New Richmond Golf Club superintendent Wes Cochran has been a busy man since taking on the post at the picturesque 18-hole course set against the stunning backdrop of the Blue Mountains.

The 46-year-old, who joined Richmond after six years as super at Riverside Oaks only a few months ago, had the course in world-class condition for the Sharp EIT Solutions Australian PGA Seniors Championship which was held from November 7-9, 2025.

Cochran replaced long-serving superintendent Mark Williams who departed the role mid-year.

Hosting the prestigious event for the 11th time, Cochran and his dedicated staff of seven including a contract mechanic who comes on site a few times a week had just 12 weeks from his arrival to get the course (pictured below) in shape for the tournament.

“We had the eight of us but for the three days of the tournament we had an ex-staff member come in as well,” he said. We got lucky on the Friday before the tournament and had 30mm of rain, which washed out all the bunkers but it perked up the greens. We’ve got five fairways with no irrigation so it greened up the place but there are some patches in the fairway.

“We pumped out bunkers on Monday and quickly got back on track. The live shots that were shown highlighted the work we had done and everything ran smoothly. I guess only having 12 weeks to get ready isn’t ideal, so next year I’m looking forward to getting a few more things done because five fairways without water isn’t ideal.”

Cochran said it was the right career move for him to make the shift over to Richmond but was looking forward to doing more work in preparation for next year’s PGA Seniors Championship, with more time on his side.

“It’s been good, a bit of a change from out at Riverside Oaks. It was a bit closer to go home for me and the PGA was a pretty big factor,” he said. “Nothing was really in place when I got here, a lot of machines weren’t working so we have brought in a mechanic two days a week which has helped us a bit. Equipment Solutions were able to provide some equipment for the tournament as well.

“But we’ll get through this Christmas period and then I want to trench along every fairway and try and get these fairways in really good condition for next year.”

In what was a thrilling back and forth battle with multiple challengers, Jason Norris eventually won the Australian PGA Seniors Championship for a second time.

Norris - originally from Melbourne - with his girlfriend Kate playing the role of caddie, was a fan favourite with the members of the western Sydney club and earned a rapturous applause both when holing his winning putt for a 10-under total and one shot win over Brendan Jones and Peter Lonard.

Story: Nick Creely; Photo: Richmond GC