PODCAST: Wentworth's Kenny Mackay discusses the BMW PGA Championship

In episode 8 of The Green Room Golf Course Podcast, Kenny Mackay of The Wentworth Club discusses how the change to the European Tour schedule will impact course preparation for the BMW PGA Championship.

The course we’re visiting this week needs no introduction. Wentworth is home to the European Tour and each year hosts the BMW PGA Championship.

The courses and estate are under the stewardship of Kenny Mackay, the former BIGGA chairman who previously worked at The Belfry before joining Wentworth following the retirement of Chris Kennedy in 2012.

Since then Kenny has overseen a number of changes at Wentworth, including a multi-million pound restructuring of the West course ahead of the BMW PGA Championship in 2017.

But this year will see a challenge of a different sort as a mix up of the professional golfing schedule has seen the championship shift from its May date to September. Rather than signalling the start of the UK golfing season, the tournament will now in many ways signal its conclusion. You can be certain that the West will be in unbelievable condition, but don’t assume that it won’t be the result of an incredible amount of hard work from the home greenkeeping team.

I spoke to Kenny about how he has adapted his working calendar to suit the changes and how he anticipates preparations going ahead of the tournament. 

The Green Room Golf Course Podcast is produced by Karl Hansell, on behalf of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association.

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