Katie Martin
Alumni
What was your journey to getting a job after graduating from Birmingham?
I knew I wanted to work on the organisational side of the Professional Tours. I had built up some really good contacts during my summer placements and these really helped me in landing my dream job on the Europe Tour!
What does a typical day in your current role look like?
I work within the Championship Management area of the business and have a wide-ranging role that starts with the build-up to a tournament (liaising with tournament suppliers, partners, players, caddies, managers etc. et.) ensuring everyone has the correct credentials and permissions. This culminates in travelling out a week or so before the tournament starts and ensuring everything is in place on site. Once the players start to arrive we liaise with them and their teams to ensure access to the site works smoothly and they are able to get on with preparing for the tournament. We also make sure others such as press, caters, players families etc. et. are able to get around the site too. The build-up can be quite full-on getting everything in place and dealing with last minute issues but once the tournament starts it calms down a bit and we just make sure everything continues to run smoothly.
The best part of my job is the travel. I am probably away for two weeks out of six although that can be more, or less. Last year I was in Korea as well as Denmark, Sweden, Scotland and Ireland. This year I’ll go to Abu Dhabi, Quatar, Dubai, France and India!
What was your journey to getting a job after graduating from Birmingham?
I knew I wanted to work on the organisational side of the Professional Tours. I had built up some really good contacts during my summer placements and these really helped me in landing my dream job on the Europe Tour!
Why did you choose to study at the University of Birmingham?
I knew I wanted to work on the business side of professional golf, rather than playing (I am still a really keen amateur golfer though). This degree was a perfect preparation for that, and it really opened doors for me. The golf world is quite small and I meet lots of people at different levels who have completed the same degree as me which is great.
What was your biggest achievement during your course? (personal, professional or academic)
The summer placements were a highlight for me. They really broadened my experience, and I made invaluable contacts. I spent the summer before my degree started volunteering at my home club, shadowing the Manager and getting experience across a range of different departments. This helped me secure my first full placement at St Andrews – in the 150th Open year – which was an amazing experience. I was based at Fairmont St Andrews which hosted Final Open Qualifying and the Hero Open which gave me ‘up close’ experience of what goes into running a professional tour event.
The following summer I was lucky enough to get a placement at Medinah CC – home of the famous European Ryder Cup victory ‘The Miracle at Medinah’. Working in the USA was a fantastic experience.
I also got to organise a charity golf event as part of my degree studies which was really rewarding and involved bringing together lots of different skills I had learnt.
What are your top tips for students graduating today?
Take advantage of every opportunity as it will really help you to launch and develop your career after you leave.
Try and think strategically and push yourself to get the best overall experience you can – it will really help your CV and future opportunities. See everything as a change to build your experience and to make contacts, you never know when you’ll come across someone again!
Is there anything else you would like to share about your time at the University of Birmingham?
For me, the AGMS degree was tailor made for the kind of career I wanted to pursue. It is such a unique degree and offers a fantastic stepping stone into a really exciting industry!