The 26-year-old has wasted little time getting to work on plans to revitalise golf in the region.

It follows a move from the Gold Coast with wife Ellie and five-month-old son, Buddy.

There he completed a four-year stint with Sanctuary Cove Golf Club where he was under the guidance of a well-known golfing name.

“I was lucky at Sanctuary Cove to have the likes of Adam Scott there,” Luke said.

“Getting to number one in the world while I was there was outstanding.

“But probably more the mentor to me was his dad, Phil Scott. 

“He took me under his wing while I was up there and we used to play a lot of golf together.

“He helped me out along the way and made me aspire to do as good as possible.

“I learnt a lot from him leading up to this and knowing this opportunity was out here at Gunnedah, he said ‘definitely take it with both hands, you’ve got a great opportunity’.”

It was the perfect introduction to the professional scene for the Northern Rivers kid who first picked up a golf stick when he was 10 years old.

By age 18, he started to pursue the golfing career path further and spent 12 months learning the basics at Royal Sydney Golf Club.  

He started his traineeship (2011-14) at Ballina before taking up a full-time coaching role at Sanctuary Cove, which offered both private (The Pines) and public (The Palms) courses.

Looking ahead, Luke sees the development of junior golf in the region as a key part of his strategy for Gunnedah.

“The junior base is about six kids at the moment and we would like to get that up to around 50,” he said. “And there is no reason why we couldn’t do that.” 

He pointed to the success of junior initiatives in other sports and hoped to foster the same enthusiasm in golf for local kids.

“Tennis has such a good program with the Hotshots and Auskick (Aussie Rules) is outstanding. 

“Golf has taken on a My Golf (dedicated junior) program but it hasn’t really hit the ground running. Golf needs to aspire to be as good as tennis and Aussie Rules are at the moment. 

“We’ve missed the boat by the time they get to that 20-year-old range; they’re already doing other things. 

“If you can take it up early, golf is something you’ll do forever.”

Already under construction is a new fit-out for the Gunnedah pro-shop.

When complete, the shop will be complemented by a new merchandise range from Nike, TaylorMade and Titleist and staffed by the Ryan family.

“We’re trying to bring a bit of a family atmosphere to the golf shop... myself, Ellie and Buddy will be running the shop as one,” Luke said, who takes over from retiring club professional, Shane Wilson.

The friendly Gunnedah community has already made a warm impression on the Ryan family, who anticipate many more happy memories to come.

“We’re very happy with the town, the people have been great and the membership base has been very good to me,”  he said.