COURSES COURSES
Over a two year period Brisbane Golf Club became the first in Australia to convert all its greens to Champion ultradwarf couchgrass. Pictured is the 8th green and approach which was also heavily changed as part of the course improvement works
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Champion course Between 2013 and 2015 Brisbane Golf Club converted its greens from 328 to Champion ultradwarf couchgrass. ATM editor Brett Robinson catches up with Brisbane superintendent Mitch Hayes to look back at the project and the impending 2016 Isuzu Queensland Open which returns to the club after a 25 year hiatus.
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itch Hayes will have multiple reasons to celebrate when he notches up his 30th birthday in the last week of October. First and foremost it’s a milestone – what better excuse to get all your friends and family together for a big party. Second, he will be celebrating four years in charge as course superintendent of Brisbane Golf Club. And third, he’ll (hopefully) be toasting the successful hosting of the 2016 Isuzu Queensland Open which returns to the club for the first time in 25 years the week before. Whichever way you look at it, it’s going to be a big night and no doubt at some stage Hayes will pause and reflect for a moment on the path that he has taken to get where he is. It has been an interesting journey for the boy from Grafton, NSW but one which proves that if you are willing to make some sacrifices along the way the rewards will come. Hayes is testament to the old saying that in order to move forward you first have to take a few steps backwards. Taking on his first course superintendent role at the relatively green age of 23, it was two years into it that he came to the realisation he needed to make a change in order for his career to progress further down the line. Going from superintendent to a lowly intern in the US, where he was earning a pittance and working huge hours, was the path Hayes would ultimately choose. As he will tell you though, being in this industry is a lifestyle choice not just a career and it would be the best move he could ever make. It reignited his spark, exposed him to new ideas and paved the way for his return to Australia where he now finds himself as superintendent of a top 100 ranked course and hosting the state’s premier Open event which is now in its 91st year.
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 18.5
FAMILY INFLUENCE Hayes can thank his late grandmother for nurturing his passion for horticulture. Hanging around her Grafton-based nursery on weekends as a kid along with his brother and two sisters, Hayes became fascinated with plants. His uncle, Brett Nay, also ran the local jockey club and calling in a few favours managed to get his 16-year-old nephew some work alongside the track manager. It was a week’s work experience at Grafton District Golf Club during his final year at school where Hayes would get his first taste of greenkeeping and when, by chance, an apprenticeship was advertised there Hayes duly got the nod from superintendent John Nelson. Completing his apprenticeship, Hayes’ next move was to South West Rocks where he joined as an assistant superintendent under Wayne Hensley in October 2007. There for 15 months, he then headed north as construction assistant at Townsville Golf Club under Duncan Lamont. Reportedly Queensland’s oldest golf course, Townsville was about to embark on a major course upgrade which appealed to Hayes as he had always wanted to get his hands dirty. Just three months into his time at Townsville, however, Hayes found himself as superintendent. Unfortunately due to a number of circumstances the reconstruction didn’t go ahead and for two and a half years Hayes toughed it out as the only qualified greenkeeper on staff. It was his first time managing a course in a tropical environment and in 2011 he had to endure the destruction that Cyclone Yasi brought to the region. It was in the aftermath of Yasi that Hayes began to contemplate the bigger picture and started questioning where he wanted his career to go. During his days at South West Rocks he had made