Legendary pro Kyle Francis retires

THERE are few golf professionals in the premier state (NSW) who have NOT heard of Kyle Francis.

After all, Francis was once named in the top 100 of Australia’s most influential professionals of the past 100 years.

That put Francis alongside names like Greg Norman, Alex Mercer, Kel Nagle, Craig Parry, Bruce Devlin, Geoff Ogilvy and many other notables.

Francis last month retired as head professional at Sydney’s Bexley Golf Club.

That ended a distinguished career as a player, a teaching professional, PGA administrator and director of golf at numerous clubs, including Pelican Waters Golf Club, one of Greg Norman’s first designs as well as Concord and New Brighton (now Brighton Lakes).

There is no doubt that Francis had golf in his veins; his grandfather used to run The Lakes and Eastlakes clubs. 

He joined his father as a junior at Eastlakes and in his spare time began caddying at the Lakes. 

One of the highlights of his young life was watching Jack Nicklaus go head-to-head with Bruce Devlin in the 1964 Australian Open. Certainly is sparked his thirst for the game.

His caddying, picking up balls and being a general pest saw The Lakes’ club professional, Billy Holder, offer Kyle an apprenticeship which he gleefully accepted. 

There he learned to make clubs, teach and run a business in the most professional way. 

He finished his apprenticeship in 1971 and remained at The Lakes until 1976 when Holder passed away. He then went to work with another legend, Alex Mercer at Royal Sydney. 

Like many young pros of that era, Francis spent several years playing on the Asian and Australian tours.

Unfortunately, a back injury finished that part of his career but not before he dropped a hole-in-one on the 174m ninth in the 1980 Australian Open. Francis’ talent for teaching and administration led him to serve on the NSW’s board for 10 years followed by another five on the national board as education chairman. 

Over the years Francis has held numerous key managerial positions including director of golf at many clubs and from 2005-2010 Francis became the permanent ‘roaming’ manager for Geoff Scott’s NSW franchise, overseeing six golf clubs. 

It’s safe to say Bexley members are sorry to see him stepping down as they will certainly miss his ‘professional’ approach.