Calum Innes went for short stint in Germany - but is still there 31 years later

Scot’s playing career was ended by dislocated shoulder but he’s happy to have carved out rewarding career

He was only intending to be there for a few weeks as he recovered from a dislocated shoulder that effectively ended his player career but, more than 30 years on, Calum Innes is still in Germany and, by the sounds of things, now in with the bricks in a golfing sense.

The one-time West Kilbride boy wonder had a spell at Golfanlage Schloss Lüdersburg when he first arrived in the country in 1993 then spent more than 20 years at Golfclub Hamburg-Holm before arriving at his current workplace, Gross Flottbeker Tennis, Hockey and Golf Club in Hamburg, just over five years ago.

“It was founded in 1901 and is one of Germany’s oldest and biggest clubs, with the course having been designed by Scot John Herd,” said the 57-year-old club professional, who helped Scotland win the European Boys’ Team Championship in 1984 and also played for Great Britain & Ireland Boys at a time when there was some top talent around.

Calum Innes, who cut is golfing teeth at West Kilbride, is now based in Germany and has no plans to return home.

“Due to the fact our hockey and tennis teams both play in Germany’s top leagues, golf is seen as the lesser of the three within the club. However, this image is changing as our junior boys’ team have finished in the top four in Northern Germany in each of the last three seasons, topping it off by winning the first-ever GTHGC golf team medal with a bronze in last year’s Final Four.

“The club is located in the middle of the city and is just six holes, having used to be nine. After being invited to take up the post, I jumped at the chance as it is quite an exciting place, the area and also the history of it. I’m not particularly modern – I prefer the old traditional clubs.”

Inspired by cutting his own golfing teeth at such a place on the Ayrshire coast, Innes knew from an early age that he wanted to become a professional golfer and laughed as he recalled a story with his mum on a recent trip home to see his elderly parents, as well as his brother, who also lives in West Kilbride, and sister, who had made the journey from her home in Canada.

“I was pondering heading off to college in the States but just didn’t want to do that, though maybe ten years later with hindsight I might have done so,” he recalled. “I just wanted to stay at home in Scotland and I spoke to Mr Torrance [Bob, his coach] about it. My parents were keen for me to study, but I’d been telling everyone since I was about ten years old that I was going to become a golf professional.

Calum Innes has fellow Scot Ross Monaghan, the course manager, for company at Gross Flottbeker Tennis, Hockey and Golf Club in Hamburg.

“I spoke to my mum about this last week when I was back home and she said to me ‘remember that mistake I made when I sent you for a bank interview’ and I said to her ‘yes, I remember it very well!’. It was the Clydesdale Bank on St Vincent Street in Glasgow and I basically told them that I didn’t want to work there as I wanted to become a golf professional. At a golf club, I liked the smell of the place, I liked the way people behaved at the golf club and, of course, it was outdoors.”

After earning a place in the record books as the first junior member to win the West Kilbride club championship, Innes reached the final of the 1983 Scottish Boys’ Championship at Dunbar, losing at the second extra hole after an epic tussle with Falkirk’s Colin Gillies. He then joined forces the following year with Mark Brennan, Lee Vannet, Kenny Buchan and Alan Turnbull to land that European Boys’ team title triumph for Scotland at Royal St George’s. “At the time, I didn’t realise the importance of that, to be honest, and it wasn’t until I was in Germany that it actually dawned on me as everyone over here talks about being European or World champions,” he said of that sweet success.

After turning professional, Innes started out in his PGA career as an assistant at Turnberry, “Bob Torrance spoke to Mr Jamieson (Bob, the head pro at the time) on my behalf and I was invited down for an interview, during which I was asked to teach my future boss,” he recalled. “I remember that being an absolute disaster and, obviously noticing that I was shaking in my boots, he said to me ‘don’t be frightened to describe what you see, son!’” Feeling more confident about his own game, Innes enjoyed some success on the Tartan Tour before eventually finding himself heading for Germany and seeing his playing career end almost simultaneously.

“I was 26 when I left Scotland with a dislocated shoulder,” he recalled. “I basically stopped playing because I literally couldn’t swing any more. Everything I did back then literally crunched the lower spine and from 20 to 25 I was permanently in pain. At that time, there was no medical support or anyone to turn to. You just got on with it. You woke up, shook yourself down and hit another thousand balls in the hope it was going to get better but never did.

“My plan when I came out here was to get fit again and play golf again, but that became sidetracked, to be honest. Family came along pretty shortly afterwards and then there was no question of either moving back home or anywhere else as I became settled here and enjoyed my job very much and I still get excited about going to work every day. I had no plan to stay more than a few weeks when I first came here and it’s turned into 31 years. It’s been a great journey. Every decision I’ve made has always been the right one.”

At Gross Flottbeker Tennis, Hockey and Golf Club, where he has a Scot for company in Ross Monaghan, a Paisley man who is the course manager, Innes is enjoying playing a part in getting more juniors into the game, admitting that his own favourite memory in golf happened when he was 12 years old. “The biggest thrill I ever had was getting invited to play for the West Kilbride boys’ team,” admitted. “I was out on the putting green at the front of the clubhouse one day and, due to somebody dropping out, I went off to Lochwinnoch and played for the boys’ team. I then moved on from there to play for the club team, the Ayrshire team and then, of course, Scotland and Great Britain & Ireland. Those were the best times for me.”