NEW Bendigo Golf Club general manager Brad Wilson is aiming to increase the social and corporate events on the club’s calendar and attract new players to the sport.
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Wilson has taken over the role as general manager following the resignation of Steven Oliver, who ended his four-and-a-half year tenure last month.
While it’s a new position for Wilson, he is a familiar face at the Bendigo Golf Club having previously been its teaching professional since March of 2016.
“The personal growth is a very big thing for me in taking on this position,” Wilson said on Wednesday.
“I get to grow my skills as a general manager with all the things like accounting, finances and wages that I wasn’t doing as a golf pro, so it’s a challenge, but also a great opportunity.
“Looking at it as a club, a lot of this year is going to be about sponsorship and making sure all our holes are sponsored and looked after.
“And the obvious ones are trying to boost green fee numbers and corporate day bookings, which is where a lot of our income comes from.
“If we can build on our corporate days and run a few more social competitions, such as Sevens Golfs (seven-a-side, nine-hole competition), to be able to get a few more people on the course who aren’t normally golfers, that’s what we’ll be working towards.
“If we can do that then we’ll be kicking goals.”
Wilson, 29, previously completed his PGA traineeship at the Kareela Golf and Social Club in southern Sydney.
Originally from Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast, Wilson has also had a three-year stint at the Eden Gardens Country Club, doing coaching work with the Sapphire Coast Golf School.
As well as his general manager role, Wilson will also still find time to continue to teach at the club.
“I will be doing the teaching on a Monday, so our members will still be getting serviced in that area,” Wilson said.
“And I’ll be still running the golf shop, as well as doing the back office work.
“I really enjoyed my couple of years doing the teaching. The members here are fantastic and I really enjoyed coming to work every day.
“They are all helping me as much as they can and I know I’ll be needing to lean on them for advice every now and then.”
Wilson’s first key event as general manager was overseeing the club’s biggest annual event – it’s Christmas Challenge – on December 23.
“That was my initiation you could say, so it was a bit of a case of being thrown into the deep end to get the biggest event of the year up and running,” Wilson said.
