Pennant Hills GC appoint new Course super and project advisor

Pennant Hills GC in Sydney announced that Michael Hedger has been appointed as the Course Superintendent following the resignation of Liam Ash. They also announced that David Warwick has been engaged as the Course Project Advisor working with Michael, his team and the Board to provide advice, guidance and assistance to implement the Course Master Plan.

Michael has spent the past two years as Assistant Superintendent at Pennant Hills and was previously Assistant Superintendent at North Ryde for some 13 years. He is well qualified with extensive knowledge of irrigation maintenance and installation as well as having overseen the construction of new holes, dams, bunkers and greens under the eye of Golf by Design (James Wiltshire) and Fleming Golf. Members have expressed their admiration of the condition and improvement of our course during the past months when he has acted as the Superintendent.

David’s career has included appointments at Concord, Royal Sydney and Bonnie Doon before he accepted the Superintendents position at Arundel Hills in Queensland where he worked on all stages of the original development of the course over a four-year period. It is worth noting that Norman Von Nida remarked that, on completion, Arundel Hills was arguably the best golf course in Australia. David was appointed Superintendent at Avondale in 1996, a position he held until 2021.  He was responsible for the course reconstruction process at Avondale over a three-year period.

After Avondale he entered the private consulting industry where his appointments have included a role in the redevelopment of Pymble Golf Course and currently managing construction on the privately owned Oakgate course at Freemans Reach. He has lived locally at Pennant Hills for 25 years. In 2010 he was the Golf Digest Superintendent of the Year as well as the winner of the Excellence in Turf Management award.

In 2021 he was presented with the Distinguished Service Award by the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association. This award is not given annually, it is reserved for an individual who has left an indelible mark on the Australian Sports Turf Management profession. Members might recall that Vince Church won this award in 1998 just before him handing it over to Richard Kirkby and John Odell who began his career at Pennant Hills and went to be the long-running Superintendent at Royal Sydney, won it in 2012.

David will report through Michael to the General Manager. Both will sit on the Technical Committee who report to the Board where responsibility for the project rests.

These are seminal appointments in the history of the Club, they lead into commencing the reconstruction of our course over the next three or four years. They come on the eve of the completion of the Master Plan and presentation of the project to Members.