Sometimes in life, the best opportunities come along when you least expect them. And as far as Chris Lomas is concerned, history appears to be repeating itself for the affable Englishman.

A fully qualified master greenkeeper, Lomas moved from the greenkeeping shed to the warmth and comfort of the general managers office in July 2010 when a friend who was on the board at Worplesdon Golf Club in Surrey suggested he put his name forward after the club had failed to find a suitable candidate for the vacant GM role.

At the time, Lomas was course manager at The Berkshire, and thanks in part to the persuasive nature of his boss, John Hunt – who encouraged his young protégé to join the Commercial Managers Association of Europe (CMAE) – Lomas had the requisite skill set needed for a change of course.

And as Lomas explained, from an early age he was always destined for a career of some description in the golf industry, although in quite what capacity remained unclear.

“I grew up living on a golf course,” explained the 49-year-old. “Our home was behind the 14th green at Pleasington Golf Club in Blackburn, which is where I was a junior member.

“My dad was a very keen low handicap golfer, so the only time I used to see him was caddying for him at weekends as he’d typically play 36 holes.

“I really got into golf myself from an early age and played a lot… too much probably as my studies suffered as a result,” he recalls. “I used to work in the pro shop at Pleasington during the school holidays, which is where I got quite friendly with the greenkeepers, so I also started helping them out on the golf course as well.”

Like most golf-mad teenagers, Lomas fancied his chances as a professional golfer, but after taking a year off to focus on his game, realisation soon dawned that he may not make the grade.

“I realised that I wasn’t good enough to become a professional golfer,” he recalls, “so I went back [to school] and did my A-levels.

“I planned to go to university to do a sports science degree but saw an HND course advertised at Reaseheath College in golf course management and thought I’d give it a go. I absolutely loved it and spent three years there – working at Carden Park in the middle year – and haven’t looked back since.

“After I left Reaseheath, I blanketed all the golf courses in Surrey, and Chris Kennedy at Wentworth – who became a good friend – interviewed me and was going to offer me a job.”

But, just at the point of accepting the position, Kennedy pointed out that Swinley Forest were looking for a deputy head greenkeeper, and perhaps he might be better served learning his craft just up-the-road. A day later, in August 1999, Lomas secured his first greenkeeping job, and two-and-a-half years later, was promoted to head greenkeeper.

But it would be in his next role at The Berkshire, that would see Lomas eventually fulfil his potential as a general manager and become uniquely qualified as both a Master Greenkeeper and a Certified Club Manager.

“My boss at The Berkshire was John Hunt who was instrumental in putting me through my paces and sending me on courses as well as joining the CMAE. At the time, John was president of the CMAE, so he made sure that I did all the courses and went to world conference and did all the right things, even though I was just a course manager.

“It’s quite ironic having underperformed in all of my GCSE’s and A-levels that I actually realised how important education was, and after becoming a Master Greenkeeper, I thought to myself, ‘What else do I do now?’

“So, I turned to the CMAE as I thought that was the best education package that I could do.”

Armed now with the necessarily qualifications to one day move into club management, Lomas was keen to follow in his father’s footsteps who at the time, was secretary at Walton Heath a position he filled after retiring as a lawyer.

And although happy in his role as course manager at The Berkshire, Lomas was beginning to consider his long-term future.

“I’d looked at various different roles, but nothing had really got me excited,” he recalls. “And I thought to myself, ‘Is this what I really want to be doing in 20-30 years’ time, and would I still want to be getting up early and out in the cold, wet days?’

“And the answer to that, was that I didn’t, so I thought it was time to make the jump.”

In the summer of 2010, Lomas landed not too far away at Worplesdon Golf Club in Surrey, a private-members heathland course designed by JF Abercromby in 1908, where the greens and bunkers were constructed by Willie Park Junior.

His first role as GM, Lomas views his greenkeeping heritage as a significant plus-point, despite still missing getting his hands dirty occasionally.

“I think part of the beauty of becoming a GM from being a course manager is the fact that the course is the biggest asset of any golf club, isn’t it? And as I understand how it operates, a greenkeeper wouldn’t be able to pull the wool over my eyes on costs or anything like that.

“Thankfully that’s never been a problem at Worplesdon because when I came the course was in great condition thanks to Brian Turner. Our current head greenkeeper Paul Robinson has carried Brian’s work on and taken the course further forward.

“But it is a part of my job that I do miss,” admits Lomas. “I don’t miss the day-to-day routine as it’s not an easy job and can be quite stressful. But I do miss the project work as I used to really enjoy it.

“We’re about to start building a short-game area here, so I’m really looking forward to doing that.”

Something else which Lomas is looking forward to is his role working with Legacy Golf Advisors (LGA), a relatively new venture founded by former Goodwood Golf general manager, Stuart Gillett; Ian Timberlake, of Timberlake Golf Recruitment; Paul Mould of Material Matters; Mike Ramsay, a finance and investment expert, and Lomas.

A golf advisory and management business, Legacy Golf Advisors aims to offer a wide range of support services to golf clubs, resorts and businesses across Europe, with Lomas one of five founding partners.

“The chairman, board and members of Worplesdon have been very good with me allowing me to look at this venture and allowing me some time to do it,” says Lomas. “I do it all in my own time, and I’m very transparent with the club on everything that I do.”

Having spent over a decade in charge at Worplesdon, Lomas appears to be content in his dynamic dual roles as he explains: “I’ve looked at a number of roles at other clubs and occasionally fallen at the final hurdle, but actually, every time I didn’t get the job, I actually thought to myself ‘Oh, that’s no bad thing’.

“I think I have a great job here. It’s a great club; the members are wonderful, and Legacy allows me to be able to stay here, whilst learning new things all the time.

“And I’ve learned more with Legacy in the last twelve months, than I have in a long time on any course that you sit on, because I’m seeing other clubs and how they operate.”

And that can only be for the betterment of Legacy, Lomas, and Worplesdon.