There and back again: the story of St. George’s Golf and Country Club Head Professional Alan Palmer

By: Adam Stanley

Alan Palmer may have one of the most well-traveled resumes of any PGA of Canada professional currently working in Canada. 

But even for Palmer, there was no place like home, he says. That’s why he was so excited to return as the head golf professional at St. George’s Golf and Country Club after a 15-year absence from the celebrated Toronto facility.  

Palmer joined St. George’s in May of 2019 after nearly a decade out west – just over two years at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and seven years as the Director of Golf at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club. 

“I was leaving Shaughnessy on my own terms. I left all my jobs on my own terms. My first couple years (in Toronto) didn’t go as planned, but that’s no one’s fault,” says Palmer with a laugh, alluding to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Still, Palmer has been able to take all of the difficulties of the last 18 months and turn it into a positive for St. George’s, where he first worked as an assistant golf professional from 2005-2007 after stints at The Country Club in Brookline and Augusta National (yes, that Augusta National).  

The club announced at the end of last year it had hired PGA TOUR winner Ian Leggatt as its General Manager after Leggatt had spent the better part of a decade at Summit Golf Club. Initially, when St. George’s parted ways with its previous GM, more onus was put on Palmer to have an even heavier leadership plate - especially as the club was removing curling from its club, developing an indoor facility, and pivoting its overall vibe.   

“But (Ian’s) name came up and I was like, ‘let’s do it,’” says Palmer. “Let’s make this place awesome.” 

Palmer, who first became a PGA of Canada member as an 18-year-old in 2001, has always been someone to not shy away from an opportunity and “make it awesome.”  

Palmer hesitates to say he was a “country club kid,” but did have some fine opportunities while growing up the son of a hospitality-industry veteran. The Palmer family moved to Montreal in 1990 and lived on the property of Royal Montreal in the GM’s cottage. He and his brother were part of the junior program at the historical club and Palmer got his first golf gig there – he caddied, worked the grounds crew filling divots (in preparation for the 1997 Canadian Open) and even worked the carving station at the club’s brunch buffet.  

Palmer got his inaugural job as a PGA of Canada professional at Elm Ridge Country Club, less than 10 minutes from Royal Montreal. That’s when he got his first taste of the business side of golf, working the shop, re-gripping member’s clubs, and getting involved with operations.  

Palmer began working at The Country Club in Brookline not long after – Brookline and Royal Montreal have the oldest inter-club competition in the world, an event that started in the 1890’s – a job he got after a two-day interview. 

He was told there was no staff housing available at Brookline, but Palmer was so committed to the job that he said he’d make it work, finding a spot in Boston if need be. He would find out later that they indeed had staff housing, but it was a test to see if Palmer was as committed to the job as it seemed. 

He passed with flying colours. 

In the winter months, Palmer began working at Augusta National (after applying for, and getting, a different gig at Los Angeles Country Club) thanks to an introduction from the head pro at Brookline, Brendan Walsh.

“I rented a crummy car and stayed in a crummy hotel, but even if I didn’t get the job, I was excited because I was going to get to drive down Magnolia Lane. They send me the details for the interview and it’s like, ‘Enter through Gate 6 with the UPS truck,’” recalls Palmer of the interview process, with a laugh. “I was not driving down Magnolia Lane.” 

That road, perhaps, was not one Palmer was able to take. But metaphorically, that road led to many others. 

“I was,” says Palmer, “living the dream at that point.” 

The stories Palmer can now tell are endless, as one connection led to another. 

There was that time he arrived at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic with no contract and just a promise to get paid a couple hundred dollars, cash, per week, which turned into an opportunity for him to continue to grow his resume and even get to tee it up with the likes of former President George Bush Sr. He spent three winters there.   

And there was that time that he flew from the Dominican Republic to Toronto to Edmonton and then had almost five hours of small talk with former head professional at Jasper Park Lodge, Alan Carter (who he had never met). 

“He was pointing out these things in the pitch dark saying, ‘there’s mountains over there, and I said, ‘yeah, yeah.’ I had left the Dominican 10 hours earlier,” says Palmer. “And I woke up and I was like, ‘holy s—t, there are a lot of mountains out there!’” 

Or that time he was on a flight from Edmonton at 7 a.m. to get to a meeting in Vancouver for 11 a.m. except he sat on the tarmac for four hours waiting out a snowstorm and was, well, very late (it worked out OK – he got the job). 

Palmer says the role of a golf professional has changed a lot since he first bared witness to Royal Montreal’s Bob Hogarth rocking a cool staff bag and FootJoy Classics in the 1990s. But there’s one thing that keeps him motivated year after year – it’s neat, as a golf professional, to sometimes have the opportunity to be the most ‘important person’ in a foursome, no matter who else is there, and share some insights with the next generation.   

Palmer says he played with the CEO of a major Canadian bank this summer and they were on the sixth hole at St. George’s and Palmer said the CEO had to hold on for a second – the Prime Minister was on the phone. 

“Then he hangs up and asks me how to curve the ball from right to left,” says Palmer. “You know, that’s pretty cool.” 

Palmer admits that, yes, his career path has been a fun one. But he’s made a lot of sacrifices along the way, too. He’s worked in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, the Dominican, Georgia, Massachusetts, and British Columbia. 

“I talk to some pros and they just want to stay in the Toronto area, and I just say, ‘good luck with that.’ If a small head pro job opens up somewhere else, a lot of pros are going to say, ‘no I’m not moving there.’ Well, take that job. Bust your ass. Make a name for yourself,” says Palmer. “And when another head pro job opens up, you’ll probably be a good candidate.” 

Moving around a lot saw Palmer get out of his comfort zone, and he admits, it had an impact on his interpersonal relationships. But the now married father-of-two can say all those journeys in golf have led him, well, home.