New online docuseries follows Stanedge Golf Club owner’s one-woman mission to transform golf
A unique new docuseries telling the remarkable story of one woman’s mission to turnaround a rundown golf club and make it a friendly, accessible and inclusive community venue is now streaming online.
In a first for the golf industry, the fly-on-the-wall documentary, Changing the Business of Golf, follows former Ladies European Tour professional Fame Tate as she breaks with tradition and aims to transform the course and customer experience at Stanedge Golf Club, Derbyshire.
In the first episode, Fame recalls the life-changing decision to acquire the golf course and how she is turning the club into an open, friendly venue at the heart of her local community.
Meanwhile, as the team prepares for a new season, they are faced with the prospect of preparing the golf course for reopening without their head greenkeeper.
“If you’d said to me one day you’ll own a golf club, I’d have probably sat there are laughed,” says Fame, whose playing career was cut short by injury.
“My vision from day one was to break away from the traditional golf club model. It’s about making a place that’s welcoming, affordable, accessible, inclusive.”
Working closely with her greenkeeping team – and revealing how she rolled up her sleeves to get stuck in to groundwork – Fame is investing in a major course upgrade to improve playing conditions.
The series documents day-to-day happenings, including course management work led by head greenkeeper Christian ‘CJ’ Johnson.
“It was a tough task for Fame and everybody involved to get the course back to where it was,” says CJ. “But since then we have really tried to improve it as a team and get it moving forwards.”
Just one year after acquiring the club, Fame faced the potentially catastrophic challenge of the Covid pandemic and enforced lockdown, forcing her and the team to call on their inner reserves of strength and resilience to keep the business afloat.
Will she realise her vision and succeed? The series will follow Fame and her team as she reopens Stanedge Golf Club and takes on the business of golf.
Watch the first episode now on Syngenta Golf: https://www.syngentagolf.com/changing-business-golf
Stanedge Golf Club supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.
