Scotch College

Old Boys on the same course

It's not unusual for Old Scotch boys to cross paths in their professional careers. But when seven former Scotch schoolmates join forces in a business, it's not exactly 'par for the course'.

L to R: Richard Leggo, Murray Hey, Mike Clayton, Peter Longmuir, Robert McNab and John Crozier at St Andrews Beach.

Cliches aside, we are indeed talking golf. More specifically design and development of golf courses and the property around those courses.

Old Boy John Crozier ('74) formed Golf Club Properties Ltd (GCPL) in 1999. John has since been joined on an employee, consultancy or professional adviser basis by Tony Melville ('74), Murray Hey ('76), Peter Longmuir ('74), Richard Leggo ('73), Robert McNab ('74), and professional golfer Michael Clayton ('74).

The group, based in Hawthorn East, currently has three major projects on the go. The first, The Golf Club Kennedy Bay, south of Perth, has been rated by Australian Golf Digest as the best public access golf course in Australia, the number 10 golf course in Australia, and number one in Western Australia. The second development is the "jewel in the crown", a 36-hole links-style course and resort at St Andrews Beach on the Mornington Peninsula. And the third investment is a proposed 18-hole Graham Marsh-designed golf course, apartment complex and health spa at San Remo, near Phillip Island.

"We also have two other projects in the pipeline," said Murray Hey, who was captain of Scotch and the first XI in 1976 and now performs the general management role for GCPL. "Our aim is to provide outstanding golf club products and services with a reach across Australia, plus viable investment opportunities through our associated property developments and golf club memberships."

As a sponsor of OSCA, the company values its links with the School and Old Boys network. "We are very proud of our association with OSCA and see the broader Scotch community as being very much in the psychographic and demographic at which we are marketing our golf products," said Murray, who was in "the rag trade" (more specifically Country Road and FILA) for 20 years prior to joining GCPL.

In fact it was Scotch cricketing mate Peter Longmuir, project manager for the group, who lured Murray from fashion to fairways and rekindled the friendships that had been forged during School days in the '70s.

In turn, Murray's and John Crozier's ongoing friendship with Michael Clayton led to his involvement with the company. As well as continuing to be a force on the Australian professional tour, Michael has his own golf course design company and is associated with renowned American Tom Doak who has designed the two 18 hole courses to be built at The Golf Club St Andrews Beach.

"Tom has elected to use Michael as his Australian counterpart and because we had kept in touch with Michael, he was able to help us get the contract with Tom," said Murray.

The land for development at San Remo

The magnificent, undulating land at St Andrews Beach was previously owned by Richard Leggo's family. A partner at Trumble Szanto Lawyers, Richard is one of the three non-executive directors of GCPL subsidiary The Golf Club (Vic) Ltd, and says he "has a strong affinity for the land and is passionate about its potential as a golf course".

As well as their Old Scotch ties, a love of golf is another, obvious bond within the group. Most are members of various Melbourne clubs, and Murray is a pennant player for the Portsea Golf Club.

Robert McNab, who heads up KPMG Legal in Melbourne and is legal adviser to GCPL, is also a keen skier and longstanding member of Koomerang. Robert's two sons, William and James, will commence their schooling at Scotch over the next few years.

Tony Melville is a non-executive director of GCPL and is the Managing Partner of the law firm Aitken Walker & Strachan. Whilst a "keen but poor golfer", Tony cites hockey as his preferred passion. He is president of the men's division of the Hawthorn Hockey Club (formerly Old Scotch Hockey Club), with 17 senior teams and more than 30 junior teams making it one of the largest hockey clubs in Australia. Tony's links with Scotch stretch over five generations - from his great-grandfather in 1871 to his son Cameron, currently in year eight.

The other GCPL colleagues can also boast former or ongoing family links with the School. In the case of Michael Clayton, who has won eight major tournaments since turning pro in 1981, his father Geoff was at Scotch from 1940-48 and his grandfather, a history master for 41 years at Scotch, was affectionately known as '45' because of the angle at which he always held his head!

Murray's father, Peter ('45), is also an ex Captain of Scotch and brothers, Tony ('77) and David ('73) spent most of their schooling years at Scotch

Peter Longmuir's father Bob ('44) and brothers David ('76) and Graeme ('78) and Richard Leggo's father Russell ('44) and uncles Ray ('50) and Graham ('42) also attended Scotch.

The group would be delighted to hear from any members of the Scotch community who would like a prospectus on St Andrews Beach or more information on GCPL and its other developments. "This is a rapidly expanding sector and is a unique opportunity for people to invest in golf memberships and/or property associated with golf developments," said Murray.

Phone +61 3 9822 5909, fax +61 3 9822 5990 or email Murray on mhey@gcpl.com.au