Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
The tell-tale signs were there as soon as Grant Williams walked in the door to take over the Head Golf Professional and Golf Operations Manager roles at Busselton Golf Club 2.5 hours south of Perth.
A new pair of shoes on the member walking in to pay their Saturday comp fees.
A new hybrid in the bag of the member at their latest lesson.
Expanding the retail offering at Busselton was one of Williams’ very first priorities… and now he had proof of where members felt they were not receiving the full service.
“Everyone from a regional area who goes to a city, goes to a big golf shop,” says Williams.
“I asked a member where he got his new 5-wood and his answer was, ‘I was up in Perth last week.’
“That was just happening all the time so expanding the range really was a no-brainer.
“We have a premium golf course, so why not premium service and products in the golf shop?
“Regional golf courses seem to concentrate on cheaper-end products and only enough to display the product but no real stock.
“They’re always having to order stock for the members rather than having it readily available.”
Awarded the WA PGA Club Professional of the Year at the WA Golf Industry Awards in March for a range of initiatives he has introduced at Busselton the past two years, Williams went beyond simply stocking the pro shop with more gear.
To encourage members to shop close to home, Williams set about creating a shopping experience that matched what they would find in a major department store in Perth.
“Even with little space I modelled the shop on a high-end golfing experience by simply displaying everything more clearly,” Williams says.
“At some regional clubs the golf shop can begin to look a bit old and tired but it doesn’t take much to transform the look and feel of a real golf shop experience.
“If you order 12 putters from Taylor-Made, you ask if they have a putter stand you can use for the display.
“You’d be amazed at how many people will pick up a putter if it’s displayed well and well-positioned within a golf shop.”
While he hopes these initiatives have played a part in Busselton’s membership growing from 630 to 900 in just two years, Williams acknowledges that timing plays its part.
In the wake of COVID, Busselton itself has grown significantly and golf has been booming across the country.
It was a classic case of preparation meeting opportunity, but Williams has done everything he can to turn that good fortune into an atmosphere where new members feel welcomed and valued.
And reassured that they won’t find a better deal in the big smoke.
“If somebody comes in and says that they can get the same pair of shoes $30 or $50 cheaper somewhere else, I’ll match it,” adds Williams, who spent 20 years working in numerous clubs throughout Europe.
“We never make a loss doing that. We sometimes don’t make much money, but my philosophy there is we don’t just turn over a pair of shoes, but we make a member happy.
“We’ve had 200 brand new lady beginner golfers come through here in the last five months, and they’re all new to golf. We show them all the aspects of golf; the first tee, the clubhouse facilities, we give them a welcome pack which gives them everything they need to feel welcome and at home.
“Having stock makes the shop come alive.
“There’s a new range of shoes; a new line of summer or winter clothes, stock is constantly changing.
“There’s something happening all the time, and that’s important.”
As Jamie Arnold and Tim Stewart paced the 2,500 square metre space in east Atlanta scribbling a potential floor plan on the back of a napkin, the concept of an indoor golf facility wasn’t the key. It was the idea.
Any idea.
The latest idea.
The craziest idea.
Most importantly, whatever got them to the best idea.
There would be what Arnold references as the “light bulb moment” but it was only possible because they disregarded convention and asked the simple question: ‘What would we want from an indoor golf centre?’
“Everybody that walks in asks, ‘Where did you design this from?’ And Tim and I say, nowhere, because we’ve never seen this before,” says Arnold, a PGA of Australia Tournament Member since 2007.
“We’ve travelled the world playing golf and there’s nothing like this.
“The only way we could make it work was being creative.”
Through his father Colin – a PGA Professional of 50 years who spent more than 30 years at Cronulla Golf Club, Arnold has had a connection to the PGA from the day he was born.
Winner of the Australian Amateur in 2006, Stewart became a Tour Professional in 2008 before completing the Tour Professional Articulation and becoming a full Vocational Member in 2016.
He says that Arnold’s career playing in the US and his own international playing experience was critical in shaping their vision.
“Initially, our goal was to bring golf to the forefront for parents with kids and try to get golf to be more accessible for people over here, like it is for us in Australia,” Stewart explains.
“We tried to build our facility in a way that we could maximise its impact for people looking to learn golf without any of the typical barriers for entry.
“Our opportunity to travel around the world playing golf at so many amazing facilities really helped us in our concept and with that, avoid mistakes we had seen and build what we thought a golf facility should look like from our perspective.”
The genius in the space that is now Golf House Academy is its versatility.
Arnold describes it as a football field that can be split into four quadrants.
When completely opened up – with glass walls that encase the High Performance Swing Lab – people who walk in can see the entire space from front to back, including the 18-hole, 111-foot-long putting green.
But the space can be split in half for group lessons, cordoned off for individual lessons or separated in such a way that a group of friends can come in and hit balls beside each other as they would on a range.
It was that flexibility that made Arnold, Stewart and their business partners reframe who they thought it would appeal to.
Observing the success that Aussie Kids Golf Academy was having in the city, Arnold saw opportunity in the family demographic in the east of Atlanta yet has been surprised at the clientele they have attracted in the first three months of opening.
“Families come in with their kids and want to do a lesson while their son takes part in a clinic,” Arnold adds.
“This is accessible for everyone, whether you’re a tour pro or an absolute beginner.
“There are no dress codes, we have golf clubs, we have everything.
“There’s a massive market of people that tell us that there was nowhere for them to practice or play.
“It’s been massive among women who can be intimidated going to a driving range.
“We crank the music. We ask what kind of playlist they want to listen to and off we go.”
Making the space open, light and inviting was also a key focus in the design.
Skylights bathe the facility in natural light and the detail in the furnishings was such that people come in and show no inclination that they want to leave.
Complementing that atmosphere is a staff that treat visitors more as friends than clients.
“Our secret sauce is people come in expecting X and they leave with X and Y,” says Arnold.
“Part of that is our culture in Australia, being personable, nice, giving them a great experience.
“If the lesson’s an hour and they’re not hitting it well or whatever, our coaches will regularly run 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 30 minutes over.
“Our staff are absolutely phenomenal. They’re really good people. They’re not clients, they’re really friends.”
Arnold acknowledges that property prices in Australia can make it prohibitive to establish a centre the size of Golf House Academy.
Yet he urges PGA Professionals looking at new business opportunities to explore every idea and to not be afraid to do it differently to everyone else.
Among their innovations, Golf House Academy boasts retractable vinyl walls that give the space flexibility and a game-changing use of impact screens that completely altered how they could maximise their footprint.
“The width of the back space is almost 20 metres so if you use a net, you need four feet between it and the wall,” Arnold explains.
“Tim had the idea of using an impact screen which means you only need 30 centimetres off the wall. That gave us an extra five or six feet, which was huge.
“Once that happened, everything fell into place.
“That was a light bulb moment for sure.”
Two Members with a combined 110 years of service have been made Life Members of the PGA of Australia.
Kyle Francis (left) and Denis Brosnan (right) were announced as Life Members at the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday night in recognition of the more than 50 years that each have contributed to the growth of the Association and golf in Australia.
The Brosnan name is synonymous with golf equipment in Australia but Brosnan’s golf career began at the age of 12 with a part-time job in the pro shop at Virginia Golf Club in Brisbane’s north.
After a few years, Brosnan was put forward to begin his PGA Traineeship under Fred Anderson at Oxley Golf Club.
He completed his PGA training under Frank McCarthy Snr at Jindalee Golf Club, spent a few years as the PGA Professional at Caboolture Golf Club and was recruited to become the PGA Professional at Redcliffe Golf Club in 1967.
Brosnan was there for the next 24 years, working alongside his wife June – who passed away in 2016 – who would prove instrumental not only in the founding of Brosnan Golf in 1977 but in the company’s success over the coming decades.
Now in his 58th year as a PGA Professional, the establishment of 16 Golf World retail stores in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia would further entrench the Brosnan name in the consciousness of Australian golf and strengthen a love affair with the game that continues to this day.
“Golf is my life, as many of you know,” Brosnan said in a video message, his Life Membership application submitted by Nigel Lane and seconded by Wayne Grady and Richard Beer.
“I like to play golf regularly. I was the Club Professional at Redcliffe Golf Club for 24 years and it always gave me a great deal of pleasure to nurture young golfers, to bring them through, to teach golf.
“The PGA has meant so much to me over the years and, as a proud member of the Australian PGA, whether I travel throughout Australia or around the world, Australian PGA Professionals are admired. We are welcome in golf clubs all over the world.
“Thank you to the Australian PGA for the training, for the effort that they put in to nurturing and training Professionals for the future.
“The Australian PGA has a fantastic future going forward. Our current Board is brilliant, the ideas that they possess are very positive and growing.
“As a proud PGA Professional, I would like to say thank you very much.”
Kyle Francis’s influence on the PGA of Australia over the past 52 years is significant and varied.
Like Brosnan, it had humble beginnings, caddying and picking up balls for Billy Holder at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney.
Francis completed his apprenticeship under Holder in 1971 and spent time under the legendary Alex Mercer at Royal Sydney in the late 1970s.
He was at New Brighton Golf Club for seven years before joining Concord Golf Club as Head Professional in 1987.
After a decade at Concord, Francis spent time playing again before stints working for Geoff Scott as his ‘roaming manager’ four years at Paradise Palms in Cairns before returning to Sydney and Bexley Golf Club in 2018 where he worked for five years prior to retirement.
In the 1980s, Francis became the National and State education Chairman, a role he would retain through until the mid-1990s.
He played a critical role in establishing what is now known as the ACE Program and, after joining the senior ranks in 2002, spent seven years as the Chair of the now PGA Legends Tour.
“This is the greatest honour that a member can receive and I am proud to be joining such an illustrious group of members, past and present,” Francis said in his acceptance speech.
“I’ve met many great people and made many terrific friends. I’d like to thank my lifetime friends, Col McGregor and Peter McWhinney for submitting my nomination to the Board, the Board for approving it to go to the Members and of course, all of you guys for voting for me.”
In a sense, Declan McCollam’s career working at golf facilities around the world was the result of a gap year gone wrong.
After completing his PGA Traineeship (now Membership Pathway Program) in Perth under Graham Johnson and spending a couple of years playing on tour in Asia and Australia, Declan decided to join a number of his countrymen and teach golf in Germany.
There was a growing enclave of Aussie PGA Professionals within Germany and Declan saw it as a way to see a new part of the world, experience a new culture and return home to Australia to resume his playing career.
“I really went with the idea of going for a year to see what it was like, save some money and go play again,” Declan says.
“I ended up staying 12 years in Germany.”
Thirty years on from that initial exploration, Declan was named the 2023 PGA International Member of the Year at the PGA of Australia Awards in Brisbane last November.
His current role as General Manager of the Prestige Golfshire Club in Bangalore in India prevented Declan from attending in person, his career now serving as a blueprint for just how widely PGA qualifications can take you.
Through his association with Troon Golf that is coming up on 24 years, Declan has worked in Portugal, Russia, Italy, Morocco, the United Kingdom, Dubai and Switzerland as well as a stint back on home soil managing Troon properties such as Brookwater, Golf Club Kennedy Bay, Pelican Waters, Peregian Springs and The Cut.
He is adamant that his experiences in different countries among different cultures have armed him with the skills to be able to work anywhere and urges other PGA Professionals to invest time working internationally.
“I would recommend to all young graduates to go overseas for at least a period of time and experience what it’s like overseas,” Declan says.
“Even if it’s for one year or two years because it’s great to see what’s happening somewhere else and how different it is to the Australian system.
“If you go to a private club in Singapore, for example, seeing first-hand how they operate at such a high level is an invaluable experience.
“Any young Professional that gets that experience and has the opportunity to work in that environment, comes back with such a better understanding of how to work in the service and hospitality industry and deliver to your members.
“It’s a big feather in their cap and, when they come back, they will be highly desirable to Tier 1 clubs around the country.”
Although Graham Johnson’s acronym for FIFO may not be fit for publication, Declan insists that the principle remains the same for those who wish to work worldwide.
“You have to have the ability to adapt,” Declan says.
“I first went to Dubai not long after September 11 so there was lot of cautiousness about being in that part of the world.
“My thought was that if I make the decision to go there, it’s their country, I have to live by their rules.
“If you’re going to go somewhere, you need to fit in and you need to assimilate and behave in a professional manner.
“I think this is why Australians do so well overseas. We have the ability to adapt to any culture or race of people whereas other people perhaps don’t have that ability.”
Thirty years in, Declan continues to supplement his in-workplace development with continuing education through the PGA ACE Program.
Wherever he is in the world, Declan believes that continued learning is critical to success.
“It’s important to me, and it should be important to all Members because knowledge is everything,” he says.
“You cannot stop learning. If you stop learning, it’s like applying the brake to everything. It then gets to the point where everyone’s passed you by so far that it’s hard to catch up.
“The guys that have been really successful have never stopped learning and knowing how to adapt and grow their business.
“That’s very important. And the PGA has now realised that and are giving us the tools to be very knowledgeable, very well-rounded and understanding of what’s happening outside of the golf industry.
“That can only benefit us within our own industry.”
PGA Professional Michael Mosher has forged a career taking golfers on the trip of a lifetime, all underpinned by a very simple business philosophy.
“We take people to the best golfing locations in the world, and we make sure they have a good time doing it,” says Mosher, PGA Professional and Director of Golf at one of Australia’s premier golf travel companies, Teed Up Golf Tours.
From Augusta to every course on The Open Championship rota – and most places in-between – Mosher and his team of staff are dedicated to ensuring that with them, customers can enjoy the golf experience of a lifetime.
Now a thriving business with more than 20 years’ experience, Mosher recalls that the idea behind Teed Up Golf Tours came about largely by chance when he was the Director of Golf at Mount Broughton Golf and Country Club in Bowral.
“A member bought a travel agency business and asked if I could help to organise a trip to The Masters,” he reflects.
“That was in 1999, but in 2004, a friend, who is now my business partner, encouraged me to start running tours as a business full-time.
“We took a risk, but we thought we had found a niche in the market. We did it as a bit of fun; a way to see the world, play some golf and have a good time.”
It is that approach that has sustained Mosher, as Teed Up Golf Tours has expanded from 8-10 person trips, to regularly hosting hundreds of keen golfers on trips to Augusta alone.
“We started small, but when we grew to getting about 40 people on those early trips to The Masters, it became a reality that we had something to work with,” he adds.
“When you step back from it for a moment, it’s really cool.”
Mosher credits much of the business’s success to his willingness to create and maintain strong relationships throughout the industry.
From his playing days when he recalls having to fax fellow players to stay in touch, to now engaging with a network of other PGA Professionals to get the word out about his tours, Mosher is a people person.
That, alongside his engaging personality, has helped to foster a sense of goodwill that continues to benefit the business.
“I really believe that PGA Professionals are very personable people, who want to help,” Mosher adds.
“When I look back on those early days, I was just keeping in touch and being friendly, but it also helped to build a database of people who wanted to be involved later down the line.”
That attitude enhances the experience for golfers on the tours as well, as Mosher and fellow PGA Professionals connect, cater to and care for each member of the touring party.
“These guys are engaging, friendly and want to help,” he says. “We will play with a different group every day of the tour, and it is in our nature to help – whether that is by offering a swing tip, or just talking golf.
“We are all there for the same reason and just love being around the game. Our passion rolls through the trips, and we know the customer feels that, too.”
The quality of golf courses is something that Mosher is meticulous about, wherever in the world Teed Up Golf Tours might be.
“On all of our tours, golfers will play all the best courses that are available,” he explains. “We don’t play average courses. Our motto is that we will drive a long way to play the best golf.”
Something made increasingly possible by his friendly nature of strong golfing network, the list of courses available to Mosher and his clients continues to grow.
“Over the journey, I’ve met a lot of people overseas who have helped us get on to courses I didn’t think was possible,” he says.
“From Pine Valley to Cypress Point and Whistling Straits, you keep building those relationships and more becomes possible.”
With golf as the regular family outing growing up in Byron Bay on the New South Wales North Coast, Jess Dengate was born to live, breathe and work in the game.
Having played in elite amateur teams, it was a natural choice for Dengate to turn professional.
However, while she was plying her trade on the WPGA Tour of Australasia (then the ALPG Tour), she was also completing the PGA Membership Pathway Program at Yarra Yarra Golf Club, becoming a PGA Professional in 2017.
“I tried to play a little bit, wasn’t quite good enough, but I had some pretty awesome experiences on tour as well,” says Dengate.
“I came back in 2017 to settle into, I guess, normal life if you will, in club-land.
“I wanted to use my PGA qualifications, work in pro shops and coach for a little while.
“I gradually found my way into the admin team where I am now at Latrobe.”
Working as the Operations Manager at Latrobe Golf Club in Melbourne’s north-east, Dengate is making use of her vast experience in the world of golf, as well as her learnings from studying at the PGA Institute.
Then known as the PGA International Golf Institute when she was a student, Dengate undertook the Diploma of Golf Management. That created several opportunities for a Tour player such as herself looking at the next step in their career.
“Leaving the Tour, I knew I had to find a bridge between the practical sense of the game and getting some business education,” she adds.
“I wasn’t quite ready for the step into full-time university yet, so the Institute was a great stepping stone.
“That first year, getting those credits for a university degree provided a great pathway into the golf industry.”
The PGA Institute has a proud list of partners with higher education providers. Students today can go on to study selected bachelor degrees with Griffith University, Deakin University, Torrens University, Victoria University and Holmesglen TAFE with the credits they earn.
On top of the pathways the Institute opened for Dengate, the flexible nature and self-driven study options suited her well.
“The flexibility was great too, working as well as studying, being able to do both and figure out my path,” she says.
“The opportunity to do it remotely, rather than on-site, for me made the biggest difference.”
As well as her role at Latrobe, Dengate has been a proud WPGA Tour of Australasia board member since 2016.
Now Vice President, her passion for women in golf stretches from the professionals all the way down to grassroots at club-land.
“When I started on the board, we only had three tournaments for the 2017 season,” Dengate says.
“To see where the Tour is now is pretty special in terms of growth for women’s golf.
“Golf Australia, the PGA, and the WPGA all working together in a much closer sense than they used to has definitely helped equality in the women’s game at club level.”
Dengate is an invaluable asset to both Latrobe Golf Club and the WPGA Tour of Australasia.
With her wealth of knowledge within the golf industry, coupled with her PGA Institute studies, she understands the needs of the members she works for, and represents them in a meaningful way.
For more information on additional education and training available through the PGA, visit pga.org.au/education/.
One of the unsung heroes of the Australian golf industry, Ray Walkerden, has passed at the age of 90.
Founder of Walkerden Golf in 1977, Walkerden passed suddenly last week having left an indelible mark on Australian golf.
The Managing Director of a successful pharmaceuticals company in Thailand, Walkerden was invited to make a career switch in his early 40s to become partners with colleague Geoff Howarth in a newly-established golf accessories business.
Sensing the opportunity to provide a more complete service to PGA Professionals and golf clubs throughout Australia than was being provided by major distributors, Walkerden drew parallels with what he had experienced in the pharmaceuticals game.
As Howarth covered Newcastle and northern New South Wales, Walkerden went on the road, covering an estimated 1 million kilometres travelling from golf club to golf club.
Such were his travels that Walkerden once received an award from Mercedes Benz acknowledging the 250,000 kilometres he had covered in the space of just four years.
Specialising in software such as headwear, apparel, socks and accessories, Walkerden grew the business to the point where Walkerden Golf became the Australian distributors for Softspikes, Texace and Lyle & Scott, among others.
Walkerden became sole proprietor in 1981 and developed it into very much a family business, wife Brigita taking care of the accounts back in Sydney as she raised their two boys, Brent and Clinton, both of whom continue to build on the Walkerden Golf legacy.
A club golfer at Oatlands Golf Club in Sydney, Walkerden received the Services to Golf Industry Award at the PGA Show dinner in 2002, the highest honour that the PGA can bestow on a non-Member.
“Dad’s golfing highlight was winning the C Grade Club Championship one year but to be recognised by golf professionals for his services to the industry was something he clearly treasured,” said Clinton.
In addition to servicing PGA Professionals in their retail business, Walkerden Golf was a long-time supporter of the PGA’s Trainee Program, further entrenching their positive influence on the Australian golf industry.
PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman paid tribute to the contribution Walkerden made to PGA Professionals and golfers across Australia.
“Sourcing equipment back in the 1980s and 1990s was not as easy as it is now,” Kirkman said.
“I first met Ray in 1990 and he was passionate about providing a complete service to PGA Professionals far and wide.
“Many thousands of golfers across the country will have purchased equipment distributed by Walkerden Golf without perhaps understanding the effort it took to put various items in their pro shop.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of Ray’s passing but will never forget the contribution that Walkerden Golf has and continues to make to golf in Australia.”
Growing up in South Africa playing amateur tournaments against the likes of Rory Sabbatini, Tim Clark and Darren Fichardt will show you – clearly – whether you’ve got what it takes to make it in professional golf.
Leon Trenerry was good. Good enough to turn professional and spend six years playing on the Sunshine Tour in his homeland after quitting his job with a telecommunications company.
But, deep down, he knew he wasn’t good enough to make a career purely out of playing golf.
“Eventually you’ve got to buy bread and milk,” he explains matter-of-factly.
In March, three months shy of his 49th birthday, Trenerry graduated the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program, opening the door to the career in golf he never thought possible.
Trenerry’s journey is unlike many who seek to become a PGA Professional, yet is living proof that it is never too late to pursue your passion.
After more than 10 years in the restaurant business in South Africa, Trenerry followed his sister and parents and immigrated to Australia in December 2020.
Seeking an entry point into the golf industry in Australia, he enrolled in the PGA Institute’s Diploma of Golf Management while working at Brookwater Golf and Country Club west of Brisbane.
During his studies he was encouraged to apply for the Membership Pathway Program, a program he was able to complete in two years rather than the standard three due to his prior education with the PGA.
Not only did that put a golf club back in his hands – Trenerry won the Queensland Associates Order of Merit in 2022 – but has now given him the scope to plot a career path intertwined with golf.
Currently the Assistant Professional at Oxley Golf Club in Brisbane, Trenerry hopes that his experience in and out of golf will make him a desirable candidate for management positions in future.
“I always thought maybe I’d be able to get into management or part ownership of a golf course in the future, where I can be the jack of all trades with my food and beverage background,” said Trenerry.
“I’ve managed quite substantial amounts of staff in the restaurant businesses I was involved in and obviously with having the qualification through the PGA that may be able to open up a pathway into management.”
Being an accredited PGA Professional will also provide Trenerry the opportunity to scratch the itch of playing tournament golf again.
He understands that occasionally competing against active Tour professionals on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series is unlikely to yield many victories. But he is savouring the idea of being able to enjoy the best of both worlds in what he describes as his “second chance”.
“When I gave up playing full-time golf as a 28, 29-year-old, I never thought I’d put the scorecard in the back of my pocket again, per se,” said Trenerry.
“Making a cut or top 30 amongst these youngsters would be a great result for me but the Program has given me the opportunity to be able to go do that and have a stronger financial backing than travelling around trying to make money just to get to the next tournament.
“The next step for me would be an Operations Manager role and then maybe in three or four years from now I’ll be looking for a General Manager role somewhere.
“Given the amount of people I’ve worked through my life in the restaurant business and so forth, that would be a good fit and a nice challenge for me.”
Almost 25 years to the day after he took the keys to the pro shop as the new PGA of Australia professional at Bermagui Country Club, Chris Hearn has left a job that has given him so much, but not nearly as much as he gave the club and its golfers.
Hailing from Sydney and starting his PGA training in the 1970s at New Brighton Golf Club (Brighton Lakes), Hearn travelled Australia playing the game professionally before settling in the South Coast of New South Wales.
Hearn took over the contract at Bermagui on April 1, 1999, and raised his children with wife Joan.
Following a run of professionals who were in the role for short periods, Hearn took the job with the full intention of staying on at Bermagui, and went straight to work, including personally being on site for 63 straight days.
Reflecting on his time as a highly respected teaching professional and friendly face to the members and visitors to the spectacular South Coast, Hearn remembered asking a player from the ‘Chook Run’ to mind the shop after those 63 days to go to the bank.
However, mostly his memories are of the people during his time that ended on March 31, 2024.
“I like talking to people and stuff like that. If someone came into the shop, I’d say, ‘How you going? Where are you from?’,” Hearn said.
“I’m just always interested in where people played. Basically, just the social side of it with the people and all the members.
“It’s been so good for us here. It’s just amazing. We are not going anywhere. I’ll see if I can play a couple of tournaments and teach a bit down here and just keep myself occupied.”
Speaking on the changing nature of Bermagui, where Hearn claims you couldn’t buy milk after 5pm when he arrived before the turn of the century – and where membership was $69 a year at the time – the 66-year-old will continue to teach at local clubs. But perhaps with a little more time spent at home.
Noted around the country for his teaching, with Gary Barter a regular sharer of swing thoughts, Hearn’s ability as a player has likely been missed by the thousands he has served with a smile on his face behind the counter, or on the teaching tee at Bermagui.
Playing four Australian Opens, including teeing it up with the likes of Ian Woosnam, Rodger Davis, Ian Stanley and Graham Marsh, Hearn remembers once driving a young Vijay Singh from a Pro-Am at Tullamarine to Flinders Street.
But while he has mixed it with big names from both here and abroad, many of Hearn’s favourite memories often include two fellow PGA of Australia members.
Travelling with the late AIS coach Ross Herbert led to Hearn meeting Joan on a blind date, while his great mate Larry Canning is a regular in tales.
Canning was one of those to speak at the Chris Hearn Golf Day held on March 23, when 144 players teed it up, that number swelling for the dinner that evening to honour his time at Bermagui. Brett Officer, Peter Lonard and PGA of Australia Chair, Rodger Davis, were among those to send messages of congratulations.
“It was fantastic,” Hearn said of the day and night.
“A lot of the guys sent messages. Brett Officer spoke and wished me all the best. I can remember playing with him in my first tournament, the 1978 New South Wales Open at Manly Golf Club.”
Beyond the countless stories with some of the biggest names in golf, and his love of the South Coast and Bermagui Country Club that will forever be linked with his name, Hearn also speaks proudly of his 45 years as a member of the PGA of Australia.
“I’ve always been proud to be a PGA member,” he said.
“It’s the camaraderie and stuff like that. I went to all the trade shows and all the seminars where they had all the guys that come out, Hank Haney, Jim Ballard, Gary Edwin and all those guys.
“It’s been so good, beautiful to us.”
If you follow elite amateur and professional golf, you have likely heard the name John Serhan. A PGA of Australia member for 29 years and the 2022 PGA NSW Coach of the Year – High Performance, the long-time Head Teaching Professional at St Michael’s Golf Club in Sydney has developed a knack for taking promising junior players to the highest level.
His stable includes 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship winner Harrison Crowe and Sarah Kemp, who at 38 is playing arguably the best golf of her career on the LPGA Tour.
To watch Serhan at a tournament is a tiring experience for the observer, the younger brother of former New South Wales Open winner George Serhan constantly watching and filming his players.
Serhan is often unable to help himself from jumping in as caddie, too.
His commitment to his charges is admirable, and when speaking to his players it becomes clear he is more than just the PGA Professional they trust with their game.
“As a person, probably one of the best blokes I’ve ever met. Easy going and easy to talk to when you need him, almost like a second dad,” says Nathan Barbieri, pictured with Serhan and runner-up at the 2019 Australian Amateur.
Adds Crowe: “He’s rare. He’s extremely selfless. He’s always putting everyone else in front of himself. He’s just a top human being.”
Serhan, too, notes his closeness to students that become like family through the amount of time spent together. However, beyond the personal touch to his coaching that sees Kelsey Bennett suggest he is “like my therapist”, Serhan’s eye for the golf swing and simplistic methods are more than proven.
“I think we have just got a great relationship,” says Crowe.
“We work really well together in just kind of gelling, working through things together, not necessarily him just telling me what I need to do.
“It will always be a two-sided conversation. He’s such a great coach, such a great person.”
Those conversations don’t come via a strict methodology that can so often be the criticism of elite coaches, despite Serhan admitting he does have his preferences. His ability to work with a player’s natural movements is arguably one of his greatest traits.
“It’s about trying to lay a foundation – a good technical foundation – and getting them to play lots of different shots I think is really important,” Serhan says of his philosophy.
“I know there are two trains of thought out there, whether you’re teaching just to play one side all the time. For me, I want to have awareness of the club and be able to move the ball around so they can create shots while they’re out there and it’s more fun when they do that.
“I think it’s important to understand that we are all unique. Obviously we all have systems, we have all preferences in our head that we like. I like to think that actually most of my players look different, because we try and embrace their uniqueness.”
Discussing the importance of club face at impact, attack angles, repeatability and removing any strain on the body to achieve those all-important elements, Serhan’s approach to elite golf revolves around fun. Particularly when it comes to embracing a young player’s enthusiasm, rather than stifling it.
“Just making sure that whatever they are doing is fun, so they’re finding a way to make it fun for themselves, so they are enjoying their practice,” he says of young students.
“Balancing out really the ‘range rats’ to being on course and playing games and setting little targets on course.”
Although Serhan might be best known for his work with the Crowes, Kemps and Bennetts of the world, he approaches the game and teaching in the same way for the St Michael’s members, be they nine or 90, with fun the overall driver.
That includes Kemp who he jokingly calls “an old big kid”.
“Whether they are 17 or 37, I honestly hope the same principles still apply because I believe there is a child within all of us, who wants to get out and muck around and have fun,” he said.
Believing his work with young players, including the St Michael’s junior program that Crowe calls “the best I’ve ever seen”, keeps him young, Serhan’s simplicity in his approach and personable nature is indicative of many PGA Professionals coaching at all levels. And comes down to a simple driving force.
“You want to see good people do well.”
