Prestbury’s Mark Crossley on shaping careers and golf courses

Mark Crossley forged his own path to the role of course manager in short order, ascending to the position by the age of 24, but it’s his knack of helping others achieve their career goals that really makes him stand out.

Now 42 and the course manager at Prestbury, Crossley’s track record of identifying, supporting and developing young talent is impressive, with his proteges occupying top positions at courses across the UK.

It’s not hard to see why the Burnley native has proven such an inspirational mentor given the exceptional standards he has delivered at Prestbury, a Harry Colt-designed course that may lack in size but has grown immeasurably in stature and prestige since Crossley’s arrival in 2015.

First flickers of ambition

The father-of-two, who recently married long-time partner Katy before honeymooning in Dubai, sees it as his responsibility to aid the development of others for the good of an industry he loves.

Crossley had a formative experience of his own when an old college friend he bumped into at BTME invited him to help out at Stockport Golf Club, which was hosting an Open qualifying event in 2003.

“He said I should come along and meet the team, get some experience under my belt there, and it would stand me in good stead if anything came up there in the future,” he said. “I took him up on that, and I was just blown away by the standards they were producing there under Warren Bevan. Within a few months I was there full-time as first assistant, and it was only at that stage I started to think how great it would be to manage a course at that level.”

Stepping up

His first course manager role came at Mickleover before a spell at Chesterfield preceded his appointment at Prestbury – an opportunity that very nearly passed him by.

“I’d been earmarked for another course manager role but, on the last day of the advertisement that I’d spotted in Greenkeeper International, I was heading back from a weekend in Chester, and I thought I’d go and have a look at Prestbury,” he said. “I drove past the multimillion-pound houses with all the Bentleys, Rolls Royces and Aston Martins and thought, ‘I wouldn’t mind a little bit of this’. I just got a really good vibe about the place.” Within a few hours of dropping off his CV, Crossley was asked back for an interview – he’s had almost 10 years in the job now, and it’s been an immensely productive spell for Prestbury. It was all part of his plan.

Room for improvement

On that first walk around the course back in 2015, Crossley was suitably impressed but could readily identify areas for improvement. It was February and the course appeared to have been put to bed for the winter, lacking the vitality required for optimal playing conditions, with organic matter on the greens and a notable absence of definition. Crossley wasn’t picking out problems so much as spotting opportunities – the ways in which he could take an excellent summer course and turn it into a year-round thing of beauty.

“Prestbury already had a very good reputation and I saw lots of potential to make it even better. It’s a sandy-based course, there’s areas of heathland we can promote, and through general practices, such as aeration, topdressing and low inputs of water and fertiliser, I knew we could actually produce a really good year-round golf course,” he said. “Members say now the conditions during the off-season are as good as they’ve ever seen during the season.”

Teamwork makes the dream work

Prestbury’s high standards in 2024 reflect Crossley’s vision from nearly a decade ago, but he would be the first to admit it has not been a solo undertaking. His team, now 10-strong including Crossley, continue to deliver the goods, aided by a shed stocked with over £1million worth of machinery.

He prioritises three things when identifying the staff he wants in his team: integrity, honesty and hunger, and Crossley believes the best way to get the most out of them is to lead by example.

“I demand high standards from the team, but that starts by delivering on that myself. I’m someone who likes to lead from the front, and I’ll never ask someone to do a job that I wouldn’t do or haven’t done myself,” he said.

“I’m also very results-oriented, and that’s important in this industry because we’re asked to produce results every day we come to work. We’ve got members and visitors who pay a lot of money, and they expect five-star service from the whole experience, which obviously includes the playing conditions.”

"The course at Prestbury is a Harry Colt classic – the work of arguably the greatest golf course architect of all time. It sits on a tiny piece of land and the fact he’s produced this golf course in such a space shows the genius of the bloke. It’s not particularly long but it’s undulating and it’s tight. The greens we produce are generally firm and fast, with many featuring false fronts, and then there’s the new bunkering in place now as well. Overall, it’s a really good test of golf for all calibre of player".

The unique challenges of maintaining Prestbury

"Our challenges come down to winter wear as much as anything. We’ve got quite a few pinch points – the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 17th greens are all within 150 yards of each other, which is quite a unique design aspect.

The undulations mean water gathers in the low spots, and there are issues with divoting because balls run down to those spots too. The difference between our highest point and the lowest is huge, so getting people down to the lowest points on 11 and 12 is tricky. Our tees are very close to the greens, which means the walk-off areas are under a lot of stress. No members or greenkeepers like to see ropes around the course, but at times it’s a necessary evil.

Ultimately, we do our best to produce a golf course that members can be proud of 12 months a year."

Chasing perfection

Such lofty expectations leave no room for complacency and, while Crossley acknowledges the pursuit of perfection is never ending, the ideal is something worth striving towards. Just before the end of 2022, Prestbury concluded an ambitious project to upgrade the irrigation to all greens and approaches, including 104 new sprinklers, pipe and cable, the levelling of the 17th green and a complete refurbishment of all 61 bunkers. It was completed within 21 weeks – 11 ahead of schedule – without exceeding the £750,000 budget, and the course stayed open to members the whole time. It was another string to the bow for Crossley and his team.

“We take great pride in the job we’ve done, and that goes beyond me and my team. I’ve benefitted from having a very stable Green Committee during my time here, which has helped massively – they push us hard and we push them hard,” he said.

“I think while we’ve unlocked some previously untapped potential, there’s certainly more to achieve. There’s more to come in terms of construction, playing qualities, in terms of sward composition change – so, yes, we’ve come a long way and we’re extremely proud of that, but we keep driving forwards.”

 

Future plans

The job Crossley is doing at Prestbury hasn’t gone unnoticed and, as someone who has provided a career boost to so many others, the man himself still has professional aspirations, though he’s keen to stress that ambition doesn’t necessarily lead to itchy feet.

“There are still one or two jobs out there that I’d like to look at, but they’d also have to be the right jobs for my family as well as my career and my wife’s career,” he said.

“But I’m passionate about this golf club, I’m grateful for the support they’ve given me, and I hope in return I’ve rewarded them with my hard work and professionalism.

“As a team, we strive every year to be better than the previous year. I think you can be ambitious without moving jobs, and the ambition is to keep producing better standards year-upon-year at Prestbury Golf Club.” GI

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