Portsea pins its faith in enthusiastic new GM

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.

Nor have many been plucked from the relative obscurity of the golf shop to be mentored in club management.

Now at age 31, Burbergs finds himself the general manager at Portsea but he says he has been very fortunate.

New Portsea GM John Burbergs.

“I have been very lucky,” he says, “when I initially missed the GM’s job, the person who was appointed brought me over to work under him in the management side.

“Then when he left, the club backed me.”

Portsea’s dynamic new board led by Captain Adam Trescowthick and President Phil Cramer had the foresight to bring in golf’s ‘gun for hire’, Peter Stackpole, to mentor Burbergs as he transitioned to the GM’s role. 

Stackpole, a 30-year veteran in the golf industry, most recently as GM of Victoria, has been in huge demand across the country since he left the elite sandbelt club to work as a specialist golf consultant.

“Peter was fantastic for me. We still catch up every now and again just to chat about how things are going,” he says.

“I knew how the golf side of things worked at a club but Peter is fantastic on all the governance stuff.”

Burbergs considers himself fortunate to have been at the club as the board implemented a far-sighted, membership focused strategic plan. “They (the board) don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s about the big picture.”

The approach has seen Portsea’s membership flourish, with membership rocketing from around 800 to1200.

“There’s also a great buzz among the staff,” says Burbergs, clearly a people person. “We had 40 of 44 people come to our last Christmas party. It used to be about 15-20. We are all very different but we get along well. And it’s hard to get and retain staff down here right on the tip of the Mornington Peninsula.” 

John Burbergs at the recent Portsea Pro Am chatting with professional Zach Murray. 

At the same time, the club’s time honoured pro-am has been revived in the last two years and created a real buzz about the place during the peak holiday period.

Burbergs’ initial interest in golf was piqued in an unusual fashion.

His father owned a motor cycle shop many Melburnians will know in Elizabeth Street. It was next door to a Drummond golf shop.

“I used to go in there (Drummond) and muck around hitting balls into a net and stuff like that,” he says.

Needless to say, he was hooked on the game, started playing four or five times a week and at 15 got a job picking up range balls at Northern Golf Club in Melbourne.

“I went to university and studied psychology with a plan to get into sports psychology.” 

But the pro at Northern, Heath Bensted, offered him a traineeship. 

“I got down to scratch and tried playing the pro-ams up and down the east coast but quickly ran out of money.”