FOREWORD THINKING FOREWORD THINKING
MARK UNWIN, AGCSA CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Australasian turf industry set to unite in Wellington, NZ
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AGCSA
The AGCSA’s ‘Thank a Superintendent Week’ initiative in May proved a great success
he largest turf event in Australia and New Zealand is almost upon us with the AGCSA team focusing efforts over the past few months on planning and preparation for the inaugural Australasian Turfgrass Conference and Trade Exhibition in Wellington, New Zealand (24-29 June). In this issue of ATM we’ve given you a quick look at some of the highlights of the conference, including information on the number of leading turf professionals from Australia and New Zealand who will be presenting throughout the week. Alongside presentations from local researchers and professionals, the line-up also includes a number of industry experts from the USA, Asia and the UK, including keynote speakers Professor Scott McElroy (Auburn University, USA) and Andrew Johnston (Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore). In addition, we outline some of the exciting product and service releases happening during the trade exhibition. I encourage you all to spend a few hours at the conference visiting the trade exhibition to see some of these first-hand and support the organisations that support your association. Also, keep an eye out for some exciting news regarding AGCSATech services and be sure to stop by the dedicated stand.
PARTNERSHIPS AND INITIATIVES In late April, the AGCSA announced a partnership with epar to launch the Golf Environment and Safety Compliance Initiative. This partnership will be used to fund research projects and educational bursaries, as well as assist smaller clubs and turf facilities in developing environment, health and safety (EHS) compliance systems. If you are looking to develop an EHS system for your facility, contact the AGCSA and we’ll get the process started.
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AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 20.3
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The partnership also forms the basis for the AGCSA to facilitate the development of an online Golf Environment and Safety Compliance Portal. This will provide AGCSA members (along with all other state associations) with the latest news, legislation updates, alerts, research and case studies relating to compliance and risk management. A few weeks following the compliance initiative announcement, from 14-20 May the AGCSA conducted the very first ‘Thank a Superintendent Week’. The week was designed to drive awareness and recognition of the great contribution golf course superintendents and their teams make to the game of golf in Australia. We were thrilled with the coverage this initiative received from Australian golfing media outlets, with information appearing in print, websites and social media, as well as being supported by golfing associations right across Australia. Further, the volume of messages of recognition for supers and their teams throughout the week greatly exceeded our initial forecasts for the campaign. Judging by the feedback received, for many turf professionals this initiative provided the perfect platform for clubs, members and guests to say thanks for the many hours and the passion that course and turf management teams put in to managing their facilities. It was a great result and we can confirm that it will become an annual event on the Australian golfing calendar.
NEW-LOOK AGCSA WEBSITE Largely in the background, the AGCSA has also been undertaking a significant piece of work over the past six months around the development of a new website and member management portal, which launched in late May. This new portal allows