EP.192 Keeper of the Greens - Hayden Mead (Kingston Heath Golf Club)

About this episode

In this episode, Steve Smith interviews Hayden Mead, Superintendent of Kingston Heath Golf Club, discussing his career and the future of the golf course.

Keeper Of The Greens segment of The Golfing Greenkeeper Podcast is brought to you by John Deere Golf. When you work where others play, you need a partner you can trust to keep your course in perfect condition. Find your nearest ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠J⁠ohn Deere dealer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠deere.com.au⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hayden Mead is the Superintendent of one of Australia's greatest golf courses, Kingston Heath Golf Club. I made the journey to Kingston Heath to sit down with Hayden in the clubhouse and record our conversation. We discuss his career at length, from starting his greenkeeping career after finishing school and working his way up the ladder to Superintendent. I'm not going to give anything away with this one other than to say, this is a long journey of only two courses, and you know it ends up at Kingston Heath. We discuss a whole lot including greenkeeping, personal growth, people management, history, vegetation, and tournament hosting, along with the immediate future of Kingston Heath being this year's host of the men's Australian Open and 2028 Presidents Cup! Slide into a comfy seat, put your ears…

People in this episode

Host: Steve Smith

Guest: Hayden Mead

Topics covered

• greenkeeping
• career development
• golf course management
• tournament hosting
• personal growth

Keywords

• greenkeeping
• Kingston Heath
• Hayden Mead
• golf
• tournament hosting

Sponsors

John Deere Golf

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kingston Heath Golf Club

Places: Australia

More episodes of The Golfing Greenkeeper Podcast

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• EP.190 Aussie Golf History - The Lost Links of Applecross · June 7, 2026 · 36 min
• EP.189 Walking the Fairways - feat. Ben Lucas (Club Tocumwal) · May 29, 2026 · 54 min
• EP.188 Keeper of the Greens - Callum Hitching (Karratha Golf Club) · May 27, 2026 · 1h 30m
• EP.187 The Design Brief - Scott Champion (Harrison Golf) · May 22, 2026 · 1h 59m
• EP.186 Royal Melbourne - Behind the Scenes of the Men's Australian Open Part 2 · May 20, 2026 · 2h 36m