PGA Master Manager Chris White has been at the helm of some of most exciting developments in the golfing world over the past three decades.
In 2025 Chris White was recognised with PGA Master Manager designation, in recognition of his outstanding leadership of the multiple world-class resorts he has worked at over the course of a career that stretches across several decades.
Last June, he moved to Royal Golf Club Wadi Safar, in Saudi Arabia, where he is the General Manager.
Here, he shares his career story and offers practical advice for PGA Members who would like to follow in his footsteps.
When you look back at the beginning of your career, what first attracted you to working in golf?
If you want the honest truth, at 15 I couldn't get a job in the garden centre as you had to be 16. I went to Wexham Park GC in Buckinghamshire and the Head Pro, David Morgan, said you can dust shelves and pick up range balls at weekends and that's basically where it all began.
That then led to more shifts, weekends and holidays and I got more into my golf through that and decided to turn professional at 18. I didn't start playing golf until I was 15 and I would have been off 3 by then.
Was there a moment when you realised that management rather than coaching or playing was where your future lay?
I enjoyed the PGA training which I combined with night school and I was very fortunate that Wexham was a busy pay and play, this was in the 80s when farmers were turning agricultural land into golf courses and David was very strong on retail and golf course design.
We used to do six or eight-hour shifts in the shop and then we were self-employed coaches at the end of it. At weekends it was opening the shop at 5am because every six minutes we had a fourball teeing off, it was absolutely packed. You would work from 5am to 2pm in the shop and then you could go and teach and that would supplement your income. You would teach almost back-to-back till nightfall with either individual or group lessons.
However, I was ‘encouraged’ to continue my studies so, after A levels, I went and did an HND. For three nights a week, I was going to Langley College and studied business, finance and marketing. When I look back that was definitely instrumental in getting my CV looked at.
The PGA of Europe, and a gentleman by the name of John Weir, put me forward for a Director of Golf position in Istanbul in 1994. I was 23 and I was the youngest Director of Golf in Europe at that time. The really cool thing about Klassis was that it was the second grass golf course ever to be built in Istanbul.
What did golf in Turkey look like 30 years ago?
The owner had a very clear vision to gain global recognition with tourism being the driver, so collectively we decided that the Turkish Open would be a Challenge Tour event in 1997 and 1998 and then become a Seniors Tour event in 1999.
There was the opportunity of opening and then running what was a members' club, but it also had a hotel and tourism as well as doing these European Tour events which were going to attract the international market – and the business side of it took over from the teaching. As Director of Golf, I was across everything, I was still teaching, running a shop, running tournaments and doing the international sponsorship stuff, so it was all-encompassing.
Then in 1999, Abu Dhabi Golf Club, which was managed by Sheraton, approached me as they were looking for a Director of Golf and I was offered that and that then became Deputy General Manager and we went from there.
Pictured: Royal Golf Club Wadi Safar in Saudi Arabia
If you look back at the people who shaped your development, who are your big influences or mentors?
Prior to my amazing wife, there were three people that I owe significant gratitude: My mum for forcing me to go to night school and further my education (there was resistance at the time).
David Morgan, formally Wexham Park and Royal Jersey GCs, was extremely successful and someone who inspired me and gave me an immense amount of opportunity and responsibility at a young age.
John Kennedy, PGA Cup player who, from 16 to 18, I idolised. The most consummate and rounded professional and someone who I learnt a great deal from in all aspects of being a club pro.
What helped you move into a senior leadership role?
When I went from Director of Golf to General Manager, at the end of the day the definition is in the title. General management is across everything. I was fortunate to go to the Middle East and Abu Dhabi Golf Club with 36 holes, it had 750 members almost from Day 1 and was a significant operation. The club had four food and beverage outlets, leisure and spa facilities and employed 380 staff.
It was a pretty big operation, with 120-plus golf carts and huge maintenance crews so you got exposure to all these different elements of the business. You then become a very rounded person that can ‘generally manage’ different departments, ultimately different businesses.
I've opened nine resorts around the world and they've been pretty much from conception to building to opening and then operating. It did begin with a nine-hole course in West London from 1990 to 94, then to Istanbul before a short six months in Cairo, just to pre-open a property.
Then I went to Abu Dhabi, followed by Al Hamra in Ras Al Khaimah and then I went back to Abu Dhabi and did Yas Links with Kyle Phillips on Yas Island which was ranked the 46th best course in the world. I was then approached by the owners of a mixed-use development at Aqaba, Jordan – Ayla Oasis.
This moved me a little bit away from golf into Director of Operations of a mixed-use development with residential, hotels, marina, retail, golf, beach, equestrian and sports facilities and from there I went to Neom and a Red Sea Island where again as Director of Operations I oversaw 16 different businesses that required some 30 independent functions to support operations with over 3,500 staff. We had a Robert Trent Jones nine-hole golf course managed by IMG.
Royal Golf Club Wadi Safar in Riyadh, where I am now, is just an incredible 33-hole facility with golf academy, spa, leisure, swimming pools, padel, tennis, three retail shops, six restaurants, gymnasiums and business centre and ultimately a head count of about 320.
“When I look at the people who I've employed, which is probably more than 5,000 over the years, I have always valued the attitude of a PGA Professional” - Chris White
What advice would you give to a PGA Member who wants to follow a similar career path?
That's a really good question because I currently have four PGA Members. I did their end-of-year appraisals and I said to all of them that they must absolutely continue with their accreditation because it looks very positive to an employer that you're willing to invest and keep learning and you get value. You learn from it and it gives you wisdom. And that's power ultimately.
Being able to relate to people and situations is crucial, having that emotional intelligence and patience to listen and to understand. I know this is such a cliché but from both sides, don't always react and jump.
If I have a difficult email to write, I will draft it and then I will walk away and go back and read it again because it would be very easy to press send and perhaps not have the tone quite right – maybe get rid of the emotion in some situations.
As I've got a bit older, I've probably become a little bit more placid and I think that's quite a good thing.
What lessons have you learned along the way?
I think I am quite analytical and in certain areas don't have a huge amount of confidence at first, so I like to fully understand the ask before tackling the problem. I really do believe if you're honest, fair and transparent you can do anything. Sometimes you do have to make some very difficult decisions, whether it's letting somebody go or reprimanding a member but it's all basically fact-finding, getting all the information and then making a fair and calculated decision based on the information that you have and then carrying it through with passion.
When I've moved into different industries and I've worked with engineers, architects, designers and generally highly qualified people and they might be extremely specialised in one subject but in some cases, they are not particularly broad. I just think that the nature of my career and our industry is I've had huge exposure to so many different things that I can relate and understand a little bit of all. Yes, I know when to draw from an expert but I've got enough to allow me to progress in the way that I have needed to.
I was OK at golf, and I could get it round, but I was never going to win The Open and I always felt a lot of pressure from people with my golf. Truthfully that was probably my weakest part and I felt the weight of expectation a lot. Maybe that’s what steered me more to the business side of things and I actually enjoy my golf more now than ever.
There's a great Turkish phrase – 'boşver' – and it basically means whatever will be, will be and it's a little bit like that with golf – hit it, walk after it, hit it and play it where it goes.
Pictured: PGA Master Manager Chris White
Chris on…The Royal Golf Club project
The Royal Golf Club is likely to be the flagship property of the Kingdom. It really is extremely special and is essentially for the gated residential community of Wadi Safar. We're building a team of about 280 in Phase One which will go up to about 320 with soft operations commencing in Q2 this year.
Golf is still growing in Saudia Arabia and on an aggressive upward trajectory. If you dropped this facility into any established golfing market, it would absolutely rock from day one and it would rival any of the top clubs around the world.
But it's going to just take a little bit of time to grow into that. So that's where the leisure assets are as important as the golf assets – spas, racquet sports, gyms and dining complement holistic community living.
I started here in June last year and this is the first time that I've been with a management group. I work for Golf Saudi whereas I've always been on the owner's side previously. So, it involves maintaining those relationships with the owning group as well as reporting lines back to the operating company being Golf Saudi, all these relationships are very important.
Rightly so, there is a strong drive for Saudization and we have allocations that we have to hit. Therefore, we've got to find young, attentive and the right-attitude nationals who want to go into the hospitality industry. Our target market is high-profile individuals and families, so the service and the offering and the quality of all operations and the experience has to be outstanding.
We are essentially introducing something that is new. This is not just about buying real estate; it's about buying or investing in real estate that includes never-seen-before community living. Ultimately one family member will go to the equestrian centre, another will go to the tennis club, mum and dad will play golf and use the spa and they'll all meet up for an afternoon by the pool and an engaged family meal.
So, it really is about creating a holistic community and all-encompassing living experience in the heart of the capital – our job is to ensure everyone leaves with a good lasting memory.
