Paul Burley earns PGA Master Pro award

In recognition of his extensive achievements within the golf industry, the head of IMG’s golf club management and course design Paul Burley has been awarded PGA Master Professional status.

The successful Singapore-based 54 year old manages a large international portfolio of world class golf courses for IMG, but said he considers the accolade one of the highlights of his career.

“It’s an honour to receive PGA Master Professional status and have my name added to a small, elite group of PGA Professionals,” he said.

“I’m very proud to be a PGA Member and have actively promoted hiring PGA Members throughout my career, and certainly in my time at IMG and as Director of Golf at Turnberry I’ve always surrounded myself with high-performing PGA pros.”

Burley, a passionate golfer, turned pro in 1985 but his career took an unexpected turn when he got an offer in the industry he could not refuse.

“Luck has certainly played an important part in the success of my career in golf. While playing in South Africa, through a good friend I got to know Gary Player and was offered the opportunity by his company to become head pro at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City in 1987.

“That was my first job in the golf business – it was a slightly unusual way to start out and it was a steep learning curve, but I was there for nine years and went on to manage both golf courses at the resort. During that time I joined the British PGA and went through the training programme while based in South Africa.

“Sun City is a high profile, very busy resort so I had to learn quickly in order to meet the demands of managing a world class golf operation”.

According to Burley, part of his success comes from his interest in learning. Reading a lot of international golf industry publications, attend various golf conferences, trade events and spend time with successful industry people is also part of the recipe.

“It is important in my role, which is a global position, to keep on top of what is going on in the golf business. That is a never-ending process, and I am continually looking for new opportunities for IMG’s golf course management and course design businesses. I talk to a lot of people and ask a lot of questions – I am notorious for that.”