ASSN REPORTS VGCSA ASSOCIATION REPORTS
VGCSA members tour The National Golf Club’s Long Island course at the March education meeting
Long Island superintendent Simon Page
Page discusses the changes to greens management practices that have been instituted at Long Island
T
he association’s first education meeting of 2018 has been held with a good turnout enjoying the dual club course walk meeting at Frankston Golf Club and The National’s Long Island course. Both clubs were presented in outstanding fashion which is a credit to their operations with the extended dry weather conditions Victoria has been facing over summer. Frankston superintendent Dean Hadfield and assistant Travis Stillman kicked the day off with a tour of one of the more unique golf courses in Melbourne. The nine-hole layout boasts a fascinating history which extends all the way back to the early 1900s, coupled with a minimalist maintenance regime which Hadfield enlightened the group on. Frankston boasts some of the best examples of native flora and fauna in Melbourne, which harks back to a 1917 ‘vegetation census’ the club carried out. Many of those species still remain, with Hadfield explaining their native vegetation management practices which form a key aspect of course operations. There is no fairway irrigation at Frankston with the course relying solely on stormwater runoff from the carpark for irrigation. In some years this provides as little as 6ML, but the club is currently engaged in a joint venture with the local council to bring recycled water to the course. Hadfield also discussed some of their fairway trial work. At Long Island, course superintendent Simon Page teamed up with Leigh Yanner to take the group on a tour of the course. Long Island Country
Club merged with The National back at the start of 2015, adding to the latter’s stable of three famed Mornington Peninsula courses (Old, Moonah and Ocean). Page and Yanner discussed managing the common couch/Santa Ana fairways and the recent switch to a deep and infrequent fairway watering regime across all of The National’s courses. Page also spoke about renovation practices on Long Island’s Poa/bentgrass greens over the past three years, using hollow tine coring and the Air2g2 machine to relieve deep compaction and bring about firmer and more consistent surfaces. The group also viewed the old bowling greens, which are being converted into a nursery, while Yanner outlined the planned works to be undertaken to the practice range which is located in a retarding basin. The tour finished with a look at the construction of the new practice fairway tee which will be sown with ryegrass instead of couch. The cool-season variety has been chosen for its quick regeneration as The National provides unlimited range balls to members as part of their membership which puts a big strain on the turf. Thanks to Nuturf for sponsoring the day and providing a presentation on two new products with active ingredients that will help turf managers with their rotation options. All A Class members have received part one of the VGCSA Poa annua Trial Report conducted during the winter of 2017. This will be followed by a part two report on work which was conducted in late 2017. Some interesting results have come from the trials and hopefully members will be able to utilise findings of both scientific papers to integrate into their Poa annua management strategies. Many thanks to VGCSA secretary Shane Greenhill (Sorrento Golf Club), and Andrew Peart and John Neylan for their commitment and professionalism in conducting the extensive works needed for the trials. Also many thanks to the golf clubs who provided venues for the trial works. The VGCSA will be conducting further trial work in the near future once subject matter has been decided upon. The next stop on the calendar will be the 91st Annual General Meeting which will be held at The Victoria Golf Club where I’m certain host superintendent Steve Newell will be providing excellent playing surfaces for our major golf event. There will be a number of changes on the VGCSA committee at the AGM with myself, Steve Hewitt (13th Beach) and Kyle Wilson (Moonah Links) standing down. Many thanks to both Steve and Kyle for a fantastic job during their tenure.
MAT POULTNEY PRESIDENT, VGCSA 76
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 20.2