REGIONAL PROFILE REGIONAL PROFILE
Club Taree is a parkland course boasting 21 holes. Superintendent Mark Spraggs heads a team of six who have modified practices and undertaken a heap of improvement works to lift on-course standards
Club Taree, NSW Originally from New Zealand, superintendent Mark Spraggs and his crew are helping to put Club Taree back on the regional golfing map. The Club Taree crew (from left) Darren Wearing, Daniel Walsh, Barry Muscio, superintendent Mark Spraggs (seated), Greg Hain (assistant) and Ted Wills
Superintendent: Mark Spraggs (29). Nickname: Spraggsy. Family: I am single, however, I have two beautiful kids Aaron (5) and Ellie (3) that keep me busy outside of work. Years as a superintendent: Nearly three. Association involvement: AGCSA (two years). Formerly part of the NZGCSA. Turf management career: I started my career at the nine-hole Boulcott Golf Club in Wellington where I was offered an apprenticeship. Midway through the apprenticeship I transferred to Hutt Golf Club which was right next door but an 18-hole championship course. Once I finished my trade I moved to Taupo and spent two years under Steve Marsden during the construction, grow-in and eventual opening of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Kinloch Club. From there I got in touch with Mike O’Keeffe and went over and did The Ohio Program where I was placed
at Pine Valley Golf Club for seven months and then Sea Island Resort for the remaining five months. After finishing in the US I got a role at Elanora Country Club in Sydney working under Dan Cook. I spent a lot of the time with irrigation projects and later became a joint foreman. I spent a couple of years there before moving to Forster Tuncurry Golf Club as assistant superintendent before taking on my current role of superintendent at Club Taree in October 2013. Qualifications: National Certificate in Sports Turf Management Level 4 (NZSTITO). Currently midway through my Diploma of Sports Turf Management through Ryde TAFE. Where in Australia is Club Taree? Club Taree is in the Mid-North Coast of NSW. Taree itself is about 15km from the coast and 300km north of Sydney. We are in the centre of everything with Port Macquarie 45 minutes north and Forster Tuncurry 25 minutes south. Danny Buderus is a famous name from the area as are current NRL stars Latrell Mitchell and Boyd Cordner. Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to be a superintendent. The turf management side of things is in the family. My father John Spraggs is the very well respected course manager at Royal Wellington Golf Club in New Zealand so growing up I was never far away from a golf course. I started playing the game at a young age and went on to represent my district which helped me to get into the industry. Obviously since joining the industry the golf game has gone downhill very quickly! The travelling side of things and experiencing different
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AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 18.4