I was born in Gunnedah and growing up we lived directly across the road from the local golf club, so it almost seemed natural to get into the sport of Golf.

I used to play many different sports and my weekends were constantly filled with sports with little to no free time. Despite my love for all sports, golf and cricket were always the two that I’d come back to. I first started playing the game when I was 12 years old and I pretty much got straight into the professional side of the sport. It did help quite a lot that I was reasonably talented and had a knack for the game right off the bat. I started playing in the local junior representative team and then when I became good enough I became a trainee pro at 18 years old. 

When I finished school in year 12, I went straight to Sydney and started my three-year-long golf apprenticeship. Two years of it was spent working at the Mona Vale Golf Club. Then I spent my last year back in Gunnedah.

Moving away from home to Sydney was a lot of fun for me at such a young age. You were left to explore the big world by yourself and see everything. It was quite a full-on training process because you have playing qualities that you have to meet and accomplish at the end of each year to ensure that you’re at a certain suitable level. If you can’t meet it, you’re out.

There were many assignments that we had to complete. It wasn’t just playing golf every day and working in the shop. Once that was out of the way, the last year was quite freeing for me because I was able to just play the game more. 

I was very lucky to find a professional that was looking for an apprentice. My boss in Sydney was absolutely fantastic, and the club was right on the beach in a perfect spot. You’d be able to have a meal overlooking the ocean every day, which was perfect. 

After my apprenticeship, I finally had the chance to get out and play a lot more. I started playing tournaments around Australia, whether it be four-round tournaments or Pro-Ams. I was doing that for four years or so and then took the club job at the Casino Golf Club as a pro. 

I went through the whole application process for the job when it became available. I was very lucky and got the job. I just became sick of travelling and was getting quite sick of living out of suitcases around the country. If you ask anyone else at a professional sporting level they’ll tell you the same. It is quite good for a while but then the novelty wears off unless you’re at the top of the tree and have got everyone doing the work for you. 

The Casino club was fantastic too. I’d be running competitions, all that sort of stuff. I organise social play, lessons and work in the retail outlet. I was pretty much the same in Casino as I am now.

My job is obviously the retail shop where the members come in and purchase anything they need. If they want to play competitions they’ll come through here as well. So basically anybody who goes on the golf course is going to have to come through the pro shop. Overall it’s the day-to-day running of the golf club aside from what is happening upstairs at the bar and all.

We have Pro-Ams here at the Lismore Golf Club, probably one every year and the 2023 one is coming up on the fourth of December this year. We've got 50 to 60 Pros coming into town for it. It is a legends tournament so it's for the older pros, not the younger blokes.

The older ones I find a lot better to play with. They have a very big “been there, done that” mentality, so the golf is a lot more social than competitive, making it a lot more enjoyable. 

We have a lot of other tournaments throughout the year such as the junior tournaments. Because of Covid and the restriction of every sport, many younger people were drawn to the sport as it was something to get them out of the house. Also, golf offers a lot more flexibility compared to other sports. Limited travel is involved, and it is a lot less physically demanding than soccer and netball. People can avoid injuries easily and still enjoy sports and the outdoors. 

I'm pretty lucky that we've got such a good golf course here and the actual club here and the other clubs. So all in all, it's just a great area for people to be able to play and practice and improve and become good golfers. 

I'm very lucky to have some golf professionals come through here as juniors who have gone into the professional ranks. 

I was able to play pretty much in every state in Australia. I probably get more joy from coaching compared to actually playing, seeing your players rise in the game and excelling. I was pretty lucky that when I was practising in Casino I was coaching a girl named Michelle Ellis. She went on to play for 11 years in America in the LPGA tour where she got to number 24 in the world. 

Another guy here in Lismore, Kane Webber went on to college in the States at the University of Colorado. He played professionally at the Macau Open on the Asian tour. We also had Rhein Gibson who's currently playing in the States on the PGA tour. 

Rhein went over to England in 2014 and played in the British Open, I was his caddy. He played well enough to make the cut. Then the draw came out, and he was in the third round with Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. He eventually ended up in 72nd place but still from our point of view, it doesn't get much better than that. 

(Peter Jaeger (left) with Rhein Gibson in front of the iconic St Andrew's clubhouse in Scotland, commonly known as the home of golf)

I don’t travel as much now and just spend most of my time here at the shop in Lismore. It was a very enjoyable part of my life caddying overseas. I was able to go to the US about 3 or 4 times throughout the years with Michelle and Rhein. 

Now I’m coaching a lot more. As for the playing side, I still have a hit but certainly, I prefer coaching juniors here and giving them a chance to get as much out of the game as they can or want to get out of it. You set out a game plan for them of what they want to achieve and my job is to help them achieve that goal.