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Ryder Cup reunion for Barbados greenkeeper

Simon Crawford is temporarily swapping the Caribbean for Perthshire.
Simon Crawford is temporarily swapping the Caribbean for Perthshire.

A greenkeeper is to fly more than 4,000 miles to Perthshire to volunteer at the Ryder Cup.

Simon Crawford will fly from his home in St James, Barbados, to take part in the golf event.

He has previously worked at the Gleneagles venue, where he was employed on the golf courses for 10 years until 2003.

After leaving Perthshire he initially worked in Austria before being head-hunted for the superintendent post at the Royal Westmoreland golf course, in the west of the Caribbean island, nine years ago.

Simon, 41, said the Ryder Cup would be something of a reunion as many of the greenkeeping volunteers had previously worked at the course.

“It’s where it all started for me,” he said. “I went to Oatridge Agricultural College and then I got a placement at Gleneagles to do one year as a student on the Gleneagles Excellence in Golf Awards (GEGA) scheme. They ended up keeping me on and I worked there for 10 fantastic years, ending up as the assistant head on the PGA course.

“When I got the job in 1993 it was the best job in the world for me I couldn’t believe I was working there.

“To go back is very special. I think it will be the best 10 days of my life. It won’t be like work, it will be a pleasure to be there.

“There’s about 40 people that have volunteered and it’s going to be a big reunion for us.

“There will be guys from all over Europe, maybe I am the furthest away, so they’ll be a lot of guys there that I haven’t seen in a long time. I cannot wait.”

He said he is keen to see the £2 million of improvements made to the course ahead of the tournament.

A team of volunteers from across the globe is set to descend on Perthshire to help at the week-long competition.

Antonia Beggs, operations director at Ryder Cup Europe, said organisers had received thousands of requests to join the team.