AWARDS Thomas Bath, pictured volunteering at last year’s Australian PGA Championship, will represent the GCSAQ in the final of the ASTMA Graduate of the Year Award
Graduates
I
on a roll
n 2018, the Graduate of the Year Award created history when Bryce Walsh (Tasmania) and Daniel Hendrie (NSW) were announced joint winners for the first time. Fast-forward a year and yet more history was made when Thomas Burridge became South Australia’s first ever graduate recipient. Now in its 25th year, the 2020 edition of the award will also enter the history books, but for very different reasons. Normally presented during the Syngenta President’s Dinner on the opening night of the annual turf conference, this year’s award ceremony has unfortunately become a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic after the conference was sadly cancelled. Despite that, the 2020 awards will still proceed, albeit via slightly different means. Judging for the awards usually occurs on the eve of the conference, however, in this day and age of social distancing the judging will now take place online via Zoom. Each finalist will give a short presentation about themselves and their careers to date, before being grilled by the judging panel. 32
The annual conference may not
be going ahead in 2020, but the ASTMA and STA Graduate of the Year Awards are still set to be hotly contested. ATM profiles this year’s contenders.
A total of 12 graduates will line up for this year’s finals, seven contesting the ASTMA Graduate of the Year Award and five vying for the STA Sports Turf Graduate of the Year Award, both sponsored by long-term partner Toro Australia. ATM congratulates the following finalists and wishes them well for the judging.
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 22.3
ASTMA GRADUATE OF THE YEAR THOMAS BATH
GCSAQ/Palm Meadows GC The youngest of this year’s ASTMA Graduate of the Year Award finalists, 18-year-old Bath has been employed as a qualified greenkeeper at Sanctuary Cove G&CC since September last year. He started his apprenticeship in 2016 at Palm Meadows GC under the guidance of superintendent Darren Lee and assistant superintendent Blaine Knox, who Bath credits with helping him progress dramatically. Completing his Certificate III in Sports Turf Management at Wollongbar TAFE, Bath has since started a Diploma of Sports Turf Management through Ryde College of TAFE in Sydney. Bath particularly enjoys the science behind turfgrass management and the inputs that go into providing a quality sports turf surface. Among the highlights of his career to date include volunteering at the 2017 and 2019 Australian PGA Championships at RACV Royal Pines.