Morpeth’s John Scurfield and Sharpley’s Paul Walton head a team of North East and Yorkshire-based greenkeepers heading for Carnoustie for the 147th Open Championship this summer.
The duo will be part of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association’s volunteer support team, which sees a greenkeeper on hand to assist every match throughout the championship.
Each year the R&A requests BIGGA’s assistance with hosting the championship, meaning BIGGA members have been on hand to witness some of the greatest moments in the history of the game, including Jordan Spieth’s spectacular final round at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
This year will be John’s first trip to work at The Open and the 32-year-old is looking forward to it.
“It’s the first time I’ve done it and when the BIGGA invitation came up I jumped at it, it’s just the sort of thing I want to do,” said John.
Yorkshire’s Richard Holmes (Crosland Heath), Anthony McGeough (Richmond), Ash Smith (Meltham), Robert Smith (Pannal) and John Waite (Scarthingwell) will also be in the group along with Kimberley Yeldham, deputy head greenkeeper at Royal West Norfolk, who is joining the team for the first time.
