A graduate is celebrating getting the ‘job of a lifetime’ with Ryder Cup France 2018 – just months after finishing the PGA and Birmingham University accredited degree course in Applied Golf Management Studies.
Bilingual Eleanor Woodall has secured the all-encompassing role of Ryder Cup project supervisor, having admitted she only applied for the post speculatively.
Now the 21-year-old, who only graduated this summer, is now taking stock of the job she has secured and how it will dominate the next seven years of her life in the build up to 42nd Ryder Cup matches at Le Golf National near Paris – only the second Continental venue – following Club de Golf, Valderrama, in Spain in 1997 – to host the event.
“I applied for the job never expecting to it get as I was really young, had only just graduated and given that so many people in France have got degrees, I didn’t expect much,” she said. “At the interview, they were quite shocked that I was so young and with a considerable amount of experience had to ask me again just to check I was 21.
“The AGMS degree gave my application added value; not only for what I learned but also for the experience I gained on placement. Speaking fluent French and English also helped and all these factors mean I’ve now got a job for the next seven years!
“I start the job in October and I have to admit it’s a rather great job title – Ryder Cup project supervisor. I’ll be supervising the programme and overseeing the co-ordination of all of the projects linked with the entire event in France. One of them is to get 100 new golf clubs and make the sport more financially accessible for everyone. I’ll have to make sure that the courses are being built.
“There will be so much going on, it’s incredible to think I have this job.”
Prior to landing the role, Woodall, who was born in Geneva, as her parents worked for the United Nations, and grew up in Brittany, had been working for Elite Coaching Golf Academy, in Evian-des-Bain, home of the Evian Masters.
“I did my placement with them while I was on the AGMS course and when I finished I got a job with them,” she said. “It’s a small company but it’s got a big future. They work by Lake Geneva in the summer and then go to Australiain the winter. My boss wanted me to go and the lure of Australia and working out there was so tempting but being given the chance to work on the Ryder Cup was too good an opportunity.”
Woodall was one of six women to graduate this year from the course, which was the highest number since the AGMS degree was launched nearly 10 years ago. Gary Jackson, AGMS programme manager for the PGA added: “The AGMS course is very challenging but offers all students a solid grounding for a wide range of careers in the golf industry.
“Eleanor was an exceptionally hard-working student and is the latest in a long line of graduates to secure excellent roles within the game and I am sure she will be a great success with Ryder Cup 2018.”
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