Age: 52
Turned pro: 17
Home club: Bedlingtonshire Golf Club
How is this season going so far?
“It’s a busy one at Bedlingtonshire, as it has been for the last 28 years! Between my club, shop and teaching commitments I’m at the club a lot in the summer. I’m also the Lead Academy Coach for Northumberland, which takes up September and October when I’ll be sorting the pupils and coaches out. Apart from that, I’ve got my work with the PGA as a lead tutor on the Business Finance Degree and I’ll spend a few days each month down at the Belfry from November to March. All of that means I don’t get too much summer golf in nowadays unfortunately.”
How did you get into the game?
“I started at the age of 12, managed to get to a good standard quickly and thought I would be competing at a high level. Looking back, I was a very good putter so tended to score better than my overall ability. I did go for my European Tour Card, over 30 years ago now, but I quickly made the decision that coaching and retail was where I was best suited.”
What does the future hold?
“Being a big part of developing what the golf club offers its members. With the average age of members going up, it’s important to develop what we do as much as we can. Personally, I’m really enjoying working with my young tournament players so it would be great to see some of them get to the top of the game and I want to continue helping people at every level get the most out of the golf and enjoying the sport. Away from Bedlingtonshire, it’s great to see clubs going in the right direction with Alnmouth, Rothbury and Seahouses all employing PGA pros.”
Interesting fact?
Marcus’ son Mathew is one of the UK’s leading PGA professionals, while Marcus offers his pupils the chance to beat him on the putting green before a putting clinic to get the session free of charge.
