Graeme Trew and Nicole Cooper loving life at Narrabri Golf Club

It’s been a roller coaster nine months since golf professional Graeme Trew and Nicole Cooper arrived in Narrabri from Murwillumbah, but the happy couple have weathered the storm and are loving life in the country.

Graeme, a golf pro since 1987, and Nicole relocated to Narrabri together last year.

They operate the Narrabri Golfie Pro Shop and when they are on the road the Mobile Golf Improvement Centre, which services other clubs in the north west including Bellata and Wee Waa as well as Coonamble, Warialda Bingara and Werris Creek.

The couple arrived in town full of enthusiasm and both with impressive resumes.

Graeme has earned advanced PGA accreditation (or AAA ratings) in both small business and coaching, and was the North Coast Academy of Sport head junior golf coach from 2013 to 2018, while Nicole is an accredited All Abilities Community Golf Instructor through the Australian Sports Commission National Coaching Accreditation Scheme and has decades of experience working in tertiary education.

The couple most recently ran a golf range at Murwillumbah before they acquired the service agreement with Club Narrabri Golfie and purchased some golf equipment from Steve Bishop and Donna Reeves and made the move.

A whirlwind start to their time at the Narrabri Golf Club included another COVID-19 lockdown and also floods, which affected the club’s pristine 18-hole course.

They said that the August lockdown offered a silver lining in that they got the chance to meet a lot of locals as golf was one of the few activities still permitted.

“We still managed to keep the doors open by operating from tables at the front door, click and collect style, serving one person at a time to ensure social distancing”, Graeme said.

“Golf was one of the few things you could still do in a lockdown, as long as you played in twos and didn’t share the carts and other things like that, and that actually worked quite well for us.”

“It was actually really positive for us,” Nicole added.

“We were in a new town and we didn’t know anyone. Not being able to go anywhere else meant that we got to know everybody.”

Graeme said that he and Nicole had both been overwhelmed at what a friendly town Narrabri is, as well as the quality of the local golf course.

“The town has everything we need,” he said.

“Except for the beach, we miss the beach.

“But the people here are just great, so friendly.

“The course – for where we are – I think is brilliant. I really enjoy playing it. Mark (Campbell) has done a great job on the course.”

The dynamic duo enjoy all aspects of golf including coaching. They have held ladies’ and children’s clinics and golf days since arriving in Narrabri, which they both agreed was crucial to offer to help grow the game.

They are also keen to work closely with the club’s management team and match committee, as well as the junior coordinator and community golf instructor, Rob Butler, who are all committed to helping make golf a welcoming sport for people of all ages, abilities and skill levels.

“Sunday mornings here is breakfast, then golf commences with the juniors going out on course, a beginner class, which at the moment we have a lot of ladies participating in, then we have social golf,” Nicole said.

“Sundays here are a really lovely day to get involved in.”

Top-quality service is paramount for Graeme and Nicole, who are fully committed to ensuring that everyone who enters the Narrabri Golf Club’s pro shop or that they meet at other clubs receives the best advice.

“If someone was to come here and say ‘we want to buy that driver off the wall’, we would be very hesitant to just sell them that driver off the wall,” Nicole said.

“It would need adjustment in height, and we’d make sure the shaft, lie and loft are right for that person.”

“We offer fittings, which don’t cost anybody anything to participate in, and we make sure that what we are recommending to them is right.

“We’ll look at everything in their bag and help them evaluate whether they need anything more or not.

“People are apprehensive about just being sold to, and rightly so.

“We like to take the time to get to know people and really figure out their natural swing tendencies and what equipment they need.

“We believe that equipment should be custom or retrofitted, because it affects motion,” Graeme added.

“If you go out and buy the latest and greatest irons that are not built or adjusted to suit your natural motion, you might learn to adapt your swing in some way, to compensate.

“This feeds into the rest of your clubs and affects your game.”

Graeme and Nicole have enjoyed being involved in social events, such as the Narrabri Golf Club’s annual presentation night, and said that they felt lucky to have discovered such a friendly and welcoming town.

They recently purchased land to build on at Jacks Creek and plan to call Narrabri home for many years to come.