Ruth Etches takes the scenic route into greenkeeping
There are many reasons why people become greenkeepers. We’ve often talked about the opportunities for school leavers, but many take the scenic route into the profession. Here we talk to Ruth Etches, a finalist from the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards 2025 which was, with just two years of greenkeeping under her belt, a tremendous accomplishment.
From the army to Alton Towers via law and into greenkeeping, we were keen to learn more about the woman who impressed all the judges at the awards this year.
Can you give us a brief run through of your career before becoming a greenkeeper?
Brief is a challenge, but I’ll try! After school I joined the army but didn’t progress due to medical reasons, so I joined Alton Towers. Before you ask why, I grew up near there and it’s a local rite of passage! I stayed for 12 years, working predominantly in stock control and office management. There were some career highs such as helping set up Legoland California stock systems, but eventually I felt my career plateaued and I was stuck.
Not having a degree seemed to be holding me back which baffled me. I did an Access to Higher Education course at Derby University achieving Distinctions in Psychology, Criminology and Law, then a two-year accelerated law degree at Staffordshire University in which I was awarded a First-Class degree.
I started at a local law firm as a Client Service Advisor, and within a few months was promoted to Paralegal within the Wills, Trusts and Probate department. A few years prior my dad became ill and was eventually diagnosed with a rare terminal brain degenerative disease called Multiple System Atrophy. This sparked my move away from law because I had little work/life balance and wasn’t happy. I had to find a job I was happy doing that gave me the flexibility and understood the importance of family life.
I took stock and realised I’d been my happiest during lockdown on my partner’s farm, lambing sheep. I grew up on a farm and was always outdoors. This sparked the search that led me to greenkeeping.
How did you hear about greenkeeping as a profession?
I searched ‘outdoor jobs’ on Indeed and saw an Apprentice Greenkeeper job at Trentham Golf Club. I applied without a CV, opting for a detailed and honest cover letter (I thought my CV might hold me back: overqualified, questioning the radical career move). I got an interview, started in November 2023 and haven’t looked back!
How did you know it was the right fit for you?
The scary thing is I didn’t know at first. It was a gut feeling that I couldn’t keep doing the same type of job expecting to feel different. My course manager kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to accept the role, he was happy for me to have a week’s trial to see if it was the right thing for me. I declined and went straight in for it. If I didn’t do it then, I never would but I had to be brave and commit fully.
My first week was horrific weather – torrential rain. We were doing tree work between the 10th and 18th. I hadn’t got my chainsaw certificates so all I could do was tidy up the mess. I was soaked, cold and sore from chucking branches, the guys were questioning why I’d left a warm office for this, and all I could think was why wouldn’t you leave an office for this?! Mentally I felt better. Don’t get me wrong, the novelty of working in torrential rain soon wore off, but this is the first job I actually love. It’s the first job where I haven’t had the mental battle of not wanting to go, or dreading Sunday afternoons because the new work week was about to start.
What do you like most about it?
The variety. I’m lucky to work where I do because we job share so no day is the same. The job itself is much more than I realised too. You’re not just cutting grass, there’s so many different professions within being a greenkeeper, you’re an: agronomist, drainage engineer, spraying technician, arborist, mechanic, teacher, student, course architect, ecologist, irrigation technician, data analyst… you could keep going. That’s what I love the most about it.
But what really stands out is being on the course in the first light of day, everything is so serene. After losing my dad in June this year, the course has helped in a weird way. I kept seeing white butterflies in the weeks after he passed. I’m not overly spiritual, but when the emotions felt too much, a butterfly would cross my path. I literally saw white butterflies all the time, especially when I was struggling. I know there’s biological and environmental causation for this, but I just took it as nature’s way of telling me everything will be okay, even if I had doubts. I’ve found comfort from the course, I’m exactly where I need to be.
What are your ambitions?
The more I’m learning about greenkeeping, the more my ambitions alter. I think it’s important for me, at the beginning of my greenkeeping career not to box myself into one greenkeeping aspiration.
I want to help guide the industry to a more sustainable future, but in what capacity, I’m not sure. I’ve found greenkeeping is a career people just happen to fall into to – like me. I want to help shape greenkeeping to become a career people actively seek out. For the immediate future though, I’m loving learning about greenkeeping and am excited to start my level 3 and then have my sights set on level 5.
How do you think being a finalist in the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award will help your trajectory?
Being an Award finalist is an honour and an achievement I am incredibly proud of. Within the industry, getting to the finals is held in the highest regard. The high level of calibre of students makes it the most respected award to earn. It raises your profile and gets your name out into the industry and without it that could be difficult. You network with fellow finalists and judges who are more than happy to share their experiences or offer advice in terms of career progression, whether that’s other initiatives or volunteering. But mainly it highlighted I’m already heading in the right direction and that’s the best confidence boost there is.