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Ian Watts,
European Tour Manager - Taylor Made adidas Golf.
Ian left college at sixteen to pursue his dream of becoming a golf professional.
Although he considers the years on the golf course when he was young were
part of the best experiences of his life, he now wishes he had studied
a little harder and would advise all juniors to do so.
At 16 I turned to the professional golf ranks and joined my local golf
club as assistant professional. I needed to complete three years probation
before I could become qualified and have my own position as club professional.
I achieved this at the age of nineteen and at the time was the youngest
qualified professional in the UK.
I was playing golf professionally on a full time basis in 1989 and 1990
in the South of England. I was doing quite well but when I saw the advertisement
for European Tour Technician in a golf magazine I thought I would apply.
It was January at the time and there was not much golf happening so it
was out of boredom and a bit of curiosity that I applied. I didn't really
want the job as I was set for another season playing but when I got a
second interview I became fascinated by what would be involved. It seemed
really exciting and when I was offered the position I thought I would
go for it. There hasn't been a single day since when I have doubted my
decision.
When I first joined Taylor Made I started as the European Tour technician
which meant I had to drive our 7.5 ton mobile workshop around Europe.
It was really exciting at first and I got to see a lot of interesting
places during my travels. It became very tiring though towards the end
and it was difficult being away from home for long periods of time.
My current responsibilities have changed greatly from what they were a
couple of years ago. Since our marriage with adidas I am now responsible
for all promotional activities related to professional golf in Europe
for Taylor Made adidas Golf.
My main focus at the moment is with the main tour, which is The European
Tour. This is where we test new products and introduce new lines to the
players for important feedback to our engineers.
At the moment we have a prototype driver which is proving a huge success
with players, it's at times like this that the job is really rewarding
as you can see the things you do making a real difference, not only to
the company but to the players themselves.
I am responsible too for all our contractual commitments with player's
which means that I negotiate all the deals with their agents.
For a detailed profile of Ian Watts and his role as European our Manager
see qualifications section.
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