The 25 year old Assistant Club Manager at Berkhamsted Golf Club, Ben Hunter, is the first individual to enter the new personal mentorship programme offered by Legacy Golf.
Hunter’s mentor will be Stuart Gillett, who was previously General Manager of Golf at Goodwood, and Co-Head of European Tour Destinations. The mentorship will initially take place on a remote basis but will also involve quarterly face-to-face sessions when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted to enable this.
The programme will last for a minimum of twelve months and will focus on enhancing Hunter’s pursuit to become a General Manager in the future. It is fully supported by his employers at Berkhamsted Golf Club.
In late 2020 Gillett started the Legacy Golf mentorship programme to help the new wave of golf club managers to avoid the operational banana-skins which crop up along the way.
“Stepping up from being an assistant manager to becoming the number one at a golf club is a huge challenge” said Gillett. “Even the best of the newer managers, like Ben, simply don’t have enough years under their belts to have come across the huge variety of challenges that GMs typically face.
“Although he receives a great deal of coaching and support already from Howard Craft, the Club Manager at Berkhamsted, we believe that Ben will benefit greatly from being able to access advice from outside of the day-to-day business.
“Berkhamsted has an admirably clear set of values, and this mentorship will help Ben to champion those values every time he interacts with the club’s staff, members and other customers. It will also help him to make the right decisions when he comes across situations he hasn’t encountered before.”
Ben Hunter said: “Stuart has an impressive CV and a diverse range of skills. When previously working at Goodwood I saw him in action first hand and was inspired with what I saw and the qualities he possesses. To get the opportunity to work with Stuart again is very exciting and I can’t wait to grow my skill set further. In addition, I commend Berkhamsted and particularly Howard for agreeing to support me with the mentoring scheme.
“I’m already finding it fascinating, even though it is still only early days. Stuart’s mentorship isn’t about my day-to-day development. It’s more about the big picture, making me a more valuable asset for the club, and helping me to deal with some of the more common problems which you find in club management.
“I feel that the Legacy Golf mentorship will prepare me better and faster to become a GM in the future.”
Gillett also recently co-founded Legacy Golf Advisors, bringing together an experienced team of people to offer a multi-subject strategic advisory service to the golf industry, including subscriptions-boosting and operational management support for golf clubs.
The famously bunker-free Berkhamsted Golf Club is rated as being among England’s Top 100 golf courses. It is laid out on common land in Hertfordshire’s largest expanse of natural gorse and heather, with over five miles of bridleways and pathways running throughout the golf course and its huge 560-acre estate, full of natural beauty.
Situated north west of London, just inside the western boundary of Hertfordshire, Berkhamsted Golf Club is easily accessible from the A41, five miles west of Hemel Hempstead and just 15 minutes from M1 Junction 8 (St Albans).
Berkhamsted Golf Club www.berkhamstedgolfclub.co.uk
Legacy Golf Advisors https://legacygolfadvisors.com/
