ENVIRONMENT
organic Kate Torgersen enlists the help of Andrew Glen, superintendent at KDV Sport precinct on the Gold Coast, who
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outlines the alternative, and successful, management approach he is taking with his turf surfaces.
have always been interested in reading articles on ‘going organic’, whether that be on golf courses, racetracks, wineries, schools or councils. Recently I received an email from Andrew Glen, superintendent at KDV Sport located in Carrara on the Gold Coast, literally a drop punt from Metricon Stadium. Andrew reached out about the organic programme he has established at his facility and kindly submitted the article below which I’m sure you will find very interesting and inspiring. Andrew has been involved in the turf industry for 35 years, having worked throughout Australia and around the world in the construction and maintenance of golf course and sports facilities. This has given him extensive experience working in very different environments and climates. KDV Sport is a multiple sports complex which has been up and running for the past three years. It comprises a 12-hole short course, golf academy, driving range, sportsfield, 20 tennis courts (hard and clay courts), three paddle courts, 18-hole mini golf course, gymnasium and swimming pool. Most recently, a new hotel – Elite Gold Coast – was opened within the facility. 68
The precinct lies on a floodplain and has sensitive waterways running through it. With this in mind, and with the blessing of KDV Sport management, in January 2018 Andrew decided to eliminate chemicals and synthetic fertilisers completely from the site and transfer across to a 100 per cent organic programme. Through the programme Andrew has re-established the natural biology back into the soil. With that base in place, he has then been able to manage and feed the biology within the soil which in turn feeds the plant. It has taken time to develop the programme and Andrew is continually improving on it, but as of now the results are very impressive both with the condition of the course and the cost savings realised. The methods are quite innovative within the turf industry and could change the way turf managers approach maintenance practices in the future. Andrew takes up the story…
STEP BY STEP
“The first goal in switching to an all organic programme here at KDV Sport was to re-establish the soil biology. Due to there being very little information on doing this in the turf side of the industry, I had to look at methods
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 22.2
being successfully used in the horticultural and agricultural sectors. By utilising these already established practices and adapting them to suit a turf situation, I have been able to re-establish the microbiology within our soil, back to the way nature does. I utilise only indigenous microbes which are better suited to our environment and sourced locally. A lot of my inputs I produce on site which has a large cost saving. All other products I use are 100 per cent Australian and 90 per cent of what we use is sourced in the southern Queensland and northern NSW area. Supporting local products is important. Each of these techniques brings a diversity of microbes to the soil, the more diverse the better and the use of indigenous microbes which are better suited to our environment. It took about a year to build the biology in the soil to a healthy level and I am continually building and establishing our soil microbial web. The next step was to get the correct inputs to feed the turf to get consistent healthy growth. To achieve this, I had to re-programme my normal approach where you are feeding directly to the plant. To do this, I had to concentrate on feeding the microbes with
PHOTOS: ANDREW GLEN
Going