The 25-year-old assistant club manager at Berkhamsted Golf Club, Ben Hunter, is the first individual to enter the new personal mentorship programme offered by Legacy Golf. Hunter’s mentor will be Stuart Gillett, who was previously general manager of Golf at Goodwood, and who has recently co-founded Legacy Golf Advisors, bringing together an experienced team of people to offer a multi-subject strategic advisory service to the golf industry. The mentorship will initially take place on a remote basis, but will also involve quarterly face-to-face sessions when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted to enable this.
The programme will last for a minimum of twelve months, and will focus on enhancing Hunter’s pursuit to become a general manager in the future. It is fully supported by his employers at Berkhamsted Golf Club. “Stepping up from being an assistant manager to becoming the number one at a golf club is a huge challenge,” said Gillett. “Even the best of the newer managers, like Ben, simply don’t have enough years under their belts to have come across the huge variety of challenges that GMs typically face.
“Although he receives a great deal of coaching and support already from Howard Craft — the club manager at Berkhamsted — we believe that Ben will benefit greatly from being able to access advice from outside of the day-to-day business. Berkhamsted has an admirably clear set of values, and this mentorship will help Ben to champion those values every time he interacts with the club’s staff, members and other customers. It will also help him to make the right decisions when he comes across situations he hasn’t encountered before.”
Ben Hunter added: “Stuart has an impressive CV and a diverse range of skills. When previously working at Goodwood I saw him in action first hand and was inspired with what I saw and the qualities he possesses. To get the opportunity to work with Stuart again is very exciting and I can’t wait to grow my skill set further. In addition, I commend Berkhamsted and particularly Howard for agreeing to support me with the mentoring scheme.
“I’m already finding it fascinating, even though it is still only early days. Stuart’s mentorship isn’t about my day-to-day development. It’s more about the big picture, making me a more valuable asset for the club, and helping me to deal with some of the more common problems which you find in club management.
“I feel that the Legacy Golf mentorship will prepare me better and faster to become a GM in the future.”
