Bairnsdale Golf Club manager Jeff Graham has created history, becoming the first manager to receive the Management Professional of the Year at the Victorian Golf Industry Awards, held recently at Southern Golf Club in Keysborough.
The award acknowledges the work put in by Graham to ensure the continued success of the Bairnsdale Golf Club, which continues to flourish in this post COVID environment.
Graham previously received the award when he was the manager at Goonawarra Golf, ironically it was sharing the winners’ podium with Bairnsdale, who were the 2017 Golf Club of the Year that he made initial contact with Bairnsdale officials.
“At the awards night in August I congratulated Bairnsdale Golf Club on their achievement in winning facility of the year, tongue in cheek I said it’s a shame they didn’t have a role for a GM,” Graham said.
That quip obviously made the folk at Bairnsdale sit up and take notice.
“Bairnsdale had been doing a tremendous job of running the club without a manager, winning multiple awards and increasing financial growth. They told me they were putting a role together and that I should stay in touch. “Some things are just meant to be,” Graham said.
Graham began work at the Bairnsdale Golf Club in January 2018 after 10 years at Goonawarra, where he started as a professional before moving into the front office.
