Champion mentor’s parting gift to golfers
OUTGOING Coolangatta Tweed convener Andrew Outridge has tipped the waves of golfing talent to continue to be produced from the club.
The club endured a bittersweet day on Sunday when they claimed the Gold Coast District Golf Association junior pennant final but also bid farewell to their popular longtime mentor.
Outridge, who has spent the past seven years nurturing junior golfers in the region, has seen been one of the major reasons behind the club’s continued competition success.
However the lure of enjoying full weekends proved too tempting, though not before he left without a parting gift.
“Coolangatta has a great story and history of juniors coming through and representing their state, country and going on to have international careers,” he said.
“I hope we’ll keep seeing kids coming through and continuing that tradition of Coolangatta being one of the best junior clubs around.”
Outridge has developed a long list of alumni which includes recent South Australian Junior Masters winner Conor Whitelock and state representatives Jack Ross, Ben Adams, as well as his son, Isaac Outridge.
“It’s very rewarding because the kids start off at under 10 level and I work with them until they’re 18 and you can see that they’ve got careers in the game,” Outridge said.
“To see the kids achieve success is great because you get to see their reaction when they realise that they’re good enough to play in that environment.”
Outridge said he planned to spend his new, spare time with his son and believed he would never be far from the golf course.