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 nature of the job. But it does not feel like work. If you are bored working on the computer, you can step outside and talk to the course super about a project or chat to a few members or staff to make sure they are happy,” he says.
Scothern says membership is almost full, the course continues to improve and Medway has invested heavily in improving its clubhouse and also built a new deck.
“We’re going really well. We hit 960 members last week so we’re a pretty big club. There’s not much room left actually. I think I wrote on my office wall, ‘a 1000 happy members by the end of the year’ and we’ll get there. When I got here, we only had about 700.”
The focus is on attracting more junior and lady members in the next couple of years. It is hoped to raise ladies’ membership to close to a third of Medway’s total. At the moment, it sits around eight per cent.
“We certainly have a bit of work to do there in getting the balance right,” he says.
Scothern describes Medway as “a unique group of people who just love their club”.
“The members are very close with each other and very social. A lot of close friendships and ex-football club guys that have come together are here. They just have a lot of fun, including the ladies too. That’s probably the key to the soul of the club.
“As well, staff and boards have been loyal and stable. It’s just a great club with superintendent in Colin Winterton, who has been here 40 years, and club pro 30 years (John Dixon), a brilliant membership manager (15 years) and a brilliant function manager who has been here 10 years. And a treasurer and president who have been on the board for 15 years. They all just enjoy being here and it’s a nice place to be.”
Scothern has trodden a very different path from most on his way to becoming a successful general manager.
After completing his traineeship at Sunshine Golf Club in 2002, he took a job as a teaching professional at Riversdale Golf Club. “I was the typical okay player who wasn’t good enough to play golf around the world for money. I thought, where am I going to go?’ I had a Bachelor of Business and Applied Economics degree and thought I would use that to become a club pro or a driving range operator somewhere. I never dreamed of becoming a club general manager. But now here I am.”
From Riversdale he landed back at Sunshine Golf Club where he had done his traineeship and became an assistant general manager.
“I had a fair bit to do with helping to relocate the club to where it is now at Mt Derrimut. Then I went to Eynesbury in South Melton, a residential private course rated inside the top 100. There, I was firstly golf operations manager before general manager. I never really thought I’d become a club general manager but five years (after Riversdale) I was. After that I became GM here at Medway. That’s my last 22 years – all of them working and living in the western suburbs apart from my time at Riversdale. I grew up in Melton and went to school there too.”
He’s a member at Melton Valley GC and says Melton is where all his mate still lives although he has moved to relatively nearby Yarraville. “I grew up in Melton, and played a bit of pennant for Gisborne as I tried to make the state side as an amateur. But Melton, or nearby, is largely where it has all happened for me. My parents still live there.”
Scothern says the study he did while playing amateur golf and working part-time at hardware store, Bunnings, helped him become a golf GM. As well, a couple or reports he did for board members during his traineeship hinted that he might have a career in the managerial side of golf.
“I’ve really always been interested in the marketing, economic and business side of things and this is where it’s taken me,” he says.
“I decided after five years of teaching I did not want to be a teaching pro all my life. Sunshine created a position for me and I learnt off the then GM Michael Phillips – things like hospitality and catering.”
Asked what brings him to work every morning, Scothern says, “My staff are great to work with and I like to see people enjoy themselves playing golf.
“Most of the time I feel like it’s a hobby, walking round making sure my staff are happy and talking and communicating with the board and members.
“It has never been boring from day one. If you get sick of computer work, you go out and talk with the course super about planning a project or supporting the new teaching professional (Jake Killeen) because he’s been here less than a year. We’re doing a lot of work in that area.”
Scothern is one club golf general manager convinced he has landed the dream job.
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