From development job to golf course

On busy days, as many as 50,000 balls are hit at the driving range of Golf Course Delfland in Schipluiden. Most of these balls end up in the water. Two employees, who moved on from a development job at Werkse!, are responsible for retrieving those balls, cutting the grass and much more.

With 121 hectares, 36-holes and extensive practice facilities, the golf course is one of the larger ones in our country. “In terms of driving range, with 9,000,000 balls fired in 2021, even one of the busiest in Europe,” thinks Vincent Kok. He is responsible for marketing and coordinating the driving range. In doing so, he also manages the two employees who were able to start working at the golf course via Werkse!

Development track
“In their development track at Werkse!, Raymond and Sami both happened to be active in green space maintenance,” explains Eveline Koster, account manager at Werkse! “During such a development job, people gain experience and get used to a work rhythm. As soon as they can, someone moves on towards a sustainable, paid workplace outside Werkse!” Raymond and Sami both turned out to be ‘handy Harry’s’. Eveline: “Raymond has had a contract with Golf Course Delfland since autumn 2021 and Sami since the end of winter. My colleague Mathieu Kramer now supervises Raymond and Sami as a job coach from Werkse!”.

Green keeping
Raymond and Sami’s first responsibility is maintaining the driving range and getting the balls out of the water again. Raymond: “Pretty hard work, fishing those balls out of the water. Now there will be a machine, which makes a difference.” Together with others, they also take care of ‘greenkeeping’. Important, because the balls need to roll well. Maintaining the golf course not only means taking care of the course by carefully mowing, it also involves raking the sand bunkers and pruning the undergrowth.

Raymond: “You have the freedom and you’re nice outside. Cold doesn’t matter to me.” He enjoys working with Sami because, “I know what I can get from him. We have also worked together in green space maintenance from Werkse!” Back and forth, half a word is enough.

Already happened
“Sometimes I make a round myself,” Vincent says. “Then when I run into Raymond an hour later and ask him to do that or that, ‘he says: ‘Has already been done.’ He thinks things through and makes sure the work needed is done.” The fact that Raymond is also technical comes in handy in a business like golf. “He takes away a lot of work and worries for me. I used to get a call at the weekend if there was a breakdown somewhere. Now those calls go straight to Raymond.”

Everyone welcome
“At our course here in Delfland, it’s ‘Pay & Play’. Where others give priority to their members or exclude people who have never played golf before, we welcome everyone. We want to be approachable and find it important that people feel at home here. All our staff are committed to that and jump in where necessary.” With an extensive golf shop and a cosy brasserie, it is a real business. “We employ 35 people permanently. With 50 to 60 on-call workers in addition. We also have volunteers, our marshals, who drive around the grounds as hosts in golf carts to speak to people.” To add: “If you know any more people. We can always use on-call workers.”