CONFERENCE CONFERENCE
A taste of
Local Gubbi Gubbi man Kerry O’Neill provided a different start to this year’s Australian Turfgrass Conference on the Sunshine Coast
Twin Waters
For the second time in four years, the Australian Turfgrass Conference ventured to Novotel Twin Waters Resort. ATM reviews the week that was on the Sunshine Coast.
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t’s no big secret that one of the most challenging aspects golf course superintendents and turf practitioners have to manage daily is something they have never had any formal training in. While agronomics and turf management practices have always been a mainstay of past Australian Turfgrass Conferences, looking at the programmes in recent years there has been a definite shift in the number of talks relating to staff and HR management, health and wellbeing and financial management. Being up to speed and managing these ‘behindthe-scenes’ areas effectively and efficiently has become just as important, if not more so, than what happens out on the golf course. And as some turf managers have found to their detriment, getting these aspects wrong, or failing to devote the required time to them, can have dire consequences.
Comedian/magician Peter Booth has some fun at the expense of AGCSA Board member Darren Wilson 42
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 19.4
It was with this in mind that the education programme at the recent 33rd Australian Turfgrass Conference and Trade Exhibition deliberately boasted a strong underlying HR theme. During this year’s conference, which returned to Novotel Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast for the second time in four years, delegates were presented with a range of topics designed to make them think more about their off course operations. Presentations and workshops discussed effective leadership techniques and the key traits of successful and high performing teams, managing the performance of staff and the rights and obligations surrounding workplace termination. These were complemented by sessions which looked at how to present with greater confidence (whether to boards of management or staff), developing and managing course budgets and using tools such as Excel in a more effective way. Among the most popular sessions for the week were Steve Herzberg’s two half day workshops – ‘Presenting with Confidence’ and ‘High Performing Teams’ (see page 46 for more on the latter). Both topped the list of favourite sessions in the postconference survey with some of the feedback noting they were “inspiring”, “outstanding” and, for one delegate, “some of the best interactive sessions I have been involved in at a conference.” Also ranking extremely high were the two Plenary sessions conducted by Vicki Crowe and Susanne Macphee. Crowe, who works for the PGA of Australia and is the AGCSA’s HR representative, talked delegates through the minefield that is workplace