Wakefield was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire and is the nephew of former England cricketer Bob Taylor.

[1] He won the 1996 Tillman Trophy in addition to several county amateur championships before turning professional in 1997.

Wakefield finished the 2003 European Tour season inside the top 100 on the Order of Merit to retain his card, but was back at the tour school at the end of 2004 having just missed out on keeping his place via the money list.

He won his card back, and has secured his place on the European Tour since then with solid performances, although he has yet to win a tournament at the highest level.

In 2005, he won his second professional title, the Dimension Data Pro-Am in South Africa.