GCSAWA
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o all GCSAWA members, I would like to thank everyone who attended the recent Annual General Meeting during the association’s state conference at Margaret River. To receive the overwhelming support to become president of the association for a second time, I am still in shock and very grateful. I need to start by thanking outgoing GCSAWA president Neil Graham (aka ‘Kiwi’ or ‘Mario’) for his time and dedication to our association over the past four years and previous to that his time as a committee member. Thanks for your commitment to the GCSAWA and its members Neil (but thank God, we’ve finally got a Kiwi out of the top seat!) The biennial conference held down in the South West was our biggest and best so far with just under 80 people attending. This included delegates from South Australia who attended our conference for the first time. We hope you all enjoyed it and you are all welcome to attend again in two years’ time. The day-and-a-half of seminars saw a great variety of topics and included speakers from WA, SA, Victoria and New Zealand, with one seemingly only there to brag about the size of his new maintenance hotel (shed)! Thanks to Richard Forsyth from Royal Melbourne and Nathan Bennett from Royal Adelaide for their presentations which gave our local superintendents a glimpse at what it takes to run big name courses and to host tournaments both at a national and international level. Andy Wood from Kauri Cliffs, New Zealand talked about his battles with Poa annua and the use
of growing degree days, as well as his dedication to the environment which saw him win the AGCSA’s Claude Crockford Environment Award, presented in partnership with Syngenta, at the 2016 Australian Turfgrass Conference. Local speakers included superintendents, apprentices and a local golf pro in Wayne Smith who spoke on various topics ranging from course rebuilds to playing on Tour. The Toro Cup was again played in terrible conditions and was reduced to a 9-hole competition due to the front nine at Margaret River Golf Club being under water. The nights were full of great food and plenty of socialising which created a great atmosphere. Thanks to the committee for their hard work leading into the conference to ensure that everything was organised to guarantee things ran smoothly over the three days – a fantastic effort lads! Personally, I am looking forward to the challenge of being president of our association and I, along with the committee, have already started brainstorming on some new educational, training and social events for our members. A survey will by now have been sent out to all members to gather information on a range of topics to ensure we can deliver on what the members want. We are about to launch a Facebook page and an email newsletter to inform members of upcoming events and to keep everyone up to date with all things that is the GCSAWA.
SIMON BOURNE PRESIDENT, GCSAWA
APPRENTICES GET AN INSIDE LOOK AT LAKE KARRINYUP
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n 30 August, 3rd year sports turf management students from South Metro TAFE in Perth were fortunate to visit Lake Karrinyup Country Club. The club is currently undergoing a major greens resurfacing programme and the students were able to listen to and ask questions of course superintendent Fraser Brown. Brown has over 15 years’ experience in the industry, with his career starting at Kingussie Golf Club in the highlands of Scotland. That led to various positions in eastern Europe and the Middle East before moving to Australia and eventually taking on the role of superintendent at Kalgoorlie Golf Club, WA. Kalgoorlie has an extremely harsh environment which would test the skills and knowledge of any qualified turf specialist. Brown spent five-and-a-half years there before taking on the challenging role of superintendent at Lake Karrinyup.
Reconstruction of the 5th green at Perth’s Lake Karrinyup Country Club Students were lucky enough to be present on the day that the new nine greens were receiving their first cut (at 8mm). They had been seeded five weeks earlier with 007 creeping bentgrass. At the time of the inspection, the covers that had been protecting the greens from an extremely wet winter, were being rolled up and stored. Brown had used these covers before in Kalgoorlie and using them this winter proved a blessing due to the wet weather the state capital received. The covers helped minimise damage from washouts and accelerated
germination of the 007. Brown noted that germination occurred after eight days and the protection of the seedbed that the covers provided helped with this process. Brown discussed with the visiting apprentices his methodology during the growin period and his expected mowing height reduction regime as the greens got closer to opening. The plan was to gradually reduce heights on a weekly basis in conjunction with a regular dusting programme. This will promote a dense turf surface which will be the springboard required to prepare the greens for next February’s World Super 6 event. South Metro TAFE students and teachers were extremely grateful to Brown for taking the time out of his busy schedule to discuss his turf management techniques with the apprentices. He discussed many aspects of turf management and demonstrated a passion that is essential in the industry. - Jeff Austen SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2017
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