WELLINGTON 2018 WELLINGTON 2018
Joel Manson (far right) can’t quite believe his luck when he was named 2017 AGCSA Graduate of the Year at Twin Waters
ATM profiles this year’s finalists for the coveted AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award, presented in partnership with Platinum Partner Toro Australia.
2018 AGCSA GRADUATE OF THE YEAR AWARD
I
t was pretty hard to wipe the smile off Joel Manson’s face at last year’s Twin Waters conference. Announced as the 2017 AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award winner, the Anglesea Golf Club apprentice cupped his head in his hands and looked in total shock as his name was called out by Toro managing director Richard Walne. Winning the award kick-started what has become quite the journey for Manson who now finds himself taking the next step in his career in the US. As this edition of ATM was going to print, Manson was one of a number of Australians helping to preparing the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village for the US PGA Tour’s famous Memorial Tournament. Muirfield Village has been Manson’s home for the past couple of months after he took up a placement there through The Ohio Program. This was after he attended the Winter School for Turf Mangers at the University of Massachusetts and the 2018 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio which formed part of his 2017 award prize. It has been a life-changing year for Manson and such opportunities are likely to await the 2018 AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award winner who will be anointed on the opening night of the Australasian Turfgrass Conference and Trade Exhibition in Wellington, New Zealand. Judging for this year’s award will take place on the eve of the conference with the following seven state finalists looking to impress the expert judging panel. The AGCSA, together with long-time Graduate of the Year Award sponsor and Platinum Partner Toro, wish them all the best.
DANIEL HENDRIE NSWGCSA Toronto GC/Morisset CC Twenty-one-year-old Daniel Hendrie is currently assistant superintendent at Morisset Country Club, an 18-hole par 72 championship course located in Lake Macquarie, NSW. Hendrie 46
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 20.3
served his apprenticeship at Toronto Country Club, also in Lake Macquarie, and attended Kurri Kurri TAFE in the Hunter Valley. In addition to winning the coveted NSWGCSA Vince Church Graduate of the Year Award, Hendrie rates his two volunteering stints at the 2015 (The Australian GC) and 2016 (Royal Sydney GC) Emirates Australian Opens as career highlights to date. Such experiences gave Hendrie a taste of what it takes to prepare first class turf surfaces at an elite level. Closer to home, Hendrie also enjoyed being involved in the planning and construction of several tees and greens surfaces during his TAFE studies and at both Toronto and Morisset. Now in the assistant’s role at Morisset, Hendrie is aiding superintendent Nathan Reynolds in all facets, including formulating maintenance and capital works projects, programming agronomy practices and overseeing the club’s environmental management and WHS systems. Hendrie is also assisting in reporting all golf course matters to committees and management. “I got into the industry from having a love of the game of golf and being outdoors,” says Hendrie. “I really fell in love with the turf industry once I started to learn more about the technical side and how you can manipulate turf to do different things to achieve an outcome. My goals in the industry are to complete The Ohio Program and return to Australia and work my way towards being a top superintendent.”
STEVEN LEWIS GCSAQ Chinderah Golf Course Born and raised in the picturesque Tweed Valley in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, like many children growing up Steve Lewis had a fascination with machinery. From an early age he was heavily involved in helping with grounds maintenance on the family property and with a