Attentively Inclusive With Jordan Fairweather
Name: Jordan Fairweather
Title: Cluster Director of Agronomy
Facility and location: Based in Dubai managing five properties: four of which are in Dubai – The Montgomerie Dubai, Arabian Ranches Golf Club, Dubai Hills Golf Club and Emaar South Golf Club with Amelkis Resort based in Morocco.
Troon Value: Attentively Inclusive and Genuinely Meticulous
Q: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up and please explain if there was a story around that.
A: I grew up in a family car business so from a young age, I was surrounded by cars, workshops and motorsport. I had a passion and interest in cars and motorsport so thought I would end up in that line of work. Everyone assumed I would go on to work in the family business!
Q: What/Who got you interested in the business of agronomy and what was your first experience with the industry?
A: My family moved to a new house on a golf course and my passion for cars and motorsport moved into machinery. I got an after-school job helping on the golf course doing the usual divot repairs, raking bunkers etc. I think I showed enough interest and dedication and soon they had trained me on all sorts of machinery.
Q: What has been your career progression thus far?
A: I started my career in Scotland where I took a job as Projects Supervisor at Loch Lomond Golf Club, while having the opportunity to study at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Moving into golf construction I moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2008 to construct Yas Links and Dubai Golf City. Following that I held a construction superintendent’s position in Bulgaria in Eastern Europe then joined Troon as Director of Agronomy in Bahrain. I have now been with Troon for 12 years since starting in Bahrain then moving to Malaysia as Group Director of Agronomy for the 72-hole Els Club. Following that I was Construction Superintendent and Estates Manager during the construction and grow in of PGA National in the Czech Republic and now find myself back in Dubai managing 5 properties for Troon client Emaar.
Q: What do you do in your daily job or life to inspire others interested in turf management and the agronomy business as a career?
A: Giving people the opportunity to learn a new skill or new technical knowledge is important to me. I find time to take one of the team aside to discuss or explain to them in more detail about a particular part of the job or process. I also never turn down the opportunity of an interview whether video or written as I think the best way to inspire and grow young professionals is to expose them to real life experiences.
Here in Dubai, we were the first club to host the Asian Golf Federations Greenkeeping Certification program, which runs in association with the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute and is funded by The R&A in St Andrews to grow and educate greenkeepers who have never had the opportunity of further education.
Q: What is one interesting science fact about agronomy that not many people know about?
A: Golf courses are constantly evaluating and testing materials to understand the soil profile to get more out of their applications. Soil nutrient, water analysis, organic matter content, water infiltration rates are all undertaken yearly. There is no more guess work for the agronomist. Knowing for example how much calcium sulphate (gypsum) to apply to your golf courses greens can save the club thousands in fertilizer and water by making the nutrients available and reducing the buildup of sodium.
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