Rob Richards is continuing a family legacy at Warringah Golf Club in Sydney that stretches back more than 50 years… and his son Dean may just yet follow suit.
My father, Bob, started as the pro at Warringah in 1966. He had the golf administration, sales and he put equipment together. If someone asked me at school when I was a kid, “What does your father do?” that was it. He played golf, made a few bucks and then put equipment together, sold it and ran the course for the membership base.
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I started playing at an early age, maybe 4 or 5. I’m the eldest of four kids so it was good to go down with the old man. I’d pick up golf balls and do the card duties and all that sort of rubbish. But then I’d go play. I’d hang around the golf course all day and that was good fun. And then of course, as a young kid, you play OK and the members invite you to play and accept you.
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I was a decent player as an amateur kid; I played for the state and all that. Dad said, “Oh well, you can play, you silly bastard. Why don’t you do this?” I went to uni for a year, did some commerce, then I took up my apprenticeship which was nice and easy. Nice transition. It was an easy road for me. Followed him, carried on.
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In those days, particularly his old man, they were strict. You hear about the old man being strict and what have you; he was strict on all of us. And for golf practice as well, he was strict. He only knew one way. He was quite strict in giving me direction and telling me what to do. I couldn’t go to the pub; it was time to hit balls. You don’t go to the pub; there are no winners there at all. All those anecdotal things that my father says. There’s no use gambling; gamble on your golf.
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He gave me all those things that golf brings, as in honesty and being humble. One day you shoot 70; next day you shoot 80. If you work hard you get something out of something. Pursue your goals and all those sorts of things that a father would have in his mind to give his kids. That’s what he gave me. He’s a brilliant old man, really.
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And he was taught that way as well. His parents had nothing. The old story was that when he started playing he had six right-handed clubs and one left-handed club. That’s all he could muster. And then he did his PGA traineeship at Royal Sydney. Of course, then it was: yes sir, no sir, three bags full. He didn’t know anything different so it was: follow the code.
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After my traineeship I went to Riverside Oaks for 12 years and that was an excellent time for golf, particularly corporate golf, through the ’90s and early 2000s. And then the old man retired in 2002. So I came back here and I’ve been here for the past 20 years.
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The role of the PGA Professional hasn’t changed too much in all that time. You still teach, you still start competitions, you enter scores, you finalise comps. You still sell golf equipment. It’s still built in much the same way as it was, at least for the past 30 years. The pro shop’s the showcase and you make sure that you satisfy the members and the casual players and all those demands.
If you wind the clock back 30 years, I’m certainly a better coach now. There’s so much information out there that when we’re discussing golf swings with other pros, we’re all on the same page. With everything we know, we know exactly why it all happens. And I instill that with my young bloke. It’s easy for us to get the TrackMan and get all this information. Once upon a time, we’d see it, hear it, feel it and then we’d gather some sort of information about what we were looking to do. And then we’d follow players. It was either Nicklaus or Miller or Watson. Whoever the flavour of the month was, we’d study their swing and then incorporate that into our teaching.
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My son Dean was a very good little sportsman as a kid. You have ‘x’ amount of kids and then someone can really play sport. He kicked for the football team, was wicket-keeper for the cricket team and then he got into golf. He’s so dirty with me that I waited until he was about 12 or 13 to really give him a good run. So dirty. And then he became a really decent player. He’s just turned 17 and like all the kids, he’s off a 1-handicap and smashes it. He’s won a couple of junior championships here and the junior championship at Manly. He’d like to become a PGA Professional; he’d like that a lot. – with Tony Webeck