You might think you know someone, but have you seen them fully immersed in an 18-holer and then shared a bottle of red afterwards? That’s real human connection, where time is an afterthought and emotions are unbound.
It’s why the golf course is a hotbed for networking, where inspiring professionals who you may never have met come together and build mutually beneficial relationships that simply can’t be achieved on a 30-minute video call. And no one knows this better than Niall Flanagan, Head of Golf at Wine&Earth.
Meet Niall Flanagan
“But it’s just a game, right?” Try telling that to Niall, a man who teed off his career in golf as a tournament controller for PGA in 1987, and never looked back. He headed up prestigious global institutions including St Andrews Links Trust, Loch Lomond Golf Club, and Dubai Golf and Racing Club. He helped drive Clubhouse from a four-person outfit into an 18,000 strong organisation in just 14 months – making it the first golf company to be featured on the stock exchange. And he even set up his own ventures, Club Inc and Wiseman Golf, as well as becoming an Executive Manager for his boyhood football club Tottenham Hotspur, looking after thousands of premium members.
Niall has made an extremely successful career out of chasing his passions – and since coming out of retirement, he’s dug out a new role that combines two of the things he adores the most – wine and golf! So without further ado, let’s uncork Niall’s latest position and how it led to the co-creation of a smashing new podcast…
Lease Loop: What’s your connection with wine?
Niall: I’ve always had a connection with wine, and when I left school I actually completed qualifications to become a wine buyer. Of course, I followed a different path into golf but that passion never faded. As of June 2024, I came out of semi-retirement and brought these two worlds together – accepting the position as Head of Golf at Wine&Earth.
Tell us more about your role at Wine&Earth
Wine&Earth is a B-Corp that unearths small-batch wines – from approximately 90 producers and 14 different countries – and sells them to those discerning clients who have a taste for it. As Head of Golf, I get to travel to the best golf courses in the UK, promote some of the finest eco-friendly wines around, and exercise this tremendous connection between wine and golf!
What makes golf and wine such a special combination?
The people you meet, the connections you make and the relationships you build always feel richer on the golf course – and in the clubhouse afterwards. You learn so much about people’s careers, hobbies, and passions – from antique car collection to travelling – and wine sits really well with that.
How did your new podcast come about?
With the help of Ashley Harris – Pro Disabled Golfer, Professional Golf Photographer and Videographer, and Director of Enable Golf Media. I am a great admirer of Ash’s and we came together in January to launch our podcast, Grapes & Greens – which couldn’t exist without his fundamental videography and editing skills. We also both live in Guildford, which is particularly useful because Ash is often away doing his thing on the DP World Tour and Ladies European Tour.
Tell us more about Grapes & Greens
With no investment, we built the foundations for a podcast that aims to capture those rich conversations we have after a game over a glass of wine. We’re already six episodes in and are thrilled with the output, with guests sharing inspirational stories and accounts of how golf has helped them achieve wonderful things. So far we’ve shared a glass with Mike Harris, Lee Dixon, Julian Sansom, Oliver Wilson, and David Shepherd – we look forward to announcing more from our ever-growing roster of high-profile guests across golf, football, business, and beyond.
What’s your relationship with Lease Loop?
It’s been great connecting with James. We not only share an interest in golf and wine, but in the business of golf too. While the podcast isn’t limited to a specific audience, it’s particularly relevant for business-minded individuals. This falls right in James’ ballpark – his experience in connecting and building relationships with start-ups and business owners has been invaluable.
James has kindly gifted the Grapes & Greens podcast an iPad and included Wine&Earth in Lease Loop’s Customer Benefits Programme. In turn, he can help other innovators in the business drive their ventures with cost-effective tech leasing. Our relationship with James is a testament to the great things that can happen off the back of a humble round of golf and glass of wine.
Driving growth through honest partnerships
We do a lot of our networking on and around the golf course – it provides a space to really understand someone beneath surface level and gain a deeper learning of how you create opportunities for one another. The worst case scenario? You had fun on the fairway and shared a glass with someone you might never have met!
Listen to and/or watch the Grapes & Greens podcast on YouTube, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
And if you’re a growing business in need of cutting-edge Mac technology that won’t break the bank, then let’s make a connection, grab a coffee, or – you guessed it – get on green! Get in touch today for a friendly chat.