EX-PATS EX-PATS
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Fuller life
Kym Fuller has never been afraid to step outside his comfort zone during a long and rewarding career as an ex-pat course superintendent. Having worked in far flung places like South and North Korea, India, China and Mauritius, Fuller now finds himself working at the only golf course in Sudan.
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have been very fortunate to have lived and experienced a rich life in the turf management industry, living and learning in a broad range of climatic conditions and cultures and hopefully being able to impart some of my knowledge onto people along the way. I have been able to satisfy my passion for travel and the ability to grow and manage turf in all climates, from the snow-covered mountains of North and South Korea, Kashmir and the Himalayas, to the tropics of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, into the deserts of Sudan and the temperate climate of the Indian Ocean. Surfing trips up and down the NSW coast along with my first apprenticeship in the wool industry, where I learned all aspects of wool classing from the wool sheds of western New South Wales to the big wool stores of Sydney, gave me my first taste of travel. However, it was at St Ives Bowling Club in the northern suburbs of Sydney in 1973 where I would get my first exposure to the turf industry. I was only at the club for two months when the head greenkeeper at the time decided I had enough experience (although not much talent) to take three months’ long service leave. We never saw him again.
Khartoum’s Fenti Golf Club, the only golf course in Sudan, is the current home of Aussie ex-pat superintendent Kym Fuller who over nearly three decades has plied his turf management career in almost every climate imaginable 16
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 18.3
Combining my love of surfing and now my new found enjoyment of turf management, I applied for a job at Warringah Golf Club. From there it was the assistant’s job at Wakehurst Golf Club and within 12 months I found myself as superintendent. At about the same I started a turf management course at Ryde Horticultural College. It was the first year of the ‘new’ three year course and included a very competitive bunch of aspiring superintendents, among them Jeff Gambin, Greg Smith, Scotty Mackay and Laurie Walsh. Armed with my new credentials and the desire to travel, I bought a one-way ticket around the world and got as far as Christchurch, New Zealand and Lincoln Golf Club where I took on the role as ‘sole charge greenkeeper’ (meaning the only person working on the golf course). It was one of the best jobs I ever had. While in New Zealand I came across a product made from seaweed which I thought may be a benefit to our industry, so I brought it back to Australia with the mindless thought that I might be a good salesman. Wrong! As a result I had a hiatus from the turf industry and as I had previously run bars and nightclubs as a second job, I ended up managing The Cottage Point Inn on the Hawkesbury River for a few years. From there Phil Knight gave me a job at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney, my first at one of the ‘big’ clubs. This gave me the appreciation and understanding of the management techniques and budget variation within our industry. We got the call one day to prepare for the 1987 Australian PGA Championship after Liverpool Golf Club had been washed out; we had only four days to get the course ready but because Phil always had The Lakes in