TurfTalk April 2019

BY LAWN SOLUTIONS AUSTRALIA | APR 2019

CAMPBELLTOWN STADIUM Growing Strong!

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MORE TURFTALK INSIDE ›

Killara Golf Course Redevelopment

New Zoysia Varieties Begin Australian Testing

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... Read more [pg 14]

TPI Conference 2019 and Beyond/ 1 ... Read more [pg 23]

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Welcome to TurfTalk, Australia’s most comprehensive turf magazine. TurfTalk is suitable for all turf professionals, from turf growers to landscapers, golf courses and sports ground curators, to government and related industry organisations.

TurfTalk is here to share with you the latest information on the turf industry, the exciting developments in turf research and to keep you up to date with everything you need to know about turf.

TurfTalk is a free quarterly magazine and distributed to over 3000 landscape and turf professionals in print and digitally.

TurfTalk is published by Lawn Solutions Australia.

Editorial: Nathan Edwards nathan@lawnsolutionsaustralia.com.au Joe Rogers joe@lawnsolutionsaustralia.com.au Art Direction & Design: Merridy Ison merridy@ lawnsolutionsaustralia.com.au Paul Coratella paul@lawnsolutionsaustralia.com.au Campbelltown Stadium

Inside this issue KILLARA GOLF CLUB REDEVELOPMENT

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THE IMPORTANCE OF TURF CERTIFICATION

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ZOYSIA FOR INDOOROOPILLY

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ITGAP VISIT 2019

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GLOBALISING TURF INNOVATION

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GROVE XXIII UPDATE

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CAMPBELLTOWN SPORTS STADIUM UPGRADE

PG 10 US STUDY TOUR- PIKE CREEK TURF

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TRAILBLAZER- DR HENRY

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US STUDY TOUR- SUPER-SOD

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NEW TURFGRASSES BEGIN AUSTRALIAN TESTING

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SIR WALTER TURNS 21

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TRIMAX RAISING EXPECTATIONS

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TPI CONFERENCE 2019

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MELBOURNE FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW 2019

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TIFTUF FORWARDING AUSTRALIAN SPORT

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SHOW GARDEN FEATURE- ‘THE OTHER SIDE’

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W ELCOME TO TURF TAL K// 31

Killara Golf Course

Killara Golf Club Redevelopment Excites SIR GRANGE ZOYSIA PERFORMING BETTER THAN ANYTHING SEEN BEFORE Killara Golf Club is one of Sydney’s most prestigious ‘members only’ golf courses. It plays host to thousands of rounds of golf every year.

While the majority of the golf course was and is in fantastic condition, course superintendent, Ryan Fury, was having issues with a few heavily shaded tees and surrounds on the course over a number of years. This heavy shade, particularly in winter, combined with high usage was resulting in poor grass cover in these areas.

Fury had attempted to remedy the situation over the past decade with several

varieties of turf, but was getting repeated poor results.

Turf consultant for Killara Golf Course, John Neylan, recommended new Zoysia grass varieties in his February 2016 report. In June 2016, after seeing Sir Grange and Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) at the AGSCA National golf conference, Fury contacted Ken Mangum (retired Superintendent Atlanta Athletics Club), who spoke at the conference to enquire further. Fury then convinced the club’s board to try a new variety- Sir Grange Zoysia on the course’s troublesome areas

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After contacting Simon Adermann from LSA, a site inspection was carried out.

Fury decided to trial Sir Grange Zoysia on areas that would struggle for couch grass coverage in winter. Four trial areas were set up; a small tee that gets nearly 100% shade in winter, a green surround near the clubhouse, a section in a fairway and a small area in a couch tee.

The trial ran for a year, spanning all conditions, the result being used to determine whether the grass would be an option for the course’s reconstruction project that would commence in May 2018.

Killara Golf Course undergoes revamp

In March 2017 these areas were assessed, with excellent results from the zoysia. “We laid it in full shade areas and beat it up on a tee during winter and I have not seen anything like it before” Fury said.

This was a result achieved in areas where no other grass had been able to stand out and thrive in the conditions. Sir Grange, literally, left other grasses for dead in terms of its shade tolerance, wear resistance and colour.

“I have not seen anything like it before. It is amazing stuff: hard to take a divot, recovers quicker than couch, gets going quicker in spring and provides an amazing surface” Fury said.

During the next year the club had discussions with course architect Harley Kruse and consultants to review these results and make a final decision on the grasses to be used for the course reconstruction.

In March 2018 the decision was made to

use Sir Grange zoysia on green surrounds and approaches, tees and other areas on the course that were under construction.

The project started in May 2018, with the first load of Sir Grange being delivered in June. Everyone involved in the laying of the grass was incredibly impressed with it, with many saying they had never laid anything so strong, with not one piece falling apart.

A total of 55,000m2 of Sir Grange is planned to be installed over the course of the project which is now close to nearing completion.

Members of the course are extremely happy, as is Ryan Fury and his team. The grass is looking fantastic and it is going to give players a totally different surface to what Killara had ever experienced before to play on.

The results at Killara are clearly providing the exclamation that Sir Grange is a solution for the wider golf industry and is

“This stuff (Sir Grange) is going to be everywhere in 5 to 10 years” – Ryan Fury, Superintendent at Killara Golf Course.

a truly remarkable grass. With what is sure to become ‘par for the course’ in golfing circles, Sir Grange is set to become the industry’s highest standard for Australian golf courses.

The Killara Golf Club project is expected to be completed in June.

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Is Zoysia the future for Australian Golf?

INDOOROOPILLY GOLF CLUB THINKS SO. SUPERINTENDENT CHARLIE GIFFARD DESCRIBES GROWING THE CLUB’S FIRST ZOYSIA GREEN.

Images throughout this story: Indooroopilly Golf Course

Over the past couple of years, Indooroopilly Golf Club in Brisbane has been trialling the use of zoysia grasses to determine their potential as a future playing surface.

In 2016 a 1.8-metre wide strip of Shade Tuff zoysia matrella was installed around a newly stolonised green to gauge its performance.

In time, this turned out to be very successful and in early 2017 we subsequently planned an all-out assault on couch encroachment around, and in some cases in, our 328 Tifgreen greens.

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Initially concentrating our efforts on the newer West course, the programme embarked upon was to poison out the existing collar grass (Greenlees Park) and any adjacent encroachment in the green edges and re-turf with the new zoysia variety Sir Grange.

We were able to get some early release of this material to trial thanks to Simon Adermann from Lawn Solutions Australia.

Over the next two years we have successfully carried out the collar conversion to Sir Grange and to date we have been more than happy with the results.

The method employed to convert the surrounds was pretty straightforward. After spraying out the couch collar and removing the dead material, we levelled the area and then solid turfed with Sir Grange.

The zoysia grew in very quickly and due to its low growth characteristics we were able to mow it down to a collar height of 8mm within a month of laying it.

We have certainly noted its low growth rate and how this has been a great saving as the collars only require a mow every other week in the growing season and once a month during the winter.

Even at this early stage in the trial, we believe this type of grass could potentially be a real game changer not only for our club but for the golf and turf industry.

This represents a real saving and our ‘return on investment’ would be achieved in less than five years’ time going by this indicator alone!

Assisting with deciding the ROI, other attendant benefits of the zoysia experienced so far include; •

High tolerance to salt (particularly beneficial as Indooroopilly uses effluent irrigation water);

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Low to no disease and insect incidence;

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No dew formation;

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Upright growth habit effectively ‘perching’ the ball for an improved lie;

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Drought hardy;

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Low nutritional requirement; and

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Low seed head formation

The only noticeable difference we have observed is the playability in comparison to the original Greenlees Park couchgrass.

We have noticed that the ball tends to check more when pitched onto the collar, similar to kikuyu. However, the swing to this ‘roundabout’ is that on sloping run off areas around the greens, the ball will hold up in the adjacent collar, meaning a happy result for the player. We haven’t really noticed any extra wear on the cutting units due to the additional toughness of the leaf blade (due to higher levels of silica).

In addition to the collars, we have also successfully rolled out Shade Tuff zoysia in our bunker surrounds. The Shade Tuff has settled in very nicely and shows great

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definition on tongues. We only need to trim these about once a year and they stay at a similar height. The ball won’t bury itself and will pop up on top of the wiry zoysia when hit into these tongues which makes them very fair and playable while looking fantastic!

With the success experienced in the collars, the next logical step for us was to explore the possibility of putting zoysia down on a putting green. Again, through Lawn Solutions Australia, we procured some material that had an even finer growth habit that was suitable for a green.

The plant material offered was a zoysia matrella developed by David Doguet from Bladerunner Farms based in Texas, USA, the world’s largest privately-owned zoysia research facility. The variety offered for trial was L1F which is a very fine-textured greens grade zoysia that is gaining popularity especially in the USA. We subsequently went about preparing a 500m2 practice green situated within the East course.

Noted, it is different from the standard 328 Tifgreen and grows from underneath via rhizomes rather than from above ground stolons. According to accounts from David, their experience in the US indicates it can

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take up to 50 per cent longer to establish when compared to the current hybrid bermudagrass varieties.

He did say, however, that the big advantage with L1F is that it tends to be more tournament ready almost as soon as you achieve full cover when compared to regular hybrid bermudas that typically can take as long as 18 months to attain a similar level.

About four months after we stolonised the green we were fortunate enough to receive a visit from David who came out to Australia for a Lawn Solutions Australia field day. It was his and wife Sheri’s first trip to Australia and during his time at Indooroopilly we were able to show him the new green. He was suitably impressed to see his grass variety growing “all the way Down Under”.

Currently we are mowing the Trinity zoysia at 5mm and waiting for that auspicious day of 100 per cent cover before we can properly assess its playing/putting characteristics.

We are hopeful it will perform to expectation. If it proves to be so, the plan is to then roll it out on a possibly proposed short par 3 loop where zoysia would be planted tee to green, with L1F on the greens and Sir Grange everywhere else. This would afford us an excellent test case in deciding on whether zoysia would be a potential

grass type for any future developments on our main courses (East and West).

Even at this early stage in the trial, we believe this type of grass could potentially be a real game changer not only for our club but for the golf and turf industry. Its lower nutritional and plant protection requirements, combined with low growth characteristics, would mean huge cost savings in terms of maintenance and inputs.

Playability is hard and fast and appearance, with its dark green, upright growth habit, makes for a very attractive finish. Imagine looking down a golf hole on a typical early morning in southeast Queensland with literally no dew in sight, ready for play! Here at Indooroopilly, we are indeed hopeful of this grass’s potential and, importantly, how reduced inputs can make it a truly sustainable proposition for clubs looking to save money and improve quality.

Globalising Turf Innovation

Rio Olympic Golf Course

The turf industry is continually evolving with exciting developments in turf research and breeding, along with rapid developments in production technology.

This is great news for consumers, with greater flexibility in purchasing and availability, along with the significant benefits of brand-new turf varieties with superior characteristics to those that have come before.

Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) is leading the charge in Australia and is continually building exclusive partnerships with turf related organisations right across the world.

It is through these partnerships that LSA have been able to bring to consumers scientifically exceptional turf varieties such as Sir Grange and TifTuf.

Every year LSA team members travel the world researching and analysing newly developed turf practices and breeding techniques and bring this information back home to apply to Australian conditions. This work is completed at the Lawn Solutions Australia Research and Development Facility, – the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

...the possibility of new superior turf varieties in the near future is very exciting.

What does the future of turf look like in Australia?

There are a lot of impressive developments on across the world, with particular advancements in turf breeding in the USA, along with industry leading turf production in the UK. LSA has seen this for themselves and there are some exciting developments that may be seen in Australia in the very near future and some of which have already been implemented.

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Turf Research and Breeding Lawn Solutions Australia has the largest privately operated Turfgrass Research and Development facility in Australia, with over 180 turf varieties under assessment.

Access to the latest turfgrasses in the world is made possible through our exclusive partnerships with researchers, plant breeders and universities in the United States. Texas A&M, Georgia State – Tifton, The Turfgrass Group, Bladerunner Farms, Dr Brian Schwartz, to name a few. Our international relationships are approached long-term and are imperative to the future pipeline of new turfgrass varieties.

Sir Grange Zoysia for example was developed by Texas-based Bladerunner Farms (under the name Zeon Zoysia), who have the largest privately owned zoysia grass research facility in the world.

Two of the biggest projects in the world of golf have chosen to use Sir Grange: •

The Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: This course celebrated golf’s return to the Olympics after a 100-year absence, grassed with Sir Grange (Zeon)

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Bluejack National: Tiger Woods’ first golf course design in the United States, north of Houston, grassed with Sir Grange (Zeon)

Another example, TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda, is the product of almost 25 years of research and development from one of the world’s leading turf grass breeders, the University of Georgia. TifTuf was hand selected from almost 30,000 Bermuda varieties.

With incredible turf like this coming out of these research facilities, the possibility of new superior turf varieties in the near future is very exciting.

Rio Olympic Golf Course

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The purposebuilt software will instinctively create the most efficient route for optimal area coverage of every paddock.

Turf Harvesting and Robotics Methods for harvesting turf have continually evolved over the years and is now far from near the backbreaking work it once was.

Automatic harvesters have become the norm in the turf industry and have massively increased efficiencies for growers. These machines utilise robotics to cut, roll and then stack turf on a pallet. These pallets are then dropped off the machine when full and another pallet is placed into position.

Turf Management By now most of us have seen robot vacuums and even robot lawn mowers, but did you know this technology is being introduced on a much larger scale for turf producers?

While the level of automation is currently limited to manned vehicles, turf growers will soon have the ability to create maps of their paddocks and assign an unmanned robot mower to the paddock with a simple click of a mouse.

The purpose-built software will instinctively create the most efficient route for optimal area coverage of every paddock. The software will communicate with and control each machine, managing its speed, direction, turning radius, obstacle detection, braking and blade height.

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Campbelltown Sports Stadium TIFTUF HYBRID BERMUDA WINS MORE FANS AS THE CAMPBELLTOWN SPORTS STADIUM GETS AN UPDATE.

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Turf laying begins

Top dressing one month after laying turf

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Rhizome growth

Rhizome growth

Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is Australia’s highest population and economic growth area, shouldering the brunt of the metropolitan sprawl that is spilling out of Sydney city. One out of every eleven Australian’s reside in the GWS area that expands from Windsor in the north to Campbelltown in the south, and from Parramatta in the east to Penrith and the Blue Mountains in the west.

Greater Western Sydney is home to 1.9 million people and its population is projected to reach 3 million by 2036 and absorb two thirds of the population growth in the Sydney region. Inevitably, along with this accelerated growth in population comes demand for improved services and facilities to accommodate expanding business and entertainment needs.

This demand has had an impact on Campbelltown Sports Stadium, with the venue recently securing the new A-League team for the 2021 season and scheduled to share the West Tigers NRL games from 2019. The future increase in use of the surface and pressure of having televised games triggered the decision to have the surface of Campbelltown sports stadium replaced.

The project began in October 2018 with tender submissions from several businesses who viewed the opportunity to complete the resurfacing. The project was won

by The Green Horticultural Group and the initial decision was made to run with Legend Couch as the replacement surface.

Through November and December 2018 though, issues with supply of the ordered

grass meant that the council had to look for alternatives.

Campbelltown Council and the Green Horticultural Group (GHG), in consultation with Lawn Solutions Australia, AusGAP and MusTurf the Lawn & Turf company, made the decision to go ahead with the project but replaced the intended Legend Couch with TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda. The stadium was resurfaced in December 2018 with TifTuf, the latest and most advanced sports turf available in Australia, supplied and installed

by Patrick Muscat and the team at MusTurf.

Campbelltown Sports Stadium is the first major sporting surface in NSW to use this new turf and Campbelltown Council, GHG and grounds curator Michael Sutton are excited to be part of this experience, with the turf showing great promise.

The Green Horticultural Group began the process in November 2018 with three applications of glyphosate applied to the stadium surface to ensure that the existing grass was completely eradicated. A Field Top Maker and tippers where then brought to site to commence turf and sand removal at approximately 70mm into the sand/ thatch layer. 900 tonnes of sand was then spread to a depth of 70mm across the entire surface and laser levelling was undertaken to establish the final levels and to consolidate the surface.

The irrigation system was checked and recommissioned and final laser levelling to the surface was completed in December 2018. The TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda was cut, washed and hand laid over five days, then lightly rolled onto the surface of the growing medium. Only six days after the installation

was completed the whole surface was mown, highlighting the amazing establishment speed of TifTuf. In early January 2019, the entire surface was scarified to level and reduce thatch, before being fertilised and top dressed using approximately 160 tonnes of sand. Curator Michael Sutton of GHG was very impressed whilst recording growth and establishment of the new surface: •

Root establishment of 40 – 70mm five days after last roll being laid.

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Cutting the entire profile commenced a day later (six days after completion).

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A minor surface renovation was undertaken four weeks after completion, which included scarification, fertilisation and top dressing.

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Root depth ranging from 100-150mm five weeks after completion.

Michael Sutton oversaw the whole project, ensuring the stadium surface was in pristine condition ready for its first major test held in February earlier this year, the A-League fixture between Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC. TifTuf is already enjoying success in several fields in Queensland and northern New South Wales due to its reduced requirements for irrigation and nutrients, and unmatched wear resistance and recovery time. Victorian sports venues are also beginning to install TifTuf Bermuda, due in part to its exceptional winter colour retention, and also the amazing performance it shows in high pressure situations. A versatile and aesthetically pleasing turf, TifTuf is already proving to be the Australian sports turf of the future.

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New Turfgrasses Enter Next Phase of Testing LAWN SOLUTIONS AUSTRALIA LEADS A TURFGRASS REVOLUTION WITH EXCITING NEW VARIETIES FOR THE FUTURE. In November 2013, Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) completed the successful importation of 10 specially bred zoysia grasses from the United States.

The hope was that at least one of these grasses would suit the Australian climate and meet the needs of the Australian consumer.

Some six years later, after the successful

release of Sir Grange Zoysia from this 2013 import program, LSA is again embarking on another round of experimental grasses that are aimed at again improving the standard of turf available to Australian domestic, commercial and sports field customers.

LSA works closely with The University of Georgia (UGA), where the world’s most

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advanced turf breeding techniques have been developed and utilised. These breeding programs combine specific selected genetics to produce turf grass varieties that have a combination of desirable traits for their intended markets.

For example, to answer the needs of the golf market, UGA looks for zoysia grasses with fine leaf blades and dense foliage to assist

Images throughout: New Zoysia grasses in quarantine

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with the lay of the golf ball. The greater the leaf density and the more vertical the growth of that leaf, the better the lay of the ball for the player to strike.

In breeding these grasses though, many other aspects of turf genetics need to be accounted for. Dense growth can lead to the harbouring of disease with little air able to penetrate the sward. This can lead to increased humidity and susceptibility to fungus, which can be detrimental to the overall health and appearance of the grass.

Once a variety of grass has been selected for its beneficial traits, screening must begin to be sure this perfect golf grass will not succumb to pest and disease pressure once installed. If it does, it is rejected, and the process begins again.

UGA draws much of its genetic material for this cross-breeding from Bladerunner Farms in Poteet, Texas. Owned and operated by David Doguet, one of the world’s leading experts on Zoysia grass, Bladerunner Farms is home to the largest zoysia collection in the world, with some 50,000 genotypes.

Grasses such as Sir Grange (Zeon, 1094), L1F and the latest in greens grade zoysia grasses, Primo (M85), have all come from the collaboration between UGA and Bladerunner farms. LSA has the exclusive licence for the grasses that result from this collaboration in Australia.

In March 2018, LSA received 17 Zoysia varieties from the UGA breeding program.

Half were released from quarantine in early April 2019. In September 2018, LSA imported 18 more zoysias directly

from David Doguet’s Bladerunner Farms collection. All imported turfgrass varieties are fully screened and tested by Australian authorities in the Mickleham quarantine facility in Melbourne to be sure that no foreign pests or diseases have made the journey from the US as well. Although the intentions of this round of importation is the same as that of 2013, the process will be somewhat different, and longer.

The 2013 zoysia grasses recieved by LSA had been tested and proven in the USA before being sent over for final screening and selection. The 2019 grasses have, on the most part, not been fully tested and screened, but chosen for the traits that are believed to be more suited to the varied Australian climates and uses. Zoysia grasses in Georgia and Texas are bred and selected to endure freezing temperatures through winter and long hot periods in summer.

Generally speaking, Australian winters are much milder than Texas and so there is no need for a grass to be able to survive under 30cm of snow for 3 months. A more favourable trait here in Australia would be to keep some amount of colour and growth through our mild winter period.

This specific criterion was one of the traits, among many others, that the 2019 selections were chosen for.

The testing of these grasses will be much more time consuming than the 2013 varieties, but the hope is that the chosen grass(es) at the end of the process will be perfectly suited to the Australian climate and usage needs.

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These breeding programs combine specific selected genetics to produce turf grass varieties that have a combination of desirable traits for their intended markets.

The 17 UGA Zoysias are proposed to be landscape grasses, suited to parklands, backyards and roadways. These grasses are a mixture of Zoysia Matrella and Zoysia Japonica that will have a fine to medium leaf, low fertiliser and water needs and reduced mowing requirements. The 18 Zoysia from Bladerunner Farms will be aimed primarily at the sports turf market, with a finer leaf blade, dense growth and again, very minimal input and mowing needs.

Understanding the need for this testing and screening to be completed professionally, and over a range of climate zones, LSA has enlisted the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) to assist in the program over a 3-4-year period. STRI Australia, will be overseeing the grow in and testing of the 34 Zoysia grasses at their Redlands Research facility in Brisbane. STRI will also be conducting the research on plots growing on an LSA facility in North East Melbourne and LSA will have test plots in their research facility in Berry NSW. It is believed that the process of screening and selection will take some 3 to 5 years, after which LSA hope to have one or more turf options for Australian conditions that will provide new unique characteristics different to the grasses currently available on the market.

Getting the best results for Australian conditions takes time, patience and considerable investment. LSA is determined to provide this innovation and is continuing to deliver the best turfgrasses for today and the best turfgrasses for the future.

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Sir Walter Celebrates 21 Years on Top Sir Walter Soft Leaf Buffalo is a household name in Australia and has stood the test of time, continuing year after year as Australia’s most preferred choice for the Aussie home lawn. This year Sir Walter celebrates its 21st birthday and due to its superior characteristics and performance, is showing it can continue as Australia’s favourite turf variety for many years to come.

The original source of Sir Walter was Mr Brent Redman’s turf farm, Buchanan Turf Supplies in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales. Mr Redman, a secondgeneration turf farmer with over 40 years’ experience, recognised the demand for an Aussie lawn which was unlike anything available on the market.

Brent Redman began turf cutting in the late 70’s and by the mid-80’s had purchased 20 acres in the rich river flats of Maitland.

Kikuyu and couch were the main varieties grown during this time, but a small area of about two acres was planted with buffalo grass that was sourced from around the Williamtown and Salt Ash areas.

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At that time buffalo was just buffalo and Mr Redman ended up growing five different varieties within this 2-acre plot. As he had never grown buffalo grass and with limited knowledge for the variety, unfortunately he killed more than he sold!

Luckily, a couple of the varieties he was growing did survive. One of these was a very course strain of buffalo, the other was much softer. Mr Redman expanded the farm by purchasing more land next to the existing property and planted more paddocks with these varieties.

How was Sir Walter discovered?

After becoming the 4th member of the newly formed NSW Turf Producer’s Association, Mr Redman overheard many issues growers in the Windsor area were having with the variety of buffalo they were cultivating. These buffalos, unlike Mr Redman’s, were originally sourced from the Tomago area near Newcastle. As Mr Redman was not having the same issues, he mentioned this to his new contacts and provided them with some samples from his turf farm to trial. One of these contacts

was Charlie Courtney. Mr Courtney coined the phrase ‘soft leaf buffalo’ as a way of describing these new buffalo varieties provided from Mr Redman’s farm.

Another of these contacts was John Tebitt, who operated Peninsular Turf. Mr Tebitt trialled some of the buffalo next to some Durban grass under a Morton Bay fig tree.

A TV crew were filming a new segment on the Peninsular Turf Farm. Mr Tebitt showed the presenter Mr Redman’s grass and they suggested giving it the name Shademaster, and the name stuck.

Mr Redman proceeded to plant large areas with the newly named Shademaster.

However, Shademaster had some disadvantages, with poor winter colour, purple colouring and a tendency to develop turf disease such as grey leaf spot.

Among the Shademaster, a small area developed, which showed better winter colour, a healthier root system and an increase in size year on year, outgrowing the Shademaster. Mr Redman was impressed with the quality and performance of this buffalo and knew

Brent Redman

it was something special. Recognising the potential of this new variety, Mr Redman immediately took steps to protect the purity and integrity of this new and exciting grass.

He then proceeded to propagate some of this strain and once mature showed it to some of his turf growing associates, one being Peter McMaugh.

How did Sir Walter get its name?

Mr McMaugh suggested registering this new strain under the Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Act and suggested the name ‘WALT’ which stood for Winter Active Low Thatch, which describes the favourable attributes of the turf grass. After further conversation a final name was decided upon, Sir Walter, with the addition of ‘ER’ standing for environmentally responsible. A logo was then designed, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sir Walter Licensing Once other turf growers from Windsor learnt that a better performing buffalo was available, Mr Redman was approached to provide licences to undertake propagation.

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With the demand for Sir Walter so high, it was important that unlike other PBR protected grasses, the number of growers licensed within each area was limited to those of the highest of standards so as to protect the quality of the product provided to the Australian market.

Shortly after being granted the Plant Breeders Rights, Brent enlisted his longtime colleague and fellow turf farmer Gavin Rogers from Turfco on the South Coast of NSW to help steer Sir Walter in the right direction. Together the duo spent weeks on end on the road, away from their families, visiting turf farms all over Australia, to select the very best turf producers to grow Sir Walter and join them in giving this great new turf variety the success that it deserved.

From there, Sir Walter became the only turf variety grown or available in every market in Australia. The number of licensed growers quickly grew to over 60 quality producers from right across Australia.

Mr Redman, in partnership with Gavin Rogers, then began to steer the marketing and promotion of Sir Walter nationally.

The Annual Sir Walter Conference with attendees from all of the licensed Sir Walter growers, soon became the biggest turf conference in the Southern Hemisphere. Sir Walter had become the most sought-after and popular grass Australia-wide.

The road to success has not been an easy ride, with many challenges and a lot of hard work having gone into building Sir Walter into the nationally recognised brand it is today. Sir Walter is now undoubtedly the most successful commercial turfgrass variety

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in Australia with over 80 Million square metres having been sold to over 700,000 Australian homes.

Substitution in the Market In the early days, with the popularity of Sir Walter growing faster than production capacities, product substitution became an issue. The offending suppliers selling other turf grasses under the Sir Walter name were made to face the federal court. This sent a shock-wave through the turf industry and highlighted the need for genetic purity of the product and the need to maintain pure Sir Walter foundation material.

There have been many varieties over the years claiming to be ‘just like’, ‘same as’, ‘bred from’ and ‘brother of’ Sir Walter and with the expiry of the PBR on Sir Walter in 2018, the chance of non-authentic Sir Walter being sold in the market place has increased.

Lawn Solutions Australia The Sir Walter story doesn’t end there. Mr Redman and Mr Rogers, along with a group of key players from the Sir Walter Group saw the need for a united front in the industry.

In addition, the need within the industry for new turf varieties to suit different conditions.

In 2012, Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) was formed, a group of the best turf producers in Australia who came together under the one banner. The Lawn Solutions Australia vision is to provide a strong customer focus with a range of exclusive turf brands and products. The 43-strong network of members along with around 200 Lawn Solutions Centres nation-wide have seen

Buchanan Turf

Sir Walter lawns can be found all around Australia

Lawn Solutions Australia prove itself as the authority on all things related to lawns.

Lawn Solutions Australia began expanding their product offering to include other turf varieties. This involved the requirement for new breeding and research facilities and the building of significant partnerships internationally with the best turf breeders and researchers in the world.

The Lawn Solutions Australia group are Australia’s best and most experienced turf growers who are committed to applying that same high standards to quality and performance, as they do with Sir Walter, across their range of turf brands.

DNA Certification

The road to success has not been an easy ride...

Sir Walter today is now undoubtedly the most successful commercial turfgrass variety in Australia with over 80 Million square metres having been sold to over 700,000 Australian homes.

With the end of PBR and imitation products being continually introduced to the Australian market, the necessity for a DNA Certification program to ensure that the Sir Walter consumers buy was indeed the original Sir Walter was required. ‘Sir Walter DNA Certified’ and new authentication logos were introduced to identify turf growers who were providing the genuine product.

Original Breeder Guarantee

The results of these tests are to ensure Breeder Certification. This is provided by Brent Redman and confirms the current Sir Walter DNA Certified will also be Breeder Certified against original Breeder foundation material. This Sir Walter foundation material has been managed in a clinical fashion since 1996, free of cross and open pollination and contamination.

This is Australia’s only true foundation plot of Sir Walter to be maintained to AusGAP and ITGAP (The International Genetic Assured Purity Program) standards.

The only way to know you are buying genuine Sir Walter is to purchase it from a Lawn Solutions Australia accredited turf supplier, who has the ‘Original Breeder Guarantee’ with the DNA Certified Sir Walter logo, both of which are exclusively trademarked for use by accredited growers.

Mr Redman is extremely proud of the success that Sir Walter has had over the past 21 years and is looking forward to continued successes.

There are also many exciting days ahead, with new varieties such as Sir Grange and TifTuf creating a buzz in the market, much like Sir Walter did 21 years ago.

In 2018, Lawn Solutions Australia introduced further consumer protections for the Sir Walter DNA certified turf, known as the Sir Walter Original Breeder Guarantee.

All Lawn Solutions Australia growers are required to regularly submit their Sir Walter DNA Certified to AusGAP (The Australian Genetic Assured Purity Program) for testing against the DNA fingerprint of the original foundation material.

SIR WA LTER TURN S 21 // 23 21

Trimax - Setting High Bars and Raising Expectations In Australia and around the world, Trimax Mowing Systems have built a solid reputation for the quality of the equipment they build and the unwavering reliability of the service and backup their representatives and field staff provide to customers.

Since establishing the company in the early 1980s, founder and owner, Bob Sievwright, has always sought to understand and meet the needs of the people who buy and use Trimax mowers.

But what do Paul and Tracey Daniel from ‘The Turf Farm’ Think of Trimax?

The Trimax ProCut S3

to us, and we learn other things from his experience. Also, if we’ve got a problem, we know we can ring him and fix the problem.”

We recently spoke to Paul and Tracey who own and run The Turf Farm, just outside Pinnaroo, South Australia.

She said Hilton is interested in their business and their relationship with Hilton and Trimax is based on trust, which is something they particularly value.

As relatively new Trimax owners we wanted to know about their experience so far.

About the Machines

What Sets Trimax Apart from other Brands?

We asked Paul what features set Trimax Mowing Systems apart from the competition.

His surprise response was “Hilton”!

Hilton is our area manager. Paul was impressed with him from the start because he gets the job done and delivers when he says he will – which is something farmers in remote locations really appreciate! These were Paul’s words, “...if you’ve got a problem you give Hilton a ring and he’ll sort it out. Other companies can’t work it out, can’t get parts, can’t do anything.”

Tracey agrees, saying “A lot of the benefits are that we’ve got someone coming out talking

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Having bought their first Trimax mower a little over a year ago, the Daniels now have four: a Procut S3, a new Procut S4, a Warlord and the next acquisition, the first 7 metre Pegasus S4 in Australia.

These machines all have different characteristics which play a big part in maintaining the different varieties of grass produced on The Turf Farm.

Paul particularly likes the monocoque construction of Trimax mowers. It gives them weight and strength as well as consistent cutting performance. He also appreciates the precision with which they operate and the fact that there’s no timed blades that cause maintenance problems, and very little time needed for set up and routine servicing.

The Whole Trimax Package The Daniels’ experience with Trimax and Hilton is very open and rewarding. As Paul puts it, “To be fair we’re a long way from anywhere… but still Hilton has come out numerous times, and I think that’s important – he’s showing a genuine interest in our business.”

From our discussion with Paul and Tracey, it’s clear that thoroughness, attention to detail and customer satisfaction permeate the whole Trimax experience, from initial contact through to the ongoing relationship, so essential when dealing with equipment that’s expected to operate at peak performance for many years into the future.

Trimax in Australia To find out more about Trimax and their wide range of turf mowers, contact: 1800 874 629 or visit www.trimaxmowers.com.au

TPI Conference 2019 TPI HELD ITS INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE FROM FEBRUARY 18-21. LAWN SOLUTIONS AUSTRALIA SPOKE AT THE EVENT.

Turfgrass Producers International (TPI) have been promoting the benefits of turfgrass for over 40 years as an organisation. TPI was created to maintain a trade association between individuals and firms engaged in the business of planting, growing and marketing turfgrass.

The association has membership of over 1000 companies within the United States, Canada and 33 countries worldwide.

Over 450 delegates registered for this year’s TPI Winter Conference held in Charlotte, North Carolina, with turf producers from USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia in attendance. Australia was well represented at this year’s conference with ten delegates in attendance; seven of these delegates represented Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA).

Luckily the conference was indoors as the temperature was below 3 degrees and it rained most days. This certainly didn’t dampen interest though, as there were plenty of educational presentations, key note speakers and trade exhibitions to enjoy throughout the conference.

Monday Day 1 involved an afternoon conference registration and the President’s Welcome Reception presented by President of the TPI Board of Trustees, Eric Heuver from Eagle Lake Turf Farm in Canada.

Tuesday Day 2 included a number of educational breakout sessions, starting with Shawn Rhodes, an international business consultant and former US military war correspondent.

Mr Rhodes spoke about pivoting, improving performance and change management. He highlighted the importance of leveraging change without sacrificing results.

The following session topics included turf shelf life, changes in the workplace, public relations initiatives and what drives the market. This completed the morning session before the commencement of the networking lunch.

Tuesday’s networking lunch was sponsored

by Lawn Solutions Australia who were Gold Sponsors of the TPI Conference. LSA Director Gavin Rogers gave a presentation highlighting the Australian turf industry and the huge impact the LSA group of turf producers is having on the Australian turf market. Mr Rogers spoke about how LSA are offering customers new turfgrass varieties

TPI CON F ERE N C E 20 19  / 25 23

Gavin Rogers from Lawn Solutions Australia

with real consumer benefits through its extensive breeding and research partnerships worldwide.

After lunch the LSA group was fortunate enough to take a field trip to Super Sods’ newest retail outlet in Mooresville NC. This service centre caters for landscapers, commercial customers and homeowners, and is a one stop ‘sod’ shop. They have massive turf displays, fertiliser, seed, soil and lawn care products to service the growing US market. This is one of their thirteen service centres in Georgia and North Carolina.

Tuesday afternoon included the TPI trade exhibition where 50 industry suppliers had set up displays. This was a perfect time for the Australian delegates to network with fellow industry people from around the world.

Wednesday

The 2019 TPI Conference hosted guests from all across the world

Wednesday morning’s key note speaker was Phil Davis, a branding expert whose address was titled ‘The Grass is Always Greener – until it isn’t.’ This was about how other products and branding campaigns can easily make your product look poor through the consumers eyes. Mr Davis emphasised the importance of constantly reviewing branding strategies, not being afraid of change – not just to survive but to thrive – ‘Natural Grass – Keep it Real.’

The mornings session’s topics included; government relations, plant and soil interactions for turf production and innovative farm management. This was followed by lunch, at which there were further opportunities to visit and talk with the trade show exhibitors.

The LSA contingent left Charlotte that afternoon on track to Tifton for a meeting with Dr Brian Schwartz from the University of Georgia.

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TifTuf – Taking Australian Sport to the Next Level BRED TOUGH FOR THE TOUGHEST OF CONDITIONS, TIFTUF IS CHANGING THE GAME.

TIF TUF FORWA RDIN G AUSTRA LIA N SPO RT / 27 25

The Australian sporting landscape is broad and as a nation we are competitive internationally in many sports. We succeed in competitive, combative team sports and many of these take place on grass playing surfaces. Think soccer, rugby league, rugby union and Aussie rules – all sports that have high expectations and requirements for grass playing surfaces due to the wear and tear they will incur during play.

Dolphins Oval

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Sports technology is continually evolving.

There are advancements in training techniques and recovery, equipment improvements and better knowledge of what it takes to achieve elite performance.

One factor that our athletes don’t have control over is the playing surface. This very important factor plays a significant part in providing the ideal platform for optimal performance and it’s not as simple as just having good grass anymore. If our athletes want to perform at their best on the international stage, they need to be

performing on the best playing surfaces available not just here in Australia, but anywhere. Lawn Solutions Australia has made it their mission to research and source the best new sports turf varieties available anywhere in the world, in order to provide our athletes with the foundation for success.

TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda is a product of this research. TifTuf provides sports ground curators with a new turf variety that exceeds all other varieties currently existing within the sports field industry. TifTuf requires

TifTuf is thriving on St Columkille’s Primary School sports field

“I would rate TifTuf above all the varieties I have worked with.”

-Jeff Gambin, Somerset College

significantly less inputs (fertiliser and water) and has a dense sward that enables it to handle high wear situations, whilst remaining soft and visually superior to other turf varieties.

Prior to its release in Australia, TifTuf had been tested in: •

19 drought-stress trials

•

2 sports field wear tolerance trials, utilizing the Cady traffic simulator

•

4 irrigated, non-stress trials

These tests were conducted at The University of Georgia, The University of Florida, North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M University as part of the Federal Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grant.

TifTuf has been introduced into the Australian market through an exclusive arrangement with Lawn Solutions Australia.

In just a short amount of time, it has sparked significant interest and been chosen as the new turf variety for many new sports grounds and sports field upgrades right across Australia.

Jeff Gambin is a greenkeeper at Somerset College in Queensland. He was a golf course superintendent for 30 years, a property manager and an on-site training

officer for 10 years. During his time working on golf courses he had the experience of converting a ‘hinze’ variety of grass on fairways at Coolangatta/Tweed Heads Golf Course, managing couch variety Santa Ana at Gold Coast Burleigh Golf Course along with C2. He also worked with a couple of courses that used Winter Green couch. Mr Gambin recently had TifTuf installed at the college and said, “I would rate TifTuf above all the varieties I have worked with.” Turf producer Twin View Turf supplied TifTuf for the college and Mr Gambin complimented them on supplying and laying a beautiful, weed free turf.

“After just experiencing our first winter, which had a couple of frosts, I was pleasantly surprised to see no patches of different colour or leaf texture over our two Rugby Fields”, he said Winter colour retention was also very good with just a couple of foliar applications of nitrogen/iron being required when we had a couple of Uni Games soccer matches.”

“I was also pleasantly surprised how well the TifTuf handled the amount of wear from our school’s Rugby training sessions and games.”

This is just one example of many that demonstrates the results that can be achieved by installing a superior turf variety such as TifTuf.

TIF TUF FORWA RDIN G AUSTRA LIA N SPORT 20 19 / 29 27

Turf Certification WHAT IS IT AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? The International Turfgrass Genetic Assurance Program (ITGAP), was developed to ensure the years of research and development into a new turf variety wouldn’t be lost to contamination or cross pollination.

ITGAP provides licences for turf producers to grow and sell these certified grasses and monitors their production systems and supply of planting material. This ensures the traits for selection are not lost. In Australia, the ITGAP Program is implemented through AusGAP, which is the only registered agent for ITGAP outside of the United States in the world, run by Program Manager Nick Dorney.

What is the distinction between specifying and installing certified turf, versus uncertified turf? And what is certification, anyway?

Terry Hollifield is the Executive Director of the Georgia Crop Improvement Association, the certifying agency that inspects sod farms and certifies turf in the US state of Georgia. Georgia Crop Improvement is one of 44 such agencies in the United States.

“If a landscaper, or an architect, knows that they have a situation that needs a certain variety with particular characteristics like shade tolerance or winter tolerance in the transition zone, so there’s no winter kill, or if they are looking for a grass that’s low

30 / TH  E I M P O R TA N C E O F T U R F C E R T I F I C ATION 28

maintenance, the only assurance they have of getting that variety is through certification,” Hollifield says. “State and federal laws don’t apply to vegetative turfgrasses, the only standard is to require certification.”

The process of certification begins with the turf developer or breeder.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a university variety or a private variety, the inventor of a new variety must complete an application for approval of the variety to be certified.

The application includes information such as breeding history, (Selected or bred? produced through asexual reproduction? naturally occurring? or irradiated?) then

ITGAP representatives Bill Carraway from The Turfgrass Group (TTG) and Billy Skaggs from the Georgia Crop Improvement Agency (GCIA) inspecting a new planting of Sir Grange.

they complete a section that talks about leaf colour, leaf shape, stolon colour, length of internodes, all those characteristics that determine a variety,” Hollifield says.

Claims such as cold tolerance, shade tolerance, or drought resistance must also be substantiated.

“If you make a claim about the variety, this claim must be substantiated with reputable data. Say a breeder claims the grass has a light green stolon, that doesn’t mean anything, it must be referenced on the Munzel colour chart, or another known colour chart used for identification. It’s got to be good science. Any claim that is made, whether it’s a claim that I use as I make a field inspection, or a performance claim, (such as cold tolerance or drought tolerance), data must be provided.” he says.

Once a variety is approved for inclusion in the certification program, it will be licensed to turf producers who plant it on land that has been sterilised and known to be free of pests, weeds and foreign turf varieties.

As the crop of turf grows in, it is subject to a minimum of four inspections per year by the growers and two by an ITGAP representative. Specially trained third-party inspectors who are not employed by the turf farms themselves walk every inch of a turf farm looking for weeds and off-type grasses.

If weeds or off-type grasses are found in a field, that field may be quarantined, meaning no turf can be harvested from that field until the weed or off-type is removed and the field has been re-inspected for varietal purity.

“Sometimes I feel like I’ve walked from Darwin to Adelaide and back five times in my career looking for that needle in a haystack,” says Nick Dorney.

Dorney, who has been responsible for the implementation and running of the AusGAP program in Australia, inspects every licensed AusGAP farm for weeds and off-type grasses. “With some varieties, you’re looking for a needle in a haystack, that clump of grass that may be no bigger than a thimble.”

THE IMPORTA N C E OF TURF C ERTIF IC ATION // 29 31

“Specification and the requirement for certified turf is becoming more common. If you’re not growing certified varieties of grass, I don’t think you can stay in business” -Terry Hollifield, Executive Director of the Georgia Crop Improvement Association

If anything other than the certified variety is found in the field, no turf may be harvested until the field is cleared of the infestation, re-inspected and re-certified.

“We require turfgrass certification on every variety that we release or take into the marketplace. It’s one of our fundamental imperatives. Genetic purity is part of our mission statement,” Dorney says. Those varieties include: Sir Grange Zoysia, L1F Zoysia, TifTuf Hybrid Bermudagrass and DNA certified Sir Walter Buffalo.

“Certified turf from a Licensed and Certified turf producer establishes the integrity and genetic purity of the product. You know you are receiving the product you are paying for and that it comes with an AusGAP Certificate establishing the provenance of the grass,” Dorney says.

Hollifield agrees. “I’ll give you an example that validates that statement. If you go back to the 1980s, there were as many as 10 or 12 different kinds of Tifway (USA standard couch) being sold, that’s 10 or 12 imposters being sold as Tifway. In about 1990 or 1991, I performed a survey in Georgia and

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collected samples from big box stores and nurseries. About 50% were in fact not Tifway. The only way to make sure you purchase Tifway, or any other specific grass, is to buy certified,” Hollifield says.

Dorney iterates, “We are trying to assure the end consumer they are receiving the specific variety that they have requested.

If an athletic field wants TifTuf, we want them to know they are receiving TifTuf. If a golf course with a lot of shade purchase Sir Grange, we want them to know that they are getting Sir Grange.”

Hollifield and Dorney agree that growing certified turf is the future of the turf industry.

“Specification and the requirement for certified turf is becoming more common.

If you’re not growing certified varieties of grass, I don’t think you can stay in business,” Hollifield says. “For a producer to be licensed to grow the new grasses that are developed by breeders, certification is not a choice, it’s a requirement. If you are a turf producer and you’re not growing these new certified varieties, you’re not going to stay in the industry very long.”

ITGAP’s Bill Carraway

ITGAP Tour 2019 US EXPERTS EDUCATE GROWERS AusGAP certified turf producers in Australia got a bit of extra attention in March this year with a visit from two representatives of the International Turfgrass Genetic Assurance Program (ITGAP). The turf certification section of AusGAP has been based on the guidelines outlined in the ITGAP system and must be audited annually as part of the contractual agreement.

The annual system audit and farm inspections ensure the turf producers licensed under AusGAP are ITGAP compliant and the grasses involved in this transpacific certification program are in fact genetically pure and meet the required ITGAP certification standards. Billy Skaggs and Bill Carraway spent a week with AusGAP manager Nick Dorney travelling between farms in Queensland, New South

Wales and Victoria to carry out on farm inspections and staff training.

Billy Skaggs has served as Certification Program Manager with the Georgia Crop Improvement Association since June 2013. In this role, Skaggs oversees the certification of seed and turfgrass, including field inspections, seed conditioning and program promotion. Skaggs also serves

ITGA P VISIT 2019ďťż // 33 31

as Executive Secretary for the Georgia Soybean Commodity Commission and the Georgia Seed Association. Skaggs’ previous experience includes 13 years with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and two years at the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

AusGAP manager Nick Dorney (centre) delivers a training session

Bill Carraway has a long history in the turf industry which dates back to the late 80’s. Bill has been involved in landscape installation and management, turf grass production and sales as well as golf course and sports field construction. Mr Carraway joined The Turfgrass Group as Vice President of Marketing in 2004 for which Bill and his staff are responsible for all certified turf production licensing, as well as turfgrass certification compliance and field inspections.

With the growing number of certified paddocks in Australia and the constant need for third party audits of the AusGAP program, these trips to Australia are an annual requirement for at least one member of the ITGAP inspection team. AusGAP certified growers have over 1,000,000m2 of TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda grass, 700,000m2 of Sir Grange Zoysia and many other certified turf grasses that must be walked and inspected on a regular basis to ensure genetic purity and quality.

Under the AusGAP program, the producers of these specially bred and certified grasses are obliged to conduct self-inspections on their fields and report back to AusGAP with any issues that may have arisen. This requirement on the growers to carry out quality inspections was the instigator of the staff training that was scheduled in each growing area to complement the paddock inspections.

Bill Carraway and Billy Skaggs took the staff of each certified farm through a session in which they discussed the intricacies of turf grass inspections, from the ideal conditions that lead to a thorough inspection such as sun pitch, dew covering and visual aids, to the growth habits and morphological traits of each of the grasses being inspected. Growers from all over the country came together to improve the level of competency among farm staff and learn from two of the most experienced turfgrass inspectors in the world.

Nick Dorney reported that the showing of staff at each of these training sessions was nothing short of amazing.

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ITGAP’s Billy Skaggs

“The participation and enthusiasm shown by the AusGAP growers in Australia has been amazing and I am pleased to say that the standard of the farms over here is comparable to the best producers in The States.”

- Billy Skaggs, ITGAP

ITGAP’s Bill Carraway and Billy Skaggs conduct a training session

“In all we have 42 farms that operate under the AusGAP certification program and these farms are spread right across the continent. We had over 150 staff attend the training sessions which shows the level of dedication amongst the certified growers to the program”he said.

The foundation of any turf certification program is the process used to ensure the certified product is never more than 3 generations from the original breeder material. Every step of the propagation and production process is recorded and traceable to the original source stock.

This close attention to detail reduces the chances of mutation or cross-pollination leading to off-type turf in certified fields.

“Once the breeder releases the plant material for propagation, a foundation field is set up in an area that is closely monitored to retain genetic purity of that particular grass” Skaggs said.

“From this foundation stock, each licensed grower is provided planting stock to propagate the first field which is then classified as a registered field. The registered field is the only paddock from which all future expansion material can be

sourced at that farm, unless of course more foundation stock is purchased.”

The foundation farm in Australia is at Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Skaggs and Carraway spent time scouring the paddocks, checking the morphological uniformity and looking for any sign off contamination or off-type grasses to ensure any future expansion of the grasses would not lead to the spread of unwanted material.

“One small contaminant going through a planting machine can quickly turn into 1020 plants once spread out” Carraway said.

“Our number one purpose is to stop this happening; a vaccination is a much better option than a treatment if you like. Killing one small plant before at the initial stages of growth before it has a chance to spread saves so much pain down the line for the grower and the customer; it also ensures that particular variety remains pure and true-to-type.”

It was a big week for the American visitors, who covered a large portion of the certified fields in Australia and trained the AusGAP farm staff as they went. The men were more

than impressed with what they saw and are excited about the future of turf certification in Australia.

“With AusGAP as the only registered agent for ITGAP outside the United States, we need to be sure that all of the ITGAP standards are being maintained in our absence” Skaggs said.

“The participation and enthusiasm shown by the AusGAP growers in Australia has been amazing and I am pleased to say that the standard of the farms over here is comparable to the best producers in The States.”

“Nick has done an excellent job getting everyone up to speed and compliant and we have the utmost confidence that the grasses here in Australia under the AusGAP program are now, and will remain, the best available in the industry.”

ITGA P VISIT 2019  / 35 33

Grove XXIII On Track For Grand Opening MICHAEL JORDAN’S GOLF COURSE IN HOBE SOUND, FLORIDA SET FOR COMPLETION THIS YEAR.

Through this story: Grove XXIII

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Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, owner of the NBA team the Charlotte Hornets, and a golf enthusiast. Jordan is in the final stages of building his first golf course, dubbed Grove XXIII, which commemorates the number 23 Jordan wore for most of his basketball career.

The course is in Hobe Sound, Florida, just north of West Palm Beach.

The course was designed by Bobby Weed, a leading golf course designer, with the key brief from Jordan being to create a “fun and interesting” golf course. The layout is nothing but spectacular – featuring a driving range, state of the art clubhouse facility and halfway clubhouse.

Part of the criteria for the design was there were to be no cart paths, with each hole flowing from one to the other around a number of waterways and bunkers.

The driving range was solid turfed using Zeon Zoysia (Sir Grange) combined with interconnecting practice putting greens using TifEagle Bermuda.

L1F Zoysia was selected for the tees, providing a hard-wearing fine textured surface ideal for the environment and playability. All fairways were stolinised with Zeon Zoysia (Sir Grange) between June and August 2018. As of February 2019, the fairways were coming along nicely with 90% coverage. After a couple of small fertiliser applications, topdressing and mowing, it will be pristine for the opening event.

GROVE XXIII UPDAT E / 37 35

League says the benefits he is seeing are low nutrient inputs, excellent colour, low grass clipping rate and ease of management.

This makes his job easier and a lot more enjoyable in preparing a course that needs to be ready for play daily.

David Doguet, a world leading Zoysia grass breeder, has been involved in this project from the start. Michael Jordan wanted the best grass, ensuring his golf course would be one of a kind. Both L1F and Zeon Zoysia are the perfect fit for this location and environment, providing beautiful contrast for the course. It will certainly be something very special to play on.

Jimmy League, Golf Course Superintendent for the course, is very impressed with the Zoysia grass used. League says the benefits he is seeing are low nutrient inputs, excellent colour, low grass clipping rate and ease of management. This makes his job easier and a lot more enjoyable in preparing a course that needs to be ready for play daily.

Grove XXIII is already looking absolutely stunning, with the first private member play planned for mid-2019.

Grove XXIII Features A 226-acre citrus grove Tees ranging from 5,445 to 7,470 yards A par-72 layout Bunkers planned deep into the fairway landing areas, some 330-340 yards off the back tees

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USA Study Tour Visits World-class Pike Creek Turf THE GO-TO TURF SUPPLIER FOR GOLF COURSE TURF SUPPLY IN SOUTH-EASTERN USA AND THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET. Pike Creek Turf Farm is one of the most impressive turf farms in the world and a strong supporter of certified turf.

Australian delegates on a recent study tour to the US were fortunate enough to visit this incredible turf farm and witnessed first-hand the attention to detail that has helped them become ‘the largest producer of fumigated, Georgia Certified Turfgrasses in the south-eastern United States.’

Pike Creek Turf does not just say they have a superior turf product, they live and breathe the commitment to this statement. The attention they pay to providing a superior turf product is unmatched in the industry, which is why they have such a successful business.

This commitment has allowed them to grow from a 100-acre turfgrass farm in 1989 to one of the leading turfgrass producers and installers to the golf industry today. Pike Creek Turf is the go-to supplier and installer for golf course superintendents and course developers across the US and overseas.

To facilitate the supply to this industry, Pike Creek Turf has over 1800 acres currently in production.

Pike Creek Turf grow 14 turfgrass varieties to service their growing market. They have a long and very impressive list of solid turf or sprig planted customers including not only golf courses in the USA but international ones as well. Some of these include: Al Ruwaya (Tiger Woods) in Dubai, Mill Reef Club in Antigua, West Indies and Port Royal Golf Club in Southhampton, Bermuda.

As stated on their website, “Pike Creek Turf’s commitment to maintaining varietal purity in their turfgrass production is unequalled in the industry.”

Pike Creek Turf’s reputation is for quality and a big contributor to Pike Creek Turf’s success in both local and international sales can be attributed to their incredible Sprig Washing Facility. Owner of Pike Creek Turf, Jamie Allen, takes ItGap (International Genetic Assured Purity) Certification seriously, with each field being fumigated prior to planting.

Mr Allen is one of the most passionate gentlemen around and strives for success in everything he does. Highly motivated, he has a hands-on approach to running his turf operation. Some of the practices his team undertake to ensure genetic purity are incredible. Each production field has its own equipment to eliminate contamination, with quality being what Pike Creek Turf strives for each and every day.

On the Australian delegates’ visit, they were fortunate enough to see Pike Creek’s trial site for selecting new zoysia grass varieties, the state of the art turfgrass washing facility and their machinery inventory. Mr Allen likes to evaluate grasses in real situations before planting on the farm – this is the businesses strength for ensuring continued success.

Their turfgrass washing facility is world class and a credit to the team at Pike Creek. From there, turf can be shipped straight to the next golf project.

A major highlight of the farm visit was seeing the equipment they use. Delegates had never seen so many tow-behind cylinder mowers, with each one named for the turf variety they were used to cut. The tractors were dedicated to specific paddocks and turf varieties, working continuously on the farm. There were also between 20 and 30 hand stack turf harvesters, which again, were named to cut only that particular turf variety to avoid contamination. This strict operational procedure is what sets

Pike Creek Turf Farms

US STUDY TOUR- PIKE C RE E K TURF / 39 37

Tow behind cylinder mowers

Jamie Allen with David Douget

Pike Creek Turf Farm owner Jamie Allen

Pike Creek Turf apart from many of its competitors. Maintaining genetic purity is paramount and this was extremely evident in their machinery use.

This is a farm that through reputation and service over the past 30 years has raised the bar for the entire industry. Mr Allen believes the quality and service at Pike Creek Turf just keeps improving, which ensures they are “staying ahead of the game.”

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The Trailblazer DR GERALD M HENRY USING GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) TECHNOLOGY AND GEOSPATIAL MAPPING TO ASSESS SPORTS SURFACES FOR THE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PLAYER INJURIES On Sunday February 17th a group of Lawns Solutions Australia Growers, under the guidence of world-famous turf scientist Dr Earl Elsner, met with Dr Gerald M Henry, Associate Professor Environmental Turfgrass Science at The University of Georgia.

Dr Henry’s new age thinking and ultramodern style of research on sports field use and performance is something we have not experienced a lot of in Australia. Dr Henry is doing extensive work on player participant injury on both real turf surfaces and artificial.

It was a pleasant change to see new data on issues faced with both surfaces and what modern scientific research is doing to overcome those challenges.

Apart from all the usual issues with ‘real vs artificial’, Dr Henry has compiled an enormous amount of data on player participant injuries with a strong emphasis on the classification of ‘Career Ending Injuries’. A lot of his research involves the use of Global Information System (GIS) technology, which allows for interpolation of collected data points to predict continuous values and variations across a typical sports field surface, similar sports fields to those we have in Australia. To describe this in simpler terms, Dr Henry uses the phrase ‘Geospatial Mapping’.

Geospatial Mapping involves digitally mapping up to 1000 points across a playing surface and collecting data such as

plant health, nutrient values, moisture and moisture variations across the entire surface, weed identification, and effects on the surface, compaction levels and variations across the entire surface, surface evenness and any disturbances. All players both at training and on game day have a small GPS tracking device built into their playing or training gear, from this Dr Henry collects data from the exact GPS logged spots that every injury sustained by a person using the field occurred.

From this data, they then determine what issues led to participant injury and what can be done to minimise those risks. A lot of Dr Henry’s findings are very interesting and include some of the following:

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The Toro Precision Sense 6000

Dr Gerald M Henry

A participant is 50% more likely to sustain a career ending injury on an artificial surface compared to a correctly maintained real turf surface.

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A participant is 50% more likely to sustain a career ending injury on an artificial surface compared to a correctly maintained natural turf surface.

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A common career ending injury occurs from fall impacts at a height of 1,300mm on natural turf surfaces compared to just 600mm on artificial surfaces.

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One of the most common areas for career ending injuries to occur on a natural turf surface is in areas of greater field moisture variations.

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Consistent surface moisture and conditions were one of the best ways to reduce player injury.

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The use of improved warm season varieties that required less or no oversowing showed benefits.

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Artificial surfaces with poor moisture proved to cause the greatest risk of career ending injuries.

One of Dr Henry’s common research pieces of equipment is the Toro Precision Sense 6000. This $400,000 small towed behind mobile device, is used to simultaneously collect and geo-reference a variety of factors. These include percent volumetric water content, soil penetration resistance,

compaction variations across the surface, soil salinity and effects on this from use and maintenance programs, even different elevation characteristics at exact locations across the playing surface.

The Toro Precision Sense 6000 For a typical size soccer or rugby league oval, Dr Henry uses a 2.4 m x 2.4 m sample grid pattern that can generate over 1000 data samples. These samples are collected and interpolated accurately to quickly assess the performance of that particular field, providing excellent data for all sports field managers to utilise.

Prior to this new technology, the usual method for field performance testing saw the use of hand-held sensors to collect data from only six to eight locations across a field.

This small sample size made it very difficult to completely and accurately evaluate the entire playing field surface.

Dr Henry’s work and the use of the Toro Precision Sense 6000 is certainly a game changer when it comes to sports turf management. This data will show how to best maintain sports fields in Australia to reduce injury. It will also show the real and known benefits that natural turf surfaces provide over artificial surfaces.

Super-Sod display plots

Super-Sod – A Division of Patten Seed Company ONE OF THE LARGEST TURF OPERATIONS IN THE WORLD From small beginnings in a small town, to becoming one of the largest suppliers of turf in the world.

In 1980 the Patten Seed Company was seeing a transition from seed supply over to sod/turf as their main product offering. This heralded a new era for the company and to reflect this growing trend, the Super-Sod brand was established.

Today, Super-Sod continues to grow and is setting a benchmark for quality and supply in the region. Super-Sod’s seven farms provide them the ability to supply a large offering of different grass types, with unrivalled availability. Super-Sod’s success has been driven through its commitment to providing superior, quality turf and the

best turfgrasses available from the industry’s leading turf researchers.

In addition to the farms, Super-Sod has thirteen retail outlets in Georgia and North Carolina. In a recent US Study Tour, Australian turf growers visited one of the newest outlets, in Mooresville, which has been open for over a year. These retail outlets offer turf, seed, lawncare products, turf underlay soil in bulka-bags and landscape stones. This outlet has fresh turf deliveries daily from the Super-Sod mega farms and services the growing customer base in this region of North Carolina.

There is a massive area in the front of their store with turf display plots, each over 100m2 with ten in total. They also have

Super-Sod’s success has been driven through its commitment to providing superior, quality turf and the best turfgrasses available from the industry’s leading turf researchers.

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Patten General Store in the early 1900s. From the store grew the Patten Seed Company

a display area of TifTuf that is 2000m2 in size. All of these plots are maintained with three Husqvarna auto mowers. TifTuf was introduced to their product line-up in 2015, with Super-Sod being one of the first to sell the new turf variety, which has been an industry game changer. In what has only been a few years since, TifTuf has become Super-Sod’s biggest seller.

Super-Sod display plots

The day the outlet was visited the temperature was 3 degrees and it was raining. In these conditions the turf goes very dormant, however warm season turf is supplied and laid all year round. Once spring arrives the grass greens up and it’s business as usual, with regular mowing and lawn care recommencing.

Super-Sod turf facility

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Turf On the World Stage SHOW GARDENS AND FLORAL DISPLAYS PROVE AN INSPIRATION AGAIN FOR THOUSANDS OF VISITORS AT THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW 2019

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Visitors enjoying displays

The Royal Exhibition Pavilion

The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS) is the largest flower and garden show in the Southern Hemisphere. It attracts more than 100,000 garden enthusiasts from around Australia over five days each March. MIFGS is one of the world’s top five flower and garden shows and is the largest event on the Australian horticulture calendar.

MIFGS 2019 boasted a presenting partner that is directly tied to the horticulture industry – Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA).

Running until 2021, this fitting partnership teams the country’s largest and most popular flower and garden show with Australia’s largest and most popular network of turf producers. Lawn Solutions Australia’s Gavin Rogers echoed the value of the new partnership.

“MIFGS has significant importance for our industry not only in Victoria, but all around the country. To be seen as the number one supporter of this great show is super important for us,” Rogers said.

MIFGS’ main attraction each year are the show gardens. The competition for gold

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The Royal Exhibition Pavilion

Visitors enjoy a rest on some Sir Grange zoysia

The Royal Exhibition Pavilion

Lawns and the Australian backyard have played an important part in the fabric of MIFGS. The event provided a great platform for promoting lawns, especially considering the evolving housing industry.

Floral displays

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Carlton Gardens

Floral display by Collectors Corner

medals and the coveted ‘Best in Show’ award is hotly contested. The Best in Show winner is given the opportunity to travel to Chelsea to compete in the Chelsea Flower and Garden Show, which is the largest of its kind in the world. MIFGS’ 2019 competition was tough, with more than 15 fantastic show gardens to judge. Tract Consultants took home the Best in Show award for ‘The Loggia Garden’, which combined dry climate species from Australia and the Mediterranean to form a truly special garden. Head Show Garden Judge Andrew Laidlaw said the gardens were first-rate.

“As a collective group of gardens the standard is high as it’s ever been in the history of the show,” he said.

To be judged the best out of that field is a fantastic achievement for the Tract team.

MIFGS’s Gold Medal Show Garden was awarded to ‘The Other Side’, a collaborative effort by former Gold Medal and Best in Show winner Jason Hodges, Candeo Design and Semken Landscapes.

Further to the show gardens, there are hundreds of wonderful exhibitors who

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showcase many fantastic and innovative products available within the industry.

Turf was prominent this year and LSA took centre stage, showcasing their premium range of innovative turf varieties Sir Walter DNA Certified, Sir Grange and TifTuf. LSA turf varieties Sir Grange, RTF Fescue and Sir Walter DNA Certified were also selected for use on more than 15 show gardens and exhibitor stalls. Natural grass on show gardens becomes more popular every year and 2019 was no exception.

Lawns and the Australian backyard have played an important part in the fabric of MIFGS. The event provided a great platform for promoting lawns, especially considering the evolving housing industry.

The event helped to ensure that lawns remain an integral part of the urban development conversation.

MIFGS will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2020 and promises to be bigger and better. Event organisers and Tourism Victoria have grand plans to ensure it’s a huge national and international event and no doubt hope it will attract a crowd that exceeds this year’s impressive 103,000.

Green and Gold ‘THE OTHER SIDE’ TAKES TITLE AT 2019 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW. Images through this story: ‘The Other Side’ show garden  / 49

Winning one of Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show’s three Gold Medal’s in no easy feat. This year the award went to ‘The Other Side’, a collaborative effort by former Gold Medal and Best in Show winner Jason Hodges, Candeo Design and Semken Landscapes.

The Other Side, which was proudly presented by Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA), showcased the modern Australian garden, with beautiful hard structures, an outdoor barbecue area and a heated plunge pool.

This was all capped with extensive gardens and two lawn areas turfed with Australia’s newest prestigious lawn variety, Sir Grange.

The team created an appealing garden for those who believe looking out at a beautiful garden is as important as being in a beautiful garden.

The family outdoor entertainment area formed the hub, providing an area to dine as well as relax and appreciate what the garden had to offer. The primary source of entertainment for this family space was the rectangular plunge pool, which was set above ground to minimise fencing.

planting screened the fence line and wrapped around show goers to create a private outdoor space. A lower, mid-level lawn area was bordered by a lowered garden bed, while the raised swimming pool wall formed part of the pool fence.

Below the decking towards the front of the garden was a peaceful relaxation area, a perfect place to read a book or just stop for a minute or two. Further down again was a paved area with an outdoor sofa and feature fire bowl. This area was surrounded by colourful and textured feature plantings and revealed a Perspex window that formed part of the swimming pool wall.

The path from the deck landing to the front of the garden displayed a solid paved walkway and stepping stones, with garden beds and lawn integrated to soften the wide entrance. The feature lawn at the front was detailed with mixed plantings, using shapes and textures, with flowers dispersed throughout. The lawn adorned bronze, lifesize Labrador sculptures.

The varying heights and levels, along with quality materials, completed this garden to create the perfect back garden vista.

Underneath the pergola in the main entertainment area, trees and their under

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GOLD RUSH! Congratulations to Jason Hodges, Brent Reid and the teams at Candeo Design and Semken Landscaping for their Gold Medal at this years Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

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