Lumb relishing PGA captaincy

As a 10-year-old growing up in Yorkshire, Nicky Lumb (above right with PGA Cup player Richard Wallis, left) had to caddy to enable him to play as a junior member at the West Bowling club where his father was secretary.

Fast forward half a century to Lumb’s Bristol Golf Centre base and the contrast couldn’t be greater with young children greeted with a pirate themed golf course complete with crocodiles (stuffed!) and drawbridges.

Add in a Starbucks coffee shop, extensive retail operation, custom fitting plus driving range and putting greens, and it’s easy to see why this unassuming quarter of the city is a bustling haven for golfers.

Customer service has been a driving force behind Lumb’s time in golf which began more by accident than design when a life threatening illness in his mid-20s prompted a career rethink.

Having initially started his working life in the family textile business, Lumb elected to pursue a career in golf, influenced by his older brother Robin who had left home at 16 to become an assistant at Mere Golf Club, going on to build Crimple Valley.

“I had always played golf, my wife, Kathy, was a two-time Curtis Cup player, and my brother was a pro so in 1975 I followed in his footsteps,” he said.

“I think Robin built one of the first pay as you go golf clubs.”

The younger brother has proved equally adept in the business of golf, establishing a reputation as a successful retailer at Filton Golf Club where he assumed head professional status just six months after becoming an assistant. He became fully qualified in 1980.

Hambrook Golf Range, which is just a few miles from Filton, had long been on his radar and 12 years ago he took over its running, changing the name to Bristol Golf Centre and which now employs nine PGA professionals.

Lumb has also given a lot to the PGA, having been an instrumental figure in the PGA education and training programmes since 1983 when he was invited to become commercial studies tutor going on to become a senior tutor in 1988.

The following year he became chairman of the PGA training committee which presided over a pivotal time in the Association’s history and he was involved in the building of the new PGA Training Academy, chairing the committee overseeing the PGA training manual re-write and served on the education review committee in 1989-90 and 1995-99.

He was also a three-time member of the PGAs of Europe training standards committee from 1991-96, 1998-2000 and 2002-09 and has been a member of the PGA Board of Directors since 2001.

Lumb admits the invitation to captain the world’s oldest professional golfers’ association had been a surprise, albeit a welcome one.

“It had never entered my head that I would ever be captain of the PGA but I am very honoured and pleased to accept,” said Lumb.

As he reflects on his long career in golf, Lumb is acutely aware of the challenges and identifies PGA members as vital in the long term success and prosperity of the golf industry.

But he has a few sage words of advice.

“PGA members need to make themselves indispensible at their golf clubs,” he says.

“They should sit on every committee that there is. They should try and make everything tick around them.

“When I was at the PGA National Training Academy I would be the first one that ever spoke to the assistants about actually getting a job in golf.

“I would ask them, now you’ve graduated, what are you going to do? I must have done this for 1500 trainees. Some people you could see the ambition and drive, others were not that inclined.

“I’ve lots of ex-staff who have gone on to do well. I employed 16 staff at Filton and we had one of the biggest pro shops in the country.

“I always had a high standard of golf pro that could sell membership. If a golf pro is good at giving lessons you can get access to a school and a business by saying I am a golf pro.

“There is no question pros are key but the golf club needs to see it so the pro also needs to be a public relations officer for himself.

“It’s not easy, in today’s climate it is very difficult for a golf pro but if you have got 500-600 members he should try and self promote.

“Look at the members and visitors you have got already. When I was at Filton when there was a visiting society or a competition I never went home until they had all gone.

“I used to stand outside the shop cleaning the windows so I could talk to the players when they came in off the 18th and cajole them into the shop. If they had won a competition I didn’t want them spending their gift voucher elsewhere, I wanted them to spend it in my shop.”