Berkhamsted Golf Club’s new General Manager, Daniel Blesovsky, aims to steer the club through a period of change in a rapidly- evolving golf industry.
Driving service standards and increasing female membership are two key aims which are at the forefront of Blesovsky’s mind as he takes the reins at one of British golf’s favourite destinations.
“Most people know Berkhamsted either as home to the Trophy, or as one of the only bunker-free courses in the country” said Blesovsky. “But there are other extraordinary aspects of Berkhamsted Golf Club which make it one of the most distinctive golfing experiences to be found anywhere in the British Isles.
“I am extremely proud to have been given this position of stewardship at what is, by anyone’s standards, a very special place.”
Blesovsky, 43, joins the historic club after posting one of UK golf’s most impressive CVs with a sequence of roles at three highly prominent golfing venues in the South.
He first joined the golf industry as Golf Coordinator at Hanbury Manor, after a degree in Sports Science and Business Management at Coventry University, and completing his PGA training. He then moved to Woburn, where for almost ten years he headed its five-star Golf Services department before accepting a new role at Oxfordshire’s standout venue Frilford Heath, taking a wide-ranging Director of Golf and Club Operations brief at one of the UK’s few 54-hole venues.
“For my first two decades in the industry, with extended periods at three of the best-known golfing venues in England, I really could not have asked for a better start” said Blesovsky. “And now to Berkhamsted, which has its own distinctive personality, and is unique in so many ways.
“My own CV pales in comparison to Berkhamsted’s! It is clearly one of British golf’s most authentic and natural challenges, relatively unchanged since 1926 when James Braid updated Willie Park Jr and Harry Colt’s original designs. With the Berkhamsted Trophy it is also of course host to a nationwide elite-standard golf tournament, the traditional 72-hole season-opener, with its own storied history spanning well over 60 years” he said. “We have to retain and indeed celebrate the uniqueness of our challenging golf course, but at the same time we have to evolve behind the scenes to ensure that we stay relevant for today’s generation of golfers, and indeed for the wider community here in the town of Berkhamsted.”
Daniel Blesovsky arrives in Berkhamsted with a young family, a Cockapoo dog, and a passion for travel and the outdoor life. Born in Newcastle but raised from a young age in Cardigan Bay, West Wales, he first hit a golf ball while on holiday on the Isle of Arran visiting his grandparents.
To this day, Blesovsky remains a PGA Professional, and plays to a 0.6 handicap. “I play when I can find the time!” he said. “As most people in similar positions will know, running a golf club doesn’t actually involve hitting many balls. My to-do list for my first year here at Berkhamsted doesn’t spell good news for my handicap.”
With Berkhamsted’s Top 100 England status ensuring a constant stream of people who want to play there, Blesovsky recognises the need to make the club available for play without compromising its primary status as a haven for its loyal members.
“With such a prestigious and much-loved golf course naturally we enjoy showing it off to the world” he said. “However, my primary duty is to manage the club for the members, and to implement new initiatives which fit with our budgets and strategic plans.
“I consider myself to be a good facilitator and team-builder, helping ideas to be actioned, and I would hope that the experience which I have gained earlier in my career will help me to bring some of my own ideas to the table here at Berkhamsted of course”.
With its status as one of the UK’s most environmentally-friendly golf clubs, stewards of a huge 520-acre estate rich in beauty and biodiversity, Berkhamsted’s new General Manager has many layers to his new job.
“The golf course is situated on Berkhamsted Common, atop the hill north of our historic market town” he said. “As well as the 180 acres of heathland which contain the course itself, the golf club owns a further 340 acres of wooded heathland extending up to the edge of the Ashridge Estate. In total, over five miles of bridleways and pathways run throughout the estate, including the ancient Grim’s Dyke earthwork which crosses several golf holes. Not many clubs enjoy such interesting geography or heritage, and it is a very special privilege to be here.
“A key goal of ours is to bring the golf club closer to the local community. The team and I are excited to reveal more about our plans to keep Berkhamsted at the forefront of golf in England, and I look forward to inviting friends old and new from the sport to come and experience golf as nature intended!”
Situated north west of London, close to 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).
See www.berkhamstedgolfclub.co.uk for all golf club details.