AS a younger boy rising up in Kent within the UK, Steve Lamerton used to sneak onto the Royal St George’s course close to his dwelling and play a number of holes.
“I fell in love with hyperlinks golf virtually immediately, simply love the sport,” says the urbane expatriate Englishman who just lately landed within the basic supervisor’s position on the excellent Flinders golf course on the Mornington Peninsula.
He grew to become fairly good on the sport too. In actual fact, with the boldness of youth he thought he may make a dwelling from golf professionally and briefly gave it a go.
He was off “plus one thing or different” on the time but it surely took him simply six weeks to grasp the chasm between good low handicap gamers {and professional} golfers was certainly immense.
A college diploma in arithmetic and computing beckoned and a later a submit graduate course in leisure administration which led to a 30-plus yr profession in golf all around the world.
His most up-to-date gig earlier than retiring to Byron Bay was as govt supervisor on the beautiful NSW Golf Membership at La Perouse.
“I believed that’s it. I’ve all the time cherished Byron Bay so I moved there and was semi-retired. Then we travelled to Flinders over Christmas and we fell in love with the place. As quickly as folks drive into Flinders they instantly chill out. We determined to maneuver right here and it simply so occurred that the GM’s job at Flinders was arising on the time.”
The Flinders course gives a hyperlinks golf expertise on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Flinders could be very totally different from locations he has managed just like the Greg Norman-designed Nirwana Bali, at one-time the primary resort in Asia.
That was till Donald Trump, in partnership with an Indonesian developer, purchased the joint lock inventory and barrel and razed it to the bottom. It lies idle in the meanwhile though a Phil Mickelson course is alleged the be on the drafting board. It could seem MAGA might be taking priority in the meanwhile.
Again in Australia, Steve has managed a lot of venues – Noosa Springs, Hope Island and Indooroopilly in Brisbane.
At Indooroopilly, he gave Ross Perrett and Karrie Net the nod to revamp the course over Gary Participant and Robert Trent Jones junior.
“Karrie Webb will turn out to be the pre-eminent course designer on this planet if she just isn’t already. And (world famend architect) Ross Perrett’s document speaks for itself. He’s a really, very proficient man.”
The day Steve took the Flinders job he was supplied the identical gig at Royal Sydney which had courted him for the place of CEO.
To say Royal Sydney was a distinct beast from Flinders is an understatement.
“It has 250 workers, even two full time florists and a membership of 6000.”
Flinders, he says, is golf because it was meant to be performed.
Steve Lamerton, Common Supervisor on the Flinders Golf Membership on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.
“It’s a beautiful hyperlinks course with ocean views on each gap. It may be walked fairly simply however within the wind defies you to play to your handicap.
“It’s golf correctly performed and jogs my memory of St Andrews in Scotland. It has a bit of land open to the general public.
“It has a one-way highway via it. Folks stroll via on a regular basis. They arrive for picnics and we welcome them as golf goes on round them.
“It’s a piece of land that’s simply meant for golf.”
And above all, Flinders founders within the 1920’s had the foresight to ensure by act of parliament that the land is used for golf in perpetuity, preserving it out of the arms of rapacious builders.
Steve considers himself lucky to proceed to spend his life in golf. “It has by no means felt like work,” he says.
Clearly Flinders is absolutely the icing on the cake.
The submit Lamerton finds a house at Flinders first appeared on Inside Golf. Australia’s Most-Learn Golf Journal as named by Australian Golfers – FREE.
