ASK any greenkeeper at any golf course and he’ll confirm it.
It’s a calling for ‘life’.
And seldom do you get the opportunity to share the spotlight with your comrades.
Besides, it’s hard to squeeze that many ‘legends’ together in one room.
Yet the NSW Golf Industry Awards were all about bringing golf’s many and varied participants together.
And that included some of the unsung heroes of our industry, the golf course superintendents.
Amazingly, five ‘lifers’ were gathered at The Crown Barangaroo last month to laud some of the stars of our golf industry.
And at the forefront was Northbridge Golf Club’s long-serving ‘super’ Malcolm Harris.
Named as Superintendent of the Year, Harris has had a stellar career, spanning 41 years at Northbridge.
And his contribution to the broader industry has been immense.
Harris has rebuilt every tee on the tight, testing Northbridge course as well as undertaken extensive bushland regeneration projects.
He has worked extensively with TAFE NSW in educating young turf managers, many of whom have become leaders in their fields.
Harris joined the NSWGCSA 38 years ago and was awarded life membership in 2021.
On hand to thank him for his efforts were fellow life members Gary Beehag, Mark Schroder, Martyn Black and Mark O’Sullivan, who don’t get to see a lot of each other with the hours they work.
After all, they’re up before dawn and often there hand watering greens and chasing away galahs late in the evening, as well.
Yet these five are all life members of the NSW Golf Course Superintendents Association.
Beehag has put in many hours at Pennant Hills and still works in the industry; Schroder is now at Waverley in Victoria; Black has been at Pennant Hills and Castle Hill and now works all around the state offering his sage advice on ways to improve their courses.
While O’Sullivan has been at Roseville for about 30 years and continues to make it the happy home of one of Australia’s longest running pro-ams, the two-day ‘Mashie’, which is part of the Legends Golf Tour.
