foreword thinking foreword thinking
Peter Frewin, General Manager, AGCSA
Golf course biodiversity project generates widespread interest
T
he summer sports season is well and truly upon us with golf and cricket now being played at all levels around the country. The professional golf season teed off in fine fashion with the west coast tournaments a huge success, notwithstanding some very unusual weather leading into and during the events (read more about this in the story on the WA Open, pages 30-32). The players now turn their attention to the east coast swing and will be looking forward to visits to Metropolitan Golf Club (Australian Masters, 20-23 November) and the recently revamped layouts of The Australian Golf Club (Emirates Australian Open, 27-30 November) and RACV Royal Pines (Australian PGA Championship, 11-14 December). Good luck to AGCSA members Glenn Stuart, Phil Beal and Lincoln Coombes as they gear their courses up. Don’t forget that current financial year AGCSA members are entitled to free access to both the Open and the PGA simply by presenting their membership card at any entry gate. This is a fantastic opportunity to see tournament preparations first hand, especially given the significant facelifts both The Australian and RACV Royal Pines have received in recent times.
AGCSA
Biodiversity Workshop In the last edition of Australian Turfgrass Management (Volume 16.5, September-October 2014) an article on the recently completed ‘Biodiversity and carbon benefit of urban golf courses’ project was featured (‘Green havens’, pages 6-12). This project was jointly funded by the Australian Research Council, The Research Centre for Urban Ecology and the AGCSA and was undertaken by The University of Melbourne over a three year period at 13 golf clubs in Melbourne’s south east.
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Australian Turfgrass Management 16.6
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The project compared the biodiversity value of golf courses to that of adjacent residential areas and nearby smaller urban parks. The study has for the first time demonstrated the true biodiversity value of golf courses in Australia and their importance in enhancing the urban environment. As a result the project has generated quite a bit of interest and since the article was featured there have been numerous requests to republish the work in journals both nationally and internationally. To further promote the project and its findings, the AGCSA is hosting a workshop on Monday 1 December 2014 at Spring Valley Golf Club in Melbourne, one of the 13 courses used in the project. Key project members Dr Steve Livesley and Dr Caragh Threlfall will present the final outcomes of the project as well as take attendees on a course walk to look at specific areas relating to their work. All those interested are welcome to attend and a flier is included in this edition of ATM with details of the event. The workshop has deliberately been scheduled to start at 10am to encourage those from interstate who want to attend. The interest that this report has generated again highlights the need for specific and relevant research in the turf sector in Australia.
Stacking up In late October I had the pleasure of travelling to New Zealand as a guest of Tourism New Zealand to attend a Leadership Symposium in Rotorua. The event was run by the Australasian Society of Association Executives and proved a great opportunity to meet and learn from others working in the association sector. One of the other pleasing aspects of the visit was to be able to relate how the