in the same sentence?

(SW): Yeah. My boss Simon at Lytham Green Drive said to do a PowerPoint presentation and really sell yourself. Never done one of them before. Walked in, nowhere to plug a laptop in, no projector…

(after much laughing by both of us at this point…Sarah continued!!)

(SW): …I kid you not, there was this large room flanked with two rows of tables and at least 16 people from the Management Committee on that interview and I walked in thinking no power socket, no projector…

(GH): At that point did you invoke Plan B or Plan C?

(SW): I had printed off some little handouts of said PowerPoint presentation. To be fair I had gone through it all and had a fair idea so I just ran through most of the presentation. Looking back it is quite comical.

(GH): You must have impressed the committee though?

(SW): Being from so far outside of the region you do your research. I think that is what really clinched it and possibly you offer a different viewpoint. We stayed overnight and went back up to the club the next day to have a look around. Before the interview, I had a couple of phone calls. One from the secretary inviting me down and one from the treasurer who actually heralded from Blackpool and he thought I had done really well at the interview. Headed back home. Within a week I got a phone call to say we would like you to come back down again. I took Chris in me with that time and we met 4 or 5 of the committee and they offered me the job.

Head Professional

(GH): OK, so you have now been appointed in your first Head Professional role at Kington Golf Club. What was your sort of initial challenges in that role?

(SW): The main issue with Kington was that you had this fabulous course that nobody knew about and the town of Kington has a population of 3,000 so the golf club membership was around 300. You were never going to really grow the membership hugely just by virtue of its location. So it was really a case of how do we get more income into the club. The obvious option was visitors in that we need to promote this club and run it a little bit more business-like. Start to shout about how good the club is and not be shy.

(GH): Absolutely. Today’s world is all pivoted around social media and promotion.

(SW): The only full-time staff there were the 2 greenkeepers, I got a retainer and at the time the caterer got a small retainer. That was it. Everybody else volunteered. There was no Manager, there was no full-time Secretary. It was kind of interesting to see a club function on the goodwill of the membership. As a result, I ended up going down the Director of Golf route.

Director of Golf

(GH): That is a neat link as in preparation for today I read that in 2015 you became the first lady PGA Professional to gain the PGA Director of Golf qualification…tell me more?

(SW): This role is more vocational so the qualification is more evidence-based. It is a two-part qualification. The first part is a certificate in golf club management. That was very much answering questions demonstrating you had the knowledge. The second part to achieve the full director of golf qualification was for you to provide evidence, a bit like an NVQ, that not only did you have the knowledge but also the evidence to prove that you had worked in the various areas. Involved a lot of research examining what you didn’t know and identify areas where to progress and thus need to fill in those blanks. From that aspect, it was very good in that it made me look at what I did differently. For me the areas where I may have had a weakness were Hospitality, Catering, etc. because I didn’t have the same amount of input as I had in other areas.

Move to Belton Park Golf Club

(GH): That almost brings us to the present day where you are now the Head Professional at the beautiful Belton Park Golf Club. How did the move from Kington to Belton unfold?

(SW): This was probably a role I did not expect to move into. I was looking more down perhaps the Managerial route just from the experiences I had. I did some work with Joe Kelly from the PGA who is the head Business Relationship Officer and I really brought him to Kington with a view of how we could re-structure Kington to run more efficiently and professionally. We were having a conversation and he mentioned this club and said it was a great club, great opportunities for a Head Pro and it has a very good membership…you should have a look at it? Just so far removed from anything that I was thinking about at that time. I submitted my CV and I was invited for an interview.

(GH): With a PowerPoint Presentation?

(SW): Nothing like that this time, but thought it best to double-check!! I did some research and was fortunate enough to be offered the position.

(GH): When did you actually start?

(SW): I started in September 2017.

(GH): Similar to an earlier question, any initial objectives or challenges?

(SW): Very different role. This is a very busy club with a 3 tee start so to be fair my role is quite different here from what it was at Kington. Much more hands-on with the coaching.

(GH): In many ways, you have gone full circle in that you said you wanted to become a Professional to combine your ability to teach with a love of playing golf.

(SW): Very much so. This role as Head Professional provides an opportunity to do lots of different things and every day is different. It offers many different guises. From coaching to club repairs, to the retail operation…

(GH): And you are still playing…I noticed you did well in the recent WPGA Championship at Trentham Park Golf Club?

(SW): Yeah. I finished T6 so I was quite happy with that in that I have not played a huge amount of golf recently. Just the time to practise but I tried to put a bit more time in.

New to Golf – Get Golf Ready

(GH): In preparation for today, I read about your initiative called ‘New to Golf – Get Golf Ready’. What is this (fantastic sounding) initiative all about?

(SW): We have piloted it this year. The aim is to try and put a platform in place to get new members. The pilot ran back in April with the taster session and then 8 people signed up for the 4 sessions after the taster session. Very simple, just an opportunity for them to try golf with no commitment. They all came and we finished off with a 3-hole Texas Scramble. I think all but one have joined up as Academy members, which is a new membership category at the club. Part of the membership fee includes some coaching sessions and they will have access to all of our practise facilities. The aim is to get them out on our 9 short holes called the Deer Course which we use for Juniors as well as beginners. The aim is to get them out on that course as soon as possible and to also introduce them to the social side of the club. Very much integrating them with existing members.

(GH): This initial group…all backgrounds/ages?

(SW): The current group probably runs from 40ish through to 60ish. A mixed group as well which I am a huge fan of to try and stop any segregation before they even think about joining a golf club. The ladies see that the gents also don’t hit great shots all of the time. And the dynamic of the group has been really good.

(GH): You must have taken a lot of satisfaction from this embryonic initiative?

(SW): I will take more satisfaction if we retain them as members for next year as that will mean we have got it right this year. The coaching element, in my opinion, is the easy bit. That is what we do. It is this next 12 months really of can we get them from having a go at golf to genuinely wanting to be part of the golf club. If we can get all of them from Academy Membership to Full Membership that would be phenomenal. Watch this space and let’s see how successful it is!! Hopefully, this pilot group can help us mould future schemes for what works and maybe what we do differently and better next time.

Teaching Philosophy

(GH): Just turning attention back to coaching…what is your Teaching/Coaching Philosophy?

(SW): ‘Own your Game’. Everyone is an individual. It is very important to understand what each person wants out of their lessons. Whether it’s a quick fix because they are just lacking a little bit of confidence and just need pointing in the right direction to people who have come with a very clear agenda on their long term aspirations.

(GH): Very much chameleon-like in your approach.

(SW): 100%. That person is the most important person in that coaching session. We have always got our own preferences but ultimately you have to listen to what that person wants as it is their lesson. Yes, you can lead and guide them if you believe there is a way forward that is maybe different from what they thought but it is down to us to listen to what they want.

Changes in Golf

(GH): What would you say is the biggest change you have observed in the game of golf?

(SW): There is a huge amount talked about with equipment which as we all know has changed dramatically from say 30 years ago. Probably the golf ball is the most influential change I think for distance with the studies done with Professionals hitting old and new golf balls. But what we actually forget is that this next generation of golfers are athletes. They are seen as athletes; they approach the game very differently. Mainly because I think there is more knowledge out there and they are looking for that extra 1% from wherever it comes from and I certainly think that this whole biomechanical strength and conditioning area is a huge part of every player on tour regardless of their physical shape. They are all ‘golf fit’ and they all know how to move properly to primarily avoid injury as the tour schedules are quite harsh and to generate as much physical speed as possible. That is the big change in the game now as all players (men, women, seniors) are hitting the ball further now than they did say 20 years ago. I think there are players on the Seniors Tour that are hitting the ball further than they did in their so-called prime.

(GH): It’s all about those ‘margins’ that separate the Top 50 from the Top 10 and so on.

(SW): Yeah. I don’t know if you are familiar with Mark Broadie and his research. As a mathematician, you will love his book ‘Every Shot Counts’!! He is an analyst and he has studied golf stats over a period I think of 10 to 15 years. You will see now on TV ‘strokes gained ratio’. He studied the game to look at where players gained an advantage over the field. His argument was that putting is maybe not as important as you think. Tiger Woods in his dominant period really won in spite of his putting. He was a good putter but actually, his strength from 175 to 225 yards (away from the green) blew the field away. He would gain 4 or 5 shots every Tournament on every other player. He was stronger, so he was taking less club, therefore, he was more accurate and thus provide more opportunities for birdies and eagles. All of a sudden the game has become very analytical. You would enjoy that!!

The best facet of your game

(GH): What would you say is the best facet of your game?

(SW): Usually, I am a reasonable driver of the golf ball though I do have my moments!! I don’t venture too far left and right. I have always been reasonably straight unless I am having a really off day. Usually fairly solid in holing out, you know those short little putts. Weaknesses would probably be iron play…I am either on or off!!

(GH): What about your Course Management?

(SW): I think course management really comes from playing as much as possible. I think any player that is not playing as much will probably not make the same good decisions. It’s like being match fit. I always think that you automatically make better decisions because you can compute the information more quickly.

Outside of golf

(GH): What are your interests outside of golf?

(SW): When I have the opportunity I still love to play golf!! Almost as a hobby rather than a living. And I have always enjoyed reading.

(GH): Any particular genres?

(SW): Tacky crime. Thrillers. Things like that. For fun, I still like to study in the background, enjoying learning new things, learning something new every day. I like to think that it’s not that you can’t do things it just you haven’t done them yet.

Favourite Sporting Event

(GH): What is your favourite sporting event?

(SW): I absolutely love the Olympics. As a child, I just loved the concept of doing all of those different activities. I still really enjoy sitting down and watching the Olympics.

(GH): Any favourite sports within the Olympics?

(SW): There is nothing like the Olympics to make you watch sports you have never heard of!!

(GH): Absolutely. I am sure I read an article the other week which said breakdancing was being introduced as a sport in the 2024 Olympics which are being held in Paris!!

(SW): I am not sure on that one though in time it may be hypnotic!! I just think the Olympics inspire so many people just to have a go at any sort of sport. Now golf is back in the Olympics. I think if it was match play it would be a better spectator sport as well. You are always hoping that being in the Olympics is a positive move forward for our sport. Away from the Olympics, for golf the Open Championship is just a showcase of good golf but just as a spectacle the Olympics for me.

(GH): Did you go to any of the events during the London Olympics 2012.

(SW): I didn’t but I did go to some of the events at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2010 but never had the chance in London. In 2012 the whole country came together and there are not many events that can do that and I just think the games are fabulous. Though the only worry is the increased commercialism associated with the Olympics.

Fantasy Fourball

(GH): In addition to yourself, who would you pick for your Fantasy Fourball?

(SW): Probably out of everyone who I watched as I got into golf, Annika Sörenstam was really at her peak and I think personally at the time she was the best player in the world, full stop. The way she dominated her sport. I don’t think she got that recognition globally from outside the women’s game but she just did everything. At the time in the men’s game, there wasn’t that one person dominating. Tiger was sort of in the background. I just think she would be pretty cool.

(GH): Ok, so that is you and Annika. Two more places to fill.

(SW): Harvey Penick if he had been alive. When I first started playing golf one of my friends got me his ‘Little Red Book’, long before I knew anything about golf instruction. I still think they are fabulous stories.

(GH): One more?

(SW): Probably Nick Faldo. Again, same time as when I started to get into golf Nick Faldo was the British name that even if you didn’t play golf you had heard the name. Again, he did a huge amount for the game of golf. His mentality on the golf course then is what you now see on a regular basis but maybe at the time was seen as a bit standoffish and aloof.

(GH): Not a bad fourball… Annika Sörenstam, Harvey Penick, Nick Faldo and yourself.

If not a Professional Golfer

(GH): Sarah, if you had not been a Professional Golfer, then what?

(SW): As a comedy sort of idea I always laugh when you watch the police programs and the people doing the research in the background finding lots of things out. I think I would quite enjoy that. From the studying I have done, I like the idea of ‘researchitis’ where you almost lose track of what you went to look for because you say ‘that looks interesting!! I kind of like that.

Favourite Golf Course

(GH): Other than Belton Park, which is your favourite golf course in the UK?

(SW): Royal Birkdale.

(GH): Gosh…I hardly finished the question before you answered!!

(SW): It was the first Open course I had the opportunity to play. Playing for Lancashire we used the Lytham and Southport coast quite a lot for winter training and some of our officials were members of Royal Birkdale so we were very lucky to play there for friendly matches and various other things and I just thought it was an absolute fabulous golf course. A challenging course but a very fair course. Maybe because of the dunes as every hole is ‘inside’, nothing is hidden. Probably one of the most forward-thinking clubs that I had the pleasure of going into. They had equality there long before it became legally necessary and a Spike Bar. Everything was already in place long before anyone had to do it. Just the whole atmosphere in the clubhouse was brilliant. The perception of the so-called bigger clubs is often misunderstood. I have always enjoyed the whole hospitality and the course every time I have been there.

(GH): And your favourite golf course outside of the UK?

(SW): I think it has to be a course I have played mainly because you have the whole experience and not just the visuals. One of the courses I played many years ago was Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary, Taupo, New Zealand. At the time I wasn’t a fabulous golfer. I was just getting into golf. It would have been about 2000. It just seemed like a real, proper, beautifully manicured golf course and I think they actually turned down the opportunity to host the New Zealand Open because the owners did not want cables running through the course. I always remember Wairakei being the first course that I ever really played that was just so beautiful. I also really enjoyed playing Harbour Town. I got the opportunity to play there a few years ago. The first tournament after the US Masters is played at Harbour Town. I thought it was a fantastic course, a strategic course.

Marooned

(GH): A bit of fun. You are marooned on a remote Island. What would you not be without?

(SW): I would need a book so let’s say a Kindle and pre-load some books to read. A good bottle of wine and a comfortable bed!!

(GH): Only a 5-star remote island could provide comfy beds!!

(SW): It is. I like a comfortable bed and a good night’s sleep.

(GH): Read, Drink & Sleep…sounds good!!

The Nineteenth

(GH): And finally. You are now in charge of the R&A. What would be your mission statement/vision for Golf over the next few years?

(SW): I think I would love to see it become a little bit more European in its approach where a lot of countries really don’t segregate the men, the women and the juniors. They just have ‘competition’ and I know it is something we have done with some of the competitions here. I just think as a country we are very entrenched in this is a men’s competition, this is a ladies competition. These are the men’s tees these are the ladies tees. Everything is very much labelled and I think to some degree I feel that what they have done on the Tour with the Jordan Open and the Golf Sixes where they have taken players from the Ladies Tour, the Challenge Tour and the Seniors Tour has worked fantastically well. I play a lot of Tour Events and Pro-Ams and they prove we can play all together. Yes, there are modifications needed to the distances, etc. but we shouldn’t see that as a reason not to. I think for the future of the game that integration for me would be great. I grew up playing golf with the men. They were my friends. No barriers.

(GH): At the end of the day, we are all golfers with a shared love of the game of golf.

(SW): Yeah. We are all golfers. I really didn’t understand these clearly defined ‘you can’t play in this or that”…

(GH): …and you must play off that tee.

(SW): Yeah. Very much. For me personally, I would love to see golf to be a little bit more relaxed but I know that is going to take generations because when you are entrenched in a certain way of doing things it takes time. Just like the new rules, it is hard to stop saying hazard and start saying penalty area so I know there are aspects that won’t change instantly. But I just think that society has changed and I think to get more women into golf than actually just playing 10:00 on a Tuesday morning is very counterproductive to that. I understand that there is a group of ladies who love playing golf at 10:00 on a Tuesday and you would never take that away but I think it would be nice to have the opportunity for people to just go and play golf without a label and just go and enjoy it.

(GH): And that is what golf is all about…enjoyment.

(SW): Yeah. I think we have got to take the hurdles out of the way so if someone wants to play off the yellow tees let them play off the yellow tees. Let’s not label them men’s or ladies tees. That’ what I would like to see.

(GH): Brilliant way to finish a really enjoyable chat…Sarah, a huge thanks for your time today and for sharing a wonderful, thoughtful, passionate and at times humorous insight into your golfing life and career to date. Also, many thanks to the hospitality of Belton Park Golf Club…shame about the weather!!