When Sandy Jones, PGA regional secretary for Scotland at the time, recommended a fellow countryman for a golf professional role back in 1984, little did both Scotsmen realise quite how much of an impact they would make on the sport.

Jones spent 11 years as regional secretary in Scotland before taking over the reigns as PGA chief executive, a position he held for 25 years.

And as to the young golf professional who Jones recommended for his first role at Kirriemuir Golf Club in Scotland, well he hasn’t done too bad for himself either.

Hailing from an Italian family, Anthony Caira spent many summer holidays in southern Italy as a child. His father, Phil, competed in five consecutive Commonwealth Games between 1954 and 1970 representing Scotland in weightlifting – winning two gold medals – and when he retired, he took up golf introducing his son to the game.

They both began playing together at Kirkcaldy Golf Club, which is where young Anthony’s love affair with golf began. And it soon became clear that young Caira would be more than just your average golfer, and aged 17, became the youngest ever club champion at Kirkcaldy. Encouraged by the club professional, Brian Lawson, to turn pro, Caira took his advice and started playing on the Scottish Tour, which was better known as the Tartan Tour at the time.

“I started playing on tour, but I always wanted to be a club pro,” recalls Caira. “I never felt I was good enough to be a tour player, even though I was in the top ten in Scotland.

“I was 22 years old at the time, and Sandy Jones had just recommended me for the position of club professional at Kirriemuir,” recollects Caira. “I was playing in a competition at Carnoustie and after my round, Sandy suggested I’d be right for the job, so I went for the interview.”

Caira clearly impressed the board at Kirriemuir and was offered the role, but only a few weeks into the position, needed to seek the advice of Jones once again.

“I remember being invited to attend an Horizon Stars of the Future training camp at La Manga Club in Spain which was hosted by Brian Barnes who used to teach young tour players about his experience as to how to become a successful tour pro.

“At the time I said to Sandy Jones that I’ve just got the job at Kirriemuir so can’t possibly go away – I’d only been in the roll for about two weeks!

“But Sandy said that I had to go as it would be great for me, and great publicity for Kirriemuir and he was proved right. When I came back from La Manga, I was doing radio interviews and a lot of press as the new club pro at Kirriemuir.

“Sandy Jones was a great mentor, with a vast amount of experience and knowledge and as it turned out, going to La Manga was a worthwhile decision”

Caira spent 15 “lovely” years at Kirriemuir, progressing from club professional to director of golf, a role, which Caira once again attributes to Jones.

“I was one of the first directors of golf in Scotland,” claims Caira. “Sandy advised that I should be called director of golf as by the time I left Kirriemuir I was running the club. So, I took his advice and changed my job title.”

In 1997, that change of role, led Caira back to where his interest in golf first started, Kirkcaldy Golf Club, where he was director of golf for 18 years, until in 2015, inspired by his father, he left to start his own business.

“As an athlete, my father taught me the importance of proper nutrition for peak performance, and my whole approach to teaching has always been holistic – it’s not just about the swing, it’s about performance.

“I had a lot of my pupils who after giving them a lesson and seeing them progress would improve their swing, but not their scores, and the more I investigated it, the more I realised that people weren’t performing from the 12th or 13th hole.

“So after some experimenting and a bit of thought I came up with the concept of Niblick69 – an energy snack in the shape of a golf ball designed specifically for golfers.

Caira, together with his family, invested a great deal of time and energy (if you pardon the pun) into Niblick69 for three years before deciding to suspend activities following the offer of a job – and a first role overseas – at Education City Golf Club in Doha, Qatar.

Featuring one of the best centres of excellence in world golf, Caira was offered the role of head professional in September 2018 working with then general manager, Michael Briadwood, both of whom studied together back in Scotland to obtain their CCM certification with the CMAE.

“Mike made me aware of the position at Education City as head of their centre of excellence, and he said that I should apply for the role. Mike always talked very highly of my teaching abilities, so I applied, and they flew me over as part of the interview process and I was blown away by the facilities which are some of the best in the world.

“As part of the interview, I had to undertake a playing lesson with the CEO, Mohammed Alnaimi and also a short game lesson.”

And when Braidwood returned to Scotland to take up a role as CEO at Bruntsfield Links, in January 2022 Caira was encouraged to apply for the role of general manager, a position he appears to be relishing especially when it comes to trying to grow the game in Qatar.

“We’ve been very successful in introducing team building and corporate events,” states Caira. “We recently had 120 people form North Oil, split into 12 groups of ten, and to look at the number of new golfers and new members that came from that single event is amazing.

‘We have a healthy number of Qatari members now, and over the years we have seen more nationals take up the sport.”

Aged 62, Caira appears to be content in his professional and personal life and is showing no signs of wanting to retire anytime soon.

“The job’s going well, so it would be nice to finish here, but you never know,” he states. “As a GM, it’s my job to push things forward and keep the standards high and develop the staff and keep the experience good for the customers.

“That’s why I recently recruited Karl Rowe from Dubai Hills as his experience as helped a lot, and he’s made our team stronger.”

But with the added responsibility of being GM, does he miss coaching, or Scotland?

“Regrettably, I teach very little these days,” he admits, “There are still members here that were my pupils when I was head coach, and obviously you build up a relationship.

“If I am needed I am always more than happy to step in and help out my fellow golf professionals with a bit of teaching at the Centre of Excellence.”

As to Scotland, he adds: “My family are here, and my two girls have got good jobs here. My wife, Donna is settled as well, so I still think I’ve got a lot to give.

“One of many things that appealed to me about accepting the position at Education City Golf Club, was it gave me an opportunity to contribute to the development of the sport, aligning with my passion for connecting people from all diversities through golf.

“It’s wonderful to be part of a state-of the-art facility that honours Qatar Foundation’s approach to education, innovation, sustainability, research and development, and culture through sport.

“Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser has, through her various initiatives, played a key role in supporting the country’s National Vision to transform Qatar into a thriving, knowledge-based society by 2030.

“I very much hope that I can be involved for the next few years, contributing to growing the game and encouraging both beginners and experienced golfers to visit and use our wonderful facility.”