Whatley puts Morley Hayes on the map

In August, Morley Hayes hosted a professional event at the venue for the first time in over a decade as Craig Shave (Whetstone Golf Club) secured victory following a playoff with Sam Dodds (Coventry Golf Club). The thrilling finale at the Morley Hayes Championship was the perfect ending to a journey which has seen the club’s head professional James Whatley work hard to get a professional event back at the venue situated northeast of Derby.

The venue boasts a four-star hotel plus a hi-tech driving range and with the owners backing, Whatley wanted to stage an event to showcase what Morley Hayes has to offer to a wider audience. He was instrumental in deciding what the format for the tournament would be:

“I was asked my opinion as to what the best event would be, and I felt a pro and amateur PGA Midlands Order of Merit tournament would be the right formula.”

The course staged four consecutive PGA Europro events from 2002 to 2005 and a regional Order of Merit tournament followed two years after that. Since then, it has been starved of professional tournament until recently and Whatley is delighted with how the two days of tournament action unfolded at Morley Hayes:

“It’s been a fantastic journey to get us here. We’ve had great feedback from the pros about the greens – it’s been only positive feedback, and it’s great for them to come and see where I work as I’ve been nearly 18 years working here now.”

So why was Whatley so impassioned to stage the event?

“I think golf clubs across the country should be looking at staging events like this, it gives them an opportunity to showcase their facilities to a wider audience and help the club commercially as a result. Here at Morley Hayes, it was a great vehicle for us to show off our restaurants, hotel and driving range. The owners have spent a lot on the driving range and are continuing to do so, and during the event I had people coming up to me commenting on how the range looks totally different to when they last visited. It was great for Morley Hayes to hold an event like this.”

He goes on to say:

“It gives the golf club a chance to attract captain’s away days, golf societies and more, especially as we are able to cater for overnight stays with the hotel on site.”

Whatley was keen to explain how the whole process started:

“I have regular meetings with the owners, and they were saying it might be nice to have another event back at the club. They said they wanted to give the greenkeepers a focus, to ensure the course never drops its standard. So, we said let’s do it, let’s try and get a Midlands PGA event here. That was back in 2019 with the view to staging the event in 2020. Unfortunately, Covid put the brakes on that, but I continued to drive forward and ensure that we could stage it this year. It was important that we attracted a good standard of professional, so the club gave us the course for free and put on free coffees, teas and bacon rolls for all competitors. We then generated the prize fund through amateur’s entry fees.”

When asked about the planning process Whatley explained how it worked, in a bid to encourage more PGA professionals to follow his lead:

“Contrary to what people say, there wasn’t a huge amount of work needed to go into to staging the event. I would encourage more pros to do it, I think the problem is they get put off before they have even started because they think it’ll be difficult.

I had a meeting with The PGA once we had decided to stage the event and they had a readymade formula for a Pro-Am competition which made everything really easy in terms of planning.

The PGA did quite a lot of the work for me - it was more about getting the contracts signed with the golf club, choosing the best dates, ensuring the dates fit into the PGA schedule and making sure it doesn’t clash with any local tournaments or county events. Another thing to consider with our venue was function room availability, just basic details but ones that can easily be missed.”

Whatley was keen to highlight the efforts of others in the process:

“It would be remiss of me not to mention Max Howard, the manager of the golf club, who liaised with The PGA in the last month prior to the event to ensure that everything ran smoothly. It was very much a team effort. I also have to say that Andy Ellis and Matt Rowley at The PGA did a fantastic job.

Matt was liaising with the Head Greenkeeper, Alex Roberts, who had only started a month before the event. They both made sure the course was in great shape and tournament ready. The PGA supported and advised on the course set-up - they double check everything and to know they are there for you, day in day out, is a massive comfort.”

Whatley was also keen to highlight how this format can help to build a bond between pro and amateur:

“The amateurs loved seeing the pros play and being in the thick of the action. From a professional’s perspective it’s a great chance to take a client with you. The PGA really want to get pros playing more often, yes you might have to get some cover for the shop, but it gives you the opportunity to take a client out and you’ll create a customer for life, that’s what playing in Pro-Am’s does, you create relationships.”

James’ top tips:

• Highlight the benefits - ensure you make all stakeholders aware of the benefits of bringing a tournament to the golf club - showcasing the facilities and generating additional revenue.
• Use The PGA - The PGA are there to support you all the way, ensure you make the most of their expertise as they’ll ensure that come tournament day, everything will run like clockwork.
• Save the date - making sure that you pick a date which works within the schedule in both a golf context and for the venue.
• Look good - make sure your golf course is in great condition - you want amateurs to go away and tell people how great the course was and the facilities, which might mean future revenue if they come back as part of a society or with a group of mates.
• Relationship development - It’s a great way for you as a pro to build relationships with the owners/club committee. As a golf professional it demonstrates how you can add value to your job - it’s a chance for you to give something back to your golf club.
• Filming and photography - having the photos of the first tee dressed with The PGA boards and scoreboards as well as images of the starter is perfect for the club to be able to use in their marketing and communications going forward.
• Communicating to your membership - we had 50 pairs going out each morning and the last pairing went out at 11.30 so the course was given back to the club by midday, meaning it didn’t disrupt members or pay and play groups, so we were only giving up the golf course for 2 mornings. It’s a talking point for the members, you have a PGA event there and it creates a buzz.

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