'Female greenkeepers should be par for the course'

"It's so frustrating that not a lot of women know about this career at all," according to award-winning greenkeeper Anna Nilsson.

As the deputy head greenkeeper of the renowned Brabazon golf course at The Belfry Hotel and Resort in the West Midlands, she claims to be the only woman in the UK to manage a top competition golf course.

She runs a team of 45 people and has been able to travel worldwide through her job.

The 40-year-old's work was recognised in November, when she won an award at the 2024 Women in Golf Awards.

The club is a four-time host of the Ryder Cup and hosts events including the DP World Tour, charity and corporate competitions.

Ms Nilsson's goal is to encourage and inspire more women to choose greenkeeping as a career.

"When you go to any organisation or any events you can definitely see that there's not a lot of females in this industry at all," she said, "none that are running the top notch prestigious arenas, unfortunately."

"If we look at a worldwide scenario, we had the only female apart from me that is at a bigger golf course, and that's Laura Arias, who was the superintendent at Marco Simone [Golf and Country Club, in Italy] for the Ryder Cup [in 2023].

Figures from the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association show that fewer than 1% of members are women, a figure the organisation said it wanted to see change.

Attracting more women to the game overall has been on the agenda after the sport faced criticism for being out of step by being too white, male, elderly and expensive.

Trying to open the eyes of young women into picking greenkeeping as a career is something Ms Nilsson, backed by the Sutton Coldfield golf club, takes seriously.

"I'm all for glamor and everything like that and I think a lot of women think that you're dirty and scruffy, but absolutely not - I've got my nails on.

"It is so, so funny because I mean, I don't look like the the standard greenkeeper, I keep getting told that."

To inspire young minds, the club brings in children to see the course and grounds and runs workshops, while Ms Nilsson also visits schools to give talks about her work.

She said jobs were out there and not only in golf - pointing out that there were careers available in football and tennis.

Ms Nilsson said she somehow fell into greenkeeping, but has not looked back.

Girls that now follow her on social media are surprised and impressed by what her job entails, she said, and "think it's really cool".

"You don't have to be a golfer to be a greenkeeper," she added.

"That's the main thing I think a lot of people think that you have to be good at, but it's not - I'm horrendous at golf."

Her role involves logistics and planning, a microbiology and chemical aspect along with pest control, but she said she had learned on the job without the need for a university degree.

Having a love of sustainability and nature was also rewarded in her job, she said.

"Golf courses are so good for nature. We've got a family of muntjacs living on [hole] 13.

"You drive out watching the sun rise and see the muntjacs just run across and we've got barn owls. It's lovely."

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