Seed Golf - Golf/Travel/Life Podcast · Dean Klatt

Seed Stories - Vol 1 | John Klatt

·40 min·1 clip

A 10-year-old boy with no golf clubs, no lessons, and no plan became one of Australia's most influential golf professionals.

This episode of Seed Stories features Dean Klatt, founder of Seed Golf, sharing the remarkable life story of his father, John Klatt, an influential Australian golf professional. John Klatt's journey is unique because he built his career without the traditional background of club membership or even owning clubs as a child. His story spans from caddying as a youth in Brisbane to competing on the European Seniors Tour, all while serving as a longtime club pro. John learned golf by caddying at Nudgee Golf Club, where his parents worked, and by mimicking the swings of players like scratch golfer Dudley Von Nida and club pro Arthur Gazzard. At just 12, he began working in Gazzard's pro shop at Victoria Park Golf Club, becoming a fully qualified PGA professional by age 16 without finishing high school. He became head professional at Virginia Golf Club at 21, where he fostered junior talent through popular 20-cent clinics; a young Greg Norman was among his students. John won several tournaments, including the City of Brisbane Open and the Queensland PGA Championship, yet he discarded his trophies, viewing them without pride. In 1983, he and fellow pro Errol Hartvigson traveled to England to attempt Open Championship qualification, each missing by a single shot. At age 50, he pursued the European Seniors Tour, making the cut at the Senior Open at Royal Lytham and contending at the PGA Senior Championship in Ireland. During that event, a bold drive on the 18th at Royal Dublin led to a costly triple-bogey, dropping him from potential playoff contention to fourth place. He later missed securing a full Seniors Tour card by one shot at a snowy 1994 Q-School, citing unfamiliar British conditions. His career concluded with a runner-up finish at the 1995 Australian Seniors Open. The episode reveals John Klatt was a natural, intuitive player who rarely practiced formally and taught a simple, fundamentals-focused philosophy. His story is underscored by profound humility, as he never displayed his achievements and saw golf as a natural part of life. Dean Klatt recorded this narrative to honor his father, who was diagnosed with Posterior Cortical Atrophy, a rare degenerative brain disease that ended his ability to play. John Klatt passed away before hearing the finished episode. The tone is deeply personal, reflective, and narrative-driven, blending family history with golf's social history in Australia. It is conversational and heartfelt, with detailed recollections that paint a vivid portrait of a modest man's accidental career. Golf history enthusiasts and listeners who appreciate underdog stories or personal family legacies will find this episode compelling. Those seeking technical golf instruction or current industry debates might prefer to skip this biographical tribute.

As heard by us

A quiet golf life story with enough travel chaos to make the Open feel close.

Seed Stories frames Dean Klatt's account of his father, John Klatt, as both a family memory and a slice of golf history. It follows John from club pro in Brisbane to the European Seniors Tour, and it lingers on the oddness of his rise: no clubs of his own, no club membership,…

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Why you'd press play

If you want a golf story that starts at home and ends one shot from the Open.

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