Sitting in Adam Calver’s office at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club in Malaysia prior to playing the West Course, I was struck by just how much experience he has, for someone so young.

With spells growing-in the Earth and Fire courses at Jumeriah Golf Estates in Dubai; working as vice-president of golf and development for Ben Cowan Dewar at Cabot; and a six-year stint as director of golf and agronomy at Laguna Golf in Vietnam, Canadian-born Calver has a lot to offer.

Not to mention he is also a global representative for Faldo Design who he has a close working relationship with and is vice-president of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

As he marks one year in his role as general manager at the 36-hole Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC) located just 8km west of the world-famous Petronas Towers, Calver quips that although he’s 45, “I probably feel like I’m 60.”

He has been tasked with the overall resort management of a club, widely regarded as the best in Malaysia, which spans 222,000 sq feet and has arguably one of the biggest clubhouses I have ever visited in world golf.

And the Canadian-born Calver, who has a degree in Applied Science and who majored in Golf Course Management and Agronomy, has some impressive plans for the destination, both on and off the course.

“Good agronomy, I still think is the foundation of what we do,” he states. “All the clubs I’ve been at, when the course was in great condition, our revenue grew. When the greens struggled, revenue goes down.

“If you don’t get the course, and the product right, then everything else is a really tough sell. My whole philosophy has been ‘Product, People, Price’ and our product is greens… we’re selling green fees, and if the greens aren’t good, nobody’s popping champagne after they’ve just five putted on some crappy greens.”

Which perhaps explains one of the many reasons why Calver was appointed a year ago, to oversee the redevelopment of the East Course – in partnership with Faldo Design – which will see all 18 greens rebuilt, and bunker locations changed to improve attack angles.

With the West Course, priced slightly higher currently than the East, the plan is in early November – just after the Maybank LPGA Championship – to begin work, which Calver anticipates should be completed by the following September.

“We’re planning to keep nine holes always open on the East Course as we still have a high demand, and we don’t want to overload the West Course. And at the same time, if we only close nine at a time, technically, we can still maintain the same number of rounds.”

And once the work is complete, Calver intends to bring the price point of the East Course up to the same as the West as he explains.

“The East Course greens hadn’t been upgraded in 15 or 16 years, and they were originally paspalum and eventually they got contaminated with Zoysia, and a little bit or Bermuda so we want to get the greens to the same standard as the West Course.

“And on the fairways, we’re looking to transition from a Bermuda to a Zoysia grass which seems to perform better in these regions. The ball sits up a little better, and it will be easier for a lot of players to pick it cleaner.”

The philosophy behind the renovation is to elevate the entire golf experience for members and visitors alike and raise awareness of KLGCC on the international stage.

At previous clubs where Calver has worked, he has advocated an optimum 50:50 split between member and guests rounds, so if one of those segments slows down, you can increase the other. But at KLGCC, he seems to be content with a slightly different approach.

“We want to stay at 70 per cent members here, if not 80 per cent, as we grow that segment,” he says, adding that “but we do want to show off the club to tourists a little bit on the international stage.

“We do host the LPGA right now, and the club has hosted 23 professional events in the past, so we do want to have some accessibility for people to play both courses.

“In the past, the club hasn’t really done a lot of active sales for tourism, so what we’ve had over the years is because people know of it from all the events, and it’s the premier club of the country.

“Access was tough, and it was hard to book because of availability, but we definitely want to be the flagship for Malaysia Golf, and that this is the place you want to try and come and see.”

Located on such a large development, and with 4,000 members, KLGCC offers an array of facilities away from golf, many of which are housed in the clubhouse, which Calver admits is “a massive building, with lots of stuff going on.

“We’ve got three lobbies and we’re actually going to have to have some type of a valet system I think because it is confusing for tourists if you’re not from here,” he laughs.

“The East Lobby has got a Korean barbecue restaurant, an Indian restaurant, a French and Italian restaurant, a whiskey cigar lounge, and a Chinese restaurant.

“The main lobby is where our piano lounge, ballroom and meeting and function rooms are, and upstairs a Japanese restaurant.

“Then the West lobby is the golf lobby, which is where the locker rooms are and the golfers terrace.

It’s got restaurants overlooking the 18th green [on the West Course], and it’s also got a swimming pool, and upstairs, a member’s gym. Downstairs we have a movie theatre, and a bowling alley.

“And then we have our Royal Suite upstairs with a penthouse for VIP guests, and a VIP golfers terrace overlooking the course, so yeah, there’s a lot going on,” he smiles.

And if that wasn’t enough for Calver to manage, he also oversees the conference centre across the road, plus cricket and lawn bowls. Oh, and the three-storey driving range, golf academy, tennis, badminton, squash and pickleball courts, and the golf merchandise superstore located opposite the entrance to the West lobby.

“I run everything, and I have another golf resort that I oversee, so my title, technically is CEO of Leisure, but GM of Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club is just easier to say, especially as it’s kind of 80 per cent of my focus.”

When asked how – and when – he finds time to switch off, he says: “There’s definitely some long stretches, but it’s all good. I do try to get away and go explore Malaysia and do some snorkelling.”

With his wife and daughter still living in Vietnam – which Calver referred to as his second home – does he have any regrets about leaving behind the tranquillity of the country?

“I still go back every once in a while, and we’re back and forth this year as my daughter is finishing up school, and my wife is still working. Every time I go back to our place at Ocean Villas, I’m like, ‘oh yeah, I get it. This is nice’ but its big city life compared to living on the coast.”

With such a large mandate at KLGCC, Calver sees his involvement as a ten-year project and is seeking to employ a club manager soon.

“I don’t have a succession plan yet, and I am working on that as it’s a lot right now,” he confesses. “I am interviewing for a club manager and hoping to bring in someone to take over all of our fitness and wellness activities. We’ve got someone in charge of golf now, so I’ve recruited a pretty good team so far.

“My intention is that the next decade I will be in this job. It’s a good time for Malaysia – the company is doing well; the economy is doing well and so is golf.”