Recognition following BIGGA award for Dudley

It took a bit of coaxing for Stewart Marshall and Rob Woodall to make their way on to the stage after Dudley Golf Club were announced as the winners in the Greenkeeping Project of the Year category at the 2024 BIGGA Awards. It wasn’t a reluctance to get up in front of a crowd that made them linger a little longer at their table in the main auditorium of Harrogate Convention Centre but a sense of disbelief that kept them firmly rooted to their seats while host The Jazzy Golfer tried to cajole them into action.

The emotional impact on both Marshall and Woodall was plain to see as the giant screen bearing the words ‘Winners – Dudley Golf Club’ made it clearer still that they had indeed won.

 

Even now, months on from that January evening at BTME when the latest in a seemingly never-ending succession of named storms was swirling around outside, Dudley’s course manager is still trying to make sense of it all.

“We never thought we’d win,” said Marshall, who recently gained a distinction in his Level 2 certification. “The awards were not on our radar at all; we were nominated by the Midlands Golfer Magazine. Just to have that nomination was really nice in itself, and making the shortlist was obviously even better, but when we looked at the competition, we didn’t think we had a chance of winning it.

“I didn’t give any thought to what I might say on the stage if we did win, or what it would mean for the club and myself if we managed to.” As it turned out, speaking without a script and from the heart served Marshall well as he praised General Manager Woodall and the many volunteers who helped keep Dudley going when all looked lost.

The club had come within a whisker of closing down as membership numbers dropped and the course fell into disrepair. Woodall had informed the 150 or so members still left that the clock was ticking. The Covid pandemic provided the unlikely catalyst for an equally unexpected revival as, when the easing of restrictions allowed for it, many more people were looking to play golf, and Dudley was among the beneficiaries.

Leading a team of three, with the club’s dire circumstances meaning none of them were qualified greenkeepers at the time, Marshall oversaw a drastic improvement of the course that relied more on creativity, hard graft and community spirit than any sort of budget, and most of what was spent came from donations.

Amid all that work, Marshall – who made a bold career change to greenkeeping after leaving his role as an operations manager – never stopped to imagine that it might win the club an award, so when he found out they were potentially in the running for Greenkeeping Project of the Year, he didn’t actually believe it.

 

“BIGGA contacted us to say we’d been nominated, and I thought it was a scam! I had to check it was true and, sure enough, it was. They asked if I could submit evidence and some photographs showing before and after and that kind of thing. We put in 82 pieces of evidence to show the work that had gone on and then later found out we’d been shortlisted.”

It all led to that night at BTME, and the spotlight that fell on Dudley there has continued to follow them, with Marshall enjoying a kind of celebrity status. He has appeared in many publications and on podcasts, with his new-found fame leading to him being recognised out and about.

“It’s crazy. I was playing at a local course recently and went into the shop, and the pro in there recognised me – he was reading a piece in a PGA magazine about Dudley, and it had my photo in there. Stuff like that is a bit surreal to be honest.

“James Bledge contacted me soon after the awards to go on his podcast, which was a big deal – this guy is course manager at a place that’s just hosted The Open and he wants to talk to me! It’s been quite enjoyable and it’s all stuff I’m happy to do.”

It hasn’t gone to his head, and Marshall’s modesty means he struggles to comprehend quite why Dudley’s story has captured the imagination in the way it has, though he has begun to appreciate that there are many out there in the industry who can identify with it.

“I think maybe the fact that you could tell it meant something to us to win the award is what first made people take notice,” he explained. “I’m not saying it didn’t matter to the other winners, of course it did, but I don’t think they were necessarily on the verge of tears, so people possibly related to that.

 

“My wife has really allowed me to make such a drastic career change at the midpoint of my life, so the support that our family has given to me, and the sacrifices I’ve made when I was working crazy hours and getting to the point where I can’t even take my socks off some evenings because it’s been such a graft – it’s a combination of all of that I think that came across when I was on the stage.

“A lot of these greenkeepers at bigger clubs, places like Walton Heath, who were also winners on the night, they will have started off at a course like Dudley where they probably felt insignificant then, so they understand it too.”

With the awards triumph having elevated the profile of the course and its manager, Marshall hopes other clubs of a similar ilk will consider themselves worthy of recognition – even if they might need a hand from elsewhere in the form of a nomination.

“I understand why people wouldn’t want to nominate themselves, and it’s not something I would have thought to do, but there might be people out there who know of clubs who deserve that recognition who might want to nominate them, which is what happened in our case.

“It can be tougher at these smaller clubs – there are no on-site mechanics or spare machines, we have to bush fix anything that breaks, and the budget isn’t always there to buy new things or replace old stuff like-for-like. Those are the sort of challenges you face, and I do hope seeing us win gave other clubs in a similar position the sense that they could do it too. People had probably never heard of Dudley before, but it feels like we’re on the map now.”

 

The club’s membership numbers have continued to grow this year, and there was further good news for Marshall when he was selected to join the Volunteer Support Team at the Open, with his wife quick to spread the word far and wide.

“I think she’s more excited about that than anything else. She works at a neonatal unit, and she tells everyone I’ll be there. They’re all turning into golf fans for a week, hoping they’ll catch a glimpse of me.” GI

 

Top tips from Michael Mann, Course Manager at Walton Heath

The team at Walton Heath took home the prize of Championship Greenkeeping Performance of the Year after hosting the 2023 AIG Women's Open. Here, Course Manager Michael Mann shares his top tips on how to prepare the course for the biggest events at your club.

1) Expectations: Ensure you are absolutely clear from event organisers what the expectation is in terms of course conditions

2) Time: Give yourself plenty of time to plan. Avoid leaving it to the last minute. The earlier you plan, the more comfortable you will be with the execution

3) Resources: Determine what is needed in terms of manpower and equipment. Is it something that can be done in-house or will you need additional support to deliver? Once you know this, start preparing a plan for ideal conditions

4) Contingency: Weather hugely influences on-course conditions. As well as the ideal weather plan, contingency planning is very important. Make plans for every possible eventuality and make sure you have the equipment and manpower to implement them

5) Flexibility: The ability to be flexible and react to any situation is a must. Towing out stuck contractors’ vehicles, herding escaped sheep and operating a pump, knee deep in a puddle of a burst sewage bag, are some personal highlights!

6) Teamwork: You will only succeed as a team. Delegating is a great way of engaging team members by giving them additional responsibilities

How to prepare an effective award nomination

Nominations are now open for the 2025 BIGGA Awards. If you are thinking of nominating someone, take advantage of these top tips:

• Remember, it is likely the judges do not know anything about your story, so make sure you take the time to explain everything you achieved that sets your nomination apart from the rest
• The judging panel relies on concise and complete nominations. Set your nomination out in a format that matches the judging criteria, and this will make scoring easier
• Well-written nominations supported by high quality imagery or videos are sure to catch the eye
• Poorly prepared nominations will not highlight the technical accomplishments of your nominee
• Provide details of specific examples of challenges and explain how they were overcome
• Solicit support - references from stakeholders or event hosts will add weight to your nomination