Know your Golf Club's General Manager - Wayne Venter, Germiston Golf Club

I have been involved within the sports industry for nearly 30 years, I was given the opportunity to work in the golf industry which has turned out to be amazing.

My first love for sport was tennis, I played on the SA circuit from the age of 13. My love of golf started when I walked with my dad as a youngster when he played.

I have never played on the tour. I am more of a social player.

My biggest mentor has to be my dad. He always taught me never to give up and always go for your dreams. My father loved golf. There are many golf club GM’s out there that are doing incredible work within the industry and it’s always nice knowing that you can phone them to brainstorm.

There’s no typical day at Germiston GC every day is a new challenge. The day usually starts with a quick chat with the Pro-shop followed by a meeting with our greenkeeper, Ian Macintosh, to discuss the course.

This is followed by a meeting or a phone call with our club captain, Rodney Hendry, to discuss club issues. I then do a walk around the club, checking that everything is in order which is never the case.

I then spend the rest of the day in and out the office answering emails organizing functions and golf days with the help of my accountant, Rina Hartzenberg, but I always find time to chat with the members and the visitors at the club.

Finding young adults to become full members of the club is a challenge. I’ve noticed with the league over the last 3 years that there are no new faces. The golfers these days are happy with just a handicap card. Being a municipal owned golf course, we get no support from the council. The day-today costs to run our Golf Club falls directly on the members.

Personally, I feel golf in South Africa has grown. I do however think the COVID epidemic has had a lot to do with it. People were isolated for so long that when they gained the freedom to go out and about again, they chose sports to keep them outdoors and let’s face it, there is no better sport than golf to keep you outdoors.

We are running weekday specials and weekend group booking specials to celebrate the clubs 126th year. We also offering specials on our function facilities.

Yes, I always go the extra mile to make our members happy and I’ve trained my staff to do the same. However, saying this, there are times when members can be unreasonable and I have to stand my ground. In the best interest of the club!

YES, I am always on call. Being GM of the golf course requires a lot of sacrifice. Sometimes your hours are not always your own, you can go for a week or two working normal hours. Then you can have weeks where you have a golf day every week, sometimes two, plus functions on weekends where you get home at 1 o’clock in the morning. Thankfully I have an understanding wife.

Short term goal getting more golfers to play at Germiston. Germiston GC used to be in the top 100 golf courses, my long-term goal is to get back there.

In my free time I enjoy spending time with my wife, family and friends. I also enjoy singing at pubs and restaurants when I get the chance. However, I really enjoy just relaxing at home with my wife.

I don’t get to play as often as I would like too. I usually get to play twice a month which I truly enjoy.