Howlong’s first ever Director of Golf appointed

The Howlong Golf Resort has appointed John Cannon as the club’s first ever Director of Golf.

The Club has a long history of Head Golf Professionals running the Golf Operations as a contractor and is now implementing a new organisational arrangement which will centralise golf operations under the direct control of the Director of Golf as an employee of the Club.

Cannon, a US PGA Professional, is originally from Wollongong but has been residing in America since 1993. He has most recently been at Torreon Golf Club in Arizona for 10 years, having started as an assistant and worked his way up to the Director of Golf role, a position he held for four years.

Torreon is a very well regarded 36 hole championship course, designed by internationally acclaimed golf course architect Robert Von Hagge and his partners Mike Smelek and Rick Baril. It is described as one of Arizona’s most exhilarating and picturesque golf experiences. The designers have preserved the aesthetics of the land, including its natural washes and wildlife, and the tree-lined fairways frame spectacular mountain views.

Prior to Torreon, Cannon was at Anthem Golf and Country Club in an assistant’s role. Anthem is also a Championship Course located just outside Las Vegas designed by Hale Irwin and Keith Foster. He is also an accomplished golfer playing off plus 2 and is a mini tour winner in the US, and is looking forward to playing in some of the local Pro Am’s when time permits.

Howlong General Manager Chris Rebbechi said “We have undertaken an extensive recruitment process for the Position. We received a huge response and were delighted with the high quality of the applicants. Interviews were conducted with candidates from Canada, USA, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. The applicant’s preparedness to travel long distances at short notice for the position was testament to the popularity of the role.”

Howlong is assembling a quality team with John Anderson (Ex Riverside) recently joining the grounds team as an assistant led by Paul Irvine (Ex Royal Melbourne). Irvine has done an outstanding Job at Howlong with the tight Murray River course going from strength to strength under his guidance.

The Resort has been undergoing renovations and the club has built four brand new luxury apartments to expand their offering and plans to build an extension to the Clubhouse to incorporate a new Pro Shop and to turn the existing Pro Shop into a gymnasium.

There is certainly plenty of action in Howlong with the Golf Links Estate subdivision also progressing at some pace.