HE’S travelled the world, was a touring professional, became a senior administrator at Golf Queensland, and has been a rules official at numerous Australian Opens. He even worked for a year at the Guinness factory in Dublin.
But Scott Wagstaff has a special love for Carbrook, a small golf club situated in the south-eastern suburbs of Brisbane, where he’s been general manager for 15 years, and where his association with golf began nearly 40 years ago.
Wagstaff joined Carbrook as a junior at the age of 12, went on to complete a three-year traineeship there with legendary head pro Tony Di Tomasso, then spread his wings and began building a unique career in golf.
But he never forgot Carbrook, and when an opportunity came up in 2010 to manage his old club, he grabbed it. It was a decision he’s never regretted, and which this year saw him honoured as PGA Management Professional of the Year in the Queensland golf industry’s annual awards.
Working at Carbrook is more than a job for Scott Wagstaff.
“Working at Carbrook has always been more than a job for me,” Wagstaff said. “This golf club means more to me than just a pay slip. It’s special.”
Wagstaff has been a golfer for longer than he can remember. As a two-year-old he roamed the backyard, smacking balls with a broken club to which his dad had fitted a squash racket grip.
He scored his first par at Keperra at the age of six and, in his words, then ‘started playing a bit.’ Veteran professional Tom Linskey conducted a clinic for kids at Runcorn High School, and Wagstaff was hooked. He joined Carbrook as a junior member and played every day after school.
Like most talented teenagers, he dreamed of playing the world’s biggest tours and happily signed up as a trainee pro in the Carbrook golf shop, the domain of Tony and Paul Di Tomasso, who continue to serve members there even today.
Wagstaff spent a year playing professionally, and was smart enough to soon realise it wasn’t for him.
Instead he decided to travel the world on a working holiday – landing gigs as a plainclothes security guard at the Guinness distillery in Dublin, and as business banking officer at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Along the way, Wagstaff had picked up a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Australian Catholic University and, on his return to Australia, worked briefly with his father as a mortgage broker.
He resigned as a PGA member and, while applying to the Queensland Golf Union for the return of his amateur status, he became aware of a vacancy in the association’s administrative department.
He applied, landed the job, and later became Golf Queensland’s golf operations manager, where his responsibilities included heading up the High Performance Program, running tournaments, and becoming an expert on rules and handicapping.
It was an interest that would see him officiate at numerous Australian Open and Australian PGA championships, and at the 2011 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.
But when a Carbrook member told him in 2010 the club was seeking a new general manager, Wagstaff knew he was ready for something new, and successfully applied.
Scott Wagstaff accepting an award for Queensland PGA Management Professional of the Year from fellow Queensland PGA member Steve Hutchison.
He recalls those early years as being tough. “The biggest challenge was just keeping the doors open,” he said. “Just finding the money to pay the staff each week was a challenge.
“The focus then was on making small improvements each year, and those small improvements led to huge improvements over time.”
Wagstaff says his biggest success over the past 15 years was efficiently managing through difficult times. “We became very good at doing a lot with very little,” he said.
In the past year, the challenges were still there – just in a different form.
Wagstaff led the club’s recovery after Cyclone Alfred ploughed through the property, dumping torrents of rain and closing the course for 10 days.
He project-managed a $1.8 million upgrade, including 4km of pathways, retaining walls, a new first tee precinct, a new ninth hole and a 1350sqm practice area. He also developed a new business plan, and oversaw the revamp of the club’s Constitution.
Now 49, Wagstaff is considering a new challenge – this time on the golf course. He’s again a PGA member and is looking forward to competing on the PGA Legends Tour next year.
He still owns an enviable handicap of 1.4, has begun playing three or four holes late in the day after work at Helensvale, where he lives, and is pleasantly surprised at the quality of his game.
“I miss playing competitively,” he said. “I have limited opportunities these days, but it would be nice to compete in, perhaps, 10 events on the Legends Tour and see how I go.”
