Rolling the dice and taking the next step
When presenting at conferences, you often get the chance to work closely with some fantastic people and learn a lot from them.
During the recent Australian Turfgrass Conference in the beautiful Hunter Valley, I was fortunate to present two workshops with Bruce Williams CGCS, whose career includes the position of Course Superintendent at Los Angeles Country Club, a term as President of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, and now International Sales with Grigg Bros fertilisers.
The focus was on taking the next step, with the first workshop aimed at Course Superintendents who are considering a career change into other aspects of our industry.
We were joined by Andy Hugill, General Manager of Mona Vale Golf Club, who provided a great overview of his move from the Superintendent’s role, and had some great advice for those considering a similar move.
The second workshop was directed at Assistants who are eyeing a career as a Course Superintendent, and this time Bruce and I were joined by Glenn Gibson-Smith, who has taken over the reigns at Riverside Oaks in the past 12 months. This was an extremely well attended workshop, and delegates were able to draw on the experience of three peers at different stages of their careers.
Throughout both workshops, the major points emphasised were:
- the importance of gaining as much experience as you can,
- being a great communicator, and
- having the confidence in the skills you have acquired in you career.
It’s great to see people prepared to challenge themselves by looking outside the square in order to develop their careers, and I find them inspiring to work with.
It was a pleasure to present with all three gentlemen, and the advice and experience they shared was extremely valuable and greatly appreciated.
