“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.”
“When you work with Troon, opportunities present themselves. I remember having breakfast with Bruce Glasco and he told me about an opportunity in Dubai at a high-profile opening, and they wanted me because of my growth experience. It was for a premium luxury brand and at the time I was very adventurous, so I said yes to every opportunity. It was all about gaining experience — that was really my goal.”
“The hardest, and most challenging aspect of my career was not managing the quantity of people but being such a young age. I remember I had to fire someone for stealing something, and this guy was 50 years old, and I was 21… my legs were shaking under the table. You kind of remember that, and I soon realised that you never quite get accepted for being the younger one, but then, it doesn’t really matter.”
“The way the Bahrainis and the Saudis adopted me here — and honestly, that is the word adopted — you cannot believe. To be frank, they made me feel more at home than in my own home. If they see that you are a good person, and have a good heart, they really make the effort to make you stay and make you feel appreciated. If I hadn’t worked here previously, I wouldn’t have applied as I was really happy in Spain, but I know the country and the vision that this club has moving forward.”
“Regardless of where you play, there is a community out there within golf where, I think, if you’re a golf person you talk business about five per cent of the time and the rest is talking about the club, and that’s what I’m keen on. The energy, I know where I am with that. I’m more interested in what’s the club like, what’s the membership numbers, what’s your plans for the future of the club, are you just going to be consistent at where you’re at?”
Kyle Phillips is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost golf course architects, who has worked his magic at world-famous courses such as Kingsbarns in Scotland, and Yas Links in Abu Dhabi. Yet his creation at Stonehill in Pathum Thani, just an hour north of Bangkok, Thailand must surely rank as one his proudest, given what Philips has managed to create out of the barren landscape he inherited.