FORMER PGA professional Glyn Richards' path over the last 20 years has seen him take up a number of varied roles across the golf industry from starting his career at Northenden as assistant pro then moving to High Legh Park as membership sales advisor.

After a stint there moving into retail under Greg Nicholson Golf, he spent four years as a playing professional, which due to injury saw him retire but retain his professional status.

He then returned to High Legh to open his own retail business which saw a number of successful years.

Richards moved back to high-street retail, working at JJB Sports as golf manager for their flagship shop in Stockport, then took on the role of store manager for American Golf, working at a number of their outlets.

His last few roles have seen him at TFG in Widnes and a short stint at Sandburn Hall Golf Club in York but he has now settled in as business development manager at Altrincham Golf Course and driving range.

Looking after the retention of and driving new memberships to the business and helping take the company forward, he has finally relinquished his professional status – in June last year – and now plays off a four handicap.

His focus has mainly been on retaining the current membership line and also seeing growth of 20 per cent.

He is also bringing the facility into a modern era with the introduction of WHOLEIN1GOLF for spring 2019, giving members and visitors free access to GPS yardage tracking and mapping.

Investment to the buggy fleet will also see all buggies fitted with the same technology.

He said: “We are changing the future of golf societies for 2019 by encouraging smaller groups of golfers and reducing the overall cost to the golfer to make it more accessible for everyone and this year will also see membership rates fixed for the second year, meaning the top seven-day membership is a mere £599, including gym and healthcare.

“The golf course itself has come on leaps and bounds this year with Rob Cooper and his team really focusing on improving the quality of the greens and presentation of the course – so much so the course has seen regular visits from other greenkeeping teams and turf technicians to see exactly why the greens have been so good.

“It promises to be a very exciting year for the course and driving range.”