24 September, 2007
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By Matthew Millard
Spending your days aboard a luxury cruise ship in the baking sun, playing golf at some of the world's most beautiful courses and being paid for it would be a dream for many people.
Well for PGA professional Stuart Perry, that dream is a reality.
A chance meeting on a luxurious course in Jamaica led to the dream job for Shropshire pro Stuart Perry.
The strange thing about the meeting was that he wasn't even present, it was between his best friend Simon Snaith and a fleet trainer from Elite Golf Cruises which gave Perry his big break.
This meeting set off a series of chain reactions and finally Perry's details found their way to the top brass at Elite Golf Cruises.
He was contacted shortly afterwards and merely days later found himself setting off for a life of luxury aboard glorious ships sampling mouth-watering sights and swinging his clubs on exotic courses.
The 26-year-old explained: "I was thinking about working abroad but didn't see anything that would be any different to working in the UK. Simon was working as a director of golf at a Breezes Golf Club, so I contacted him to see if he had a job. There wasn't anything at the time, but he said he'd let me know if anything came up. A few weeks later he had a golf tour from a cruise ship at the club. He got talking to one of the fleet trainers who told him of an opening and Simon gave him my number.
"I literally spoke to them on the Monday, packed my suitcase, flew to Denmark on the Thursday and that was it. I love golf and travelling so this seemed the perfect opportunity to do both," Perry added
He hasn't looked back since, touring the world aboard luxury liner, Carnival Pride, teaching golf to passengers in the sun everyday and seeing some of the world's most beautiful sights.
Since turning pro in 2003 things have changed a lot for Perry, who admits five years ago he thought he'd be working in a pro shop and teaching at the driving range.
Instead he's played golf with John Daly's mother and various American Football stars, has met pop star Robbie Williams and travels all around the world.
"Life is very different to living and working in England. You are away from home for six to eight months at a time," Perry explained.
But when the sun is constantly shining and the sights are always spectacular being away from the nest doesn't seem quite so bad.
Although the rules for staff on the ship are stiff mainly due to safety issues with each member expected to perform specific tasks in the event of an emergency.
Perry added: "Because of potential problems out at sea like a fire or if we have to abandon ship everyone is responsible for the safety of the passengers. You have to be ready for any eventuality at any time, so you can never be drunk or you'll be sent straight home - that's probably the worst rule.
"Everything is done to a strict timetable, if you miss the ship you have to meet it at the next port. Everything has to go to plan or it could cost the cruise company millions of dollars.
"The one thing I prefer most working here rather than England though is the weather, the ships always travel to where the weather's best and everyone is on holiday so they're in great spirits.
"We get all sorts of people who come onto the ship and want to play golf. I try to push for beginners to give the sport a go while they are on holiday. I have also had club pros on board and the odd celebrity."
Despite the strict regime life is a blast for the young pro, who spent five years attached to Telford Golf & Country Club.
He added: "I get my own cabin and have my food and accommodation paid for. I have no bills to pay, it's tax-free earnings and I work on commission so I get out of it what I put in.
"I have guidelines on hours I have to work, but I teach or play golf at every opportunity I have."
As the only pro on board the ship he is a very busy man, taking lessons on the top deck from 9am till 8pm. And when the ship docks he can take from four to 40 golfers ashore to play one of the courses.
He added: "My days do vary. The first day of the cruise is embarkation, this is where I work at the excursion desk, taking bookings and speaking to the passengers about the golf programme.
"Once we're underway I take lessons. The ship has a practice net at the back, which is cool as I have awesome views and get to work on my tan while teaching. We also have a putt putt course on the ship."
In the old days passengers used to be able to smash balls off the ship and into the ocean, they even had balls made of fish food. But those days are gone now due to new environmental guidelines.
Perry started life as a pro at Telford, where he was attached from 1999 through to 2004. He then spent two years at Premier Golf Products Limited, before moving to Swingers Golf Centre.
Then came the call of the ocean and for the last year he has been on the books of Elite Golf Cruises, where he is pushing to be the number one pro.
"The fleet has a leaderboard of all the pros, and we are regularly compared to the other pros in the Carnival fleet," Perry added.
"There are 21 ships in the fleet and I'm in the top five each week. It's nice to be at the top."
Not only does he get to spend all day everyday with beautiful ocean views, there are also stop offs at some amazing courses.
"My favourite course is White Witch, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It's built in the rainforest with ocean views on most holes - it's breathtaking. Also the Desert Course at Cabo Del Sol in Mexico is amazing. It's like playing golf in Arizona but with ocean views."
Perry has also visited his fair share of courses in the lesser known areas of the golfing world like Poland.
Though he admits the state of the courses in Eastern Europe are actually first class.
"The course in Poland was very nice and the clubhouse was beautiful. They don't get many people playing there as golf is a fairly new sport so the course was immaculate," he said.
Perry's first taste of golf came with his father, when the pair would play round a short course in Hereford at Pearl Lake Caravan Park.
Come the age of 12 the youngster splashed out on his first set of clubs some Golden Ram Blades and began playing with some regularity.
He added: "I get to see parts of the world I never thought I would, I get to wake up in a different country each day and play some of the best and most beautiful courses in the world.
"Each cruise I meet lots of new people, I work with other crew members from over 50 different countries and I have friends in almost every country imaginable."
Stuart Perry is a PGA Professional with Elite Golf Cruises - for more information call 001 954 382 9611.