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Gladstone Golf Club in central Queensland has been home to former Sydneysider Chad Gilmour for the past six years
Gladstone Golf Club, QLD His beloved NSW might not be kicking goals in State of Origin, but Chad Gilmour certainly is as course superintendent of Gladstone Golf Club in central Queensland.
The Gladstone crew (from left) Steve Strathdee, Matthew Walker, Neil Perkins, Ronald De Vera, Freddy Rodriguez and Chad Gilmour
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Superintendent: Chad Gilmour (32). Nickname: Happy. Family: Wife Sheena, two dogs (Pumba and Malibu) and cat Narla. Social media: Facebook (www.facebook.com/ chad.gilmour.7). Years as a superintendent: Seven. Association involvement: AGCSA member seven years, GCSAQ. Career: Bardwell Valley Golf Club, NSW (apprentice and then assistant superintendent); Canterbury Golf Course, NSW (superintendent); Gladstone Golf Club, Qld (superintendent, six years). Qualifications: Certificate III Horticulture (Turf), Certificate IV in Sports Turf Management. Major hobbies/pastimes: Cricket rep – Queensland Country, North Queensland Cricket, Central Queensland Seamers and Sutherland Districts 1st Grade; also play rugby league, touch and golf. Where in Australia is Gladstone GC and what is the club/township known for? Gladstone is
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 19.4
located in Central Queensland, six hours north of Brisbane. It is home to the state’s largest multicommodity shipping port along with one of the largest coal export terminals. It is an industrial town with the recent completion of three LNG (liquefied natural gas) plants to go along with the Alumina refinery, smelter, cement, cyanide and ammonium nitrate plants. Gladstone also forms part of the Great Barrier Reef and is well known for its excellent fishing spots. Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to be a superintendent. My uncle Barry Sullivan is the superintendent at Hurstville Golf Course. As a teenager I used to go in and help him on the weekends before we would go and play cricket together. During school we had to do work experience and I decided to do it at the local golf courses and that’s when I thought this was the job for me. I enjoyed all the hands-on work and being out in the open during the day. I applied for an apprenticeship at Bardwell Valley Golf Club and ended up completing it there before going on to be appointed assistant superintendent. A job opportunity then arose as superintendent at Canterbury Golf Course where I was managing a three-man crew on a nine-hole course. It was during my time at Canterbury that a rep informed me of a job that was possibly coming up at Gladstone Golf Club as an assistant. I was excited to hear about this opportunity as we had some family living and working up there and a move to sunny Queensland sounded like a great opportunity for us. I was flown up to Gladstone for an interview and walk-through of the course and facilities and was