Greenkeeping: a career with enduring potential
We caught up with Jack Wellings after his recent promotion, which saw him become the Deputy Course Manager at the JCB Golf & Country Club. After just ten years in the industry, we quizzed Jack about why greenkeeping is a long-term career.
An unknown career
Like many who join the industry, turfcare wasn’t something Jack initially wanted to do as a career. However, after experiencing the job, his opinion changed drastically: “I share the same story as most greenkeepers; a lot of us fell into the industry after not knowing what we wanted to do at school and a job outdoors had always appealed to me. The 9-to-5 office job was completely against what I wanted to do. I never had an interest in golf, but when you’re out there and feeling it every day, it is incredibly special.”
After his first week as an apprentice greenkeeper at Brocton Hall Golf Club, Jack understood that this was the career for him:
“I grew up with parents who both hated work, but by the end of that first week, it felt like I hadn’t worked and I loved it. Once you’re in the turfcare industry, you don’t really want to fall out of it and this is what I can see myself doing for my whole career.”
Jack highlighted the issues of recruitment into turfcare, as well as addressing what we can do to promote the industry: “You never see anything advertised or promoted about working as a greenkeeper. We’ve tried to get into schools and colleges to promote what the job is and the number of opportunities available in turfcare, and we’ve also attended open fairs and recruitment days to try and get interest. I know that BIGGA are banging the drum with their First Green initiative, but it’s important that everyone else is pushing the same message.”
From Brocton Hall to JCB Deputy… how did it happen?
“I spent five years at Brocton Hall and loved every minute of it. I’m still good friends with some of the team and I experienced a lot of hands-on training and education. I was originally appointed to take over the role from Ian Underhill who was retiring, and I learned a lot from him.”
“Living in Stafford, JCB was only thirty minutes up the road and they were advertising for a Senior Greenkeeper-in-training role. I had my Level 2, which was something that they found desirable. After spending half an hour in the room with Callum Wark (Course Manager) and Rob (Irrigation Tech), I fell in love with the place. It opened a whole different world about greenkeeping and turfcare that I didn’t realise existed. I also didn’t realise the scale of JCB as a company, and I went straight into the Rose Series hosted by Justin Rose. I had gone from a Captain’s Day at Brocton to a professional golf tournament in the blink of an eye. It was mind-blowing to be prepare the course and witness first hand everything that goes into hosting such an event.”
People in this industry are special
Jack paid tribute to those who have helped him throughout his journey in turfcare and alluded to the importance of role models: “There are too many people who have helped me throughout the last ten years. Role models in this industry are extremely important for personal growth and to pinpoint one person would be very unfair. At the start of my career, Ian Underhill showed me everything I needed to know and now, as I progress, Callum Wark continually helps my development. He pushed me to the FTMI (Future Turf Managers Initiative) with Jacobsen and Sam Evans remains a brilliant mentor to me. People like that in this industry are special.”
“As I now reflect on my new role, it’s certainly been a step up. There’s a hell of a lot more pressure compared to being a senior greenkeeper. I’m nowhere near perfect, but I will always push to make things better. JCB are massive supporters of the golf course and they’ve made the transition into deputy extremely comfortable.”
“I won’t stop there though… Ever since I started in this industry, I’ve always wanted to be a golf course manager or a head greenkeeper. I want to follow in the footsteps of those individuals like Sam Evans and Callum Wark.”
What is your advice to others?
Jack has grabbed every opportunity that’s been offered to him, and he encourages others to have the same approach: “Get involved as a volunteer. Come and do some work at JCB when we have LIV Golf in July. You might not be enjoying where you are, but the world of turfcare is huge, and opportunities to change are there.”
“I would push course managers and head greenkeepers to encourage their younger staff to get involved at BTME and Continue to Learn. There are so many things that can help develop your career.”
The JCB team
The greenkeeping team at JCB has grown from 33 to 46 in 2025. The company is huge and people won’t have a concept of how much support they give us on the golf course - it’s a massive platform and their vision is mind-blowing. Some people might think 46 members of staff for an 18-hole facility is outrageous, however it’s realistic with the number of things that JCB wants to do.
The treatment and welfare here is also incredible; they want to look after the staff because they want the staff to look after the course to a high standard. Last year, we had eight of the team undertaking Level 2 and 3 and other golf courses would do well to follow the JCB model in terms of looking after greenkeepers.”
