ACE: Johnathon Zirkler shows off the ball he used to score a hole-in-one at Macksville Country Club. FOR Nambucca Heads Island Golf Club’s general manager Johnathon Zirkler it was a case of anything you can do I can do better. Playing in only his third competition in a year at Macksville Country Club in the […]
By Michael Davis THERE are probably not too many general manager’s like Portsea’s John Burbergs who have a university degree in psychology. It’s doubtful, too, that many would have worked as labourers for a road asphalting company when their hopes of a professional golf career drained their bank balance in just a few short months. […]
After chatting with Christopher Longbottom for half an hour, I felt like the only thing missing from his resume was breeding Llamas in the middle of Bolivia. Let’s begin with his journey as a young professional just out of his apprenticeship with respected Australian PGA master coach Peter Knight who, at the time, was […]
WARRINGAH Golf Club was in the news for all the wrong reasons in 2022. Still, that didn’t faze Mark Stanopoulos and he felt the time was right to put his hand up for the job as general manager of a club that needed some leadership. Calls to chop the course from 18 holes to nine […]
By Michael Davis EIGHT years into the GM’s job at thriving Melbourne western suburbs club Medway, Brett Scothern, says things could not be going better. The former PGA professional turned club general manager says he’s never bored for long because there is always something different to do. “There’s no doubt your accountable 24/7. It’s the […]
BRETT Parker admits he still gets a feeling of euphoria every time he walks through the front door of Northbridge Golf Club. Parker has spent the past six months at Northbridge since ‘crossing the Harbour Bridge’ from Bexley Golf Club to take up the post as general manager. “I never get sick of walking into […]
By Michael Davis AT Mount Osmond Golf Club, perched over Adelaide looking out over the Gulf of St Vincent, they believe in going to any lengths to get their man. Early last year, the club lost its general manager, Mark Tan, who was successful in securing the GM’s position at Royal Adelaide. This led to […]
By Michael Davis AT just 33 years of age, Jake Solomon is relatively young to find himself in the general manager’s chair at Eastwood Golf Club. But with experience at Cranbourne, Woodlands and Commonwealth in senior financial positions, the Eastwood committee was very comfortable giving the personable young man the nod when he walked in […]
AFTER many years, he is off. Christian Gillott last month resigned as general manager at Newcastle Golf Club after an impressive six years (2017-2022) at the helm. The Queenslander decided he wanted to return home to be close to family and has taken on an advisory role at Indooroopilly Golf Club. Prior to the top […]
HOW did a champion junior hurler (someone who plays hurling) end up the general manager at Bowral Golf Club? After a bit more digging, it actually made some kind of strange Irish sense. Kevin Kenny was born in the city of Kilkenny where hurling is, in Kevin’s words, “a rite of passage bordering on […]
WEEKENDS on the South Coast were the perfect catalyst to lure David Rootham away from Sydney. And Kiama Golf Club, one of the busier clubs on the South Coast of NSW and its happy bunch of members fitted perfectly into his plans. Like most clubs, Kiama has enjoyed a revival of interest in golf with […]
By Peter Owen PETER Marchant, the renowned Sunshine Coast sommelier who has travelled the world judging fine wines, has made a dramatic career change and taken up a new role as Noosa Springs’ golf operations manager. He began his new job late in September heading a new-look team in the resort’s Golf Shop that includes […]
WANTIMA Country Club, the home club of champion Australian golfer Cameron Smith, has a new general manager. Jason Patterson was appointed to the top job in April this year. Patterson’s experience and background started in Brisbane at Indooroopilly Golf Club and was followed by stints in the Middle East and Maldives where he worked for […]
JOSH Prowse is happy to admit he thought he might feel like a fish out of water when he accepted the position of chief executive officer at Moruya Golf Club on the New South Wales South Coast. After all, he was a Victorian, who loved the Collingwood Magpies and the Melbourne Storm and knew he […]
MAINTAINING a golf course is the most critical element of any golf club. But like so many other industries, finding skilled staff has become an immense challenge and turf managers around the world are struggling to find the people they need to help maintain golf courses and stadiums to a premium level. This human resource […]
KAREN Leonard has virtually spent her entire working life in the golf industry, including 20 years in management. She is currently the general manager at Yeppoon Golf Club in Central Queensland, but cut her teeth at Rockhampton Golf Club where she worked for 30 years – 19 of those as the boss. “I finished up […]
THE new general manager at The National Golf Club, Matt Corby, is undaunted after 100 days in the job he landed ahead of many high profile local and international candidates. More than a few industry eyebrows were raised when Corby, 52, was appointed to what is arguably the biggest job in Australian golf. After all, […]
By Peter Owen HE would never describe himself as a gambling man, but there’s something about Melbourne Cup week that has had a defining effect on the career of Headland Golf Club general manager Matt Lang. A Victorian, Lang fell in love with Queensland’s Sunshine Coast while holidaying every year at Mooloolaba with his family […]
By Michael Davis NEW Flinders general manager John McKay was on the first tee at the picturesque Mornington Peninsula club weeks before he officially started in the role. It was the club championship and he spent six hours making sure he met everyone personally. So before he even started work, the members knew him and […]
A SEDATE walk around the headland that rings the entire 18 holes will only make you agree with the late, great Australian golfer Peter Thomson, a five-time winner of the British Open. Thomson once described Long Reef as the best site of any golf course in Sydney. You don’t need to convince Ben Russell, the […]
THE pandemic certainly changed the golfing environment in New South Wales. And while it has confined most golfers in Sydney to playing in their own local government area, it actually has had some benefits, of a different kind, for some clubs. Take Bayview Golf Club on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, for instance, and their general manager […]
By Michael Davis BONAVENTURE Tai has taken a circuitous route to the manager’s position at the Chalambar Golf and Bowls Club in Ararat about 200 kilometres west of Melbourne. Born in the Cook Islands, he worked in accommodation and hospitality before moving to New Zealand in the 1990s where he worked in beverage and hospitality […]
A Scotsman with an accent as broad as the 45 holes he overlooks at Victoria’s 13th Beach Golf Links, general manager Craig Skimming exhorts the belief of fitness. “I like to keep fit so I do some mountain biking, beach walks and I have done a couple of half marathons,” said Skimming, who has been […]
ASHGROVE Golf Club, just nine kilometres from Brisbane’s CBD, lives up to its reputation as being a friendly club, and general manager Michael Ronan ensures that the members and guests enjoy service with a smile. Ronan, a golf fanatic and a very good player, has been at the helm at Ashgrove GC for seven years. […]
CEO of Sandhurst Club Tim Gledhill runs one of Melbourne’s largest and most successful clubs. While Sandhurst Club cannot be compared with the majority of clubs, the sheer scale of its facility dwarfs most others. It boasts two championship 18-hole layouts, members’ bar, café with an outdoor piazza, restaurant, function centre, health club including a […]
HE’S a direct descendant of Vice-Admiral William Bligh, is fluent in German and is the boss of Queensland’s oldest golf club. Four years ago, Mitch Bligh took on the role of general manager at Townsville Golf Club and is justifiably proud of his work and the club’s progress after it was smashed by floods a […]
ALLAN Harris has been at the helm at Noosa Golf Club for 12 years and, although his pathway to the top job was “unusual”, hard work and common sense has paid dividends. Harris’s working life began in the timber industry at Mount Gambier in South Australia and later Victoria and Queensland where he held a […]
How are golf club members responding to membership renewals during this chaotic Covid-19 situation? How are you responding? Here’s a very insightful opinion piece from Ian Cottle, GM of Burleigh Golf Club on this very topic: The last six to eight weeks has seen incredible change both here in Australia, and around the globe, with […]
IT was inevitable Mark Brady, the general manager at Noosa Springs Golf and Spa Resort, would end up with a career in sport. A sports fanatic from a young age, Brady first worked in the banking industry (10 years) followed by a role as a sales administrator that lasted five years. He then set […]
Here is a recap of the latest news from Golf Management Australia ‘One GMA’ progress Over the past 12 months, GMA has undertaken a project to develop a more ‘unified’ approach to GMA-related activities across the country,with the project progressing well to date. The project has involved consultation with each state executive over the past […]
QUALIFIED accountant Johnathon Zirkler, who did his PGA traineeship at Toowoomba Golf Club at Middle Ridge on Queensland’s Darling Downs, has returned to his old stomping ground as general manager. Inside Golf caught up with Zirkler to find out about his transition into golf club management. What has been your career path to managing Toowoomba […]
Devilbend Golf Club on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula lives on thanks to the local council who granted the club a new 21-year lease that will take them through to 2039. And in further good news the club’s former general manager Tim O’Sullivan has returned to take charge. O’Sullivan was general manager at Devilbend GC from 2004-2010 […]
NON-GOLFER Wendy Carey never thought she would carry the title “general manager” when she started a part-time job at Beerwah Golf Club on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. “I had never been involved in golf when I started working here and I certainly had no idea it would lead to the manager’s job,” she said. After […]
IT’S been a year since Josh Madden joined Toowoomba Golf Club as general manager and in that time he has worked diligently to create, build and complement a great team that is working together and is on the same page when it comes to the golf club’s direction. “When I arrived here, one of the […]
WANTIMA Country Club in Brisbane’s northern suburbs lives up to its reputation as being a family-friendly club and general manager Andy Lowen ensures his members and guests enjoy service with a smile. Wantima also happens to be PGA Tour player Cameron Smith’s home club. As a three-year-old, Smith starting honing his skills around Wantima where […]
AFTER 12 months at the helm, Tracey-Lea Tiley has settled beautifully in the general manager’s role at Links Hole Island Golf Club on the Gold Coast. As the leader of a multi-million dollar business, she revels in her work and happily puts in 11-hour days to ensure the club runs smoothly. “This is my second […]
WHEN Marcus Sullivan started as a golf shop assistant at Arundel Hills Country Club 20 years ago, not even he could imagine he would return one day as the club’s general manager. It’s been almost a year since Sullivan parked himself behind the GM’s desk and in that time he has overseen a number of […]
Wendy Perry has a lot on her plate as general manager of Byron Bay Golf Club, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. Ms Perry, who has been at the helm at Byron Bay Golf Club for two years following a four-year stint as administration manager, has the club industry running through her veins. […]
CALOUNDRA Golf Club has been one of the Queensland Sunshine Coast’s golfing institutions since 1951 and remains a traditional club with a healthy membership. The club’s general manager Jason Looker has been at Caloundra for a decade and, along with a strong management committee and staff, keeps the operation running like a well-oiled machine. Looker […]
ELEVEN Golf Management Australia (GMA) general managers attended the Club Managers’ Association of America’s 89th World Conference on Club Management and Club Business Expo in San Diego, California and returned home inspired and loaded with new ideas. The were: Aaron Muirhead (Nudgee Golf Club), Scott Wagstaff (Carbrook Golf Club), Barnaby Sumner (Oatlands Golf Club), Michael […]
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