Craig Palmer at the helm of The Hills

By Neville Idour

Craig Palmer in many ways is the face of The Hills Golf Club in Arrowtown and as recently-appointed general manager it seems like it has been a natural progression to that position, having been there almost from the beginning. 

It was well worth spending some time with him and learning more about his life to this point.

“I was born in Auckland and grew up in the Bombay Hills on an avocado, tamarillo and kiwi fruit orchard,’’ Palmer begins.

``It was a golfing family and my father Alistair was a touring professional and was club pro at Manukau Golf Club (in Auckland) for many years. He actually played in a British Open. 

``He took a break from golf when I was born and eventually went back to Manukau. Mum was a good golfer too but I didn’t play when I was young. I played rugby and cricket. I didn’t start golf until we moved to Timaru where dad took the club pro job at the Timaru Golf Club.” 

Palmer's father is now the club pro at Greenacres Golf Club in Nelson where he has been since 2010.

“We lived at the Timaru course and being a great place to learn to play golf I started when I was about 13 years old. My game progressed quickly and I made my first senior Aorangi team when I was 15 and with good opportunities there I played for them for a few years before moving to Dunedin after high school. 

``I played for the very good Otago team, met my wife to be, played golf together and the rest is history.

“I had aspirations to play professionally for a living but ended up doing my traineeship in Christchurch. Towards the end of it I saw a job advertised in Queenstown at Kelvin Heights (Queenstown Golf Club) so I went there for an interview with Allan McKay, one of New Zealand’s most experienced professionals. I worked as his assistant professional there and also at Frankton Golf Club. I learned a lot from Allan.

“While I was there I met the people who built the clubhouse at The Hills. They mentioned that Michael (Hill) was looking for someone to help them with their golf operations. At that stage there were only about 16 members. So I started on a part-time basis for a couple of years.

``It wasn’t so much about coaching but just mainly playing golf with the members. Eventually there were enough members to justify having someone there full time.

“I was in my late 20s and I guess I was in the right place at the right time. They asked me what my title should be and I picked director of golf. It was too grand for me at the time but I spent the next 10 years growing into it.” 

A humble admission indeed. Palmer is now aged 43 and has been full time for 13 years following his part-time stint.

“I feel fortunate to have been involved and play a role in what it has become. So many great experiences getting to know the members and to enjoy the big tournaments staged here and to play in them … such a cool experience.” 

These have been the only serious pro tour events Palmer has played and he has no regrets about not trying the touring life. He is satisfied having played in several New Zealand Opens at The Hills with some success.

“My real passion is this club and everything to do with it. As far as I am concerned this is as good as it gets in this part of the world. We live in a vineyard in Gibbston with a couple of acres which keeps us busy. We just love it here.” 

The Palmers have an eight-year-old daughter who keeps them busy, says Craig.

So what does the future hold for The Hills? Palmer is measured in his reply because much is in the discussion stage. 

“We have done a lot of strategic work recently to confirm why we are here and what our vision is. We have set some very clear goals for what we want to achieve and one of them is that we want to give back and support the local community and I think we are making some good progress there. 

``The community open day was certainly part of that. We are trying to support some other smaller local golf clubs with their agronomy programmes.” Glenorchy club has been a recent example of this.

Palmer is pleased to have Sian Chilton as golf operations manager filling his former role managing the golf team. 

``Our mission is to build the team up as we are a bit short staffed at the moment.''

The Hills Invitation Pro-Am is coming up this month again so we asked how that originally came about.

“I was fortunate to be asked to play in a fantastic two round invitation pro-am at the Royal Sydney Golf Club for a few years. It was an amazing experience so I thought there was an opportunity to do something similar for our members and so the event has grown over the years. This year we have a naming rights' sponsor and the purse this year has jumped from $50,000 to $70,000 for the 20 player field.”

Now that this tournament is part of the New Zealand Professional Golfers’ Association calendar it has assumed far greater importance for the players, who are always thrilled to be invited. Craig Palmer has certainly shown himself to be an innovative person and no doubt there will be more happenings at The Hills to look forward to.