Callum Goodhind has been involved in golf green keeping all of his life and was he delighted to be appointed as the Course Manager at The Wilmslow Golf Club last summer.
The work that Callum and his team have done since his arrival had drawn numerous tributes from club officials, members and visitors.
Callum said: “The club have been extremely supportive in my first few months and my team are making great improvements on the course to get Wilmslow to the level it should be at.
“After the wettest six months I can remember the changes and treatment to the course has delighted the members and the full irrigation install coming later in the year will allow my team to take the course condition to the next level into 2025.”
Callum outlined his pathway in green-keeping: “I have been around it all of my life with my dad Michael who was involved in green keeping for 30 years ranging over several championship courses, including work in Europe, and then finishing with a 12-year spell at Stockport Golf Club.
“I used to drive him around in a buggy on Saturday mornings when I was a little boy whilst he would change holes,
“I was a student at Tytherington High School and a keen sportsman and golfer from my teenage years and got down to single figures very quickly and won the Cheshire Junior Championships at Stockport in 2011 and this encouraged me to head down the green-keeping route.
“I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps and I embarked on a full-time position under him at Stockport once I had finished my A levels.
“After several years at Stockport I wanted to experience a different track and moved to Prestbury GC as an assistant green keeper
“Within 12 months I was successful in stepping up to Deputy Course Manager under Mark Crossley.
“I had a very enjoyable seven years from that point on working with a large team and gaining priceless management experience in helping the club to climb the England rankings.
“A couple of career opportunities presented themselves to me in the last three years but none were right to take me away from the large scale McKenzie and Ebert course development programme.
“Then one year on it was my time to move on and I was delighted to get my position as the Wilmslow course manager.
“My long term plans are to get Wilmslow GC to climb the rankings in Cheshire and nationally but mainly to restore the great heritage the club has and put it back on the map as a Championship course that is playable all year round with some superb feature holes.
“I also enjoy cricket, rugby, football and lots of walking with my wife and work companion Rudy- the red Labrador.
“My wife Alix is due to give birth soon to our first child so life is pretty hectic for the moment and I wouldn’t change it!
“I have ambitions to perhaps embark on my Master Greenkeeper Certificate but for now I am focussed on the job in hand and getting stuck into all the changes and projects we have planned over the next few years and also see my team develop their management skills.
“For me long term I want to pave out a career that has been fulfilled and one I can look back on with no regrets and if I can balance that with being a great husband and dad then I will be a happy man.”
Copy & image: Geoff Garnett
