REGIONAL PROFILE Just another idyllic start to the day at Blackheath Golf Club in the NSW Blue Mountains…
Blackheath Golf Club, NSW It doesn’t get more picturesque than the NSW Blue Mountains region which boasts a number of golf’s hidden gems. Among them is Blackheath Golf Club, home to superintendent Luke Skinner. Superintendent: Luke Skinner (37). Family: Wife Ingrid, kids Hamish (10) and Elke (5). Social media: Instagram @present_tense8. Period as a superintendent: 7.5 years. Association involvement: AGCSA and NSWGCSA. Turf management career: Half Moon Bay GC, Qld (apprentice, four years); St Michaels GC, NSW (four years); Massey Park GC (assistant, one year); Blackheath GC (superintendent 7.5 years). Qualifications: Certificate IV and Diploma in Horticulture (Turf) from Ryde TAFE. Major hobbies/past-times: Still putting the old body through 90 minutes of football every week. Golf and trail running. Where in Australia is Blackheath GC? Blackheath is one of the highest points in the 74
Blue Mountains, NSW at 1065m above sea level. We are about 120km west of Sydney and 10km west of Katoomba. Blackheath is surrounded by the Blue Mountains National Park and is home to some of the best lookouts and bushwalks in the country. A small tourist town, it fills up during the spring months for the flowering rhododendrons and in the autumn the changing colours of the trees attracts the affectionately named ‘Leafers’. Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to be a superintendent. I have played golf since I was able to pick up a club and have always had an interest in beautiful golf courses. It wasn’t until moving to Cairns for what was meant to be a sixmonth working holiday that my journey into the world of turf began. I saw and applied for
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 21.3
a job as the apprentice at Half Moon Bay Golf Club, under then superintendent Mark Davis, where I was to spend the next four years loving every minute of it. The call of family eventually pulled us back to NSW where I was able to secure a job at St Michael’s under Darren Jones. I have always loved links golf more than all others and I was super excited to be able to spend the next four years growing there. It was while at St Michael’s that I completed both the Certificate IV and Diploma and this was followed by a short but sweet stint at Massey Park under Aaron Fluke. Who were some of your early mentors? Mark Davis (now at Darwin Golf Club) definitely had a major influence on my outlook on the industry. We were working with a small crew and limited budget and many of the