AS SOCIATION REPORTS
GCSAWA
F
irst off, I want to thank Mark Unwin and the team at the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association for their communication over the last few months. It was an uncertain and at times confusing period. With JobSeeker, JobKeeper, other rebates, the legalities about laying off staff and cutting hours etc, the links and emails sent and also the courtesy phone calls were very welcome and clear for everyone. Friday 27 March was the day that most golf clubs here in WA closed and dozens of staff were let go or had their hours slashed. It was the darkest and saddest day that I’ve seen in the industry. We didn’t know how long the closures would be or if we would get to a situation like New Zealand superintendents found themselves in. I didn’t know what the future held and I wasn’t confident all golf clubs would survive. The first few weeks saw clubs work alternate shifts with limited staff numbers and hours. Some courses even reduced their staff hours by 80 per cent. But fast forward two months and almost all maintenance departments are operating back at preCOVID-19 levels with most staff returning to their jobs. Apprentices are being hired and there are current job ads looking for groundsmen, qualified guys and mechanics. As I said, no one was sure what to expect. But I didn’t expect most private clubs to have a massive forecasted budget surplus. With most casual staff laid off, JobKeeper covering a high percentage of full-time staff, new members, clubhouse utilities such as electricity, gas and water heavily reduced, cancellation of cleaning contractors and no wasted stock, most clubs are well in front of where they originally were. While no one would want to go through this again, it’s good to see clubs come out in front. Talking to fellow superintendents around WA, one thing was common – they have never been as busy as they were through the COVID-19 period. With all the restrictions across the state and a lot of other jobs shut down, it seemed everyone wanted to play golf. Most private clubs restricted play to members only and with council courses shut down for close to a month, all private clubs saw a nice welcomed increase in new members as that was the only way golf could be played. Here at Mosman Park GC, we tripled our golf rounds from a normal April. Council courses closed for up to a month, but all staff were retained. Bunker rakes have been removed and pool noodles used in cups and 74
Joondalup collected the Metropolitan Golf Course of the Year title at the WA Golf Industry Awards, while its course superintendent Ashley Watson won the GCSAWA Superintendent of the Year Award
it looks like staying like that for a while longer. Golf was restricted to a maximum of two per group with no practice facilities open and separate carts if you had them, then after a month it went to groups of three. Competition golf was suspended until about mid-May when groups of four were allowed again. Clubhouses remained closed until early June when state restrictions were lifted on licensed premises. Social groups and public golf are slowly being brought back into clubs’ diaries. A couple of courses didn’t close at all and the majority of private and privatelyowned courses only closed to golfers for about a week. Cottesloe GC (superintendent Simon Bourne) took advantage and put the finishing touches on their greens construction programme before opening back up fully to the membership. As of the first week of June they also have just two fairways left on their irrigation install. It was also perfect timing for Rod Tatt at Mt Lawley GC who overseeded all their greens with 007 bentgrass. During this time, WA was split into 12 regions and you couldn’t travel between the regions without paperwork and driving through roadblocks. One young superintendent, who has only been at his new club for less than six months, worked in one region and lived in another. With his staff losing hours, the course being busier than ever and the travel time and restrictions, he decided to live onsite for six weeks to keep the course maintained. Many supers sacrificed some of their salary and worked extra hours, but living onsite for six weeks was a big effort. A few groundstaff who had their hours and pay reduced volunteered their time and went into work and helped prepare the course. The dedication of everyone in the industry definitely shined through these last few months.
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 22.3
Perth and the southwest were hit by three fairly significant storms over a two week period in mid-May. While the clean ups added to the workload of already busy crews, the one good thing that came out of it was it meant an early end to the watering season with a wetter than average May. On 4 June the WA golf industry held an online awards ceremony to honour its leading lights from the past year. The original awards night was scheduled in late March, but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, event organisers took the event online with the GCSAWA handing out two awards as part of the evening. Congratulations to Ashley Watson (Joondalup G&CC) who was bestowed the GCSAWA’s coveted McIntosh and SonJacobsen Superintendent of the Year Award. His award was one of two on the night for the club, with Joondalup also taking home the Metropolitan Golf Course of the Year title, edging the likes of Cottesloe and Meadow Springs. Mandurah CC’s Mitchell Clay was named the GCSAWA Apprentice of the Year and will now represent the association in the national ASTMA Graduate of the Year Award, sponsored by Toro (see Graduate of the Year finalist profiles on page 32 – Ed). A special mention must go to Mandurah superintendent Neil Graham who has mentored three apprentice award winners in the last five years. It was also a big night for Bunbury GC winning three awards including Regional Golf Facility and Regional Golf Course of the Year. Congratulations to all winners.
SHANE BAKER (CSTM) SECRETARY, GCSAWA