The Sandhurst Club boasts two championship golf courses, a clubhouse which is a popular hospitality space and a housing estate with 4000 stakeholders.
IF you’ll pardon the pun, Sandhurst Estate’s CEO, Dean Jamieson has never been one to let the grass grow under his feet.
As a youngster, fresh out of Mentone Grammar, where he and Shane Warne had been best mates growing up, his eyes were firmly fixed on a cricket career.
“After we finished school, Shane went to St Kilda to play cricket and I played for South Melbourne.
“We both went very different ways after,” Dean says.
But the pair kept in touch over their respective journeys.
“I didn’t have a coffee with him every few weeks or anything like that. But we were best mates at school and the family invited me to his memorial at the MCG.”
The great Australian left-hand batsman, Graham Yallop, coached Dean at South Melbourne and arranged for him to get a part time job as a curator at the Lakeside Oval. It led him to a job as a greenkeeper at Woodlands many years ago.
“I remember John Sloan (legendary Woodlands golf club manager) interviewed me for the job by driving around the course in a cart.”
The Woodlands job piqued further an interest in turf management and Dean attended Burnley Horticultural College; ran his own landscaping business and then headed up two huge companies who specialised in delivering services in ‘green spaces.’
Clients included the Melbourne Racing Club (home of the Caulfield Cup) GMBH Stadium in Geelong (home of the AFL Geelong Cats), the Latrobe University Grounds and Sporting Facility and Sandhurst Estate.
By his early 20’s, Dean, had turned his back on cricket and had started to compete in ironman events here and overseas. He qualified and competed in the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii.
Straight out of school, Dean had no interest in study but later, with the support of the company he worked for, completed an MBA.
“The three owners encouraged me and I am still friends with them today. They were very supportive,” he says.
It led to him to now having a raft of business and management qualifications. Even now, Dean is midway through a Master of Business Psychology. Nobody can accuse the man of being an under achiever.
“I think the passion and discipline required for sport have helped me in my business career,” Dean says.
He had been a member of Sandhurst Golf Club for three years before throwing his hat in the ring for the CEO’s job.
He’s hit the ground running since he arrived at Sandhurst less than six months ago.
Jamieson has revamped the management structure and the business model, which is unique to the golf industry in the sense that it is not just a golf course and a hospitality space; it’s a housing estate with 4000 stakeholders.
Sandhurst CEO Dean Jamieson.
“It’s all based around delivering an outstanding membership experience and delivering for our stakeholders. I am passionate and driven about this.
“It’s more than a golf course. We have 1813 houses on the estate and only 20 per cent of the owners play golf. The board did not want a manager who sat in the office, but someone who engages with members. I am a firm believer in that.
“But we have great facilities, and we are looking at ways to further engage all our members.”
Part of this is to run a series entertainment functions for the Estate one of which will be a sportsman’s night hosted by Sandhurst Ambassadors – ex Test cricketer Damien Flemming and Melbourne footballers Max Gawn and Jake Lever.
“We have a great space here for entertainment functions so why not use it,” Dean says.
Apart from the owners who play golf, Sandhurst has 1700 golf club members who do not live on site.
There are two great golf courses – The North and The Champions – designed by the late Peter Thomson and Ross Perrett.
The new CEO plays off a respectable handicap around 12. But it’s fair to say, since taking up the challenge of his new post, he is playing “far less” golf.
“I’m here for the long haul and there’s plenty of work to do,” he says.
Part of that, includes bringing the golf courses back to pristine condition.
Clearly Sandhurst’s new man is up for the task at hand. He has come along at the right time, albeit by a circuitous route, but is eminently qualified to deliver on every front.
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