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Warrnambool Golf Club, VIC Residing on Victoria’s famed Shipwreck Coast, Warrnambool Golf Club is a picturesque coastal course which has recently been elevated into Golf Australia’s top 100 courses rankings list. Superintendent David Warnaar takes ATM inside his maintenance operations.
Above: Warrnambool Golf Club has been home to course superintendent David Warnaar for the past threeand-a-half years. Pictured is the 4th 52
Superintendent: David Warnaar (42). Family: Wife Melanie (my high school sweetheart, married 18 years), two boys Dom and Liam. Years as a superintendent: 7.5 years. Association involvement: AGCSA (eight years), VGCSA and USGA. Turf management career: Wodonga Country Club (apprenticeship, five years); Tocumwal GC (three years); Commercial Club, Albury (assistant, four years); Wangaratta Golf Club (superintendent, four very happy and successful years); and the picturesque Warrnambool Golf Club (superintendent 3.5 very satisfying years). Qualifications: Turf management apprenticeship and Diploma, both through Wodonga TAFE. Level 5 Training and Assessment at Wodonga Tafe. Level 5 chainsaw operation encompassing all facets of difficult and dangerous tree felling. Sustainable Horticulture course studying beneficial fungi and bacteria and the use of humates and other organics.
was halfway through Year 12 in Wodonga not really knowing what my next move would be when my best friend’s brother was tragically killed in a car accident. His name was Julian Panozzo and he was a very talented 3rd year apprentice turf manager at Wodonga Country Golf Club. I attended the funeral and during it I was asked by his father to take his son’s job. I felt flattered and didn’t really know what to say. I didn’t think anything more of it, thinking he was emotional and probably saying the same thing to all the young blokes at the funeral. But the next afternoon I received a call from the president of the club and was asked to attend an interview at Mr Panozzo’s request. The interview went well and before it was finished the president said ‘Well son, if you’re good enough for Albee Panozzo to recommend you, you’re good enough for us. When can you start?’ And from there my career in turf management began.
Where in Australia is Warrnambool Golf Club? The home course of PGA Tour professional Marc Leishman, Warrnambool Golf Club is located on the western side of Warrnambool, a coastal town in south west Victoria at the end of the Great Ocean Road. It is in the heart of Australia’s Shipwreck Coast and to recognise that our 4th, 5th and 6th hole holes form what is known as ‘Shipwreck Bend’. The club itself was established in 1895 but only moved to its current location in 1927. Through the 1980s the club regularly hosted the Victorian PGA Championship and was recently elevated into Golf Australia’s Top 100, sitting proudly at 89.
How did the job at Warrnambool come about and what do you like most about being the superintendent there? My family and I had been looking for a sea change for a while and I had put the feelers out and asked a few sales reps to keep an ear out and let me know if they caught wind of any jobs by the ocean. It was Mick Ogden from Oasis, who I have been friends with for a long time, who rang me and told me of the possibility that Mark Thompson was going to move on from Warrnambool and that I should give him a call. I rang Mark to find out a little more about the club, the course, the staff and the job. Mark was very helpful and it all sounded to be a good fit. I then travelled down for the weekend to see the town and play the course. When the job came up I had my
How did you get into turf? I couldn’t say I jumped into the turf industry with any amount of certainty. I
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 18.2