The fact that women make up only 3 per cent of the male dominated greenkeeping profession comes as no surprise to Sophie Hamdorf and Jess Abercrombie. Sophie and Jess work at different South Australian golf courses and share the experience of being their employer’s first female apprentice.
Sophie began working at the Royal Adelaide Golf Course four years ago as an 18-year-old and recalls securing the job wasn’t just a big change for her, it was a big change for everyone at the club.
Sophie Hamdorf was the Royal Adelaide Golf Course's first female apprentice.
Sophie Hamdorf
Royal Adelaide Golf Course
‘They had to build a girl's toilet for me,’ Sophie laughs. ‘I was the very first female apprentice that they've had.’
But the club’s punt on Sophie well and truly paid off. In 2022, she took out Turf Management South Australia’s Golf Graduate of the Year award and is now Royal Adelaide’s first qualified female greenkeeper.
It was an affinity with the outdoors, rather than golf, that led Sophie to the career she now loves.
Not a golfer herself, Sophie says she enjoys the compliments she receives from players about how well cared for the course is.
‘We renovate the whole course every year in early spring where we scarify fairways and tees, core green surrounds and tine greens to remove thatch build up, making the turf harder and faster.
‘We do a lot of work in bunkers, brooming the face and raking the base, and I think we’ve got something ridiculous like 91 bunkers on the course, so it takes up a lot of time,’ Sophie laughs. ‘We maintain all turf surfaces including fairways, tees, greens, green surrounds and rough, as well as look after the vegetation. We do have two full-time vegetation guys, but we still give them a hand, especially in winter.’
Her favourite part of the job is seeing the sunrise each morning.
Sophie enjoys compliments on the condition of the greens.
Adelaide's Metro train line adds another point of interest to the course.
Jess Abercrombie's passion for the environment led her to The Grange.
Jess Abercrombie
The Grange Golf Club
Jess Abercrombie had never imagined following her passion for the environment would lead her to work at a golf course. But, after visiting The Grange Golf Club, she realised protecting and maintaining the environment surrounding the greens could be her perfect job.
Six years on, Jess has completed her apprenticeship at The Grange and is now the club’s Biodiversity Manager.
‘The Grange is like a conservation park in the middle of Adelaide,’ Jess says. ‘It’s the last place on the Adelaide Plains that has remnant pockets of native pines. So, it's pretty important to the conservation community in Adelaide.’
Jess is now the club's biodiversity manager.
‘We’ve got about 50 hectares of remnant and native vegetation here and, because it is private, you don’t get the public walking through so you can protect it a lot easier. We are also a seed bank for other golf courses and the surrounding councils — they come to us and get the seed and plant it out in the community.’
Balancing the needs of golfers with protecting and regenerating the environment surrounding the fairways can be challenging, but the remnant vegetation definitely adds to the players’ experience, with positive feedback from world-class players including Bryson DeChambeau, who played a recent Liv tournament at The Grange.
‘(Bryson) was saying this course is so different compared to other courses because we let it be natural, not highly manicured.’
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Since finishing her Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management, Jess has begun studying for a Diploma in Conservation and Ecosystem Management, and a Bachelor of Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering. Her biggest win to date has been having her 10-year Environmental Management Plan for The Grange approved by the Club’s Committee.
‘The club is moving forward to adapt to the climate issues that are predicted to arise in the future.
‘It’s a 10-year-plan and it was really well received by our committee. They’re backing me.’
The course is surrounded by remnant and native vegetation.
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