Callum’s the keeper of Wilmslow’s future
GOLF BY GEOFF GARNETT
CALLUM Goodhind has been involved in golf green keeping all of his life and was delighted to be appointed as the Course Manager at The Wilmslow Golf Club at the start of 2024.
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 installation 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 fulltime 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.”
A Winter League and Sunday Stableford at Avro was won by club legend Vic Tarr with 39 ahead of Neil Flood 37 and Roy Whalley and Tim Bochenski, both 36.
The Wednesday Roll Up at Avro had Andy Withington out on his own with 40 from Peter Hale 37 and Steve Jones 36.
The latest Junior League Stableford at Macclesfield needed a cpo on 17 to see Harry Boddy into top spot from Ben Wilshaw.
Macc ladies enjoyed their Spring Meeting and none more than Wendy Higgins who led in with 28 from Gill Evans 25, Jean Duncan 24 and Sarah Wild and Chris Hickmott, both 23.
The final round of the Men’s Winter League at Prestbury had Ken Mairs in firm control with 32 from Tim Royle and Geoffrey Bickerton, both 29 and Gregory Adams 28.
Prestbury ladies played a 9-hole medal and Debbie Ward won a cpo on 40 from Erica Wilkinson, one shot better than Gillian Clewley, Kirsten Forbes and Moira McGrath.
A Seniors 15-hole Stableford at Styal had the familiar name of Steve James on top with23 from Gary Scott 22 and David Foster and John Pickerill, both 21.
A Saturday Stableford at Styal had Nathan Hayes out on his own with 28, well clear of Neil Taylor 24 and Hilton Alexander 22.
The Styal Winter League Aggregate leader, with three events to go, is Max Henshall 157 ahead of Anton Barnsley 154 and Lee Cullen and David Blackburn both 148.
The Manchester and District Ladies Golf Association was founded in 1902 and has provided top competitions for ladies in golf clubs across, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Lancashire thanks to the work of dedicated teams of volunteers.
The top honour in MDLGA is to be elected as their President for a year and their 2024 President Ethel Dawson (Pike Fold Golf Club) brings a wealth of golfing experience to the role and her third as a President.
Ethel outlined her pathway in golf: “I was widowed in 1994,so my social life changed.
“I have always been sporty playing netball, hockey, rounders and competition swimming, so, when two ladies at my keep fit class suggested golf, I booked six lessons with a professional and I was hooked!
“So, in October 1995 I joined Prestwich Golf Club as a complete keen novice and went out in all weathers.
“With golf you can go out and practise on your own, and no-one bats an eyelid.
“While at Prestwich G.C. I served on the Ladies committee, and on the handicap team, and in 2003 became Lady Captain.
“In 2011 I moved to Pike Fold G.C. where I am on the ladies committee and ladies handicap team.
“In 2022 I become Lady Captain, then in 2023 took up the position of Lady President of Pike Fold.
“In the same year I also took on the role as Lady President of the North West Manchester Golf Association Ladies section (Lady 2 P’s!).
“In 2019 I joined the committee of the Manchester & District Ladies Golf Association for a three-year term and in September 2023,I got a phone call, from Maggie Morley the then President of M&D inviting me to take up the position of President for 2024.
“It was never on my bucket list, and I was shocked and honoured to be asked. It then meant I became Lady 3 P’s!
“I can now devote my time solely to my role as President of the M&D
“The Manchester &District was founded in 1902 and I am sure there have been some great changes in 122 years to what the association is today.
“My aim is to uphold the values and traditions of this association and with all the new information and technology at our disposal.
Evolve in the 21st Century smoothly but not forgetting if it’s not broke don’t fix it, enhance it!
“For me, of all the professional lady golfers Dame Laura Jane Davies, stands out as a great ambassador of woman’s golf.
“On a personal note, I have been playing golf for 29 years, and a few years ago I visited Prince Edward Island in Canada.
“There was a wall on a little side street which asked: What would you like to do before you die.
I wrote ‘I would like to play off scratch’.
“I think it will stay a dream!”