Hadlow College has announced that they are the first centre in the UK to have been awarded approval to offer the newly developed 0143 Golf Greenkeeping Standard Apprenticeship.
The Kent land-based college was recently fast-tracked approved by City & Guilds to offer the qualification, which has been developed by The Greenkeepers Training Committee in association with BIGGA and England Golf.
The Apprenticeship has already had its first two applicants
The apprenticeship standard typically takes two years to complete and upon completion, apprentices will be eligible to join BIGGA as a full member and become a BIGGA Accredited Greenkeeper.
Anthony Stockwell, Sports Turf Assessor at Hadlow College, said, "I am very optimistic for the future of greenkeeping education and I believe these changes will continue to raise the standards within the profession."
The College already has its first two applicants, Adam Richardson, 17, and Callum Melody, 18, who are the first students in the South of England to take the new apprenticeship. Both will be based at Royal St. George’s, the Open Championship course in Sandwich, Kent.
Adam, who has already been working as a caddy at Royal St. George’s for 3 years, said, “We’re the guinea pigs for this brand new apprenticeship, so we don’t really know what to expect yet, but we’re buzzing with excitement.”
Callum, who has been working at Walmer & Kingsdown Golf Club in Deal, Kent, said: “I’m hoping to progress onto the Level 3 GTC Trailblazer Apprenticeship after completing this one. We’ll both be fully-qualified by the time of the 2020 Open, so it’s exciting to think we could be working there, since Royal St George’s is on the venue rotation and may be hosting.”
Apprenticeships at Hadlow College are delivered by the Apprenticeships, Business and Community (ABC) department, who offer a full recruitment service, supporting employers with pre-screening and shortlisting applicants, advertising vacancies, arranging interviews, assessments and facilitating training. Employers using ABC as their training partner will have access to the very best training and state-of-the-art facilities at sites across Kent.