Crossword Genius

Following golf, stayed and tidied up (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

groomed

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'tidied up' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'following golf stayed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'golf' could be 'g' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.) and 'g' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'roomed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for groomed that I've seen before include "Neat and smart in appearance" , "prepared for particular office" , "Brushed and cleaned" , "Smartened" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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