IT IS the end of an era at Saddleworth Golf Club where professional Robert Johnson is leaving after 20 years.

The 47-year-old from Greenfield was appointed professional in 1996, having played at the club as an amateur since 1983.
Johnson, who leaves at the end of March, says he is having a “lifestyle change”.
He is to devote more time to running the North West Amateur Seniors Tour, which he founded three years ago, as well as r
unning an internet golf equipment business and spending more time with his family.
Johnson, who was raised in Saddleworth and was a pupil at St Chad’s, Uppermill, and Saddleworth School, is also moving to Cheshire.
He said: “It will be a wrench to leave, but it has got to the point where it is a necessity and it is a lifestyle change.
“My children, Charlie and Abbie, are aged 11 and seven and doing things and I am stuck at the club at weekends.”
Johnson was an amateur at Saddleworth and worked as a management trainee at Slumberland in Oldham but was made redundant in 1996.
“It came at a time when the professional had left Saddleworth and I decided to apply for the vacancy and give it a go,” he explained.
Johnson says the North West Amateur Seniors Tour, about to start its fourth year, has been a success as it now has a schedule of 25 annual events held on courses throughout the North West, each on a Monday.
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