Sandy Golf Links superintendent Gerri O’Callaghan is one of the game’s great inspirational stories
Gerri O’Callaghan is a sight to behold as she drives a Workman around Sandy Golf Links with her four-legged companion ‘Ronald’ by her side. O’Callaghan and the golden retriever are a regular presence late into the evening at the new home of Australian high-performance golf, just across the road from Royal Melbourne.
In 2021 O’Callaghan was appointed superintendent at Sandringham, becoming what’s believed to be the first woman appointed to that role in Victoria. (The only other current female superintendent in Australia is Michelle Huzzey at the nine-hole Wynyard Golf Club in Tasmania.) In that sense, 46-year-old O’Callaghan has become somewhat of a trailblazer in what is a male-dominated industry.
While she is an outstanding golfer – a plus-1 marker with 11 club championships to her name – a career in turf wasn’t on the horizon while growing up in Cohuna and Echuca on the Murray River. Her mother Nancy suffered a fatal heart attack when Gerri was just 19 years of age. Three years later she lost her dad, Gerry. O’Callaghan then spent six years backpacking around the world, working as a water-skiing instructor in Pennsylvania followed by some landscaping and bar work in the UK.
O’Callaghan entered turf maintenance by accident. A hospitality stint at the Henley Rowing Regatta led to an opportunity to mow the carpark and she ended up maintaining the hallowed grounds for five months. Upon returning to Australia in 2007, a chance conversation led to an apprenticeship at Sandhurst Club in Melbourne. At night she completed a Certificate III and then a Diploma in Horticulture Recreational Turf at TAFE.
O’Callaghan was appointed assistant superintendent at Sandringham in 2011 prior to working as a ‘foreman’ on Royal Melbourne’s East course. She was responsible for bunkering at the 2019 Presidents Cup before returning to Sandringham during the reconstruction of the par-65 layout (ranked No.58 on Australia’s Top 100 Courses). It was O’Callaghan’s work ethic and communication skills that earned her the promotion to superintendent at ‘Sandy’.
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When did you realise the turf industry could be the career for you?
I think when I started working out at Sandhurst and realised the diversity of the role. You’re not just mowing the greens and raking the bunkers. Pretty much every day is a different day when you’re changing holes or doing irrigation or drainage work. It really was the diverse nature of the job and also working amongst a big team.
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Maintaining a course averaging 250 rounds a day with a crew of eight requires constant application and supervision. What does a typical week involve for you?
A lot of my role now is the mentoring side. As part of a small staff you also have to be on the tools. It could be mowing the greens alongside the boys. It could be mentoring, changing the holes and giving them advice and knowledge [about] the game of golf. I spend, in total, maybe a day a week in the office planning and scheduling the spraying applications. The scheduling of the mowing also requires communication between myself, Paul Thomas (who is the superintendent on the West course) and Nick Staff (who is the superintendent on the East course) because we all share the same resources from the same shed. It’s very important that we communicate with each other to make sure no one is using the same equipment on the same day and we can all efficiently do our roles.
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How difficult is leadership for a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry?
I think the word is challenging more than difficult. I think it’s more earning the respect of your entire team. There’s no job or role nowadays that a woman can’t do just as well as a man, because everything is pretty much structured around machinery. There’s still manual handling tasks and roles that we certainly do need help with. But as a leader it’s my role to be a good mentor. To show good leadership. Calm under pressure. I think instruction and communication, again, I can’t harp on that enough because when you’re out in the field and you’ve got 10 or 15 different jobs going on – and you have to be everywhere at once – you can’t lose your cool.
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Would you recommend the turf industry as a career for girls and women?
Absolutely. There’s so many different avenues after you finish [a] four-year apprenticeship. You can also go on to study [a] diploma. Or you can go on to turf science. There’s marketing, there’s so many different roles in the turf industry. Any young woman that wants to do these positions, just get out there and have a go is certainly my advice. In the years to come, it’s ever-changing and you never know when there might be robots mowing the fairways. It’s an innovative industry and certainly one that women can excel at.
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What’s the most fun part of being in the turf industry?
I think it’s the camaraderie. You don’t understand how global the industry is. At present we have eight seasonal staff here for the summer. And they’re from the UK, there’s one from France, one from New Zealand. Hearing their stories and everyone having the common goal of presenting a great golf course. That’s a lot of fun at your lunch breaks and at the end of the day. And Friday when you’re having a beer with the boys… And it’s very satisfying for me as a golfer to present a golf course for people to enjoy.
