Ashley Northridge is a man on a mission, but unlike one of his most famous students, the chances are it’s not an impossible one.

A fully qualified PGA professional, 54-year-old Northridge started his career with spells at Chevin Golf Club and Royal Mid-Surrey before graduating in 1995 to Wentworth, where he served as shop manager and head professional working alongside the great Bernard Gallacher.

And as he explains, one of his most famous students was none other than Tom Cruise, laughing: “He was awful. He used to have a box of a dozen Titleist professional balls, and he’d stand on the first tee and one would go way right, and then the second would go way left. He was good fun though and was filming Mission Impossible in Spain at the time so would come back at weekends for some lessons.”

And like Cruise, whose character Ethan Hunt has the uncanny knack of always getting himself out of impossible situations, Northridge must have picked-up a thing or two from their time together, which evidently came in useful when an opportunity to leave Wentworth and work at San Roque presented itself a few years later.

Northridge spent six happy years at Wentworth, recalling his time in the club shop saying: “Everything was just on a different scale, and in some cases, you could just about get away with anything. If we had a pink shirt with blue spots on it – and it had the Wentworth logo on it – you kind of knew it was going to sell.”

But with a desire to progress his career, he accepted a position to take over the reigns at San Roque in Cadiz, Spain just before Christmas 2000. But what turned out to be a dream move rapidly descended into chaos.

“When I was at Wentworth, I got to know the European Tour guys quite well and mentioned that at some point I’d like to move abroad. And then one day, they came back to me and said that San Roque – which was under the European Tour Courses umbrella at the time – was looking for a new director of golf, and would I be interested.

“So, I got offered the job, and rented out my house back in Bagshot and made the move. I rented a lovely little flat overlooking the ninth hole at Valderrama, and vividly remember arriving around five o’clock in the evening in Spain and standing on the terrace looking across the course thinking ‘I’ve made it… this is the life’.

“And then at nine o’clock the same evening, I received a phone call from the PA of the managing director at San Roque saying that they’d just been told that we’ve all been fired!

“I said ‘sorry’ and she then started crying saying that we’ve all been fired. So then next morning, after about five bottles of Rioja, I went to San Roque and the then acting general manager confirmed what I’d be told.”

Many faced with this scenario would have taken the next flight back to the UK, but unperturbed by the scale of the challenge, Northridge decided in true Ethan Hunt style, to ride it out and look for a new mission.

He found himself in the heart of Sotogrande, with no job, so leaning on his retailing experience, looked to open a golf superstore.

“I found an empty retail until that had no concrete on the floor and no plaster on the walls and thought this would be a perfect golf superstore. So, I got involved with somebody from Golfers Paradise in Portugal that I knew, and they came on-board with their funding. It was great fun decking the place out and getting the store up-and-running, but I soon realised that I missed the greenery of working on a golf course.”

So, when a role as director of golf at Palheiro Golf in Maderia became available, Northridge decided to negotiate an exit with his investors, and moved to work for the Blandy family – famous for Blandy’s Madeira wine – who own Palheiro Golf, the spectacular golf estate perched on top of the volcanic island.

But his stay was short-lived, and after three years in 2005 was approached about a new development in Cadiz, Spain, which not only captured his attention, but also his heart.

Arriving at the future site of Arcos Gardens, Northridge remembers that he was looking at just a large piece of dirt, but knowing what the plans for the project were – and the track-record of the constructors – he knew it was too good an opportunity to let slip by.

“It was such a pleasure to be part of the construction and development of Arcos Gardens,” he recalls, which was backed by a Spanish family business. “It all started so well, and we sold 80 townhouses [around the course] really quickly and got the course open to a really high standard.

“To have the opportunity to get involved with a brand-new build was simply amazing, and I learnt so much.”

But, as with so many other Spanish projects post the 2008 financial crash, Arcos Gardens suffered, although it was sometime afterwards that Northridge was told that the project was coming to an end.

“Although the family hung on for a number of years, they eventually pulled the plug and decided to cut their losses,” he added. That was in 2014, after Northridge had poured nine years into the project, and the demise of Arcos Gardens still hurts today.

“It was like my baby,” he says, “and I really fell for the place. I was so proud of getting into the top 100 European golf courses and the quality of the playing surfaces, and the golf experience were different in so many ways.”

But it wasn’t just the course, but the people who Northridge had a soft spot for, admitting that he hasn’t returned to Arcos Gardens since leaving as it’s too painful.

“I think at one point I had 70 people working for me, and I basically selected all 70 people myself. They’d all grown with me so when I had to turn around and say to them that they were losing their jobs, it was difficult.”

After bidding adios to his Spanish adventure, Northridge headed to Canada at Galt Country Club, and after a three-year stint as GM, returned to the UK as head of golf operations at Burhill Golf Club.

But a yearning to return to a senior management role, and one with responsibility for more than ‘just’ golf, tempted Northridge to take-up the general manager role at Kingswood Golf & Country Club three years ago.

Set in the rolling hills looking out to the Surrey countryside, Kingswood boasts a newly refurbished clubhouse with beautiful, modern event spaces, a comfortable modern 18-room boutique hotel and a challenging 18-hole Surrey classic golf course designed by James Braid.

“What was interesting about the role and what really caught my eye was that before I came, the business was kind of failing, and when I had my interview, they really wanted me to turn the business around. And I think, knowing that I like a challenge, that was what really attracted me to it.”

Initially focusing on the hospitality side of the business, Northridge’s attention has now turned to more familiar ground and working with senior agronomist Simon Watson from The R&A, is looking to improve the playing surfaces on the course.

“I want to get known for the condition of the playing surfaces here because there’s not a lot we can change with the design of the course,” he said.

Northridge appears content in leafy Surrey, and Kingswood may well turn out to be the final chapter in his distinguished career. Unless of course, he is offered a new mission, one which he chooses to accept.