sunshine coast 2013 sunshine coast 2013
2013 AGCSA Graduate of the Year award NSWGCSA Charles Dunlop Duntryleague Golf Course The NSWGCSA Vince Church Graduate of the Year Award winner for 2012, Charles Dunlop hails from Orange, NSW where he works at Duntryleague Golf Course. Dunlop beat fellow finalists Jacob Pease (Pacific Dunes GC), Mitchell May (Mona Vale GC), Luke Bubb (New Brighton GC) and Louie Sutherland (Gerringong GC) to represent the NSWGCSA in the national final. Employed by Fairways Course Management and working under company director/course superintendent Grant Barrett, Dunlop has been at Duntryleague since March 2010, during which time he completed his Certificate III in Turf Management through TAFE Western. He has subsequently enrolled in the Certificate IV in Turf Managment course which he is also undertaking through TAFE Western. A pennant-level golfer who plays off 0.4, Dunlop’s role at Duntryleague is very handson. He is the primary chemical applicator (fertilisers and pesticides) and is in charge of all irrigation repairs. Dunlop has also been acting golf course superintendent in the absence of his boss and is also the club’s senior landscaper responsible for new plantings, establishing new garden beds and rockeries. Dunlop has very definite ideas about his future aspirations and after completing his training in Orange wants to expand his knowledge by heading to the US and working on a US PGA Tour-standard course. He is also keen to head to Asia and the Middle East to work on new golf course developments during the construction and grow-in phases. Since August 2008, Dunlop has also been a rifleman with the 1st/19 Royal New South Wales Regiment, based in Orange.
GCSAQ Jacob Freeman McLeod Country Golf Club Twenty-two-year-old GCSAQ Apprentice of the Year winner Jacob Freeman has been employed at McLeod Country Golf Club since 2009 and it’s fair to say he has endured an interesting apprenticeship. The course was badly impacted by the 2011 Brisbane River floods and again on Australia Day 2013, with Freeman heavily involved in recovery efforts initially under former superintendent Peter Daly and current superintendent Phil Boag. 46
Australian Turfgrass Management
Presented in partnership with Toro australia The AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award, presented in partnership with Toro Australia, is now into its 18th year. It honours the top golf course turf management apprentice in the country, with the winners from the respective state superintendent association Graduate of the Year programmes contesting the national. NSW has tasted great success in this award over the years and in 2012 Dave Canterbury continued that trend by becoming the eighth recipient from the state since the award was first struck in 1996. Six finalists converged on Melbourne in early May for this year’s national award judging where they were required to make a presentation about themselves and their turf management career to date. They were also asked to outline their future aspirations in the turf industry as well as answer a series of technical questions to test the skills and knowledge they have learned during their studies. The national winner will be announced alongside the other 2013 AGCSA Award recipients during the Twin Waters conference and will come from the following field of finalists...
Having completed his Certificate III through Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Freeman has expanded his sights and is nearing completion of a business degree in Human Resources and Administration through the University of Southern Queensland. A handy golfer who plays off a 1 handicap, golf has been a major part of his life for the past 13 years. As well as working at McLeod, he is a member at nearby Gailes Golf Club and resides at Brookwater. During his time at McLeod Freeman has helped with the installation of a new irrigation system (2011), helped prepare the course for the 2010 Gladys Hays national amateur event and has been heavily involved in course works including tee, bunker and waterway reconstruction. This year he also developed a weed eradication plan for the club. Freeman’s future interests vary but he is excited about the multitude of opportunities that exist not only within the turf industry but
the golf industry as a whole, in particular course design, soil and nutrient analysis and course and club management.
SAGCSA Matthew Gates West Lakes Golf Club Gates will be aiming to be the first graduate from South Australia to take away the national title. The 20-year-old has served his apprenticeship at West Lakes Golf Club under the tutelage of course superintendent Stuart Gillespie, whose son went to school with Gates. When Gillespie offered him an apprenticeship at the Adelaide-based club, Gates seized on the opportunity. Being a keen cricketer and footballer, the job has given Gates the chance to further his interest in preparing high quality turf surfaces. Gates completed his studies through Urrbrae TAFE and pipped classmate Chris Clark from Kooyonga Golf Club for the SAGCSA Graduate of the Year Award earlier in the year. As well as trying to learn as much as he can during his time at West Lakes,
2013 STA Sports Turf In 2011 the Sports Turf Association, in conjunction with sponsor Toro, struck the STA Sports Turf Graduate of the Year Award to recognise its outstanding apprentices. Like the winner of the AGCSA Graduate of the Year, the recipient of the STA award will get the opportunity to attend the Winter School of Turf Management at the University of Massachusetts courtesy of Toro. They will also get the chance to visit the 2014 GCSAA Golf Industry Show in Orlando, Florida. In 2013, three finalists will vie for this opportunity of a lifetime...
STA NSW Andrew Spicer Wyong Shire Council Spicer has worked with Wyong Shire Council since 2010 and has worked just about every oval in the Wyong Shire including AFL, rugby league, soccer and cricket. His work involves looking after the fields and their surrounds as well as some building maintenance. He studied at Kurri Kurri TAFE and achieved excellent results and enjoyed the experience of working on different surfaces. Spicer loves the freedom of working outdoors and is very sport oriented, playing