CONFERENCE GUIDE
Graduates
step up 2019 AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award finalist Jordan Thompson (Royal Canberra GC) was a course volunteer at the 2018 Emirates Australian Open at The Lakes
After the honours were shared at the Wellington conference last year, ATM profiles the finalists for the AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award and also the STA Sports Turf Graduate of the Year, both of which will be announced
L
ast year history was created. Not only was it the first time the Australian Turfgrass Conference had ventured outside of Australia, but when it came to announcing the winner of the AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award, presented in partnership with Platinum Partner Toro Australia, two of the finalists could not be separated. In one of closest contests in the award’s 23-year history, Royal Hobart Golf Club’s Bryce Walsh and Morisset Country Club’s Daniel Hendrie shared the honour, with Walsh achieving the additional distinction of being the first graduate from Tasmania to collect the prized Dint Golf Solutions-forged trophy. This year will see 11 state finalists line up in front the judges in Brisbane, six contesting the AGCSA Graduate of the Year and five the STA Sports Turf Graduate of the Year. Winning these prestigious awards can open up a multitude of opportunities and the winners this year will receive trips to the US, courtesy of Toro, to help further their careers and gain valuable insights into the wider turf industry. The AGCSA and STA Australia, together with Toro, congratulate the following finalists… 52
during the Brisbane conference.
AGCSA GRADUATE OF THE YEAR AWARD JACK SCHMIDT GCSAQ Cardwell Golf Club Ironically, this year’s home state representative will have to travel just as far as the rest of his fellow finalists to take his place in front of the AGCSA Graduate of the Year judging panel. Twenty-year-old GCSAQ representative Jack Schmidt hails from the small Far North Queensland town of Cardwell, located halfway between Cairns and Townsville. Living in the beachside town all his life, Schmidt is assistant greenkeeper at the ninehole (18-hole composite) Cardwell Golf Club. Finishing school as a 16-year-old, Schmidt took on an apprenticeship at the club and completed his studies through TAFE in Townsville. He completed his Certificate III in Sports Turf Management last November which has given him valuable experience, confidence and skills not only in his chosen profession but life in general as well.
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 21.3
During his time at the club, Schmidt has been involved in a number of significant projects, in particular the design and reconstruction of five tee blocks. He continues to thoroughly enjoy working on and maintaining the beautiful aesthetic features of Cardwell Golf Club, which is surrounded by pine forest and has the Great Dividing Range as a stunning backdrop.
JAX BATTYE GCSAWA Meadow Springs G&CC Representing Western Australia in 2019 is 26-year-old Meadow Springs crew member Jax Battye. With a background in landscape horticulture and environmental rehabilitation, but having played golf since the age of six, Battye always knew that the turf industry was where his heart resided. After some extensive travels overseas and returning to WA in late 2015, he found himself taking on an apprenticeship at Mandurah-based Meadow Springs. Battye rates the best part of his job as leaving work every day knowing that he has created, maintained and upheld the