Sporting Barbados caught up with Sean Edey – Royal Westmoreland PGA Golf Professional to find out some insights into Royal Westmoreland Golf Course and Club!
Sean, take us through your golf journey to being the first and only Bajan British qualified PGA Golf Professional?
It is very interesting being the first and currently only Barbadian who is qualified under the British PGA. This wasn’t even in my plans if I’m being honest, I graduated on May 8th 2010 from my college in Florida and my plan was to stay in the USA and try to play and make it on a mini tour. At this time the goal would have been very difficult since there wasn’t much sponsorship money around and even with great sponsorship it is extremely hard to make it as a playing g professional. A few days after graduation I received a call from Greg at Royal Westmoreland offering me a job as the assistant professional with the opportunity to do the British PGA qualification. This course is a three year course and includes a lot more than playing and teaching golf. They cover golf, business, sport science and coaching. It is the best thing that I could have done after college and it has paved the way for me to meet and interact with some amazing people all over the world.
You are the golf pro at Royal Westmoreland. What does that entail?
Being the golf professional at Royal Westmoreland has entailed many different roles over the years. I started in the membership department and learned how the different membership structures work, after that I was involved with the pro shop ordering, pricing and stock taking. I then moved on to running the golf operations, which is the department that deals with our golfers; for instance, meeting and greeting them and also preparing their golf cart and taking care of their clubs. This department has a huge impact on the golfers experience at the club and it is very important, they will be the last person you see before you go on the golf course and the first person you see when you get off the golf course. Last but by no means not least, I teach. This is by far my most favorite thing to do at work, I have conducted over four thousand lessons in the last 8 years and I thoroughly enjoy spending time with clients and imparting my knowledge on them about this amazing game called golf, that is every bit mental as it is physical.
Tell us a bit about the course and what’s your favourite hole and why?
I have played many golf courses and I would say that Royal Westmoreland is a design that doesn’t get old, the golf course is full of character and beautiful views, you can see the Caribbean Sea on 14 of the 18 holes and if that wasn’t impressive enough it is a location where you can watch some of the most amazing sunsets. Picking my favorite hole isn’t easy as they are so many that I love but if I had to pick a hole it would have to be number 18.
RWM have hosted some professional competitions in the past. Can you tell us about them?
Royal Westmoreland hosted a few professional events. The first one was the Shell Wonderful World of golf and this was in 1997 where Nick Faldo took on Tom Lehman, I was there and watched this match as a 10 year old. I also remember Tom putting on a clinic for the kids and teaching us how to play fades and draws.
Royal Westmoreland also hosted a European senior tour event for a few years, I think it was 2000-2002. This was a pro-am event and I had the luxury of being able to participate one year and I actually came second in the amateur section losing to a gentleman who is now known as The Most Honorable Desmond Haynes, he never lets me live this down, even though I was only 13 years old, he saved the news paper excerpts and sends them to me on what’s app at least once a year to remind me that I lost to him.
These events were great for the island because it gave some people the opportunity to really see golf at a very high level that they wouldn’t have seen live otherwise. I hope one day we can be a part of another professional event, it would be great for the island.
It’s a very exclusive club. Can visitors play? Can they stay at RWM and Play?
Yes the club is fairly exclusive but we do allow visitors to play. This time is very limited however, they can book a tee time between 10am and 11am and pay the full rate of $300usd if they want to play our golf course. They can also choose to stay with us on property which gives them more access to the golf course and the facilities such as gym, beach club, pool, tennis courts and paddle courts.
Is there a social side to Royal Westmoreland with competitions etc?
There is definitely a social aspect to the club, we have a very active schedule of tournaments for our membership and their guests which are conducted during the months of November and April. We all know this is known as the tourist season for the island and it is extremely busy during this time.
What’s in the pipeline for 2023?
For 2023, my goal is to increase my clientele and also the clientele of the club. Every year I try to be better at my role than I was the year before, this may include adding different ideas to both my teaching and the club. Always looking forward and never looking back.
