Telford green king Harry wins US golf trip
A dream has come true for a greenkeeper at a Shropshire golf club who will travel to America to take part in one of the biggest competitions of the year.
Harry Jones, 27, will leave Wrekin Golf Club in Telford for two or three weeks in May to help prepare the courses for The Players 2017 at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.
He will be cutting the green and the fairway and will perhaps even get the chance to see some of the world's most famous golfers up close.
The greenkeeper, who lives in a property at Wrekin Golf Club, said it was a chance to see how things are run on the bigger courses.
He said: "I always felt it was a long shot, but without sounding too eager I felt I had a chance if I conducted myself right and impressed them.
"I applied on the internet, then I had to do a video application and it ended on what felt like a job interview. I was asked about my work and how the structure of The British and International Golf Greenkeepers' Association (BIGGA) could improve.
"I feel a lot of young lads don't know you can work in sport without being a decent sportsman. I just fell into it. If we went into schools and colleges and told people that they didn't have to be great sports people to be involved, they'd do it.
"I'm a massive sports fan but I'm not good enough to play professionally. For me it's a dream just working outside in the sports environment."
Last year Harry got to the final five in the competition, which was run by The British and International Golf Greenkeepers' Association and sponsored by John Deere Tractors.
He said: "Unfortunately I didn't get selected. He told me this year that it was between myself and the candidate that won, so it felt like I was coming from a strong position.
"I found out pretty quickly. I had the interview at 11 and he called the same day. It was a bit of a buzz for the next 24 hours."
The trip is set to take place in May 2017, where Harry hopes to pick up a few tricks to bring back to his Wrekin home.
He said: "I do it my way, with a small team. It's a good chance to see how they do it on a bigger scale.
"And if can end up as a bunker raker, standing next to someone like Rory McIlroy, that'd be nice too."
