Australian Turfgrass Management Journal - Volume 15.6 (October-November 2013)

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volume 15.6 nov-dec 2013

Royals ramp up

Australian Masters, Open and World Cup previews Gove Country GC

Australia’s northernmost golf club

Aussie EcoTurf

Developing drought-resistant couchgrass varieties

New look for Old

The National’s Old Course greens resurfacing

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Forward to:

volume 15.4 Jul-aug 2013

AFL ground redevelopments Colac’s Central Reserve Melbourne’s Olympic Park

‘The’ graduate

Profile: Jason Blacka

Research

ACL injury in football

Interns and Opens

Congressional, TPC Scottsdale, Sunningdale and Merion

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volume 15.3 may-JuN 2013

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Topp of the class

Twin Waters Golf Club

Jack’s back

The Australian redevelopment Profile: Phil Knight

The nomad returns home

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29th Australian Turfgrass Conference and Trade Exhibition Sunshine Coast June 23-28 2013

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volume 15.2 mar-apr 2013

Remnant refuges

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Biodiversity project update

AFL ground redevelopments

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2013 Women’s Australian Open

Blundstone Arena Arden Street

Royal Canberra feels the heat

Birth of a golf course

St Andrews Private comes to life Winner of 8 aWards at the 2012 toCa international CommuniCators Contest

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volume 15.1 JaN-Feb 2013

Zoysiagrasses

The environmental turfgrass

The end of two eras

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O’Shannessy salutes after 52 years

Redlands Research Station closes its doors

Tournament reviews

2012 Talisker Masters 2012 Emirates Australian Open

2013 Women’s Open

Royal Canberra set to shine for centenary

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contents contents

Winner of 8 aWards at the 2012 toCa international CommuniCators Contest

ISSN 1442-2697 www.agcsa.com.au

AGCSA

volume 15.6 Nov-dec 2013

Royals ramp up

Australian Masters, Open and World Cup previews Gove Country GC

Australia’s northernmost golf club

Aussie EcoTurf

Developing drought-resistant couchgrass varieties

New look for Old

The National’s Old Course greens resurfacing

Cover The National Golf Club: The National’s iconic 7th hole on the Old Course. Inset: Shaping of the 3rd green. Photos: Brett Robinson

lead STORY: Marsden makes his mark

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In September 2012 one of the most anticipated appointments within the Australian golf course management industry was made when Steve Marsden was named the new course superintendent of Royal Sydney Golf Club. Almost a year to the day since starting Marsden will find himself preparing the famed championship venue for its 14th national championship when the 2013 Emirates Australian Open touches down in late November. As ATM editor Brett Robinson writes it will cap off an industrious first year for the former Cape Kidnappers superintendent and ex-pat Kiwi who has wasted little time in making his mark on one of Australia’s great sporting institutions.

Features

Core components Going back-to-back

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There isn’t much that Royal Melbourne Golf Club course superintendent Richard Forsyth hasn’t achieved in his three decades as a turf manager, but come November he will be able to make a new entry on the CV. Hosting back-to-back major tournaments is a rarity, but with the Talisker Australian Masters and ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf on the cards, it is set to be testing fortnight for one of the world’s great championship venues.

New look for Old

30

Following on from last edition’s overview of the new Gardiners Run Golf Course development, superintendent Alan Greatorex begins a series of articles which take a closer look at some of the key components of a new golf course construction. This edition focuses on the maintenance facility and irrigation system.

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Staged over the winters of 2012 and 2013, the greens resurfacing project on The National Golf Club’s celebrated Old Course was finally completed this September. Course manager Leigh Yanner looks back on the project which has seen the old Penncross greens replaced with Mackenzie bentgrass.

Flow-on effects

42

In 2009, Kingswood Golf Club was faced with the prospect of running short of irrigation water.

Following several years of studies, the club decided to install an aquifer storage and recovery scheme.

Course superintendent Terry Ford provides an update on the performance of the scheme.

Airborne precision turfgrass management

44

Darren Wilson and Paul Barber discuss how aerial mapping technology could play a role in the management of turf surfaces at Wembley Golf Complex in Perth.

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Grass-roots with John Neylan On a roll 34 ATM columnist John Neylan reviews some of the research into the effects of mowing height and rolling on putting green speed and also raises concerns over the current state of turf research in Australia.

Research EcoTurfs 46 In the first of a two part article, University of Queensland researcher Dr Chris Lambrides provides an overview of the four year EcoTurf project, funded by the Australian Research Council, that aimed to develop water and nutrient use efficient couchgrasses from Australian biodiversity.

Also in this edition…

Foreword Thinking Regional Profile Gove Country Golf Club, NT News Around the Trade Turf Producers State Reports Book Review

4 50 56 58 60 62 68

Contributors to Australian Turfgrass Management Journal Volume 15.6 (November - December 2013) Brendan Allen (NZGCSA); Paul Barber (ArborCarbon); Chris Chapman (STA NSW); Chad Dawe (SAGCSA); Terry Ford (Kingswood GC); Richard Forsyth (Royal Melbourne GC); Peter Frewin (AGCSA); Alan Greatorex (Chirnside Park CC); Tony Guy (STA WA); Martyn Hedley (STA QLD); Jamie Henderson (Gove Country GC); Steve Hewitt (VGCSA); Danny Hull (STA ACT); Mark Johnson (TGCSA); Dr Chris Lambrides (University of Queensland); Peter Lonergan (GCSAQ); Steve Marsden (Royal Sydney GC); John Neylan (Neyturf); Des Russell (GCSAWA); Jim Vaughan (Turf Queensland); Darren Wilson (Wembley Golf Complex); Leigh Yanner (The National GC)

Teeing it up

T

he tournament season is upon us and November is set to once again galvanise the industry over what will be four hectic weeks. With the WA leg of the Australasian Tour run and won, all attention now zeros in on the big three – the Australian PGA Championships (RACV Royal Pines), Masters (Royal Melbourne) and Open (Royal Sydney) – with the World Cup of Golf wedged tantalisingly in the middle.

Aside from the action on the course, this year’s tournaments all contain varying degrees of interest for the industry. After its wonderful tenure at Coolum, will the PGA be able to successfully transplant itself on the Gold Coast, its contracted home for the next five years?

How will RACV Royal Pines, a course not ranked in the top 100 and relatively benign, fare against the long bombers of the pro tour? More importantly, will the same relaxed and familyfriendly vibe so much admired by the players up on the Sunshine Coast be recreated?

Then there’s Adam Scott’s homecoming, his first tournament appearance in Australia since his breakthrough Masters win. All of us will no doubt recall where we were the moment Scott sank that now famous 13 footer. I was in the service centre of the local Mazda dealership (timed that service real well!) and had to commandeer the communal television from a couple of unimpressed septuagenarians getting their morning fix of Kochie and (what was then) Mel. Ambulances were nearly dispatched when Scott’s putt dropped as I reacted in a manner befitting such an historic occasion. It’s great to see Scott returning Down Under to contest all three of our major tournaments and his pairing with Jason Day to represent Australia at the World Cup of Golf – a ‘dream team’ for tournament promoters – will certainly ensure that the galleries will be full at Royal Melbourne.

From a course management perspective, there are also plenty of points of interest.

For Steve Marsden (Royal Sydney) it will be his first major Tour event since taking over as superintendent last December, while for the tournament-hardened Richard Forsyth (Royal Melbourne) there’s the unique agronomic challenges that come with having to prepare the Composite Course for the Masters and World Cup back-to-back. No doubt half a world away at Pinehurst, which is set to host the US Open and US Women’s Open back-to-back next June, there will be some interested observers to see how Royal Melbourne fares.

In this edition we focus on Royal Sydney and Royal Melbourne and catch up with both superintendents to track their preparations.

We will cover RACV Royal Pines in depth in the January-February 2014 edition of ATM as it will be post PGA and the 2014 Volvik Ladies Masters in early February when things will start to get really interesting for resident superintendent Lincoln Coombes. While the transplanted Victorian should cut a relatively relaxed figure for this year’s tournaments, as soon as the ladies have departed the excavators move in to rip up nine holes in the first of a two-stage course reconstruction to take place over the next two years. The challenge is to have the first batch back up in time for the 2014 PGA, a pretty narrow timeframe especially considering the horrid weather Queensland has experienced in the opening six months of the last two years. It’s no wonder that Coombes admits to a certain part of his anatomy tightening when he thinks of the works that lie ahead!

In closing this final edition of the year, I would like to thank all contributors and readers for their continuing support of ATM. I recently notched up 10 years’ service with the AGCSA – that’s a worry! – and it’s a role that continues to be immensely fulfilling. That in no small part is due to the wonderful industry we work in and, of course, its people. Enjoy the tournaments and I wish you all the best for the summer ahead. Enjoy the read…

Brett Robinson, Editor

Looking for greenkeeping staff?

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foreword thinking foreword thinking

Peter Frewin, General Manager, AGCSA

Education, training top agenda at state presidents meeting

C

hange is certainly in the air, not only in the sporting sense but also on the national political scene. I am not sure if it is only me, but the transition from the winter codes to summer sports seems to get shorter every year. Cricket is well and truly underway with the Ryobi Cup done and dusted for another year and the golf tournament season is about to tee off with the highlight set to be the return of the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf to Royal Melbourne Golf Club later in November.

One thing that does not seem to change, however, is the diverse weather that the country receives. The southern states are still in the grip of cool and very windy weather, New South Wales is experiencing an early season bushfire crisis and Queensland is again in the middle of another extended dry spell. Let’s hope that the weather stabilises in the coming weeks.

AGCSA

The 2014 Australian Turfgrass Conference returns to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 22-27 June

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I had the pleasure recently of travelling to the Gold Coast for a series of AGCSA events. The week started with an AGCSA Board meeting followed by the launch of the 2014 Australian Turfgrass Conference Trade Exhibition and culminated with the annual state association presidents meeting.

The launch of the 2014 trade exhibition took place at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) which will host the event in June next year. The event was attended by over 25 people, many of whom were representing organisations that are looking to exhibit at the event. The launch included presentations from GCCEC representatives, Exponet (build company) and Schenker (freight company) and ended with a comprehensive tour of the facility. Those in attendance then headed across to Broadbeach to see some of the accommodation options before

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finishing up on Level 23 at the Sofitel for drinks and canapés where we all witnessed the sun setting over the magnificent Gold Coast hinterland.

Prior to the launch, those companies that participate in the AGCSA Partners Programme had the opportunity to preselect their preferred sites. I thank Toro, Jacobsen, Syngenta, Bayer, John Deere and Rain Bird for their continued support of not only the AGCSA but the wider turf industry. Sales of exhibition booths to date have been excellent with many of the industry’s leading companies securing space to guarantee they get the best possible site to showcase their company. The importance of the annual trade exhibition to the wider turf industry was again evident with some representatives travelling from overseas to ensure they get the best possible outcomes from the exhibition.

The inclusion of the state presidents at the launch was not only a great opportunity for representatives of the state associations to mingle with some of their corporate sponsors, but also a chance for them to see what goes on behind the scenes at the AGCSA. The state presidents meeting is one of the highlights of the AGCSA calendar and this year was attended by representatives from all Australian states and our neighbours from across ‘The Ditch’, the New Zealand Golf Course Superintendents Association.

The meeting provides a great opportunity for an exchange of information between the associations including an update on current activities and issues within each region. The meeting also provides a forum to discuss issues that are of importance to the wider industry. Again this year a great deal of time was devoted to the topic of education and training within the turf sector. Those in attendance agreed that the industry needed to take more ownership of training to ensure it is not only relevant but, importantly, of a suitable standard.

It was agreed that the AGCSA, in partnership with the state bodies (and other associations), will investigate all options available regarding training.

It is hoped that this will ensure that the education opportunities available in the country will provide employers with training of suitable quality and at levels of competency that the industry requires.

In closing, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate two of the AGCSA’s key staff who recently celebrated their tenth anniversaries of employment with the AGCSA. Simone Staples (events and education manager) and Brett Robinson (ATM editor) are both pivotal to the running of the AGCSA and perform their duties with professionalism and enthusiasm. I thank them for their support and commitment to the association and hope that they are both around for many years to come.

As always please feel free to contact me on 0418 593 072 or peter@agcsa.com.au should you have any issue or suggestions; feedback is always welcomed. I look forward to catching up when our paths next cross.

AGCSA

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2013 Open 2013 Open

Marsden makes his mark

Last September Steve Marsden was announced as Royal Sydney’s new course superintendent, replacing 24-year veteran John Odell

Nearly a year to the day since starting his tenure as the new superintendent at Royal Sydney Golf Club, Steve Marsden finds himself preparing the course for what will be its 14th Australian Open and his first. As ATM editor Brett Robinson writes, it will cap off a momentous 12 months for the ex-pat Kiwi, one that has seen him slowly but surely leave his mark on one of Australia’s most unique sporting institutions.

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ou know deep down when something is the right fit, when a partnership forms that is destined to reap success over the duration.

Think Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United, Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee, Black Caviar and Luke Nolen.

When Royal Sydney Golf Club announced on 6 September 2012 that it had appointed Cape Kidnappers superintendent Steve Marsden as its new ‘custodian of the links’, replacing industry icon John Odell who had left that January after 24 years, it had all the hallmarks of being the start of something significant.

Royal Sydney is far from your average club. Its members – captains of commerce and industry who are among some of the most influential people in the country – demand excellence on a daily basis.

The facilities are world class and encompass golf, lawn tennis, bowls, croquet, squash and swimming.

Royal Sydney truly is one of the country’s great sporting institutions and its historical ties to many sports, golf in particular, is without peer.

Being ‘custodian of the links’ isn’t the sort of job any turf manager could walk into, or handle for that matter, and the club wasn’t going to leave anything to chance when it embarked on its intensive search for perhaps the most important member of its senior management team.

Not surprisingly, applications from potential candidates would come in from across Australia and around the world, but ultimately it was the club that would approach Marsden to see if he would consider throwing his hat in the ring, which he did after much deliberation.

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Like his illustrious predecessor, there is an undeniable presence about Marsden. Aside from his imposing stature, behind the calm and relaxed deportment is a turf management brain that has been finely crafted and honed throughout a unique career.

Indeed, in the press release that accompanied the much anticipated announcement of Marsden’s appointment last September, Royal Sydney general manager Paul Hinton noted that the club’s selection panel had chose Marsden “not only for reasons of his technical qualifications and his expertise, but also for his considered intellect and appreciation of the nature and traditions of the club.” In other words, Marsden was the perfect fit.

The change of roles for Marsden couldn’t be greater, polar opposites in fact. From the rural isolation and splendour of Cape Kidnappers which in a good year averages just 5000 rounds, Marsden now finds himself in the middle of one of the world’s greatest melting pots – Sydney. Living adjacent to the 1st green, he is now in charge of one of the most special patches of turf in Australia, one that boasts not only 27 holes of golf which pump through 65,000 rounds a year, but extensive lawn tennis, bowls and croquet facilities. Remarkably, it’s the first ‘member’ club that Marsden has worked for in his 25-year career.

Since arriving last December Marsden has slowly but surely set about stamping his authority on maintenance operations, but the first true test of his tenure will come when he prepares the course for the 2013 Emirates Australian Open from 28 November-1 December. While it is Royal Sydney’s 14th Open, by contrast this will be Marsden’s first

and with the likes of 2013 Masters champions Adam Scott headlining along with world No.6 Rory McIlroy, the tournament focus will be pretty intense.

And it won’t be just the players and media scrutinising the surfaces he presents. All 2000-plus members of Royal Sydney will no doubt be casting their discerning eyes to see how their new recruit handles the spotlight. No pressure then...

Kiwi in full flight

would rise to be assistant course manager before heading to the London Golf Club in Kent as assistant superintendent, beginning what would be a long association with Nicklaus Design.

Part way through construction the superintendent became the GM which opened the door for Marsden to take on the responsibility of growing in both golf courses and having them ready for the grand opening which featured Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros and Tony Jacklin.

It was during one of many site visits that the Golden Bear’s son-in-law Bill O’Leary advised Marsden of a new project the company was involved with in Australia which happened to be right across the road from where it all started for Marsden at Palm Meadows – Lakelands Golf Club, the first Jack Nicklaus signature design in Australia.

Despite enjoying his time in Kent, four English winters had taken their toll and the lure of returning to Australia was irresistible. He would end up spending eight years in charge at Lakelands before the phone rang from the Nicklaus Design team asking whether he would be interested in another new development, this time in his native New Zealand – Kinloch.

Taking advantage of the honeymoon period often afforded new superintendents, Marsden has brought in a heap of new machinery, including four sevengang Jacobson LF 4677 fairways units which have helped to improve maintenance efficiencies

Renovations are now conducted over a two-week period. The Penn G2 greens were double cored in late August

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Marsden’s career to date has been a fascinating one and the route he has taken to get to Royal Sydney is perhaps one of the main reasons why he was so eagerly sought after. Throughout his career Marsden has always been open-minded about the roles he took on and willingly threw himself into projects across the course management spectrum, from construction and grow-in through to maintenance, dealing with different climates and working with both warm- and cool-season grasses.

Growing up on the beautiful beaches of Auckland’s North Shore, Marsden had just finished high school when the family suddenly uprooted and moved to the Gold Coast in the mid-1980s. Marsden managed to snap up the last placement in an urban horticulture course at Gold Coast TAFE and through that ended up doing work experience at Southport Golf Club. At the time the club was undergoing masterplan works by Ross Watson and Graham Marsh who were also embarking on the nearby Palm Meadows development.

Marsden duly got a place on the Palm Meadows crew during the construction phase and ended up being indentured with superintendent Loch Ledford.

Being involved in such a major development at a young age and under the expert guidance of Ledford, it was a tremendous experience for Marsden, especially the challenges of working on cool-season bentgrass greens in Queensland’s subtropical climate.

The day he finished his apprenticeship at Palm Meadows, Marsden left to head across to another new Gold Coast development – Royal Pines. Many years on Marsden still regrets the way he handled his departure from Palm Meadows, but with the lure of another new sparkling golf course, the young Marsden was eager to soak up another new experience, this time growing in and maintaining warm-season 328 greens.

After 18 months at Royal Pines, tragedy struck when Marsden’s father passed away after battling Motor Neurone Disease. With his father being of English heritage, Marsden had a UK passport and wanting a change of scene fired off a heap of CVs overseas. Receiving nothing in response, he printed off some more and headed to the Golf Asia Show in Singapore where he would eventually get his break.

Arriving in the UK in the early 1990s, Marsden became involved in the development of the John Jacobs’ designed Buckinghamshire Golf Club.

Joining as part of the construction crew, Marsden

2013 Open

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2013 open

Bringing across a technique Marsden used at Cape Kidnappers, core holes are blown and hosed out to ensure they are thoroughly clean to get as much sand into them

The 18th green being topdressed and rubbed in by hand

Prior to that Marsden hadn’t done anything professionally in New Zealand but the opportunity to return home grew on him and his now young family, plus the site on which the new course was to be built was simply spectacular. Unfortunately the site’s beauty would mask many dramas behind the scenes, mainly financial, and following a change of ownership, after six years Marsden also yearned for another challenge.

It just so happened that ex-pat Australian Paul Delaney, the then superintendent at Cape Kidnappers, had decided to head back to Sydney and Marsden received a call from Alex Robertson, son of the course’s billionaire owner and developer Sir Julian Robertson.

Cape Kidnappers ticked every box – a world class Tom Doak-designed golf course in a stunning setting, top class management (important after his previous role) and diversity in his role which saw him not only managing a golf course but one of the country’s biggest mainland wildlife sanctuaries. It was an easy decision to make and starting in 2008 he thought he had finally found a course where he could settle down and watch not only the grass grow, but the family grow too. Then the phone rang, again.

Having just received Cape Kidnappers’ third major international environmental management award at last year’s Australian Turfgrass Conference in Melbourne, Marsden was approached by Royal Sydney Golf Club to consider applying for its vacant superintendent role. So began an intensive three month period of interviews which culminated in his appointment last September. Royal had snared their man and almost 10 years to the day after leaving Lakelands to head to New Zealand, Marsden was heading back across the Ditch for what may well be the final chapter in his illustrious career.

“It still blows me away at times to think that I am now here at Royal Sydney Golf Club,” admits the 46-year-old. “It was the hardest decision we have ever had to make and we agonised over it for so long. Cape Kidnappers was such a special place, but we knew there were many positives with coming to live and work in Sydney. It gave the kids a more grounded upbringing and greater opportunities.

“The club has been very welcoming and so supportive and I can see why John (Odell) enjoyed it here for so long. He always spoke very highly of the membership and the staff, about how great the people were at Royal Sydney, and I think I am now learning first hand some of the things that he enjoyed so much about the role here.

“I had never been involved in a member club before, so it was completely new territory. I think the length of John’s tenure gave me great comfort that the club were not typical of what you can sometimes get with other member clubs. I was very impressed with the management team throughout the whole interview process and all the staff just seemed very happy to be here.”

Hitting the ground running As with any new tenure there is always a honeymoon period and Marsden has wasted little time in taking full advantage of that. If Royal Sydney was persistent in its pursuit of their new superintendent, then Marsden has reciprocated that since arriving and being the impatient man he is has already made a significant number of changes. One member of the committee has even taken to calling him ‘Lightning’.

When asked by the interview panel what changes they would see within his first three months in charge, Marsden replied honestly – not very much. Those first few months he explained would be spent observing and absorbing everything about his new surrounds, in particular drawing on the extensive knowledge and experience of his talented senior staff and crew that had been expertly led in the interim by long-serving assistant superintendent Cameron Stuart.

Marsden is a self-confessed numbers man.

Whether it’s in relation to what’s going on inside the plant or from a staff management perspective, Marsden likes to know his figures and one of his first

continued on page 10 8

Australian Turfgrass Management

2013 Open 2013 Open

Mindful of the pressure the greens come under pumping through 65,000 rounds of golf a year, Marsden now hand mows them on a permanent basis and uses lightweight spray rigs (pictured) to make necessary applications

One of the major projects Marsden has tackled has been the refurbishment of all greenside bunkers. The existing Bidim cloth was removed and replaced with Bunkermat

continued from page 8 undertakings was to conduct a full analysis of total available man hours versus all maintenance tasks.

From that Marsden was able to identify several areas where efficiencies could be improved.

First to go was the fairway step cut, while on the staff side of things some additional qualified greenkeepers were brought on. In a rather bold move, Marsden also convinced the club to agree to limit members to just one a tee start to enable his crew to complete their daily preparations ahead of the field.

To take the pressure off the G2 bentgrass greens, Marsden put a proposal forward to hand mow greens on a permanent basis. He wanted to minimise the load as much as possible on the heavily trafficked playing surfaces, so the triplexes have subsequently been banished to the shed.

Marsden has also switched to using lightweight pedestrian sprayers on the greens instead of the usual tractor-pulled boom sprayers.

A substantial fleet of new machinery now also graces the Royal Sydney maintenance facility. The club’s four five-gang Jacobsen fairway mowers were replaced with four brand new Jacobsen LF

4677 seven-gang units which have given a 20-30 per cent increase in mowing efficiency. A heavy-duty Toro Groundsmaster 4700-D rough mower was also added to the fleet and what once took three staff four days to complete is now knocked off by one crew member in a day and a half. Two Toro 3100D Sidewinders and a Toro 3500 rotary surrounds have also taken residence, along with an additional spray rig.

Being surrounded on virtually all sides by suburbia, maintenance operations had become increasingly hindered because of noise so Marsden has started the switch across from petrol to electric.

Both Tru-Turf rollers are now electric and Royal’s fleet of eight Jacobsen walk-behind greens mowers have been gradually replaced by six Jacobsen Eclipse 2 hybrids and two full electric models.

From an agronomic perspective there have also been a number of changes. Marsden is looking at more applications of calcium and magnesium and has ratcheted up the monitoring and testing regimes of the playing surfaces. Renovations of both the championship course and nine-hole Centenary Course are now done over two weeks instead of one, while the method of renovation has also altered.

Bringing across a practice that he used to great effect at Cape Kidnappers, after double coring the greens with ½” tines in late August, Marsden’s staff used backpack blowers and then hoses to clean the core holes out thoroughly. A USGA-spec sand from Vermont Sands was then spread and rubbed in by hand. The fairways too have been aggressively renovated and following this year’s Open will again be double cored.

The ‘Northern’ area of the Royal Sydney complex, which houses the tennis, bowls and croquet facilities, has also had a few tweaks in terms of renovations. With some challenging profiles to work with (the croquet lawns have a 12-inch heavy soil layer which the water struggles to move through), Marsden has decided to hand drill both lawns at 300mm centres and back fill with a coarse to medium sub-angular sand.

Bunkering down One of the major on-course projects that Marsden has ticked off in his first year has been a complete renovation of all 76 greenside bunkers. Between February and September the existing Bidim cloth was ripped out, sand depths re-established and bunker faces re-contoured. Bunkermat from Geofabrics (supplied by David Golf) was then installed on all the faces. The Bunkermat is pinned in underneath the turf with 300mm pins while all the joins are stapled with 200mm staples and stitched together with nylon. Drainage issues in a few bunkers were also rectified at the same time and following the completion of all the greenside bunkers a number of fairway bunkers have also been identified for refurbishment.

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terrific. While it was very much a project to improve playing conditions for them, it will also have obvious benefits come the Australian Open.”

Other projects either completed or currently in progress include: l The construction of a new turf nursery on the left hand side of the 10th hole. This area will contain plots of all the different profiles and turf types from across the property (i.e.: the golf course, lawn tennis courts, bowls and croquet lawns); l l

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One of Marsden’s long-term goals is to develop a landscape masterplan and push towards naturalising the golf course more

Parramattagrass removal; Re-levelling all greenside sprinklers and valve boxes (completed between April and August); Removal of native grasses around bunker edges (Marsden says Royal Sydney is essentially a parkland style course and that those areas, while attractive, looked a little contrived); and Planting more than 1000 trees and shrubs.

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“In that first three months you do a lot of listening and certainly the feedback from the members on what they found to be the most challenging aspects of the course was the playability of the bunkers,” explains Marsden.

“There’s a bit of a love/hate relationship with the bunker sand here. It is very tricky to play out and is one of the main defences of the course. It is a very fine dune sand and accordingly it shifts like dune sands, so when the wind gets up a lot of it is blown out of bunkers. As a result, over the years they have become deep and the faces very steep. Golf balls plugging in the faces had become an issue so we decided to investigate what we could do to try and improve playability.

“The bunkers are now more playable, with the sand remaining firm on the floor and on the faces, and the feedback from the membership has been

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Australian Turfgrass Management

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The Bunkermat is pinned in underneath the turf with 300mm pins while all the joins are stapled with 200mm staples and stitched together with nylon

One of the major targets long-term for Marsden is the development of a landscape master plan for the course. To that end, Marsden along with head horticulturalist Ian Allan spent time in Melbourne recently visiting the likes of Royal Melbourne, Victoria and Metropolitan golf clubs to view some of the revegetation work at those courses. The trip furnished Marsden and Allen with plenty of ideas which they hope the club will buy into.

“The way those sandbelt courses sit so naturally into the landscape and the seamless integration between the two is what makes them so unique,” reflects Marsden. “And to see those superintendents like Ian Todd (Victoria) and Glenn Stuart (Metropolitan) being so influential in that process, it was inspiring.

“Royal Sydney is a parkland golf course. It lacks a little personality in some areas and I would like to see us push towards naturalising the golf course a lot more. To do that, we need to have a vision going forward. We have engaged soil experts to help us identify the suitability of the soil types we have for certain types of vegetation and by doing that we can highlight to the club that the soil types here will limit the plant palette. The desire is to return to a more native landscape with the reintroduction of the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub which is indigenous to the area.”

Off the first tee...

While there are still plenty of ideas slowly brewing inside the head to improve Royal Sydney for the members, Marsden’s immediate focus is on preparations for the 2013 Emirates Australian Open.

The final ‘major’ Australasian Tour event on home soil this November, the Open returns to Royal Sydney for the 14th time in its history, which puts the club second only to The Australian in terms of Opens hosted.

Despite his years of experience, tournaments have played a relatively minor part in Marsden’s previous roles. The most recent were at Cape Kidnappers in 2008 and 2009 when the course hosted 12

Australian Turfgrass Management

the $2 million Kiwi Challenge, a four-man strokeplay event that attracted the likes of Adam Scott, Camilio Villegas, Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedecker and Anthony Kim. The Emirates Australian Open will be Marsden’s first on a major scale and while being very excited about the prospect he does admit to a few butterflies.

“I’m a little apprehensive to be completely honest and I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t that added pressure to perform given that it’s my first national championship,” says Marsden. “The team is very excited and the tournament has given them a good focal point and pushed us harder to get closure on some of the projects we have been doing.

“I am so fortunate to have a very experienced crew and I’ll be using all that experience and taking on board all that they can offer. Cameron (Stuart) and foremen Alistair Dunn and Adam Marchant have done multiple Opens and then there’s someone like Mark Young who has been here for over 34 years.

They have all been tremendous and very willing to share their experiences of past tournaments which will make my job that little bit easier.”

With greens renovations out of the way by the end of August and the bunker refurbishment completed, the fairways were given a light dethatch in September. Despite coming out of winter well, Marsden was concerned the Wintergreen couchgrass would get a little puffy nearer the tournament so he scarified them in one direction (green to tee). Tees were also lightly scarified and verti-drained, with the championship tees and par three tees topdressed. The roughs were given a granular fertiliser to promote density and definition.

Marsden has, sensibly, treaded a very cautious path regarding Poa annua control with the Open on the horizon and after the greens recovered from renovations he went out with some paclobutrazol in order to keep the Poa in check. A fortnightly dusting programme has also continued to ensure the surfaces are firm and true come the tournament.

In a change from previous Opens held at Royal Sydney, Marsden has opened up the shed and will welcome 20 volunteers from a number of other Sydney and NSW clubs. An intern from The Ohio Program has also started on staff and Marsden is looking forward to their presence during the week.

“At the end of the day we certainly won’t leave any stone unturned to provide the best product we can,” says Marsden. “I think ultimately if the players are happy, Golf Australia is happy, but more importantly the members are happy with the way their course has played and presented, that will be the yardstick. I think I’ll know deep down whether we are truly happy with what we present.

“We as superintendents put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Our own expectations are certainly high and we are ultimately our hardest taskmaster. If we are not happy, others are generally pretty happy; if we are happy, others will be blown away.”

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16 East remains as part of the Composite Course layout with different tees to be used for both the Masters and World Cup

Royal Melbourne’s proud standing as this country’s premier tournament venue will again be confirmed this November when it hosts the 2013 Talisker Australian Masters and 2013 ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf in consecutive weeks. ATM editor Brett Robinson heads back to the 2011 Presidents Cup venue to see how course superintendent Richard Forsyth is gearing himself, his crew and the turf up for the unique challenge.

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here’s not much that Richard Forsyth hasn’t achieved in his career as a golf course superintendent. Risen to be custodian of one of the world’s most unique golf courses... tick.

Constructed and reconstructed golf courses... tick.

Hosted major international tournaments and set the bar for excellence in course presentation... tick.

Mentored and schooled his staff who have gone on to be successful superintendents in their own right... tick.

It is an envious CV the 51-year-old has compiled over a 33-year career and after November he will be able to add another notable achievement to the list – the hosting of back-to-back major international tournaments. Over what is set to be an intense fortnight, Royal Melbourne Golf Club’s (RMGC) famed Composite Course will host the 2013 Talisker Australian Masters (14-17 November) followed immediately by the 2013 ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf (21-24 November).

It’s not every day a club puts its hand up to host two major tournaments in a row, but in Royal Melbourne tournament organisers have a club, course and more importantly a superintendent and crew well drilled and equipped for the rigours ahead.

The club also has history on its side, having hosted the 1988 World Cup and Bicentennial Classic backto-back as well.

While RMGC had long known about the 2013 Masters coming this November, the first time in the tournament’s history, the arrival of the World

Australian Turfgrass Management

Cup of Golf was a little more last minute. Held for the past couple of years at Mission Hills in China, some issues there led the International Federation of PGA Tours to approach the Victorian Major Events Company and RMGC back in late March about the possibility of the event returning for a fourth time (as well as 1988 RMGC hosted the 1972 and 1959 events, the latter won by Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle). Following the successful hosting of the 2011 Presidents Cup, RMGC was an obvious choice and with the international exposure that comes with

Photos: Brett Robinson

hosting such an event, the club quickly signed on for what will be the event’s 57th staging.

Although not quite on the same scale as the Presidents Cup, the World Cup still carries with it a hefty total purse of $US8 million and will feature representatives from 34 countries, thus guaranteeing a massive worldwide television audience. Headlining the field will be 2013 Masters champion and world number two Adam Scott who will team up with Jason Day to represent Australia in what is a dream pairing for promoters.

Other big names heading down include the US pairing of defending champion Matt Kuchar (world number eight) and Bill Hass (29), Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (12), Italian Matteo Manassero (31), Swedes Jonas Blixt (36) and Peter Hanson (39), South Africans Richard Sterne (40) and Branden Grace (47), Spain’s Miguel Jiminez

(46) and Argentina’s Angel Cabrera who finished runner-up to Scott at Augusta National.

“There aren’t a lot of professional events around these days, so to do the Presidents Cup and now the World Cup, you’re always going to jump at the chance,” says Forsyth. “When it was initially discussed you certainly did think about what the issues would be having the course in tournament condition for two weeks, but we were confident that we would be able to handle it. When you think about it, I’d much rather do two tournaments back-to-back than have them a month apart where you have to try and hold everything together over an extended period.

“I love tournaments and for the staff in particular it’s great to have that stimulation of hosting major events over and above your normal course maintenance routines. We have had quite a few changes in staff since the Presidents Cup and probably around 50 per cent of the crew is new. The atmosphere around the place is very positive and we are relishing the opportunity to prepare Royal Melbourne under such unique circumstances with the two tournaments and demonstrate the dedicated professionalism of our greenkeeping team to the competitors, spectators and viewers around the world.”

Preparing for the onslaught Having hosted numerous tournaments over his career, Forsyth is well versed in what is required to get a course up for the big boys (and girls).

One tournament is usually a challenge enough but to do two together means that Forsyth’s course management nous will be called upon more than ever to ensure Royal Melbourne’s turf is in optimum condition.

The playing surfaces will have to withstand a Masters field of between 120-130 players and a World Cup field of 60, double the practice rounds, two double shotgun Pro-Ams and hordes of spectators.

Divot recovery, sufficient pin placements and the precise management of the fine cut turf to ensure the club’s principal desires of firmness and smoothness

Royal Melbourne Key Personnel Course Superintendent Richard Forsyth Assistant Superintendents Paul Thomas (West Course) John Mann (East Course) Foremen Duncan Begley (West Course) Craig Anthony (East Course) Head Turf Technician Luke Spartalis Total RMGC Staff: 35 Total Tournament Crew (including volunteers): 60

Left: Royal Melbourne’s famed turf surfaces will be put through the ultimate test this November, having to withstand a Masters field of between 120-130 players, a World Cup field of 60, double the practice rounds, two double shotgun Pro-Ams and hordes of spectators

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Divot recovery, especially on the short par fours like 1 East (Composite 11), will be a challenge and to that end the Legend couch has been given a boost in fertility in the lead-up

tournaments tournaments

Royal Melbourne Golf Club - Tournament Preparation Countdown Week 10 (2-8 September) l

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Week 3 (21-27 Oct)

Spot spray (atomiser) Poa annua on greens and fescue surrounds; Pre-emergent (Barricade) to all East fairways and 8 West fairway; Organic Booster to weak couch on fairways; Post-emergent to West fairways for Poa control (East had foramsulfuron and iodosulfuron 19/6); Hydroject greens (no wetting agent).

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Week 9 (9-15 Sept) l

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Week 2 (28 Oct-3 Nov)

Spot spray (atomiser) Poa on greens and fescue surrounds; Fertiliser to greens – sulphate of ammonia, Seasol, sulphate of potash, trichoderma; Pre-emergent (Barricade) to all West fairways and 18 East fairway.

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With back-to-back tournaments on the cards for Royal Melbourne, forward planning of course works and surface preparation has taken on even greater significance. What follows is a detailed countdown of course preparations in the 10 weeks leading up to the Talisker Masters and ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf double-header. ATM thanks Richard Forsyth for allowing publication of this information.

Week 8 (16-22 Sept) l

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Spot spray (atomiser) Poa on greens and fescue surrounds; Vertidrain wear areas on fairways; First sand topdressing to greens and fescue surrounds – calcium added to sand (overseed weak fescue including Sandringham 9th green and chipper); Topdress uneven bunker edges; Overseed fescue surround on Sandringham 9th green.

Week 7 (23-29 Sept) Spot spray (atomiser) Poa on greens and fescue surrounds; l First sand topdressing of tees; l Organic fertiliser (Seamungus) to weak fairway couch including sandy tees; l Soil Primer, Calsap and trace to greens. l Sand and seed bare spots in first cut around greens. Sand and Seamungus to bare spots in fairway first cut; l Spot spray Poa in couch in front of fescue (West only); l Bunker sand sieving.

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Spot spray (atomiser) Poa on greens and fescue surrounds; Hydroject greens and fescue surrounds with wetting agent (Aquaforce); Fungicide (Heritage and Subdue) to greens and fescue; Fill divots on Composite Course fairways; Mite spraying fairways and Legend tees.

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Week 5 (7-13 Oct) l

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Spot spray (atomiser) Poa on greens and fescue surrounds; Australian Turfgrass Management

High N liquid fertiliser to West and Composite East fairways; Follow up post-emergent herbicide to West fairways (Tribute, Destiny, Ammonium Sulphate, Activator); Second sand topdressing of greens and fescue (calcium added to sand).

Week 4 (14-20 Oct)

Week 6 (30 Sept-6 Oct) l

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Spot spray (atomiser) Poa on greens and fescue surrounds (final week to allow recovery); Fertiliser and trichoderma to greens; Spot spray broadleaf weeds in fescue and tees. Spot spray broadleaf weeds in rough including Sandringham 9th; Black Beetle insecticide (Meridian) to all fairways and tees; Fertiliser (Seamungus) and topdressing thin couch; Spot treat yellow tuft on greens (metalaxyl and fludioxonil); Granular trace to fairways and tees; Topdress renovated bunker edges; Topdress weak fairway couch with black sand; Tournament build commences; Widen fairway cuts 1 and 9 Sandringham.

Hydroject greens (no wetting agent); Wetting agent (Aquaforce) to greens and fescue; Third topdressing of sand to greens and fescue (calcium added to sand); Start brushing fairways green to tee; Move, level, sieve sand in Composite bunkers; Wetting agent to fairways if required; Liquid fertiliser (high N, iron, magnesium mix) to Composite fairways; Bunker sand sieving; Cylinder grinding of all mowers.

Week 1 (4-10 Nov) l

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Second topdressing tournament tees; Soil Primer, Calsap and trace to greens; Spot spray broadleaf weeds fescue/tees; Wetting agent (Aquaforce) to tees; Granular trace to Composite fairways; Insecticide (fipronil and beta-cyfluthrin) to greens and fescue; Fertiliser to tees, including Sandringham; Fill divots Composite fairways; Fertilise practice range Sandringham.

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Wetting agent to all cool-season bunker edges; Fungicide (Heritage and Subdue?) to greens and fescue. Fertiliser and trichoderma to greens (after fungicide); Liquid fertiliser (Fe and Mg) to Composite fairways end of week; Start hand mowing tees; Fill divots Composite fairways; Move, level, sieve sand in Composite bunkers; Liquid fertiliser with Fe and Mg to tees.

Weather depending - deep irrigation of greens with mains

Masters Week (11-17 Nov) l l

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Greens Fe and harden off Mon 11 Nov; Start up and back cut greens and fescue on Tues 12 Nov (turning boards used); Lighting towers arrive; Induction of all volunteers; Pro-Am 13 Nov (double shotgun). Final trim bunker edges; Masters starts 14 Nov. Two-tee starts Thurs/Fri.

World Cup Week (18-24 Nov) l

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Weather depending deep irrigation of greens with mains (Mon 18 Nov); Pro-Am 20 Nov (double shotgun); World Cup starts 21 Nov. One tee starts.

continued from page 15

days of tournaments. With the contours and slopes on some of the greens here it will be difficult to find 12 hole placements over a two week period without going back to areas where previous hole plugs haven’t knitted in.

“Managing staff fatigue with the extra workload of an additional tournament will be critical. The Masters will be harder due to the early two tee starts, but the World Cup will be a smaller field with single tee starts a little later in the morning. Without really promoting it we have got a full contingent of volunteers, some who are working one week, some who are working both, so that will assist our team.

Prior to the 2011 Presidents Cup, the RMGC greens were given a heavy application of iron to help mask some of the imperfections, turning them quite dark. A change in Poa control strategy and a more mature turf should mean a more natural look come this year’s tournaments

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are just the beginning. Add to that managing staff fatigue, the logistics of tournament changeovers and Melbourne’s famously unpredictable weather and it all conspires to potentially make it one of the biggest tests for Forsyth and his crew.

“It will be interesting,” sums up Forsyth when asked how he thinks it will all transpire. “We have put a lot of things in place and at this stage we are just trying to keep it low key and not burn everyone out. The key for us and something we are very conscious of is not to prepare too soon.

With two tournaments we don’t want things wearing out by the second week so at this stage we are just concentrating on our normal maintenance routines, such as controlling nutrition and water, topdressing and weed control and getting the turf in as strong and as resilient condition as possible without overdoing things.

“In an ideal world we would probably have preferred the Masters second as it is a much bigger field and there will be more wear and tear on the course. Divot recovery will be a big thing on the par three tees and landing areas in fairways, in particular the short par fours where they are hitting short irons in. Hopefully we’ll get some warmth by then and the couchgrass will be able to recover a little.

“The other issue will be finding enough pin placements. We’ve got to realistically have 10-12 pin positions with Pro-Ams, practice and the four

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“And, of course, it’s all weather dependent. If we get a couple of 40 degree days the turf and the staff will naturally come under more stress. Hopefully the weather is kind to us and the turf should stand up to it pretty well, as long as we manage it correctly.”

Maturity To reduce the wear and tear on the fescue surrounds, turning boards will be used when mowing greens throughout both tournaments

With all these considerations to factor into the build-up, Forsyth does have one major advantage to work with this time around – the turf itself. When the Presidents Cup came to town in 2011, the Suttons Mix greens, fine fescue approaches and Legend couch fairways were less than two years old following the club’s major resurfacing project. With a further two year’s maturity under the belt Forsyth says the difference is significant and he is confident of producing superior surfaces this time around.

“We are really now starting to see the benefit of all the major work that went into the resurfacing project back in 2009 and 2010,” says Forsyth. “I think we can produce much better surfaces this time around simply because the turf is more mature and

royal Rolling with it

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Royal Melbourne has been trialling two True-Surface nonvibratory pedestrian rollers to assist them in achieving smoothness on some of the more sloping greens

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irmness and smoothness first; speed is secondary. It’s a mantra that course superintendent Richard Forsyth regularly preaches and just as with the Presidents Cup the prime focus for the upcoming double header is to have Royal Melbourne’s prized Suttons Mix surfaces firm and true. But with two tournaments to get the playing surfaces up for, managing these aspects will be a lot trickier than were it just the one tournament.

“Green speed has been a big discussion point to this stage,” admits Forsyth. “From the club’s perspective we want Royal Melbourne to play as it would for the members and with the course being relatively short in a professional tournament sense, to create that interest and have any real strategy about the course we need first and foremost to have that firmness in the greens. That’s what we’ll be working on primarily – the bounciness and firmness of the greens and the approaches.

“Speed is secondary to that, but we will definitely have to control that more so in the second week, so whether we single cut only or slightly adjust the cutting heights we’ll have to wait and see. We don’t want to water excessively to control the speed because that will affect our firmness. We want to manage our speed by cutting and rolling aspects and still have that smoothness.

“We want the speed to be consistent. We want it to be a good speed, but you’re not going to see the green speeds we had for the Presidents Cup. We have got to be sensible about that. They certainly won’t be at that level for the Masters given the big field that we have to push through.

“I’m not going to put a number on it and it’s not just something you can dial in. I know we’ll

Australian Turfgrass Management

also because we as greenkeepers have two more years’ experience managing these grasses.

“Each tournament lead-up is different depending on how your turf is. Seven to eight weeks out from the Masters and we are in a far better shape than we were at the same time leading into the Presidents Cup and that’s across all our turf surfaces. We have a stronger cover of grass and a denser, finer plant which changes a lot of things.

“The turf has come through winter very well; I’m not sure why that is, whether it’s down to the maturity of the turf or how we have managed them, but it means there is less concern now to get the surfaces we are after come the tournaments.”

Forsyth admits there were plenty of learning curves surrounding the management of the surfaces in the months building up to the Presidents Cup which have helped to shape the way he has managed the turf differently this time around.

In the 2011 lead-up, he went hard with his Poa annua control regime, boom spraying the greens in the autumn prior which knocked the immature

probably be under pressure at some point from the tournament organisers not to cut, but for me that will be disappointing because you just can’t get the same smoothness and ball roll.”

Likely to assist Forsyth in the management of his greens come the tournaments are two lightweight pedestrian rollers which he has brought in from the US. Manufactured by True-Surface, the company’s NV 3x3 unit is a non-vibratory threeroller attachment weighing 30kg that fits onto the front of a greens mower, in Royal Melbourne’s case two Toro Flex 21s.

Forsyth first came across the idea of using a pedestrian greens roller when he attended last year’s US Masters and saw them in use at Augusta National Golf Club. Upon returning, Forsyth got his head turf technician Luke Spartalis to do some research and while initially looking at manufacturing their own roller head (like Augusta National had done), they came across the TrueSurface units. This past winter Forsyth has been trialling the rollers and so far they have impressed.

“In a tournament scenario, they will hopefully help us in getting the smoothness we are after without getting the excessive speed increase,” explains Forsyth. “Where our normal Tru-Turf rideon rollers might for example give us an extra foot, these rollers will only give us an increase of six inches.

“We’ve been working with them over the winter and spring to assess which way we go. It may be a case that where we have some very sloping greens, such as 6 West, and still want to be able to achieve the desired smoothness, we can use these pedestrian rollers without accelerating the speed too much.”

With the contours and slopes on some of Royal’s greens, finding 12 pin placements over a two week period without going back to the same areas will be a challenge

Countdown begins As the tournament preparation schedule on page 16 demonstrates, a significant amount of work has already gone into getting the Composite Course ready for this November’s double-header. As you

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Suttons Mix around to the point where it struggled to come back strongly in time for the tournament. As a result, the crew were still plugging areas of greens in the week before the tournament, while a heavy application of iron, magnesium and manganese was made as late as the Monday of the tournament which gave the greens a much darker appearance to help mask some of the scarring and imperfections.

This time around Forsyth has modified his Poa annua control regime to ensure the turf came out of winter a lot healthier. Instead of boom spraying the greens, he now has crew members spot spraying Poa plants with atomisers round the clock (see the tournament schedule countdown on page 16), while the greens have also received more nutrition in the autumn.

The fescue surrounds, such an integral part of the strategy of the course, have also been worked on very closely. Since converting the approaches and surrounds to fescue as part of the resurfacing programme, the desire has always been to have them as firm as the greens to create interest in how players approach their shots into the greens.

To achieve that Forsyth has continued with a lean fertility approach to keep the fescue wiry and hungry, something it responds well to, as well as dusting regularly and controlling the amount of water. Being the perfectionist he is, Forsyth says the firmness of the fescue isn’t quite there yet, but they are getting closer to parity as time goes on.

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The bounciness and firmness of Royal’s fescue surrounds is still a work in progress with Forsyth continuing a lean fertility approach

would expect no stone has been left unturned to ensure the turf is resilient enough to withstand a fortnight of intense exposure.

As for the tournaments themselves, Forsyth doesn’t envisage too much changing and while the

way he rosters his staff may differ in terms of lengths of shifts, the daily preparations before and after rounds won’t differ greatly.

“Our whole philosophy with the grasses at Royal Melbourne is not to over-manage them,” explains Forsyth. “You see in the US tournaments they are double cutting and rolling morning and night. At most we would probably do an up and back cut in the morning every day of the event and perhaps a roll which is normal for us.

“We don’t have a grass that will withstand a lot of wear and tear, so we minimise the inputs from that respect and not try to wear it out by overdoing the cutting and rolling. Rather, our goal is to get the desired firmness, smoothness and speed by managing our inputs in terms of nutrition, irrigation and topdressing.

“In terms of the turf, aside from the divots, it really comes down to the greens and the surrounds and being careful that we don’t overdo things and

Suring up supplies

W

The larger of the two new dams located between 3 and 6 West which have been constructed this past winter at Royal Melbourne.

The new dams give the club an extra 22ML of above ground storage

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hile hosting back-to-back tournaments and getting the course prepared for November’s onslaught have been a central focus, one other major project has required the attention of superintendent Richard Forsyth and staff this past winter.

As has been well documented in past editions of Australian Turfgrass Management Journal, Royal Melbourne Golf Club has invested significantly in water management infrastructure since 2008 when the impacts of the drought came to a head. Along with the construction of a 37.5 megalitre storage dam, the club installed extensive stormwater harvesting and water treatment systems to the tune of more than $2.2million.

Despite significantly improving its ability to capture and store water, the club found it was still falling short during the high demand JanuaryFebruary period, so plans were devised to further increase the course’s above-ground storage capacity.

The location chosen was between 3 West and 6 West and from early May through until late September two dams totalling 22ML have been carved out and fully integrated into the existing course irrigation network.

Australian Turfgrass Management

“If you look at other sandbelt clubs most have storages up around 40ML for one course,” says Forsyth. “We saw ourselves a fair bit short of that, so the idea was to build another dam as big as we could get it in the biggest space left on the property.

We now have around the 60ML mark in terms of total storage which will give us a much greater buffer going into summer.

“In July we had to turn our harvesting system off because the existing dam was full. The new dams were finished mid-September so we started pumping into them straight away. We then got about 25-30mm of rain and harvested another 3-4ML of water which we wouldn’t have been able to store before the new dams were in place. We now have some great flexibility and will be much better placed, if not this summer, certainly next summer when they are full.”

One of the major spin offs of the dam construction has been the stockpiling of almost 15000m3 of sandbelt gold – Royal Melbourne’s native sand.

As you drive into the RMGC maintenance facility, a mountain of sand (Forsyth estimates it would amount to $750,000 worth) resides at the end of the practice fairway, fully sieved and ready for future use on the course. The stockpile contains two types of sand – Royal’s grey topsoil material which will be used for topdressing greens and in bunkers and a browner material which will be used to topdress fairways and in other construction works.

“For me that was a huge part of the dam project and I certainly didn’t want to see any of that material taken off site,” says Forsyth. “It is very hard to buy sand of that quality which matches what we have got here, so I was adamant that we keep it.

Obviously the members aren’t too happy about the location but we had nowhere else to put it and it will be invaluable to us in years to come.”

On the Monday between tournaments, depending on the weather, the greens will likely receive a heavy irrigation to get some moisture back into the profile before drying down for the World Cup

having the turf in the right condition in terms of its nutrition and moisture. Our management of them may be slightly different that first week given that we have to get them up again for the second week.

For instance we will be using turning boards like we did during the Presidents Cup to keep the fescue from stressing out in those high traffic areas. Maybe getting into the second week we will have to control the speed a bit more and I’m sure that will be a topic of discussion we’ll have a few times.

“At this stage, on the Monday after the Masters, depending on the weather, we will probably give the greens a heavy irrigation to get some moisture back into the profile so we can then dry them down further into the second week. We’ll treat that Monday more as a rest day, but we’ll also have a look at our colour and disease situation and put out any applications we deem necessary. Then we start all over again.

The only big change will be that there won’t be too many celebratory beers after the Masters!”

After playing as Composite 16 during the Presidents Cup, 18 East returns to its traditional spot as Composite 18

Composite combinations

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oyal Melbourne’s famed Composite Course layout has its origins at the World Cup. Back in 1959 when the club hosted what was then The Canada Cup, in order to avoid the players having to cross busy roads, 12 holes of the West Course and six from the East Course, all in the ‘main paddock’, were chosen to hold the tournament over which subsequently become the Composite layout.

Over the years the Composite Course has had varying configurations and at the 2011 Presidents Cup the par three 16 East (see main photo page 14) replaced the traditional 4 East par three as Composite 14. That 2011 routing will remain for the upcoming Masters and World Cup of Golf events, however, different tees will be used. A new 16 East tee ground, constructed specially for the

Presidents Cup, will be used for the World Cup, while the traditional members tee will be utilised for the Masters.

With both November events being strokeplay, the finishing holes will also revert to their usual routing. 18 East was used as Composite 16 for the Presidents Cup because of the matchplay format, but will return as Composite 18 with 2 West and 1 West becoming Composite 16 and 17 respectively.

Although originally not going to be used when it was just the Masters being held, when the World Cup was announced the adjacent Sandringham Golf Links, which Royal Melbourne currently has the lease on, quickly figured again in the equation.

As was the case with the Presidents Cup, Sandringham (course superintendent

Andrew Wells) will house the practice facilities for both of this year’s tournaments. The front nine holes will be closed during the tournament period with Sandringham’s 9th green becoming a practice chipping and bunker green with holes 1 and 9 used for the practice fairway and the remaining holes for car parking. That will free up the RMGC practice fairway for the television compound and tournament amenities.

As an interesting aside, at the same time as the tournaments are scheduled to run, Bayside City Council will be reviewing expressions of interest for the lease of operation and management of Sandringham Golf Links. The council has put up a 15 year term with an option for a further five years, with Royal Melbourne putting in a proposal to extend their involvement.

Australian Turfgrass Management

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greens greens

New look for Old Its violent routing,

dramatic green complexes and unrivalled location make The National’s Old Course unlike any other in Australia. Untouched for more than 20 years, over the past two winters the course’s famed greens have been completely resurfaced with Mackenzie bentgrass. Course manager Leigh Yanner looks back at a project some six years in the making.

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he greens on The National Golf Club’s Old Course are not your normal run-of-the-mill greens. The sizes of some are colossal with dramatic contouring to match. The course’s 10th/14th double green for instance measures 3500m2 while the iconic par three 7th green (pictured above) which overlooks Bass Strait is 1200m2 alone. Add to this the location of the greens and the undulating terrain through which the course is routed means many of the sites are inaccessible to heavy machinery.

When I was asked in a course committee meeting early into my tenure as course manager at The National how I would go about resurfacing the Old Course greens, I quickly had to gather my thoughts and recollect the many greens resurfacing projects I had been involved in during my career to come up with a suitable answer.

Such a project had a raft of challenges to overcome from the very beginning and given the importance of the course to the club and members everything had to be planned to the nth degree as there was simply no room for error.

Why did we need to resurface? At 20-plus years of age the Old Course’s Penncross bentgrass greens had reached a stage where Poa annua had started to dominate the surface which was producing inconsistent putting greens. Underneath the playing surface there was a considerable layer of thatch sitting on top of a pure sand sub-surface.

Because of the moisture in the thatch, this is where the root system was happily growing. Also vast areas of the greens had quite severe black layer.

Australian Turfgrass Management

To correct many of these problems would have taken years of ongoing disruption to the course through regular spraying for Poa and aggressive renovations. The obvious solution was to reconstruct.

Plan of attack A project of this size involves a vast array of people and takes many months of planning. Items such as the time of year the works will be undertaken and the impact of such a large project, what type of bentgrass variety to use and the method of resurfacing, all need to be determined before work can start.

Ultimately we had to come up with a method of resurfacing that was going to cause the least disruption to the golfing calendar and revenue sources, such as corporate days. I also had to provide the club with reassurances that the project would be completed on time and on budget.

It was decided that the works would have to be undertaken during winter, meaning the only option was to turf the greens rather than being faced with the uncertainties that come with seeding.

From a construction and turf growing point of view winter was the worst time of year to undertake any resurfacing works, so that was the first hurdle we had to overcome.

Once it was decided that the works were to be undertaken during winter, extensive trials were set up to investigate the most suitable grass variety to use and the best method of resurfacing that would allow us to perform the resurfacing project in the harshest of winters without too many problems.

Staged over the winters of 2012 and 2013, the greens resurfacing project on The National Golf Club’s celebrated Old Course was finally completed and the full 18-hole course reopened in September 2013 This project was also going to be a huge team effort. It involved every manager and staff member in the course maintenance department to work together and utilise all their combined skills to accomplish a project of this type. Most of the work was going to be done in-house which meant that prior to the start of the project we had to undertake many hours of staff training on the heavy machinery to be used.

I was very fortunate to have the support of the club’s general manger Jon Gahan and two very experienced course superintendents – Scott Calder (The Old Course) and Darren Balfour (Ocean and Moonah courses). Along with the assistant superintendents, we were able to overcome every challenge that was put in front of us.

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We had good control of weeds with Basamid; and Mackenzie was the best performing bentgrass.

The National course manager Leigh Yanner (right) and Robert Trent Jones II chief design officer Bruce Charlton discuss changes to the 3rd green during his July 2013 visit

The existing greens surfaces were initially sod cut at a depth of 50mm to remove the thatch later and then the entire green was cut again to expose the clean sand bases

A lot of the resurfacing concepts and grass varieties that I had imagined we would use needed to be tested and modified accordingly, so it was important to conduct a number of on-course trials before starting the project.

Even today, with the project now complete, we are still reviewing these trial sites because they are older and more mature and give us an idea on how the new greens will continue to develop over the next few years. Of particular benefit is that we can trial chemicals and get an insight into what diseases we might experience in the future.

The first trial, undertaken in 2008, was to establish different varieties of bentgrass on the spare practice putter located next to the old clubhouse. A Australian Turfgrass Management

23

s

Doing the homework

number of the new bentgrasses had just come onto the market so it was imperative to see how they would cope in our high pH soils and under our unique climatic conditions.

After plenty of reading and research into the new varieties, the trial site was sown with plots of Tyee, 007, Mackenzie, Authority and a mix of Tyee and 007. Penn A1, which is used on the Ocean Course greens, was included as the benchmark variety. Part of this trial also involved seeing whether we could resurface the green without removing the thatch which would save us a lot of time and ensure that the contours would not change.

To prepare the seed bed for germination the green was double cored and scarified in a couple of directions before fumigating with Basamid. Twenty one days later each plot was hydroseeded with the chosen bentgrass varieties. Results from this first trial indicated that: l The bentgrasses established well with this method; l Poa annua also re-established in among the bentgrass sward; l Tyee was susceptible to fusarium in our high pH soils; l Thatch was still going to be an issue and would require ongoing renovations; and l Basamid did not control the underlying Poa annua seedbank From this work, a second trial was set up in July 2008 on our residents’ chipping green. For this trial we removed all the thatch and brought in new sand before fumigating with Basamid. To reconstruct the existing contours we set up pegs indicating the sand level heights and following fumigation the different grass varieties were all hydroseeded in individual plots during August. Results from this trial showed: l Establishment was very slow and seed was washed away after heavy rain; l Re-establishing the levels was time consuming; l The amount of sand we had to import to re-establish the contours was going to be a very expensive and time-consuming process;

greens

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greens

In order to keep the existing contours, each green was surveyed at 500mm intervals. This information was then converted into a CAD format and uploaded onto the UTS system fitted to a machine-controlled scoop pulled by a bunker rake

With Mackenzie firming as the variety of choice, a third trial was initiated to investigate its wear tolerance. We were able to sow one of the pitching greens on the new practice fairway and results showed that the Mackenzie was able to withstand the wear from golfers walking on the green as well as the constant hammering of golf balls.

The fourth and final trial was to undertake a full reconstruction of the 6th green on The Old Course.

Carried out over the winter of 2011, this not only gave the staff a taste of the resurfacing process that would occur but also showed the members (and reassured them) that the project would be a success. Importantly, this trial showed that: l The UTS (Trimble Universal Total Stations) laser grader worked extremely well recreating the original contours; l

l

l

Minimal sand would be required to be imported to regain the contours; The greens would be out of play for three months and gave a clear indication as to how long it would take to turf each green; and The members were very pleased with the quality of the turf.

Greens Nursery

A hand sketch by Bruce Charlton of the changes proposed to the Old Course’s 3rd green which is pictured top being shaped in July 24

Australian Turfgrass Management

With the homework completed and a full understanding of what was ahead, the first and most critical part of the project was to build two new nursery greens that between them could produce 1.5 hectares of turf each year. It was of paramount importance that we grow enough turf to complete the project, but at the same time have enough backup turf in case of a mishap.

The turf nurseries were constructed with yellow dune sand, the same sand that The Old Course greens were originally constructed with.

The nurseries took eight weeks to construct and in September 2011 and December 2012 they were hydroseeded with Mackenzie at a rate of 75kg per hectare.

One of the main hurdles when trying to grow a bentgrass nursery of this size is controlling damping off and other pythium related diseases. To each hydroseed tank we added Signature fungicide and Trichoflow which gave us about 30 days protection before applying Banol fungicide. Both greens nurseries were treated exactly the same as any new green. They received regular fungicide applications, with routine applications of wetting agent and insecticide.

About three weeks after seeding the first cut was made at 10mm and by three months they were being maintained at 3mm. I think the key to successfully turfing greens is to have a nursery that is maintained exactly the same as a putting green.

Keeping contours A clear direction from the course committee from the very beginning was that every effort be made to make sure that the contours of the Robert Trent Jones Jnr greens and their philosophy would not change during the resurfacing process.

To ensure this we chose to use the latest in surveying and CAD systems. Each green was surveyed in 500mm intervals, which meant that we had very precise information. This information was then converted into a CAD format and uploaded onto the UTS system fitted to a machine-controlled scoop pulled by a bunker rake. The UTS system is used in road construction and is normally fitted to bulldozers and graders, but McMahons have engineered the system so it can be used to build golf greens.

The old style of reconstructing the contours of greens, and also a very accurate method, is to set up grids with pegs and have marks on the pegs to indicate the finished levels, but it is very time consuming. The advantage of the UTS system is that it is very quick to establish the contours and you don’t have the hassle of working in among the height pegs. The UTS certainly made our life easy!

Gradual transformation

tackled in 2013. Along with the greens resurfacing we also upgraded numerous bunkers, cart paths and green surrounds (Santa Ana couchgrass sod oversown with fine fescue was used).

All greens were, effectively, lowered in height to the original seeding heights. The reason for doing this was the cost and also the difficulties and associated damage with bringing sand in. This

McMahons shaper Jared Liddy roughs in the lower tier of the 3rd green with Leigh Yanner, Bruce Charlton, Scott Calder and club general manager Jon Gahan looking on

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With the successful conversion of the 6th green complete, it was planned to resurface the remaining

17 greens in two stages over the winters of 2012 and 2013. The first group of holes to be resurfaced were greens 7-14 (which included the double green as mentioned earlier) in 2012 with holes 1-5 and 15-18

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Above: Old Course superintendent Scott Calder (foreground) assists in laying turf on the 17th green.

At any one time around 20 staff would be laying turf during the project Above right: Anco was contracted to harvest the Mackenzie bentgrass in 20mm thick, one square metre rolls

Right: The 10th/14th double green needed 3500m2 of sod alone

would have doubled the time taken to complete each green and substantially increased the cost.

We had beautiful sand bases which the greens were originally constructed with. The depth of the thatch varied from 100mm to 120mm depending on the location of the green. The only concerns we had with lowering the heights of the greens was the ability to tie in the existing bunkers and surrounds contours which all had to be done by eye.

So how did we go about it? What follows is a step by step account of the resurfacing process undertaken on each green.

Step 1 – Thatch removal: The first step was to remove the thatch and expose the sand base. The thatch was sod cut at a depth of 50mm and then removed, from the green. Once the first layer of thatch had been removed the entire green was cut again to the depth that would expose the sand.

The thatch was then removed exposing the lovely clean sand. In the areas where couch was evident, we dug down deeper making sure all the rhizomes and stolons were removed. These areas were then backfilled with fresh sand and wheel rolled.

Two five tonne excavators and four tractors and trailers were needed to remove all the thatch. After it was removed, irrigation pipe depth was checked and areas that required lowering were dug up by hand and then lowered.

Below: The Mackenzie bentgrass showing strong root growth after just three weeks

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Australian Turfgrass Management

Step 2 – Fumigation: Dynamic Lifter pellets were evenly spread over the entire surface and rotary hoed in to a depth of 140mm and then wheel rolled. The next step was to then apply a fumigant (Basamid) over entire green site, including the green surrounds. The entire area was then rotary hoed and wheel rolled. Water was routinely applied for 21 days activating the fumigant and also helping to compact the green profile.

Step 3 – Shaping begins: The green was wheel rolled again making sure the profile was compacted to ensure no further sinkage would occur. Then the shaping process began with the McMahons machine control scoop. After the green shape was roughed in, the green was wheel rolled again and watered heavily overnight to compact the green profile. The following morning the machine control scoop made the final trim. On average each green would take two-and-a-half days to get to this stage.

Although, as mentioned, we were at pains not to change the contouring of the greens during the resurfacing project, we did take the opportunity on a couple of greens to make small alterations to improve pin positions and playability.

During the 2011 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, Robert Trent Jones Jnr visited The National and we were able to discuss with him some of the changes we wanted to make. With his approval we went ahead and made small alterations to the 8th and 10th greens to improve what were essentially a couple of borderline pin placements.

The most significant change, however, came to the green on the imposing uphill par four 3rd.

As well as the changes to the 3rd, minor contouring changes were made on the 8th (pictured) and 10th greens to improve pin placements

Step 5 – Turf harvesting: One of the biggest challenges was to harvest and transport the turf through the course. From designated drop off points around the course, turf would be loaded onto trailers being towed by tractors and taken to the greens sites.

The harvesting of the turf was extremely important as the turf had to have a consistent thickness. Bentgrass, being maintained with very little thatch and grown on a pure free-draining sand profile, isn’t the easiest grass to harvest. For this job we contracted Anco and their skill in harvesting the turf was priceless. Each sod was cut one square metre in size and at a thickness of 20mm and rolled.

Each sod weighed between 10kg-12kg depending on the amount of rain that fell the night before harvesting.

Step 6 – Laying the turf: During the many greens turfing projects I have been involved in I have laid the

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This would be the last green to be worked on and to ensure the changes met with the original design intent, Bruce Charlton, president and chief design officer of Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects, visited The National in late July 2013 to witness the final shaping of the green.

Rated the No.1 stroke hole on the course, the 3rd green had become overly penal and so to improve playability the front of the green was raised slightly to prevent balls running off the putting surface and back down the heavily sloping approach, while the left-hand tier was also lowered – see Charlton’s hand sketch bottom of page 22 showing the raised (in blue) and lowered (in red) areas.

Step 4 – Smooth finish: The green was hand screeded in two directions making sure any imperfections were smoothed out. The green and surrounds were then smoothed with a heavy mat giving us a nice smooth surface to lay the turf onto.

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Australian Turfgrass Management

27

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The 17th green freshly laid

Below: As well as the greens resurfacing the project enabled the opportunity upgraded numerous bunkers, cart paths and green surrounds Below right: The greens surrounds comprise Santa Ana couchgrass oversown with fine fescue

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greens a few different ways, but all of them involved hand tampering the turf into position, making sure it was nice and tight and smooth. Unfortunately the size and the number of greens that needed to be laid made this method too time-consuming.

When we laid the 6th green, we found that the end result of laying turf without the use of hand tampers was not too different. The key was to make sure that the turf was laid tight and with care. One of the biggest assets we have available to us at The National is the movement of personnel between the courses. This allowed us to have about 20 staff laying turf at any one time and ensure it was laid efficiently while still maintaining quality.

The direction the turf was laid was dependent on the green site. The first run of turf was laid down the middle of the green, effectively splitting the green in two. This allowed us to have two groups of staff working on the same green, each group working away from the middle. Due of the sizes of some the greens we were forced to lay boards on the green so we could drive the front end loader over the edge of the green to drop off the pallets of turf. Once the turf laying on the green was completed, it received a heavy hand watering and a light application of Turf Starter fertiliser.

Australian Turfgrass Management

Step 7 – Taking root: Through our trial work we discovered that the Mackenzie bentgrass was able to grow strong roots during winter. Two weeks after going down, the new turf had taken root enough for the greens to be rolled with a smooth roller.

The greens were then topdressed with sand before cutting. This allowed for the most sand to be applied without smothering the leaf. It is a fine balance and if you put too much sand on it can be detrimental to the young, immature turf.

To apply the sand we used a Toro Workman fitted with Dakota topdressing unit and topdressed greens while travelling in reverse. This meant the wheels would drive on the sand preventing the machine from leaving wheel indentations in the turf.

Mowing the turf for the first time took place approximately a week after the topdressing at a height of 6mm. Each week the height was dropped 1mm to the opening height of 4mm on the second weekend in September.

Team effort Six years after the initial resurfacing discussions began all the greens on The Old Course have now been resurfaced and the full 18 holes were finally back in play September 2013.

All the hard work from many individuals involved has paid off and it is very pleasing to receive the accolades from our members and also from people within the industry. It is also very gratifying to see the end result and all staff and contractors involved in the project should be very proud of what has been achieved.

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1310044

construction construction

Plenty of planning went into the construction of the new Gardiners Run maintenance facility to ensure that it meets the new course’s needs now and well into the future

In Volume 15.5, Alan

Core components

Greatorex outlined the development of Gardiners Run Golf Course, soon to be the new home of the Chirnside Park Country Club. Following on from that article and in the lead-up to the scheduled opening in autumn 2014, he takes a closer look at some of the key components of a new golf course construction.

This edition looks at the maintenance facility and irrigation system.

Class B recycled water from the adjoining Lilydale Waste Water Treatment Plant is stored on site in two 1ML lined steel tanks adjacent to the maintenance facility

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he new Gardiners Run Golf Course is rapidly closing in on final completion with opening scheduled for April 2014. Located on a 67.5 hectare site on the north-eastern outskirts of Melbourne, the 18-hole Pacific Coast Design course will become the new home of the Chirnside Park Country Club.

As outlined in the last edition of Australian Turfgrass Management (On the Run, Vol. 15.5, p12-16), it is an exciting time not only for the club’s members, who have had to wait a long time for the development to come to fruition, but also for the course management staff. Having dealt with an existing course that had become increasingly difficult to manage, the opportunity to move to a new course with state-of-the-art amenities and infrastructure is tantamount to being the proverbial kid in a candy store.

As any superintendent who has been involved with the construction of a new golf course will attest, there are numerous challenges and considerations right from the very early days of planning through to the actual on-ground works. While design and playability are an obvious focus for the all, especially the members, some of the most critical aspects from

Australian Turfgrass Management

a course management perspective are a little more ‘industrial’ in nature.

Perhaps the most significant of these are the maintenance facility and irrigation system. While the maintenance facility is often considered the ‘nerve centre’ of golf course maintenance operations, the irrigation system, to use another anatomical comparison, is the cardiovascular system, delivering the golf course’s most vital resource – water.

To ensure that the infrastructure met the new course’s needs now and into the future, considerable planning went into the construction of the maintenance facility and installation of the irrigation system. What follows is a more detailed look at these critical areas of the new Gardiners Run complex and over the next few editions we will also look at tee, fairway, bunker and greens construction, grow-in and final completion.

Irrigation Course architects Pacific Coast Design engaged the services of David Hanby from Hydro Pumping and Controls to design and write up specifications for the new irrigation system and pump station. The design intent and parameters set out in the specification included the following system performance maximum applications: l Greens: 50mm per week; l Tees: 35mm per week; and l Fairways and primary rough: 25mm per week. l Maximum total flow is to be delivered in an 8.5 hour watering window with average flows available in a 6.5 hour watering window.

The water supply is Class B recycled water from the adjoining Lilydale Waste Water Treatment Plant.

The water is stored on site in two one megalitre lined steel tanks adjacent to the maintenance facility complex. An interesting aspect of the tank construction process was that the top section of the

The nerve centre Location, location, location... the three golden rules of real estate. Central location with easy access to the front and back nine loops, slightly elevated giving panoramic views of the new golf course... sounds great, but that’s where the clubhouse has been built! The ‘sheds’ are ‘down the back, over there’.

While every endeavour was made to conveniently locate the new maintenance facility, the inevitable restrictions of available space, property boundaries, adjoining neighbours, access to power, water, sewage and communication cabling meant there was always going to be a compromise.

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tanks were built first with a series of hydraulic jacks around the perimeter lifting the entire tank up as each new section was added underneath.

The pump station consists of three 33kW CMG vertical variable frequency drive pumps capable of delivering 1.5 to 75 litres per second and a small 7.5kW jockey pump. The automatic operation of the pump station is by constant pressure monitoring and as demand for water occurs in the system, the system responds by starting the first pump on the variable frequency drive.

As this demand increases and the first pump has reached full speed, the second pump is started while simultaneously the first pump is ramped down to ensure that the pressure variations are kept to a minimum. As demand increases further, the first pump ramps up until it is again running at full speed then the third pump is started as the first pump ramps down and the process repeats itself until all available pumps have been started, depending on system water demands. The shutdown procedure is a reversal of the start-up procedure.

There is an automatic sequence change to reduce the number of starts per hour of each pump with the system alternating the sequence of the pumps used each time the system fires up. The pump station is also fitted with a stainless steel self-flushing automatic filter and a dosing system capable of injecting 60 litres per hour.

All of this is operated by a Toro Lynx central control system which interfaces with the Toro Network VP satellites via a communication cable.

Toro P220 Series solenoid valves with all valvein-head 835/855 Series golf sprinklers have been used across the site (a total of 850 heads). The greens have back-to-back heads so surrounds can be watered separately from the greens, while the fairways are head-to-head in a triangular spacing pattern.

Remote access and Toro’s National Support Network (NSN) will allow for flexibility and detailed management of water application which is needed when using recycled water with restrictions on re-entry periods for golfers and staff.

A well-designed, quality system is only as good as the installation itself and this is where Densal and A&M Watering (Brendan Graham) need to be congratulated on co-ordinating a job well done.

Irrigation and drainage installation, bulk earthworks, feature construction and topsoil/sand placement all happening concurrently can be a recipe for disaster if it is not managed well, but in this instance any damage to already installed pipework and features was kept to a minimum.

Design, installation and implementation of an irrigation system on a newly constructed golf course can be very difficult. You almost need two separate systems due to the varying watering requirements – one for the grow-in stage and then a system for once the course is established. Obviously this is not feasible, so a system that can offer the greatest flexibility and efficiency to be very specific with the application of water will assist in those early years of a new golf course.

The pump system comprises three 33kW VFD CMG units (top) and is also fitted with a stainless steel self-flushing automatic filter and dosing system (bottom) Australian Turfgrass Management

31

construction s

construction

Above: The new maintenance facility has a dedicated area for electric golf carts. With its own drive in/drive out access points, there is also a separate pedestrian entrance and security system so that Pro Shop staff don’t have to access the main shed Top right: The Gardiners Run shed measures 55m x 19m. Internal lockable cages have been installed for small engine machinery storage

The shed includes separate fertiliser and chemical storage facilities and an undercover machinery washbay

At Gardiners Run the maintenance facility and irrigation holding tanks are located on the main driveway into the new course and form quite an impressive sight as views of the new course unfold before you. It will take a few years for the landscaping and tree planting to mature and lessen the visual impact, but until then it’s like driving into a Bunnings warehouse!

JW Buildings Victoria was engaged to construct the new maintenance facility and was chosen due to its extensive experience at nearby Yering Meadows Golf Club as well as other installations at Kew Golf Club, Metropolitan Golf Club and Moonah Links.

The club is confident that it now has a top class facility that will last it well into the future.

An important aspect before construction had even begun was the conscious decision to build a facility large enough so that it wouldn’t require any additions in the future. With their past experience in the golf industry, JW Buildings, in particular David Reid, was very helpful in guiding the club through all the WHS, environmental and building regulation requirements.

As well as housing course machinery, the new facility is also home to 20-plus motorised electric golf carts with the capacity for overnight charging. To accommodate this, an area between the washdown bay/chemical storage facility and the main part of the shed has been sectioned off with its own drive in/drive out access points and overhead racks for chargers (see photo top). There is a separate pedestrian entrance and security system to this part of the shed so that Pro Shop staff do not have

to access the main part of the maintenance facility on weekends or when finishing late. There is also a convenient external air and battery fill up point.

In the main part of the shed, the office, lunchroom, locker rooms and drying room have been constructed allowing for a mezzanine level for extra storage space. An access gate in the handrail allows for a forklift to conveniently lift loads up to this level. Internal lockable cages have been installed for small engine machinery storage, while a dedicated section for mechanical repairs has been incorporated with a four post hydraulic hoist and adequate work bench space.

The Gardiners Run ‘shed’ measures 55m x 19m and is just over 1000 square metres in area. This includes a separate fertiliser and chemical storage facility and an undercover washbay with overhead spray tank fill points and triple interceptor pits and tanks for waste water discharge. Fuel storage is a 4000 litre Convault split tank (1000l unleaded/3000l diesel) above ground system.

The shed has a 3m concrete apron around it with surrounding areas asphalted for staff car park and an allowance for future construction of soil bin storage. The irrigation pump station and water storage tanks are all situated alongside the facility which once again required the co-operation and co-ordination of the irrigation and golf course construction teams.

I don’t think you will ever get it 100 per cent right when building a new shed, but it certainly is fun trying. Hopefully what we have constructed will serve Gardiners Run for many years to come and provide a modern and efficient working environment for course maintenance staff.

Editors Note: Although originally published in 2006, Volumes 8.2 (April-May 2006) and 8.3 (June-July 2006) of Australian Turfgrass Management carried a series of articles focussing on the construction of golf course maintenance facilities.

As well as presenting case studies from courses across the country and looking in detail at specific areas such as washdown bays and chemical storage facilities, the articles also included some handy hints from those superintendents who had been through the process (see ‘Shedding light - Super advice from those in the know’, ATM Vol 8.3 p16).

The maintenance facility has a 3m concrete apron with surrounding areas asphalted for staff car park and an allowance for the future construction of soil bins 32

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john neylan john neylan

On a

roll Following Dr Thom Nikolai’s recent talks on

green speed at the Twin Waters conference, ATM columnist John Neylan reviews some of the earlier research undertaken in Australia on the effects of mowing height and rolling on green speed and turf quality.

Above: Rolling is highly beneficial in achieving greater green speeds with less stress on the turf. The effects of rolling will last for a day’s play and field observations indicate that it will last for up to two days 34

A

t the 29th Australian Turfgrass Conference keynote presenter Dr Thom Nikolai enthralled the audience with the findings of his research on managing green speed and in particular the use of lightweight rollers and their benefits.

His research highlighted the agronomic benefits of mowing less and rolling more while maintaining and in some cases increasing green speed. The research has demonstrated the side benefits of rolling including reduced disease (dollar spot), less moss, fewer broadleaf weeds and less localised dry patch. These benefits are essentially based on that a healthier and denser turf is less susceptible to these maladies.

It was while reflecting on Dr Nikolai’s research and reading several of his papers that I recalled the work that Michael Robinson (Sportsturf Consultants) and I conducted on the effects of mowing height and rolling on green speed and turf quality (HAL Report TU202) back in 1996. At that time Michael and I were working with Turfgrass Technology and with funding from the Victorian Golf Course Superintendents Association and Horticulture Australia, a research project was established at Royal Melbourne Golf Club examining the effects of mowing height, rolling and bentgrass cultivar on green speed. In light of Dr Nikolai’s work it is an opportune time to revisit this early work as the outcomes are still very relevant today.

RMGC Trial The effect of mowing height (2mm, 3mm and 4mm), rolling and wear on the green speed and agronomic characteristics of five bentgrass varieties (Agrostis capillaris var. Egmont, A. stolonifera var. Cobra, Penncross and SR-1020 and Royal Melbourne’s Suttons Mix) was investigated. The bentgrass

Australian Turfgrass Management

varieties are old ones compared to those available today, however, they represented a cross section of capillaris and stoloniferous bentgrasses and their reaction to different management practices.

The trial also examined the effects of different nitrogen application rates (0.8 and 1.5 kg/100m2) and the effects of wear/spiking using an 80kg wear machine fitted with golf spikes. The wear machine simulated about 135 rounds of golf.

In examining the cultivar effect, the stoloniferous types exhibited greater green speed across all treatments when compared to the capillaris types.

The difference was due to the more upright growth habit of the capillaris types which creates greater friction on the ball.

In the bentgrass trials undertaken by Neylan and Peart (2005) and Peart and Geary (2012) they demonstrated that at different times of the year different cultivars can have superior green speed, however, the differences are inconsistent.

Take home message No.1: Cultivar selection will not have a direct effect on green speed but is more related to how the cultivar is managed.

Therefore, select a cultivar that is best suited to your environment and not based on a perceived image that it produces ‘faster’ surfaces.

As may be expected green speed was fastest at lower mowing heights on all bentgrass varieties, however, with the stoloniferous bentgrasses the increased green speed was at the expense of turf

quality. Reducing the cutting height from 3mm to 2mm resulted in an increase in green speed of 0.18m across all cultivars.

Based on Dr Nikolaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s measure that any difference in green speed less than 0.1 metres (4 inches) is not detectable by the golfer, the improvement in green speed is difficult to justify, particularly as it affects the agronomic characteristics. Interestingly, the greatest change occurred when the cutting height was reduced from 4mm to 3mm with an increase in green speed of 0.43m (17 inches). This change in green speed would be noticeable by the golfer.

Take home message No.2: Before lowering the cutting height to less than 3mm, trial the different cutting heights on a practice putter and MEASURE the differences. If they are less than 0.1 metre, do not reduce the cutting height.

Research by Dr Thom Nikolai has highlighted the many side benefits of rolling including reduced disease (dollar spot), less moss, fewer broadleaf weeds and less localised dry patch

Take home message No. 3: Rolling is highly beneficial in achieving greater green speeds with less stress on the turf.

Do not compromise turf health and condition through excessive low mowing

Australian Turfgrass Management

35

s

Rolling significantly increased green speed (0.3m to 0.5m) irrespective of the bentgrass cultivar and especially at the higher height of cut. The effects of rolling were consistent across all months and seasons and if we use 0.1m as the minimum perceivable difference, the results are significant from a practical point of view.

There were significant interactions between cutting height and rolling and the research demonstrated that by lifting the height and incorporating rolling, a similar green speed could be achieved compared to the lower height of cut only.

The data established that at a 3mm cutting height with rolling, the green speed was equal to or faster than at a 2mm height without rolling.

The effect of the rolling/variety interaction was not significant as they all reacted to rolling similarly.

It is interesting to compare these results with those of Dr Nikolai where he has shown that maintaining the bentgrass at a 4mm cutting height and rolling every day achieved or surpassed the green speed of bentgrass cut at 3.1mm. The other benefit was the increase in turf health and quality.

john neylan john neylan

Be careful in creating greater stress on the turf and jeopardising turf condition in the chase for faster greens

height of cut was at 2mm, the stoloniferous cultivars exhibited low turf density, poor surface quality and a lack of recovery and there was an increase in moss and algae invasion.

Turf density improved considerably as the height of cut was lifted from 2 to 3mm and was more noticeable compared to going from 3mm-4mm. This effect was most conspicuous with the stoloniferous cultivars.

Take home message No.5:

s

Turf health is a centre point for producing high quality putting surfaces and should not be compromised in the search for a perceived increase in green speed. Remember that the golfer is unlikely to recognise an increase in green speed of 0.1 metre or less.

Wear had little effect on green speed though the spiking it caused resulted in ball deviation. In some instances wear significantly increased green speed, which was due to the compacting/rolling effect. It has been noted in the AGCSA’s bentgrass trials (Neylan and Peart, 2005) that a more open cultivar such as Penncross, when subjected to wear, exposes more soil and when the soil is compacted or seals over provides a faster surface.

The change in green speed over an eight hour period was assessed in summer, autumn and winter to determine how long the effects of rolling lasted. The results of this assessment showed that all varieties increased marginally in green speed over the time period with the stoloniferous types increasing the most with the effects of rolling lasting for the entire test period.

The increase in green speed is mainly due to the drying out of the surface, reduced leaf turgor and therefore less resistance to ball roll. It must be noted that the change was generally less than the magic 0.1 metre number and unlikely to be perceivable by a golfer.

Take home message No.4: The effects of rolling will last for a day’s play and field observations indicate that it will last for up to two days.

Turf health is a centre point for producing high quality putting surfaces and should not be compromised in the search for a perceived increase in green speed 36

The effects of these management practices on turf health, surface quality and turf density were assessed. It was noted that Egmont and Suttons had greater turf quality and density than the stoloniferous varieties. These capillaris varieties provided a higher quality surface at the three mowing heights while the stoloniferous varieties performed best at a 3mm height of cut. Where the

Australian Turfgrass Management

In the course of a day’s play greens are often criticised for becoming bumpy due to spike marks and traffic in general. The stoloniferous varieties showed a greater level of spiking than the colonial and capillaris types with Penncross affected the most. The level of spiking increased on all varieties as the cutting height was raised.

The progress in the breeding of bentgrass has had an emphasis on the selection of stoloniferous types that have a very high tiller density. These types have a reduced creeping habit and in part act more like a capillaris rather than a stoloniferous type.

The research by Peart and Geary (2012) determined that there was a significant wear effect on the bentgrass cultivars (i.e. wear causes a significant reduction in turfgrass density). Across the assessment period there were variations between the cultivars though some of the observations were as follows – “there was a significant cultivar effect with Declaration having significantly greater turfgrass density and wear traffic tolerance than Penn A1, CY2, Dominant Xtreme, SR 1150, T1 and Tyee.” The wear assessments undertaken by Neylan and Peart (2005) determined that the high density cultivars had better wear tolerance and greater resistance to spiking.

Take home message No.6: Maintain turf density as a means of producing smooth and consistent putting surfaces.

The other noteworthy aspects of the research were the effects of nitrogen and the presence of

continued on page 40

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john neylan john neylan

Under

threat ATM columnist John Neylan comments on the current state of turf research in Australia.

With government funding through Horticulture Australia having all but dried up recently, the problem now is that there are virtually no turf research projects being undertaken in Australia

38

U

ndertaking properly conducted research is a fundamental requisite in the development of new concepts in agriculture and horticulture.

The turf industry is no different in that for it to progress and to respond to changing demands, reliable and repeatable solutions have to be developed.

The Australian turf industry has had a chequered history of research and much of it has been driven by committed and enthusiastic individuals who have managed to secure the necessary funding to undertake important work.

Counter to this enthusiasm has often been a brick wall of indifference, mainly from the sports which rely on the turf surfaces that are critical in presenting that sport at its best. It often takes a major crisis before the sport becomes enthused to support the research for a solution to a potentially ‘catastrophic’ problem. Australia is a country that rarely presents conditions that are that extreme as

Australian Turfgrass Management

to place turf in regular peril and consequently turf life strolls along.

Despite the struggle to maintain research programmes in turf, there has been a steady output of projects investigating new turfgrass cultivars and their management, breeding new turfgrasses, the use of recycled water, the biodiversity of golf courses, development of guidelines for selecting bunker sands, Poa annua, wetting agents, mites, benchmarking of turf surfaces and water management planning to name but a few topics of research. The strength of these research programmes has been their independence.

In a paper by Don Loch at the 2013 International Grassland Congress he stated “the availability of competent independent technical advice in Australia is extremely limited”. He went on to note the demise of the industry-supported Australian Turf Research Institute (ATRI) that was a source of independent research and technical advice from 1974 through to its closure in the late 90s.

In extending this discussion further, there was the closure of the Turf Research and Advisory Institute (Victoria) in the mid-90s and most recently the closure of the Redlands Research Station (Department of Employment Economic Development & Innovation - Queensland) in 2012.

It currently leaves the Australian turf industry almost devoid of any turf focused institutions.

It therefore raises the question of “Why?” Is it indifference? Were these institutions no longer relevant? Are turf managers happy with advice from product suppliers? Do the various sports have higher priorities and they are generally happy with the grass? Is it a lack of funding? I suspect that it is a combination of all of these.

Drying up

The turf industry is a high end business with numerous products available to the turf manager.

The constant question is, or should be, is it supported by well conducted research?

For some products, such as pesticides, the law demands that the product is supported by a strong research programme. At the other end of the scale there is a myriad of ‘big claim’ products that have very little or no well conducted research but rely on anecdotal evidence to support their claims.

The independent research that has been undertaken by organisations such as the AGCSA, DEEDI, University of Western Australia and in the past by ATRI and the TRAI has provided a level of scientific rigour that turf managers can refer to when making important turf management decisions. The AGCSA has been a strong driver of research through AGCSATech both by way of funding projects and conducting its own research, however, this is also now drying up.

where to from here?

Independent research undertaken provides a level of scientific rigour that turf managers can refer to when making important turf management decisions

The never-ending question is why doesn’t the sport pay for the research? Surely 10 cents levy per round of golf wouldn’t be too much to pay? Good question and one that is often asked. When this question is

continued on page 40

s

Most of the research undertaken over the past 20 years has been co-funded by industry and Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL) and HAL’s predecessor the Horticultural Research and Development Council (HRDC). HAL has been a strong supporter of turf research through its voluntary contribution (VC) grant system, where for each dollar of industry money there is as an equivalent amount (almost) provided by the Federal Government through HAL. This has allowed the relatively small amounts of industry money to be stretched further and projects to be more thoroughly conducted.

The VC system is dependent on how much of the available HAL money is committed to levy funded projects and the VC projects can compete for what is left over. The levy system is a whole different area of discussion, other than to say that turf producers pay a levy for each metre of turf sold and this money goes into a fund that the Federal Government match. This levy money is committed almost exclusively to projects that benefit turf production.

The problem now for the broader turf industry is that the HAL funding has all but dried up and currently there are virtually no turf research projects being undertaken.

Sports Turf Research Institute heads Down Under

F

rom time to time there are things that happen within our industry that tend to leave me perplexed, frustrated and downright angry. After reading an article in the July/August 2013 edition of TurfCraft International magazine my annoyance meter hit a peak.

The article was titled ‘Boost for Turf Research’. Given my concerns about the future of research in Australia (see main article opposite), my immediate thought was this sounds promising. The article was all about the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) setting up in Australia under the guise of ensuring that Australia “remains at the fore in turf research”. All good if the research information is made freely available, as has been the long tradition in Australia.

By way of background, the STRI was established in the UK in 1929 to provide research and advisory services for golf clubs on their golf greens and courses. By the 1950s, STRI had established a reputation as the leading organisation for providing advice and research on new products and techniques for managing sports turf for all types of sports surfaces and amenity grass areas. Over many years the STRI was undoubtedly the leader in research with much of this published in the excellent Journal of the Sports Turf Research Institute and the information made widely available.

Late last year AGCSATech and I met with representatives of STRI who were on a fact finding mission to Australia. The general tenor of the conversation was about their capabilities and that they were going to set up in Australia so that they could learn more about warm-season grasses, undertake contract research and provide consultancy services. They showed scant regard for any expertise from the Antipodes. At face value it was a somewhat audacious discussion considering that they were picking the brains of their future competition.

When the STRI representatives were pressed about why they needed to undertake their own research on warm-season grasses when there was already excellent local knowledge available, it was made very clear that the research was for proprietary purposes only and would not be made freely available to the industry. It is somewhat anomalous that they see the new venture in Australia as “representing our commitment to the turfgrass industry to help improve the global knowledge of sports turf management within a rapidly moving industry”.

In Australia, the likes of Peter McMaugh, Don Loch, Chris Lambrides and others have extensive knowledge of warm-season grasses if the STRI wants to help improve this so-called “global knowledge”. In very basic terms it is offensive that our industry knowledge and expertise is being treated with such distain.

If the STRI invest their own money well and good, but I hope that they do not siphon off the meagre research funds currently available.

The closure of Redlands Research Station is in part as a result of the lack of availability of research funds and unfortunately we will potentially lose the expertise that has been developed over the past 10 years.

Making sure that there is turf research undertaken in Australia is my passion and we MUST invest in Australian expertise and scientists. As a turf industry we have to continue to invest in research and it must be made FREELY available to the industry. The STRI is a competitor in our industry that many of us have invested heavily in.

It is my hope that the Australian turf industry continues to invest in its home grown expertise.

- John Neylan

Australian Turfgrass Management

39

john neylan john neylan

Every golf course is different and one set of management techniques or research findings will never be true in all situations. It is therefore important to do your homework and observe how your turf reacts

continued from page 36 moss. In relation to the application rates of nitrogen there was no significant effect on green speed. Moss invasion was assessed and the general observations were that as the turf density declined there was an increased presence of moss. Consequently as the mowing height was reduced to 2mm the turf lacked density and provided more space for the moss to establish.

In the research of Dr Nikolai there have been several side benefits identified of reducing the mowing pressure and increasing the rolling frequency including reduced incidence of disease and moss, fewer broadleaf weeds and less localised dry patch.

Take home message No.7: Do not compromise turf health and condition through excessive low mowing.

s

All of the research that has been undertaken on the effects of mowing and rolling on green speed reinforces the concept that turf health and condition

continued from page 39 posed the answers invariably turn towards the sport’s priorities such as promoting the game, injury prevention and management, junior development, managing the competition, rules development etc. The playing surfaces rarely come into focus and are often referred to as a venue issue’. Again, it takes a ‘catastrophic’ issue like the summer decline in couch some years back in Queensland that stimulated an excellent investigation funded by Queensland Golf into its causes.

At this time the level of research will diminish and what projects are undertaken will be relatively low key. I foresee more applied trials being undertaken by the state member organisations to resolve and find answers to local issues.

Another area of research is the somewhat untapped source through the teaching institutions, particularly at the Diploma level.

While student projects may be considered a little lightweight, with good mentors very useful information can be gleaned. The problem is how is this information disseminated for the wider good?

40

Australian Turfgrass Management

should not be compromised by excessively low and regular cutting. Importantly, placing the turf under stress will not necessarily yield any improvement in green speed, certainly from what a golfer may be able to perceive. So, be careful in creating greater stress on the turf and jeopardising turf condition in the chase for ‘faster greens’.

From my recent experiences it has not necessarily been green speed that is the issue but more about the firmness and trueness of the putting surface. The research would indicate that maintaining turf health and density and rolling regularly will provide a very true and predictable surface. Excessive low cutting is likely to expose the crown of the plant which will result in more spiking and potentially a less true and bumpy surface.

Every golf course is different and one set of management techniques or research findings will never be true in all situations. I have no doubt that more rolling will improve the playability of the surface. However, how different combinations of cutting heights, rolling frequency, dusting and fertility will affect green speed and surface uniformity can only be determined by undertaking your own trials.

Take home message No. 8: Do your homework!

References Neylan, J. and Robinson, M. 1996. Bentgrass maintenance for putting greens. HAL Project TU202.

Neylan, J. and Peart, A. 2005. The collection and evaluation of bentgrass (Agrostis spp.) and couchgrass (Cynodon dactylon x Cynodon transvaalensis) ecotypes in old putting greens. HAL Project TU 1001.

Peart, A. and Geary, J. 2012. Evaluation of new bentgrass (Agrostis spp.) cultivars compared to Australian vegetative selections. HAL Project TU08002 (March 2012)

The Australian Turfgrass Management Journal has been the primary extension publication for most of the HAL-funded projects and without it many HAL projects would never see the light of day. The HAL projects and the associated researchers are easily sourced, however, the smaller scale and student projects are less easily identified.

It is going to be important that the turf industry continues to communicate regularly and to share such information. If we do not, we will be increasingly dependent on overseas information. While overseas research information is often highly relevant, it needs to be tested locally – who will be responsible for that? Who will fund the next turfgrass variety trial?

A lot of questions and not too many answers, however, the turf industry through the peak industry body (did you know that it was Turf Australia?) needs to communicate more widely and to share the available information. Organisations such as the AGCSA and the TPA will need to play a key role in co-ordinating the accumulation and dissemination of this information and knowledge.

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water water

osmosis was rejected owing to high running costs, brine disposal and poor yield. A lack of available land ruled out the construction of a 40ML dam.

The option of signing up to a proposed recycled water scheme was not cost effective ($2000/ML plus substantial capital).

In an average rainfall year (720mm), over 140ML of stormwater runs through the retardation basin.

A lack of storage means that most goes straight out to sea and is unable to be utilised at the time of most need. ASR has proved to be an excellent water storage solution. Stormwater is injected deep underground into a fractured rock aquifer and recovered via the same bore. ASR has benefits as a water storage option, including: l

Flow-on effects Kingswood Golf Club course superintendent Terry Ford looks at how the club’s aquifer storage and recovery scheme has benefited the club after five seasons in operation.

Five years of injection and extraction has proved that ASR is a cost-effective option for Kingswood Golf Club 42

I

n 2009, Kingswood Golf Club in southeast Melbourne was faced with the prospect of running short of irrigation water. Following several years of studies and investigations into various water storage options, the club decided to install an aquifer storage and recovery scheme (ASR).

Volume 11.5 (September-October 2009) of Australian Turfgrass Management Journal carried an article titled ‘ASR scheme aims to keep Kingswood green’ outlining the project to install the system.

This report provides an update of the performance of the scheme after five seasons of operation.

Injecting life In 1990 Melbourne Water constructed a 26 megalitre retardation basin (pictured) on the golf club’s property of which the club has rights to transfer and use this water. A bore was drilled in 1997 which yielded three litres per second of very brackish water (2400 µS/cm conductivity, EC). In summer, this water was mixed with the stormwater in an on-course 23ML dam. The bore would be used until the final product reached 1100µS/cm EC. Once the stormwater had been exhausted the club would ration the remaining water for use in critical areas (tees and greens). This system was adequate in years of average rainfall but was inadequate in drought years.

A series of dry summer months between 2003 and 2005 forced the club to look at ways of increasing the availability of desirable water to ensure the course was maintained in great condition year round. An options study looked at reverse osmosis of bore water, building another dam, buying Class A recycled water and ASR. Reverse

Australian Turfgrass Management

l l

Nil losses from evaporation; Very little loss of real estate; and Nil algae and weed issues.

Stormwater Injection After a period of settling in the storage dam, the water is analysed for a suite of chemical elements and E. Coli bacteria. If the results are within the parameters of the approved management plan injection will commence. Water is injected in 10ML batches. This process is repeated up to six times throughout the months of low irrigation demand.

During the injection cycle the quality of the water is constantly monitored with online equipment for flow, turbidity, pressure and conductivity. Should turbidity or pressure exceed the limits of the management plan, the scheme manager will be notified via an email to his mobile phone.

The injection bore was drilled to 114 metres deep therefore any water we inject is 88 metres below sea level. This is one reason why the water doesn’t flow away as some people may fear. The old bore is used as a monitoring bore with a downhole pressure sensor to keep track of the impact of injection on the surrounding aquifer.

Injection Performance With five cycles of injection and four of extraction since coming online, the club now has some good data that can be used to assess the success of the scheme. To date a total of 183ML of stormwater has been injected (see Table 1 for quantities and water quality). Average conductivity of the injected water is 379µS/cm EC. Ninety-three megalitres of this water has been recovered for irrigation.

In the current configuration the scheme capacity is about 50ML/year. Detention times and analysis turnaround times for each 10ML batch limit the time available for injection. Offsetting this disadvantage is the knowledge that the quality of each batch is compliant with the licence conditions and once commenced the injection time can be predicted with some confidence.

The injection system utilises one of the set of three irrigation pumps so any injection during the watering season can be awkward.

Table 1. Injection Summary Year Quantity Conductivity

injected (ML) (µS/cm)* 2009 27.3 331 2010 56.2 333 2011 29.1 523 2012 30.3 368 2013 39.9 382 Total 182.8 379 *Average reading

Table 2. Extraction Summary Year Quantity Conductivity

injected (ML) (µS/cm)* 2010 27.4 1423 2011 11.9 650 2012 16.9 790 2012-13 36.9 894 Total 93.1 1000 *Average reading

Extraction Before the ASR scheme was installed, Kingswood used 1100µS/cm EC as the maximum acceptable level for regular use on the greens. Concerns about the degree of mixing in the aquifer between the native groundwater (which has an EC reading of 2400µS/cm) and the injected stormwater, led Kingswood to include a 720kL tank as part of the ASR scheme.

Each season the first extracted water is about 500µS/cm EC and then steadily increases as extraction continues, as shown in Figure 1. When the salinity of the extracted water is too high for use on greens (now set at about 700µS/cm EC) the water is diverted to the tank and used exclusively on fairways. The maximum EC reached in the main irrigation dam since the inception of the scheme has been 735µS/cm.

Research by several bodies has shown that couchgrass can tolerate very salty water for prolonged periods. Given that Kingswood is on a free draining soil, the salts are flushed away with irrigation and rainfall. To further aid this, we deep tine the fairways (12mm tines at a depth of 200mm) as often as the playing schedule will permit. This helps keep water and salt moving through the soil profile and salt accumulation has not been an issue.

Figure 1 shows the more injection/extraction cycles undertaken the better the quality of the recovered water. Each injection cycle starts with the water left in the vicinity of the bore being less saline.

The improvement due to mixing can be accelerated by extracting less than the volume injected, a practice known as water banking.

Figure 1. Conductivity of recovered water

Running Costs The annual running cost of the scheme is about $20,000. Costs include electricity, analysis, licence fee, reporting and maintenance. Based on 40ML/ year the cost is about $500/ML. Potable water cost is over $3000/ML.

Conclusions Five years of injection and extraction has proved that ASR can be a cost-effective option for turf irrigators looking for a reliable water storage solution, provided they have a good source of available stormwater and an appropriate aquifer. Each year the quality of the recovered water has improved. As less water is extracted than injected, a bank of good quality, low saline water is developing.

In the current configuration the Kingswood scheme has a capacity of about 50 ML/year. The batch system of injection causes some limitation of injection time but gives high confidence of meeting licence conditions for injected water quality.

Inclusion of a dedicated injection pump would improve the ease of injecting during the irrigation season.

Kingswood Merges On 17 September 2013 members of Kingswood Golf Club and Peninsula Country Golf Club voted to agree to a merger of the two clubs. The move will see Kingswood members relocate to Peninsula (near Frankston) which boasts two courses – the North and South – with the land on which Kingswood currently resides to be rezoned residential within the next five years. For Kingswood superintendent Terry Ford and his crew it will be business as usual for the next three years at least until the rezoning process is approved.

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technology technology

Wembley Golf Complex

Airborne turf health monitoring At 29th Australian Turfgrass Conference, Darren Wilson and Paul Barber looked at how they have used aerial mapping to monitor tree health at Wembley Golf Complex. As they write, this technology also has potential benefits in the management of the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s playing surfaces.

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ince 2009 Wembley Golf Complex in Perth has been using high-resolution multi-spectral airborne imagery to precisely monitor changes in tree health. This system has been used to measure the efficacy of treatments and assist diagnosis of the causes of decline in health of trees.

During this work, noticeable differences in the vigour of the turf playing surfaces were also observed using the same technology. As a result, detailed processing and analysis has been undertaken on the data to determine whether it may be useful as a management tool to improve playing surfaces while at the same time reduce human, mechanical and chemical inputs and therefore costs.

Precision Turf Management Precision turfgrass management (PTM) is becoming an increasingly important concept within the turf industry to provide a high-quality playing surface while reducing the inputs of fertiliser, water, chemicals, fuel, costs and potential negative impacts upon the environment. A â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;business as usualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; approach to turf

management is not environmentally or economically sustainable given the rising population, impacts of climate change and increasing costs of resources.

Superintendents and golf clubs must be more targeted in their approach and this requires the collection of precise data across the entire course, analysis of this data and management based upon the results. PTM enables the detection of stress in turf before it has a visible and noticeable negative effect on course aesthetics and playability.

Superintendents are fully aware that there are many different factors that can cause a decline in health of turf across the course. These factors include, but are not limited to, water (too little/too much), nutrition, pests, diseases, compaction, soil chemistry, shade and wear.

The stress impacts upon turf vigour can be detected using instruments sensitive to subtle changes in leaf chemistry, water content and cell structure well before they are observed with the naked eye. The sensor mounted within the aircraft and used for annual high-resolution monitoring of Wembley Golf Complex is able to detect these subtle changes using a combination of narrow spectral bands within the visible and near-infrared (NIR) regions of the light spectrum. It is effectively a direct measure of turf health.

The acquirement of this imagery at a highresolution (25-50cm pixels) and detailed processing and analysis of the data enables the creation of very precise maps of spatial differences in turf vigour across all fairways and greens within a course (Fig. 1 opposite page). The subsequent acquirement of this data biannually or annually at key times enables the mapping of changes in turf health over time (temporal change) (Fig. 1).

These are not only very powerful maps for ongoing management, but we can derive a number of indices from the data to obtain measures (quantify) of turf health. For example, we can calculate a turf vigour index (TVI) and provide a value for each green, fairway or even areas of interest within greens

Figure 2. Oblique view of turf vigour map of Wembley Golf Complex overlaid onto Google Earth 44

Australian Turfgrass Management

or fairways. The imagery is geo-rectified to an accuracy of <50cm allowing it to be very precisely overlaid onto existing maps within a GIS software programme or overlaid onto Google Earth (Fig. 2).

Applications Based upon preliminary analysis of the data and knowledge of on-ground (in-situ) factors at Wembley Golf Complex, this technology shows great promise for the following applications: l Early diagnosis of turf health disorders; l Screening of different cultivars for resistance to various stress factors (i.e.: drought, salt, traffic); l Irrigation auditing; l Development of targeted sampling strategies to identify causes of decline in turf vigour (e.g.: testing of soil nutrition/chemistry, pathogens, pests, soil compaction); l Guidance for efficient application of fertilisers, chemicals, water and wetting agents; l Monitoring the efficacy of treatments and management strategies;

point, changes in turf vigour for each green and fairway within the course from 2009 to 2012 have been determined.

We are fully aware there are many impacting variables to consider when attempting to draw conclusions from the data derived from this technology. It is therefore imperative that close collaboration occurs between those who understand the technology and those who understand how to manage turf health.

This collaboration is likely to lead to many new and exciting outcomes in the field of precision turfgrass management and ultimately lead to more sustainable management in the future.

Figure 1. Turf vigour map of the Wembley Golf Complex Tuart Course generated from data collected in 2011

Benchmarking areas of interest (i.e.: fairways, tees, greens) against each other; l Monitoring turf performance following re-seeding/establishment/renovation; l Biannual/annual change in turf vigour; and l Qualitative and quantitative analysis of shade on fairways, tees and greens.

The benefits of such technology could include: l Reduced costs (labour, fuel) for sample collection and analysis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; targeted according to turf vigour map; l Reduce costs (labour, fuel, parts) for replacement/upgrading of irrigation; l Reduced labour for application of water/ fertilisers/chemicals and irrigation maintenance; l Reduced use of water, fertilisers and chemicals; l Increased budget for pro-active tasks/projects; l Improved reporting to management; and l Precise monitoring/reporting of efficacy of management strategies on turf vigour. l

Pilot Study While the existing technology can be used to detect subtle differences in turf vigour between greens, tees and fairways, at this time it is not fully understood what else it can provide. For example, can this data be used to identify areas that have different soil moisture content, root depth, soil salinity, soil compaction or nutrient content?

In order to answer this, the collection of in-situ (â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ground-truthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;) data on these attributes must be taken across the entire course with many replicates and the imagery analysed in detail at the precise location where these attributes have been measured.

In November 2013 a pilot study at Wembley Golf Complex will start in order to determine the correlation between remotely sensed indices and measures such as root depth, thatch, soil compaction, soil moisture and soil salinity. To this Australian Turfgrass Management

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research research

EcoTurfs

In the first of a two part

article, University of Queensland researcher Dr Chris Lambrides presents an overview of the extensive four year EcoTurf project which aimed to develop a new generation of drought resistant bermudagrasses.

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coTurf was a four year (2007-2011) project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) that aimed to develop water and nutrient use efficient grasses from Australian biodiversity. The project was also funded by three industry partners – Jimboomba Turf Group, the South East Queensland Council of Mayors and Queensland DAFF. The primary aim of the EcoTurf project was to develop drought resistant grasses and it successfully produced a range of bermudagrasses (green couch) that have reached pre-commercial status. The newly developed drought resistant EcoTurfs have many other desirable attributes, such as wear resistance and tolerance to saline conditions.

Background In the early phase of the project a large collection of over 1000 naturalised bermudagrasses (Cynodon spp.) was assembled over a two year period from a range of soil types and climatic zones across Australia (see map above which shows all sites).

Collections were made around cities, townships and occasionally in between with a focus on public areas

Above: A large collection of over 1000 naturalised bermudagrasses was assembled from a range of soil types and climatic zones across Australia Above left: The primary aim of the EcoTurf project was to develop drought resistant bermudagrasses and it has successfully produced a range that has reached pre-commercial status. Pictured is the initial collection at UQ’s St. Lucia campus including parks, sporting fields, road-sides/verges/ stops, cuttings, banks of waterways including ocean dunes. Any grassed and/or recently landscaped areas planted to commercial varieties were carefully avoided.

Our purpose was to sample as much phenotypic variation as observable in any one locality particularly if the grassed area had been exposed to extreme levels of abiotic stress, e.g. dry weather, low fertility and high wear.

Depending on the variation present, between one and 20 samples were taken per locality. From each collection site grasses were sampled by placing a small core of about 25cm2 into a small zip lock plastic bag. During collection trips grasses were maintained at ambient temperatures during the day and in cold storage (4°C) overnight until they were transported back to The University of Queensland, Brisbane.

To develop a homogeneous genetic stock from each collected core (which potentially were a heterogeneous mix of stolons), a single healthy stolon/shoot/rhizome was selected and transferred to a separate cement pot (besser block) with twin cavities (see photo top left) and housed in an open compound at The University of Queensland’s (UQ) St Lucia campus.

Once established in the cement pots, this source was used as genetically pure representatives of each collected grass. The collection was also planted in 2m x 2m field plots at The University of Queensland’s Gatton research farm (see photo left).

Drought resistance A series of pot and field experiments were conducted to select the grasses with the best drought resistance. Pot experiments were conducted in

The initial collection was also planted in 2m x 2m field plots at UQ’s Gatton campus research farm 46

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were extracting most of their water. Root cores (see top two photos page 50) and the NMM readings suggested that grasses were able to extract water from at least 2m deep.

After four years of experiments, several drought resistant EcoTurfs were selected and will be commercialised exclusively by Jimboomba Turf Group. These next generation grasses have drought resistance superior to current commercial varieties.

In field conditions, the drought resistant EcoTurfs are able to extract more available soil water during the whole drought period to keep green. They are adapted to a wide range of climatic zones, including Mediterranean temperate climates and sub-tropical/ tropical climates typical of Queensland.

EcoTurfs not only have deep roots but have a large network of rhizomes (see photo top page 51). Rhizomes are underground stems which have an important role in maintenance of plant health during drought. Consequently, EcoTurfs are able to maintain healthy ground cover unlike common commercial varieties that show high levels of leaf firing during prolonged drought (see series of three photos bottom of page 50).

Drought resistance experiments were conducted in an open compound at UQ’s St. Lucia campus using a plastic roof to exclude rainfall

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an open compound at UQ’s St. Lucia campus (see photos above) using a plastic roof to exclude rainfall.

Field experiments were conducted at two locations in southeast Queensland – under an igloo at Redlands Research Station (photo bottom right) and under a rainout shelter at the Gatton campus of UQ. An additional field experiment was conducted at the Shenton Park campus of the University of Western Australia (UWA) (pictured below).

The pot experiments were designed to test how the grasses may perform when exposed to shallow soil profiles and as a consequence the drought periods imposed were relatively short (i.e. less than 40 days). Conversely, the field experiments in Queensland were conducted on deep soil profiles and the drought periods were greater than 200 days.

In these field trials, water use was monitored by placing a neutron moisture meter (NMM) probe down access tubes that were ran about 2m below the soil surface. The access tubes, the tops of which can be seen in the photo far right, were placed in the centre of each pot and NMM readings were taken every 10 cm of the soil profile. This enabled us to determine which part of the soil profile the grasses

Above: Drought resistance experiments were also conducted in the field at Redlands Research Station. In the centre of the plots are the NMM access tubes An additional field experiment was conducted at the University of Western Australia’s Shenton Park campus Australian Turfgrass Management

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research

Soil Stabilisation Potential The EcoTurfs produce considerably more rhizomes than commercial turfgrass cultivars and other grasses used in soil stabilisation e.g. Rhodes grass. The heavy rhizomatous nature of EcoTurf grasses enable them to recover from stress caused

A root coring machine (above) prepares a 2m soil core (right).

The left hand core represents 0-1.5m of the profile, the right side represents 1.5-2m. EcoTurf roots can be found at depths of 2m in the soil profile

Below: EcoTurf defoliated on Jan 7 2012 (left) and fully recovered five weeks later (right) Bottom: EcoTurf (left) and Wintergreen (centre) during severe drought. EcoTurfs are able to maintain turf quality because of a large underground rhizome system and better soil water extraction.

The picture on the right shows large cracks in the soil indicative of severe drought

by drought, biotic diseases or defoliation due to excessive wear.

The two photos second from bottom on this page show an EcoTurf shortly after artificial defoliation and five weeks later. Because of the extensive rhizome system, the canopy of the EcoTurf recovers much quicker than traditional cultivars. The rapid recovery characteristics of the EcoTurfs make them ideal for usage in harsh and remote environments. The large rhizomatous underground network will no doubt play a major role in soil stabilisation making EcoTurfs ideally suited for stabilising dam walls, road verges/cuttings and sporting fields.

Wear resistance The response of EcoTurfs to severe wear was investigated at the Gatton Research Station of UQ. They were planted into 3m × 2m plots and nine months later after every plot had established a closed canopy, wear treatments were applied by 40 passes of a Traffic Simulator. The Traffic Simulator used smooth rubber galvanised rollers (1m wide) to cause scuffing of the turf surface.

About half of each plot was exposed to wear and the other half was used as a control. After the wear treatment, green cover was determined by taking a digital image of each grass. Subsequently, the image was analysed using SigmaScan Pro software and the percentage of green leaves determined from the percentage of pixels with hue ranging from 40 to 120 and saturation ranging from 0 to 100.

The EcoTurfs were at least 25 per cent better than the commercial bermudagrasses. The principle mechanism of wear resistance observed in the EcoTurfs was probably associated with their higher per cent of cell wall components (fibre) in leaves and stolons. The EcoTurfs were also the first to recover from wear damage because of their extensive rhizome system. Clearly these grasses will have great potential for public parks and sportsfields.

Salinity tolerance Using sand solution-culture methodology, the EcoTurfs were evaluated for salt tolerance. This method involved growing the grasses in small pots filled with sand (see photo opposite page). The salt treatments were applied using a ‘flood and drain’ principle where the root systems were inundated for 15 minute periods three times a day.

Eight salt treatments were tested including 1.3 (control), 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 dS/m

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(corresponding to 0, 16, 44, 72, 95, 122, 148 and 175 mM NaCl respectively). The salt treatments were applied for 17 weeks after which total aboveground biomass and total belowground biomass were determined. Clipping yields were determined at twoweekly intervals for 17 weeks by removing shoot growth above the 2cm cutting height, weighing them and adding the values together to provide cumulative clipping yield.

At high salt levels (6-9 dS/m) the EcoTurfs maintained over 70 per cent total biomass relative to the control treatment and most of the grasses maintained good green cover even at 15 dS/m (see photo below right). This salt tolerance gives the EcoTurf grasses greater potential to adapt to a wider range of environments.

Conclusion The next generation bermudagrasses have superior drought resistance and have excellent potential for soil stabilisation, public parks, sports fields and saline landscapes.

Above: A highly rhizomatous EcoTurf (left) compared to the commercial couchgrass cultivar Wintergreen (right)

Below: EcoTurf grasses exposed to saline (NaCl) conditions of 15 dS/m for 14 weeks

Acknowledgements The Jimboomba Turf Group, Australian Research Council, SE QLD Council of Mayors and Queensland DAFF, staff and students of the UQ EcoTurf research team. Dr Christopher Lambrides can be contacted on 0408 247 721, (07) 3365 1103 (office) or email chris.lambrides@uq.edu.au

The Rain Bird IC system is currently being installed at Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney, Freeway Golf Course in Victoria, the new course development for the Horton Park Golf Club in Queensland and the exciting new Cape Wickham Golf Course in King Island.

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regional profile regional profile

Gove Country Golf Club,

It can lay claim to officially being the northernmost golf course on mainland Australia, located some 700km by dirt track north east of Katherine. Gove Country Golf Club is as remote as you could possibility get but for course superintendent and club manager Jamie Henderson it has been home for the past two years.

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NT

Superintendent: Jamie Henderson.

Age: 40.

Family: Wife Elizabeth.

Association involvement: AGCSA (one year).

Career: Sun City Country Club, WA (apprentice 1986-1990, assistant 1991-1993, superintendent 1995-1997); Broome Golf Club, WA (superintendent 1997-1999); ERA, Kakadu National Park (contract supervisor 2000-2007); Rio Tinto, Tom Price Mine (contract supervisor 2007-2009); Darwin City Council (assistant team leader turf 2009-2010); Atherton Golf Club (superintendent 2010-2012); Gove Country Golf Club (superintendent/general manager 2012-present).

Qualifications: Cert III Turf Management, Bentley College of TAFE, WA. Where in Australia is Gove Country Golf Club?

Gove Country Golf Club is located in the township of Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula in North East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Permits are required to enter Arnhem Land but are easily obtainable. Nhulunbuy is known for its Yolngu Indigenous people and is home of the ARIA Hall of Fame band Yothu Yindi and many other talented musicians. It is also an area famous for its bark paintings and Yolngu artists. Nhulunbuy and the surrounding area have some of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best fishing spots and fantastic camping sites. The Rio

Australian Turfgrass Management

Tinto bauxite mine and refinery is the major business in the region, employing up to 1200 people.

Give us a bit about your background in turf management. How did you start out in the industry and how did you end up at Gove Country GC? I started out doing work experience at Sun City Golf Club in Perth back in 1986 which led to me being offered an apprenticeship. I lived across the road from the course and it suited me perfectly as I loved the outdoors. I worked for some very good superintendents during my time at Sun City including Geoff Allen, Jeff Lane, Scott Steer, Phil Moylan and Gavin Castiglioni.

After being superintendent at Sun City for a couple of years, in 1997 I took some time off and went north to the Kimberley region where I got more of a taste for the outdoors. Following this love of the Kimberley I moved to Broome and heard the golf course was looking for a superintendent. I would work there for two years before heading further north trying to catch my first metre-long barramundi! This took me to Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory where I ran into an old school friend who was general manager for a company contracting to Energy Resources of Australia who offered me the supervisorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role for grounds maintenance. I continued to work in Kakadu for seven years and the closest I came to a metre barra was 98cm!

Following this elusive barramundi quest, I moved back to Perth and worked (fly in, fly out) at the Tom Price mine site. I found the weather too cold and there was definitely no barramundi! Upon

Left: Gove superintendent and general manager Jamie Henderson (centre) with groundsman Jeremy Bodell (left) and course director Owen Grills Far left: Gove Country Golf Club is the northernmost golf course on mainland Australia, located in the township of Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula in North East Arnhem Land. It resides a couple of degrees north of Weipa Golf Club across the Gulf of Carpentaria

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You recently have taken on the dual role of course superintendent and golf club general manager.

How did that come about and how have you found managing both roles? The club had been

through some pretty ordinary managers, who were either just bar managers and who knew nothing about golf or who liked to look after themselves first! I had worked quite closely with the manager of Atherton Golf Club and learnt the ropes from him, so I put an offer to the GCGC president.

With the club being in a difficult financial position and there being a lack of housing in a mining town, I proposed I would manage the club and oversee a groundsman on the course. This resulted in quite a large saving for the club where housing alone for staff can cost $1000 a week. I would work a few hours a day on the course and then work the bar and manage the club the rest of the time. I now have a very good groundsman and bar manager who are dependable and very reliable. Since being a manager we have also employed a very valuable clerical assistant who has brought a lot to the club.

Map Source: Google Maps

leaving Perth I moved to Darwin to look after ovals and cricket wickets for the council, then on to the Atherton tablelands where I once again took up my career as a course superintendent at Atherton Golf Club.

We stayed there for about 18 months when my wife and I decided to head off again looking for somewhere remote. This was made easy as my wife works as a nurse and wanted to work in Aboriginal health. It was me that found a job first as superintendent at Gove Country Golf Club (GCGC) and that is where we are at todayâ&#x20AC;Ś continuing my barra quest!

Gove Country Golf Club (shown by the red pointer) is located about 700km by dirt track from Katherine

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regional profile regional profile

Gove’s par five 1st. The course is a nine-hole layout with alternate tees

They seem to have an affinity for our 5th green and can leave a quite a mess! There have also been reported sightings of crocodiles that have made their way through the wetlands and have been seen sunning themselves on the 6th fairway. Wild dingoes are another hazard on the course and they attacked my dog once.

Some of the challenges since moving into the dual role include staffing for the bar as Nhulunbuy is at times a very transient town. This part of the job has taken up a lot more of my time and I am lucky to have a very understanding wife in that respect.

Then there are the typical challenges you would expect from a course in the tropics, including golfers working up a thirst. Having to adhere to the Liquor Act has been a big learning curve; it’s quite different when you’re on the other side of the bar!

Gove’s par four 6th hole. The elevation, shallow green and wetland area on the right makes this the hardest on the course

Give us an overview of GCGC and some of its unique characteristics? GCGC is the most northern golf course on mainland Australia, with Weipa Golf Club across the Gulf of Carpentaria just a couple of degrees south of us. Due to our location we have to barge most freight in for five months of the year with only a dirt track to use for the rest of the year (we are 700km by track from Katherine).

Wildlife on the golf course can be an additional obstacle. Many times I have seen water buffalo on the course in the mornings particularly in the dry season. Their presence has to be reported to the local rangers as they can be a threat to human life.

What are some of the unique features about GCGC from a turf management perspective?

The most unique feature would be freighting things in by barge. Parts or products have to be ready in Darwin by the Wednesday and we would have them to us by the following Thursday. It can take a week to get parts to Darwin from down south, so even if the timing is right it can take at least two-and-a-half weeks to receive orders.

Ageing machinery and course infrastructure are among our biggest challenges with a lot of frustration caused and ongoing repairs needed.

The course was built in 1970 and still has the original irrigation ‘system’. We found that when repairing irrigation breaks parts of it were simply garden hose.

Fortunately the greens were well constructed in their day with a good sand base used and regular renovations carried out. Timing of renovations has been crucial as leaving it too late in the year makes it difficult as the wet season approaches. During the wet season to keep the greens healthier we have raised the height of cut.

Take us through your turf management operations there and how you have fine-tuned them during your time as superintendent? With our climate, mowing is always the high priority. In the wet season we would mow our greens up to seven days a week and up to six days a week in the dry. The fairways and tees are mown twice a week all year round. If I had more time I would like to mow the fairways and tees three or four times a week. And the rough can be mown up to every five days in the wet as it grows that fast. This is where our volunteers are invaluable with their time and commitment to the course. Since being superintendent and general manager there have been no major changes due to budgetary constraints, although we are planning for more bunkers in the future.

Any special environmental considerations that you have to incorporate into the management of the course? We have a significant wetland next to the course, so any run off during the wet season has to be monitored carefully. Days can start nice and sunny but by the afternoon you can receive 200mm of rain in a couple of hours. This is particularly challenging when you need to be spraying pesticides.

What are some of the major challenges facing the club from a turf and management perspective?

From a turf perspective it would be the aging

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Australian Turfgrass Management

machinery and trying to fund new equipment.

Trying to reduce freight costs has been challenging with costs up to $420 per cubic metre on the barge from Darwin. Due to the time taken to get things freighted in it has been important to keep enough chemicals on hand to treat any unexpected problems that might arise.

From a club management perspective it would be increasing profits, finding cheaper suppliers, reducing freight costs, keeping the right balance of staff and making sure that when you do get good staff you can keep them.

Just recently there has been talk of the possibility of the town’s Rio Tinto alumina refinery closing. This is where most of our members are employed and in addition to them there are a lot of miners who come to play social golf and use the facilities. To combat this possibility we are looking at targeting the tourist market, with many new ventures opening up around the East Arnhem area. This would increase trade during the dry season in particular as the track from Katherine is too wet to pass during the wet season and can be closed for anywhere up to five months.

The approach into the 1st. Gove’s fairways are a mix of couch and carpetgrass

The one product I couldn’t manage my course without is… wetting agent. If we lose water for a night or two it dries out very quickly here. This can happen as sometimes Nhulunbuy can lose power for up to 24 hours at a time and the irrigation programme gets interrupted. This, in addition to few staff being available for regular hand watering, means that wetting agents are invaluable.

What are some pros and cons of being a regionalbased superintendent? The lifestyle is much better in a regional area – no traffic, no crime, better fishing, great camping and getting to meet a lot of new people. The isolation of Gove can be a little

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Outline any major course improvement works recently completed and/or highlight any ongoing or future works that the club is undertaking. Since I have been at GCGC we have reshaped the fairways to give the golfers more of a challenge. Prior to this they were mowed from tree line to tree line. We have built one new bunker (the course’s first) and plan to build several more over the next couple of years. We intend to install new irrigation around the clubhouse and practice areas and switch across from town to effluent water.

The levelling of many tees is also another job still to be done, but again it comes down to financial constraints whether we’ll get the chance to tackle these or not.

Water is obviously a critical issue for any golf course. How is GCGC faring in the water management stakes? We have use of all recycled effluent water in town and most importantly it is free. However, it can be problematic if too many people leave the town all at once, as happened last Christmas when the flow became restricted.

At a glance – gove country golf club Course specs: Nine holes with composite tees, 6001m (men), 5444m (ladies). Greens are 328 couchgrass, fairways are a mix of couchgrass and carpetgrass. One bunker so far.

Members: 100 playing, 200 social and 45 juniors.

Annual rounds: 5000.

Major tournaments/events: Gulf Gove Open (54hole strokeplay held in early June) and St Gove Invitational (September).

Annual course management budget: $150,000 plus countless hours from volunteers.

Staff structure: Jamie Henderson (superintendent/ general manager), Jeremy Bodell (groundsman), Neville Holmes (retired boiler maker/legend), Owen Grills (course director and major volunteer) plus countless other members who volunteer their help around the course.

Climate/annual rainfall: Average 1460mm. Daytime temperatures from 25oC in the dry season to

37oC in the build-up with very high humidity.

Soil types: The course is built on costal sand dunes and some swampy areas with quite loamy soil types in places.

Water sources: Recycled effluent from town, pumped for free.

Irrigation system: Five holes automatic, four holes hoses and sprinklers moved constantly.

Cutting heights: Greens 2.5mm during the dry, 3.5mm during the wet, fairways and tees 15mm, rough 60mm.

Renovations: Greens renovation carried out in November consisting of scarifying and also a hollow coring with topdressing. Greens needle tined every eight weeks.

Major disease pressures: Dollar spot and take all patch. November through to May I will spray a preventative for dollar spot and the first signs of take all patch I will treat.

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regional profile regional profile

from Atherton has been a big help and also Kerry McCarthy from Humpty Doo Golf Club. Phillip Mitchell from Garrards in Darwin is also a big help; his knowledge of chemicals to use in the tropics has been invaluable. He also sources me the best value for money chemicals.

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The Gove greens are 328 couch.

The course was originally constructed back in 1970

frustrating at times, especially when you need a little part that might normally be available from a tractor firm or a hardware store and you have to wait two weeks for it to arrive on the barge.

Are expectations of course presentation and conditioning any less? All golfers have high expectations of the course. When I arrived here the course was renowned in the Top End for having fast greens. During our playing season from May to November we try to keep them fast.

Do you have to be more resourceful as a regional superintendent? When it comes to fixing machinery, definitely! It is very expensive to get machinery fixed up in Nhulunbuy so calling in favours from members and mates has been crucial. We have also incorporated an Indigenous training programme on the course which has proven to be worthwhile. This course is run by Rio Tinto and has allowed us to give something back to the community while at the same time getting extra labour on the course.

If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be and why? I have become a regional superintendent through choice, so there is nothing I would change. Obviously there are things that I think most superintendents would like such as more money, better machinery and more hours in the day, but this job allows for a great work/life balance and the chance to work with stunning views of the sea and the course from the office!

A typical wet season downpour – 250mm in four hours!

54

How important are the relationships you have with other course supers/trade reps? Well, here you simply cannot go and visit and discuss issues with anyone due to the location – the closest course is on Groote Eylandt (an island in the Gulf of Carpentaria) which is a short plane trip or boat ride of 200km.

In saying that, I have been in contact with James Connell at Alyangula Golf Club on Groote Eylandt and also Justin Mason who took over from me at Atherton Golf Club. As a manager, Owen Harvey

Australian Turfgrass Management

Given your remote location, how does that influence your course management, especially budgeting. How do you manage sourcing/ receiving products, spare parts for instance?

I’m always looking for the best buy and using businesses that are helpful and do what they say they are going to do. When sourcing parts, reliability of the supplier has always been a high priority for me. If the parts are just a few hours late getting to the barge in Darwin it means we have to wait a whole extra week.

What are some of the more unusual things you have had to do as a superintendent of a regional course? Removing buffalo from the course… they don’t always follow directions that well!

What have you got in your shed? There’s nothing very interesting in the shed except for local legend and retired boiler maker Neville Holmes. All our old pieces of equipment (which make up about 70 per cent of our fleet) are kept alive by Neville.

We currently have a 2006 GPLEX III, 2002 Greens King V, Kubota 3860 72”, 1980 Ford tractor, Howard roller mower, Kubota 2560, Case articulated loader (very handy around the course), Fiat tractor, Polaris diesel quad, Ryan GA30 aerator and 2m Hino tipper. We have recently ordered a Trimax Stealth mower and Kubota 60hp tractor to use on fairways. Come the wet season the Kubota 3560 gets a right flogging. On the wishlist is a sand spreader; being able to dust the greens when we aerate would be a treat!

Do you think regional/country superintendents have a better work-life balance? I would say as a superintendent yes, but now that I’m the manager as well I have to be more aware of my work/life balance. When things are going smoothly with no hitches it is a great lifestyle.

Most pleasing/rewarding moment during your time as GCGC superintendent? There have been many rewarding moments here. One of the highlights has been organising the Gulf Gove Open and receiving positive feedback from visitors and members. Members thanking me for doing a good job and keeping their club operating has also been a very satisfying part of the role.

Favourite spot on your course? The view from the clubhouse balcony out to the ocean is fantastic. It’s also a great spot, with beer in hand, to give some ‘helpful’ advice to golfers coming up the last!

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news news

Dr James R. Watson (1920-2013)

Picture courtesy of Toro

T

Source: USGA Green Section Record

Watson was a pioneer of the US and international turf scenes, working for 46 years with Toro

Picture courtesy of Toro

Watson (left) pictured with Dr Paul Rieke receiving the USGA’s Ike Grainger Award in 2009

Watson (left) received the GCSAA’s highest honour – the Old Tom Morris Award – in 1995 56

he international turfgrass community lost one of its key figures on 1 October 2013 with the death of Dr James R. Watson, aged 92.

Watson, a key player in the US and international turf scenes from the 1950s through to 1990s, worked with Toro for 46 years and has been remembered the world over as a research pioneer, teacher and legend.

In a statement issued to employees shortly after Watson’s passing, Toro chief executive Mike Hoffman said: “The Toro Company has lost a dear friend and icon. Dr. Watson joined Toro in 1952 and utilised the grounds of our then newly established research and development center in Bloomington, Minnesota to conduct extensive research in best practices for growing and caring for wide varieties of turf grasses.

“His research led to many discoveries in turf and water management that he in turn shared with our customers and the industry at large. Dr. Jim, as he was fondly known, gained world renown as one of the key pioneers and most effective champions of outdoor environments.

“The importance of Dr. Jim’s countless contributions to the advancement of turf science and our company’s interests cannot be overstated.

No one has better exemplified our core values or done more to help Toro form lasting relationships with the customers and industries we serve around the world.”

Before joining Toro, Watson had a distinguished career as an agronomist at Texas A&M University and bred the notable bermudagrass variety Texturf 10. His work on the water relations of turf grasses was groundbreaking in its time. Prior to that he also had a notable career as a navigator in the US Air Force during World War II and was severely wounded by shrapnel, injuries which would cause him issues later in life.

Watson joined Toro in 1952 as the company’s director of agronomy. During his 46 years with the company he pioneered important turf and water management research around the globe, while many of the world’s leading golf courses, parks and sports facilities frequently sought his advice.

Watson also proved instrumental in Toro’s entry into the commercial and homeowner irrigation business by championing the purchase of Moist-OMatic in 1962. Always the visionary, he passionately promoted water as a critical resource that must be precisely managed and conserved.

The backyard of Toro’s world headquarters – now designated as the ‘Dr. James R. Watson Research and Development Proving Grounds’ – represents what once was the only research centre of its kind in the world. Leading a team of 25 researchers, Watson conducted studies on a variety of grasses and soils to ensure best management practices in fertilisation and water usage, as well

Australian Turfgrass Management

as approaches for controlling unwanted grasses, disease and pests. Watson applied the knowledge gained from his research to educate Toro personnel and the industry at large.

In 1983 Watson received the USGA’s Distinguished Service Award and in 1995 was bestowed the GCSAA’s highest honour – the Old Tom Morris Award. For more than three decades he was a member of the USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Committee and in 2009 along with Dr Paul Rieke received the USGA’s Ike Grainger Award for long service. Watson was also a foundation member of the International Turfgrass Society (ITS) in 1969 and served as president from 1989-1993.

Watson remained active in the industry following his retirement from Toro in 1998 as vice president of customer relations and agronomist, serving as a consultant to both the company and industry.

He also participated on a number of prestigious turf and water management boards, organisations and research efforts. His legacy lives on in the annual James R Watson Fellowship Programme that awards grants to three students who are candidates for masters or doctoral degrees in fields related to golf course management.

As well as playing a pivotal role in the US industry, Watson was also a regular visitor to Australia and was guest speaker at a number of national turfgrass conferences and seminars. AGCSA archives record Watson as guest speaker at the Royal Australian Institute of Parks and Recreation’s National Seminar on Turf Management in Canberra in June 1980 before returning four years later as keynote speaker at the 8th National Turfgrass Conference in Melbourne.

In 1988 he journeyed to Perth for the 10th National Turfgrass Conference alongside fellow US icon Dr James Beard. He was again guest speaker at the 1990 conference and in 1997 attended the ITS International Turfgrass Research Conference in Sydney.

Among those he met during his travels Down Under was AGCSA Distinguished Service Award recipient and Australian industry icon Peter McMaugh who remembers Watson as a man of great standing both professionally and personally.

“Jim was an industry great who had the manners and sartorial elegance of the southern gentleman,” reflects McMaugh. “He always made those with whom he came in contact with feel that he was their true friend. Jim was a charming host and a lover of fine wine, especially Australian reds. Jim played big time on both the national (USA) and international stages in the world of turf and visited Australia for many of our early AGCSA conferences.

“Vale you wise, humble and gracious gentleman; you have been a great friend and mentor to many.

We miss you greatly.” Watson is survived by his wife Audrey, son Rick and daughter Betsy.

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around the trade around the trade

AFT’s PortaQube range provides fuel for thought

Advanced Fuel Tanks’ PortaQube portable fuel storage solutions

F

uel storage solutions for turf management facilities have been made easier with Advanced Fuel Tanks’ (AFT) range of PortaQube portable fuel tanks.

AFT designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of hydrocarbon storage solutions and after visiting a number of golf courses it became apparent that the turf industry could benefit from its products.

“Aging fuel storage tanks on the ground or placed up on steel frames are quickly becoming risky and potentially environmentally unfriendly,” says AFT’s general manager for sales Craig Buck. “After discussions with the turf industry and environmental consultant advisors e-par, it was highlighted that our PortaQube range offered a modern styled, self-bunded and secure method of storing and dispensing multiple fuels.”

Graden, ADE join forces

Graden has teamed with ADE in Victoria 58

Victorian-based turf renovation equipment manufacturer Graden Industries has announced ADE Industries as its new major dealer for Victoria.

In recent years Toro has been the sole representative of Graden in Australia, however, to broaden its representation locally the company has decided to team with ADE to distribute its industryleading machines such as the Contour Sand Injector and Swing-wing fairway scarifier.

“With 95 per cent of our Victorian factory production being sent overseas to the USA, Europe and Asia markets, it was apparent domestic representation required a boost,” says Graden’s marketing manager Mark Bainbridge.

“ADE has a prominent and growing presence in the Victorian turf industry, with a dedicated sales and service operation to back up an extensive range of equipment on offer. Their enthusiasm for the inclusion of the full Graden range of equipment will see opportunities for demonstrations of not only the established Graden scarifiers, but also new releases such as the Graden Groundhog core harvester.”

Australian Turfgrass Management

The PortaQube range has been designed to meet industry demands for a highly portable yet reliable self-bunded fuel tank. These portable diesel fuel tanks are transportable as a one-piece unit, thereby reducing reassembly work. Each portable fuel tank unit is supplied as standard with forklift pockets and two lifting eyes.

They have been designed to withstand heavy use and are constructed in steel throughout. No additional bunding is required which avoids costly on-site construction and maintenance necessary for an externally bunded tank. PortaQube capacities can be customised from 1000 to 10,000 litres and various types of pumps and dispensing systems are available.

AFT also manufactures a premier four hour fire rated SuperVault tank and also the Pyrotector two hour fire rated tank, both independently certified.

SuperVault and Pyrotector are used where fuel is stored inside or underneath a building to backup generators or pumps.

Individual tank designs are the basis for AFT’s product range and individual customisation is offered to tailor each tank to the client’s requirements. This extends to the various fuel pumping systems and also to integrated fuel management systems (FMS).

FMS enable the facility management to monitor each vehicle or piece of equipment’s fuel usage.

This information provides actual data relating to fuel usages which can assist in preparing and controlling budget allocations.

For more information on Advanced Fuel Tanks’ storage solutions call (03) 9737 5900, visit www.advancedfueltanks.com.au or email info@ advancedfueltanks.com.au For all Graden machines contact ADE turf equipment sales representative Paul Kruger on 0400 533 050 or email paul@adeturf.com.au

Westall finishes with Everris Everris announced in September that technical manager for turf and amenity David Westall (pictured) has finished up with the company.

Westall was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, on his sciatic nerve shortly after the 27th Australian Turfgrass Conference in Adelaide in 2011. Over a 10 month period he underwent high-load radiotherapy and chemotherapy and in March last year was given a clean bill of health.

Despite returning to work shortly before last year’s Melbourne conference, Westall had to take further leave recently and has been recommended by his doctors not to return to work in order to aid his ongoing recovery.

Involved in the turf industry for over 30 years, Westall joined Scotts 10 years ago in the position of turf account manager (Australia and New Zealand).

During his time with Scotts and more recently Everris, he introduced many new products and technologies to the market including Sierraform GT (Slow Release K) and ProTurf. Westall worked closely with distributors and other members of the Everris sales team to interpret and promote the Everris range to key market segments.

“We appreciate David’s expertise in the turf field and his dedication to the Everris Turf business over the past 10 years,” a statement from Everris said.

“David will be missed by the Everris team and I’m sure by many in the industry and we thank him

for his contribution and wish him all the best in his future endeavours, including a full recovery.”

Monstar permit for fairy ring control extended Monstar SC turf fungicide (a.i.: 464g/l flutolanil) from Colin Campbell (Chemicals) has received an extension of its APVMA permit for the control of fairy ring (Basidiomycetes spp.) in golf greens.

Launched in 2011, Monstar’s existing permit expired on 30 September 2013, however the APVMA has granted an extension (Permit - PER14379) through until 30 September 2015. Visit the APVMA or Colin Campbell websites to download the permit, label and MSDS.

Monstar’s permit for fairy ring control has been extended

Industry appointments and announcements Robinson joins David Golf David Golf has recently appointed a new sales executive Brent Robinson (pictured) to its Queensland office.

Robinson has been in the industry since the early 1990s starting out at Terranor Lakes Country Club as an apprentice before moving on to a range of superintendent (Arundel Hills and Surfers Paradise golf clubs) and site manager positions (Tewantin Noosa, Saint Lucia, Tweed Heads Coolangatta and Peregian Springs).

In 2010 a career change saw Robinson move into sales, taking up a position with Country Club where he was responsible for areas within

Queensland, northern NSW and the Northern Territory. Robinson can be contacted on 0429 657 288 or email brentr@davidgolf.com.au

Total Eden appoints Allan Devlin Perth-based irrigation company Total Eden has appointed former Secret Harbour superintendent and AGCSA president Allan Devlin (pictured) in the role of business development manager for its commercial landscape and irrigation maintenance division. Devlin can be contacted on 0428 867 429 or allan.devlin@ totaleden.com.au

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Australian Turfgrass Management

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turf producers turf producers

Despite some challenging times during the last financial year, the Queensland turf production industry and Turf Queensland have been proactive in a number of areas

The aim of Turf Australia’s R&D Strategic Investment Plan is to drive growth and sustainability of the Australian turf industry

has been extended to 2017 by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines. This new programme is directed at on-farm productivity improvements through precision agriculture methodology to assist industry sustainability.

Education and communication

Growing times Turf Queensland’s Jim Vaughan looks back on what has been a year of progress for the state turf producer association.

www.turfaustralia.com.au

T

he 2012-2013 financial year was punctuated with a number of issues affecting the profitable production of quality turfgrass in Queensland, in particular unusual rain events and natural disasters which impacted the state. We also had an economic downturn in the market with competitive low prices the order of the day that doesn’t help anyone. Low market demand and low pricing is a recipe for disaster.

We hope that as we enter the 2013 spring and summer periods our marketplace improves and thankfully there are signs that this is occurring. A change of both Federal and State government may also help provide some momentum.

During the last year the following activities were among areas covered by Turf Queensland:

Accreditation

Turf Queensland recently published the second edition of its Turf Guide

Turf Queensland has continued the promotion of its third-party audited Turf Accredited Producer (TAP) programme and we can report that this continues to grow with over 20 turf producers now signed on to the programme across the state and a number who are still undertaking assessment. Supporting that is our promotion to local government and regional councils with a number specifying the uptake of our TAP programme. This includes the large Brisbane City Council.

Best practice As part of the state government supported ‘Irrigation Futures’ programme, Turf Queensland has completed 71 on-farm assessments state-wide to improve both water and energy use efficiencies in turf production operations.

Turf Queensland is currently in negotiations with the State Government and I am happy to advise this 60

Australian Turfgrass Management

Twenty seven workshops and on-farm shed talks were undertaken across the state last financial year providing association, industry and programme updates to the benefit of our members.

Communication remains a cornerstone of any association and Turf Queensland is no different. We have visited over 130 farms across the state and met with members face-to-face. We are providing important up to date industry and market information for members via our Turf Alert programme.

Turf Queensland is on Facebook and Twitter and our updated website www.qtpa.com.au continues to achieve a high number of visits. A number of education and awareness videos and case studies were developed over the year with these being available through the website.

Turf Queensland recently produced the latest edition of its Turf Guide that has been developed as an awareness and educational tool. This edition, which weighs in at around 160 pages, includes information on irrigation, pests and diseases and a selection of the commercially available turfgrass varieties. All members will receive a quantity of the guides free of charge (value $30 each) as a member benefit. Interestingly, we have been contacted by TAFE colleges who want to use it as a reference textbook to assist those looking at entering the turf industry in its many forms.

Turf Queensland is also on the steering committee for the International Horticulture Congress to be held in Brisbane from 17-24 August 2014. Potentially attracting some 3000 delegates globally, warm-season grasses will be promoted heavily which will provide great exposure for the Queensland turfgrass industry. Turf Queensland will have a display promoting natural turfgrass during the Congress.

Research Turf Queensland has been heavily involved in supporting the Turf Australia erosion control project (HAL Project TU10025) while it is based in this state through our large contact database. Extensive faceto-face meetings with state regional councils has been undertaken to promote the uptake of quality natural turfgrass in both erosion control and turf accreditation.

This has proven to be highly successful with uptake by a number of prominent councils especially

on the east coast which has provided obvious benefits to the Turf Queensland member base.

Government programmes Turf Queensland was involved with the Queensland and Federal governments’ ‘Healthy Waterways’ programme with a pilot project being undertaken to identify nutrient and sediment run off and leaching into the Pumicestone Passage (Bribie Island) on Brisbane’s north side.

The project has covered the monitoring of water run-off and leaching through a series of different probes, weather stations and the use of fertigation and correct water distribution through turf farm irrigators. This project is assessing the ability of fertigation units, along with the correct amount of water and a correctly set up irrigation unit, to provide fertiliser and water evenly across turf production paddocks. The objective is to identify that if the correct amount of water is placed on to the ground and fertigation is adjusted correctly and dispersing the correct amount of fertiliser, there should be no wastage, run off or leaching. The outcomes and final report are still in process.

Other significant involvement included: l The Queensland flood assistance programme.

Turf Queensland maintained an information flow to all members regarding financial assistance through government support with a number of Turf Queensland members benefitting.

Turf Queensland was a partner with the Federal and Queensland governments’ ‘FarmFlow’ programme designed to provide incentives to turf farmers within a prescribed boundary on the Sunshine Coast. A number of turf farms were supported through this programme. l Turf Queensland completed another state government supported programme entitled ‘EcoTurf’ that was designed to benchmark various farms (small, medium and large) with energy, fertiliser and fuel use on-farm.

Confidential benchmark reports have gone out individually to the 15 farms involved for their benefit. It is hoped to use this as a guide to other farmers as an overall average for comparison and benefits to members.

As the above demonstrates, Turf Queensland is moving forward and advancing the uptake of quality natural turfgrass for member producer benefit. l

Turf Queensland has continued to support and promote Turf Australia’s erosion control project

Did you know… l

l

There are over 150 turf producers across both metropolitan and regional Queensland employing the equivalent of 1000 full-time staff; The production value of natural turfgrass in Queensland is more than $160 million per annum (Qld Treasury);

l

l

There is over 17 million square metres of turf grown in Queensland; There are 20 species of warmseason turf commercially grown in Queensland with the five main varieties being couch, buffalo, kikuyu, zoysia and carpetgrass.

Australian Turfgrass Management

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state reports GCSAQ state reports

Australia Day earlier this year methinks that supers across the state will be a little wary of upcoming public holidays!

The wet weather we have experienced over the past few seasons has prompted Ben Tilley at Headland Golf Club to embark upon a project to install 2.4kms of cart paths to try and weather proof the golf course by allowing cart access at all times. A lot of superintendents around the country bemoan golf carts but unfortunately their use in Queensland is a virtual necessity as without them player numbers drop dramatically. At my own club, for example, if carts are not in use due to weather conditions, competition numbers are reduced by up to 75 per cent which has an obvious dramatic effect on income.

The dry weather has, however, been a bonus for some, especially McMahons, the contractor building the new Horton Park Golf Club on the Sunshine

What happens to your irrigation dam when the treatment plant transfer pipe blows (Palmer Colonial, Gold Coast)

Adam Mills (left) and Phil Newton

O

nce again the weather is the dominant talking point in the Sunshine State which has certainly been living up to its reputation over the past few months with some outstandingly warm and sunny albeit dry weather. It seems 2013 is a carbon copy of 2012 with a ridiculously wet first half of the year followed by an equally ridiculous dry second half of the year. The general consensus is that golfing numbers are up though which can only be a good thing for the industry.

The Labour Day holiday in October saw record temperatures across the state with high 30s the norm. After the devastating storm that hit on

sta nsw

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n 10 September STA NSW held its Annual General Meeting at Ryde TAFE. I am proud to once again represent the association in the position of president and look forward to another great year ahead.

There are three new members appointed to the committee for the next twelve months – Brad Reynolds (Mid-Western Regional Council), Keith McPhee (Maitland City Council) and Grant Thomas (Sustainable Turf Renovations).

We sincerely thank the outgoing members – Gary Hoy, Richard Odd, Jerry Spencer and Jeff Dalrymple – for their commitment and dedication to STA NSW and while they aren’t on the current committee we know they will still be around to support STA NSW. 62

The full STA NSW committee is: President: Chris Chapman l Vice-president: Graeme Logan l Treasurer: Nadeem Zreikat l General committee: Frank Dempsey, Julie-Ann Davey, Dave McGlynn, Ryan Buttel, Bradley Reynolds, Keith McPhee and Grant Thomas l Admin manager: Jenny Zadro The NRL Grand Final held at ANZ Stadium over the October long weekend signalled the end of our winter sports for another year, although it certainly didn’t feel like winter! Sydney experienced its warmest winter on record and here’s hoping we get some rain in the coming months to help us cope through summer. l

Australian Turfgrass Management

Chris Chapman President, STA NSW

Coast. The first bit of turf was planted on the 18th fairway in the first week of October and others followed soon after.

Horton Park superintendent Pat Pauli has had to rely on verbal reports from his crew though as he is confined to lying on the floor most of the time with a ruptured disc in his back. The new course still has a long way to go but when the grass starts going down you know you are making some headway.

Pat will need to have recovered by November though as his technician Phil Newton recently took out the GCSAQ Technicians Achievement Award and will be in Melbourne to assist the Royal Melbourne crew in preparations for the Australian Masters and World Cup tournaments.

Phil will be joined by Adam Mills, assistant superintendent at Royal Queensland Golf Club, who won the GCSAQ Assistant Recognition Award. A very high quality field was assembled for the awards and the GCSAQ wishes to thank the nominees’ clubs and superintendents for the nominations and also Royal Melbourne superintendent Richard Forsyth for making the positions available. The GCSAQ also acknowledges the wonderful support from sponsors KC Turf Equipment/Jacobsen and Nuturf.

And finally, driving past Palmer Colonial Golf Club the other day I saw the irrigation dam was totally empty (pictured) prompting me to think that it is really dry. However, a blow out in the transfer pipe from the treatment works that is six metres deep means that Colonial superintendent Mark Hauff is relying on irrigating from his multitude of lakes to maintain his turf. Given our dry spell, the timing couldn’t have been worse.

Peter Lonergan President, GCSAQ

gcsawa

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ver the next six months the GCSAWA committee will be looking into a few areas to help members get more bang for their membership buck and hopefully a better chance to catch up with other superintendents at a range of venues.

The GCSAWA Super Series will undergo some changes to try and allow more superintendents to attend as well as give sponsors more of an opportunity to show off their wares. The nine hole format will remain but there will be some small changes to the timing and structure and we are also endeavouring to introduce some educational talks.

Congratulations must go to this year’s overall Super Series winners. David Miles (Baileys) finished third by one point from eventual runner up, our illustrious new secretary Neil Graham (68 points). However, way out in front on 74 points was a man who plays more golf than the rest of the WA industry put together – Geoff Stephens. Well done Geoff and on behalf of the GCSAWA committee a big thank you goes to all this year’s sponsors. We hope to see you all back next year.

The GCSAWA will also launch its new website in the New Year once we finalise who will be building the site and various components we require.

The Waterwise Program is well underway and while some of the bigger clubs have signed up we would love more clubs to look at joining in. We have different levels of criteria to encourage smaller clubs to join to help provide security for the WA golf industry through efficient and sustainable use of water allocations. Next year we will be running

our own training days to help with meeting the set qualifications required to attain bronze, silver or gold levels.

This year’s Christmas bowling night will be held on Friday 6 December, a night which normally turns out to be a great occasion for the children and parents. Lastly, the WA Golf Industry Awards Night is coming up in the New Year so keep an eye out for nomination forms and table bookings as last year was close to a sell-out. The night again promises to be a fantastic one and has become a highlight of the WA golf industry calendar.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a cool summer with no complications. See you in the New Year.

The GCSAWA committee (from left) Darren Wilson, Des Russell, Simon Bourne, Adam Strachan, Paul Needham, Geoff Kirk and Neil Graham

Des Russell President, GCSAWA

sagcsa

I

hope this finds you fit and well and everyone has had successful renovations. With this weather, no doubt everyone is very busy trying to keep on top of things and making sure their tracks are looking the best they can.

Since the last edition, the SAGCSA held its annual education day at Adelaide Shores (Westward Ho Golf Club). Numbers were pretty good with around 80 superintendents, ground staff and trainees, plus about 20 trade reps and speakers.

The morning session involved talks from Phil Lintern (Agspec), Lewis Sharp (Tee 2 Green) via Skype from the USA, Nadeem Zriekat (Colin Campbell Chemicals), Chris Simpson (Toro Irrigation), Brian Goodridge (Toro), Jyri Kaapro (Bayer Crop Science), Dr. Henk Smith (Syngenta Crop Protection), Josh Ammenhauser (Amgrow) and finished with Bonnie Doon Golf Club course superintendent Justin Bradbury who touched on his career and the redevelopment currently happening at the Sydney course.

Following lunch we ventured outside to look at machinery displays and demos from Toro, Metropolitan Machinery, Graden, David Golf and Spraymart. It was very informative and a great day was had by all. A big thank you to all the sponsors who helped make this day go ahead and we look forward to making it bigger and better next year. Upcoming events include the SA Golf Industry Awards night in late October and the superintendents/general managers overnight stay in the Barossa in November.

As touched upon in the last edition, Gary Day has stepped down from Flagstaff Hill Golf Club and has been replaced by Aaron Kelly, formerly assistant at The Grange Golf Club. The SAGCSA wishes Aaron all the best in his new role. In closing I wish you all the best in your preparations leading up to Christmas and a safe and merry festive season.

Chad Dawe Vice-president, SAGCSA Australian Turfgrass Management

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state reports tgcsa state reports

Launceston’s Blundstone Arena, pictured here at the start of the 2013 AFL home and away season, recently installed the state’s first drop in cricket pitch

A

s I write this, Tasmanian supers are busy trying to keep courses in play after some very damaging storms that brought down trees on many courses along with record rainfalls in some areas over the three months to October.

New TGCSA Board member Bryan Dunn has been kept busy of late with the installation of the state’s first drop in cricket pitch at Aurora Stadium. At our field day last February we witnessed the wicket build and nursery being carried out by Richard Winter from Pitchcraft.

The building of the in-ground base started on 30 September just as thousands of fans descended on the ground to celebrate Hawthorn’s AFL grand final win with the players. The wicket base was built over a five day period with the portable pitch craned in on 7 October. It is due to hold its first match in late November.

A little further east and the state’s first polo field is starting construction at Barnbougle Dunes.

Here course superintendent Phil Hill gives a brief rundown on its progress: “The much anticipated polo pitch at Barnbougle is just about to hit construction phase. We are slightly behind schedule due to the rainfall, which has elevated our water table and prevented us from progressing. Spraying the pasture grasses out this week (first week of October) with glyphosate is the first phase. Following on from that we will plough and power harrow the entire area which is 5ha.

“Some areas of the pitch will need raising slightly to allow for a relatively flat surface which is desirable.

Although the area is low lying we don’t see the need to install drainage given the sandy loam we are building on.

“After levelling is complete, StrathAyr are supplying Legend couchgrass which will be row planted late October. Some hot sunny days with plenty of water and a generous nutrient programme will hopefully see the pitch ready for play come January. Irrigation will be via farm irrigators.”

The TGCSA is currently negotiating with Mark Potter from the Skills Institute to try and come up with a new assessment model for our apprentices as a lot of our supers feel it could be more relevant and more accurately reveal the trainees’ knowledge.

More will follow on this as we progress.

Mark Johnson President, TGCSA

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mirates Team New Zealand bath toys for toddlers have been recalled across the nation – apparently they represent a choking hazard! How do you put a cork back in a champagne bottle? Ask a Kiwi!

Once again the humble folk from the land of the long white cloud appear to have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, but this one has a different feel about it. It was New Zealand technology and design, New Zealanders who built the boats, New Zealanders in charge of the teams and New Zealanders who made up the bulk of the sailors and that’s impressive for a tiny country and something to be proud of.

Even better and a lesson for us all in our industry was the dignity and resilience shown when it all got very difficult to take.

At some stage we all battle climatic events, rogue committee members, staff problems or mistakes and it’s nice to think we could set the same example with our own conduct.

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Course superintendents in New Zealand have had their fair share of challenges to face in recent times. Winter was the warmest ever with south up to two degrees warmer on average than normal. Places that normally freeze solid 300mm deep still had grass to mow and spring arrived very early with big spikes in weed growth.

Christchurch’s bad run hasn’t stopped with devastating winds blowing over hundreds of trees. Russley, Harewood and McLeans Island golf courses lost well in excess of 100 each in a few hours. Earthquakes continue in the upper east of the south island and elsewhere the rain keeps on coming.

Despite this the industry is in good heart with new golf courses under construction in both the North and South and the membership of the NZGCSA increasing.

On a sad note, Gordon West, life member of both the NZGCSA and the Auckland Golf Course Superintendents Association, passed

away on 7 August. Gordon was an icon in the NZ turf industry having trained many of our leading practitioners and was instrumental in professionalising the industry.

He held many different tournaments including two NZ Opens while superintendent at Auckland Golf Club (now Royal) and following his retirement from golf he became heavily involved with bowls. We can all acknowledge how much poorer we would be without the efforts of men like Gordon West whose shoulders we all stand on.

Finally, the New Zealand Fine Turf Seminar (15-17 June, 2014) in Waitangi is progressing well. In conjunction with Jacobsen, Karl Danneberger from Ohio State University will be presenting. A great accommodation deal has been secured at the Copthorne and we’d love to see some Australians come across.

Brendan Allen President, NZGCSA

sta act region

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hile it’s a very busy time for greenkeepers here in the ACT region with renovations and golf courses being prepared for club championships, it is a relatively quiet time for STA committee organised events.

A date and venue have now been decided on for next year’s annual STA ACT Region Turf Seminar.

The seminar will be held at the Tuggeranong Town Sports Centre on 30 July 2014. This is the first time the seminar will be held at this venue and we hope that it will allow sponsors to showcase their products and machinery at a sports location.

We hope to run demonstrations throughout the day in conjunction with speakers talking about local projects covering a wide range of sporting fields.

Head curator Brad van Dam from Manuka Oval will give a talk on the total reconstruction of the arena’s playing surface. Luke Jorgensen, who won this year’s AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award, will talk about his study tour of the USA which should be of great interest to all up and coming apprentices.

There will be a talk on shaving bowling greens and an open forum of local greenkeepers and local issues. We also hope to confirm a guest speaker to talk on their expectations and experiences of playing on certain sports surfaces.

The reconstruction of Manuka Oval is the big news here and works are advancing well. Sub-base drainage has been installed and the seven-wicket Legend couchgrass table is in place and already being rolled and worked on. The irrigation system is all but complete and pressure tested, with cables for electricity to the centre wicket also finished.

A 100mm gravel drainage layer is in the process of being spread over the entire playing surface.

A further soil layer of about 280mm will then be brought in then turfed with maxi rolls of Grand Prix couch around late November. This will give around seven weeks until the Prime Ministers Xl game on 14 January 2014. It’s a huge task and one that will provide curator Brad van Dam with more than a few anxious moments between now and then.

The annual STA ACT Golf Day will be held next year at Gold Creek Country Club (superintendent Scott Harris) on 8 April.

The reconstruction of Manuka Oval is progressing well with the new Legend wicket table installed and outfield stripped ready for turfing come late November

Danny Hull Committee, STA ACT

Brad van Dam and Luke Jorgensen

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he Sports Turf Association (WA) Incorporated held its first Annual General Meeting under its new name on Tuesday 6 August at Wembley Golf Complex’s impressive new driving range facility.

In many ways this can also be measured as my tenth AGM as a member of the TGAA/ STA executive committee in WA and another four years previously on the WA Grounds Managers Association committee. I am as ever very grateful for all the support and assistance from Clint Betts and Hugh Gardner who have once again signed on as secretary and treasurer.

The association’s membership base remains stable at about 170 and we are grateful to welcome State Wide Turf Services as Gold level sponsors.

Thanks largely to last year’s successful Turf Alive ’12 Symposium we will soon utilise some of these funds towards the development of our own website.

It was great to welcome back Eva Ricci to the STA (WA) community as the WA Turf Industry’s Industry Development Officer. Her time away from

us between February 2012 and May 2013 seemed a forgotten memory and seemed as if she had not been gone at all. Eva’s genuine attachment, passion and commitment to the WA turf industry is quite tangible to everyone she meets. Without doubt Eva is a fitting ambassador for our industry.

While discussing future seminars and workshops, Adam Whyte from Wesley College reminded us that sometimes the best reason to get together is to share a cold drink, a meal and most especially enjoy good company with industry colleagues and friends.

After the meeting many of the members then stepped outside to improve their driving skills. I’m not sure how you would class my swing, but it beared more resemblance to an angered farmer trying to kill a cane toad with a stick than it did anything within the known world of golf.

Tony Guy President, STA (WA) Australian Turfgrass Management

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state reports sta qld state reports

The STA QLD visited River Sands’ production plant for its recent field day

On the move Justin Crowe: From groundstaff to assistant superintendent Huntingdale Golf Club, Vic. Rod Ferry: From assistant superintendent Huntingdale Golf Club, Vic to Nuturf.

Peter James: Dropped back from superintendent to assistant superintendent Redcliffe Golf Club, Qld. Aaron Kelly: From assistant superintendent The Grange Golf Club, SA to superintendent Flagstaff Hill Golf Club, SA. John Mann: From foreman West Course to assistant superintendent East Course, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Vic. Daniel Myors: From groundstaff to assistant superintendent Latrobe Golf Club, Vic. John Shannon: From NMIT, Vic to curator Melbourne Grammar School, Vic. Chris Neville: From assistant superintendent Lane Cove Golf Club, NSW to superintendent Sawtell Golf Club, NSW. Darran Wilson: From assistant superintendent to superintendent Goulburn Golf Club, NSW. 66

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here was a good turnout of members at our August field day when we visited the River Sands production plant at the junction of the Logan and Albert rivers to the south of Brisbane.

We were broken up into several small groups of eight, each chaperoned by a friendly River Sands employee and given the grand tour of their new, state-of-the-art production facility.

Plant production manager Michael James took great pride in showing us the system he played a major role in designing which is ‘water classification based on the principles of specific gravity’. Each group was escorted through the entire process, from the raw material entering the plant through to the grading, blending, quality control, bagging, loading and laboratory processes.

The final product of most interest to us as greenkeepers was the USGA specification sand, perfect for use in the construction and topdressing of our sportsfields and golf greens. STAQ would like to thank River Sands for their time and hospitality.

After the tour we had a few presentations with Brett Thompson, course superintendent at Carbrook Golf Club, describing the effects of last year’s flooding on his course (which just happens to

be located next door to River Sands) and the actions he and his staff had taken to get the course back up and running again. Gary Lee from Brisbane Institute of TAFE gave a talk on turf nutrition and Andrew Kolbee gave a presentation on the main points of turf renovation.

Lunch was held on the deck overlooking a lake at Carbrook Golf Club before we ventured out and played the back nine taking in the construction of the new 10th fairway on the way. If you get a chance, this golf course is well worth a visit. Apart from the quality course and its setting, there is always a chance you might catch sight of one of the bull sharks which inhabit the main lake!

Martyn Hedley Vice-president, STA QLD

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he Bayer VGCSA Open Golf Day is one of the few days on the VGCSA calendar which is entirely focussed around having an enjoyable round of golf on a great course. It is also an opportunity to invite staff or volunteers as a reward for the work they have done during the year. This year’s day was no exception with a great time had by all who attended the event at Huntingdale Golf Club.

The day was once again sponsored by Bayer which has been a long-term partner in this important association event. The VGCSA thanks Bayer for its ongoing support. The winning teams on the day receive monetary funds to support them in their professional development.

Last year’s winning team was from the AGCSA who kindly donated the prize back to the VGCSA. After much thought we have allocated those funds to a folder to house some of the old and new trial work that has been conducted in recent time. Thank you to Bayer for supporting us in this initiative.

The Eastern Golf Club was venue for the VGCSA’s education meeting in August with around 80 members treated to an informative day. Eastern Golf Club is about to relocate to a new site and as such they have been able to use the existing course to conduct trials in readiness for the construction and grassing of the new course. General manager Ben Telley also informed attendees of the process

Australian Turfgrass Management

and time it has taken to get to the stage of finally being able to turn soil and commence construction.

Syngenta and PGG Wrightson were our sponsors on the day. Thank you to Daniel Docherty and Dr Mark Walker from Syngenta. Mark highlighted the benefits of using some of the Syngenta products with particular focus on Primo. Andrew Brooker and Phil Ford from PGG Wrightson elaborated on some of the fine fescue varieties available for differing uses on golf courses. Thank you to both sponsors.

At the Eastern Golf Club meeting the VGCSA announced a new initiative to provide a scholarship for turf Diploma students which would give the opportunity for an aspiring turf manager to have their second year fees subsidised to the value of $2500. The VGCSA sees this as a great opportunity and reward for a worthy student.

Finally, the committee would like to thank all VGCSA members for what has been a positive and rewarding year. Thank you to the current committee and to our administration coordinator Lesley Mitchell; your guidance and assistance in providing a quality year for our members is much appreciated. I wish all members a great Christmas and a safe and happy 2014.

Steve Hewitt President, VGCSA

30th Australian Turfgrass Trade Exhibition 25-26 June 2014 - Gold Coast On SAlE nOw

AGCSA

Booking Contact: AGCSA (03) 9548 8600 or peter@agcsa.com.au

book review book review

Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective Volume Six Compiled and edited by Paul Daley

Full Swing Golf Publishing, 378 pages, hardcover

S

ome 12 years after the first volume of Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective was published, Melbourne-based golf fanatic Paul Daley has just released the sixth volume of what has become a much loved and admired series celebrating the world of golf course design.

As he pens in his introduction, Daley recalls the anxiety surrounding the publication of the very first volume back in 2001 and questioning whether it would be successful or not. He need not have worried. The series has subsequently developed a life of its own and there seems little sign that things will slow down either. As Daley writes, he was actually oversubscribed for this particular volume and was forced to leave a number of essays out.

Going by that you would confidently predict that the seventh volume is well advanced already.

The sixth volume carries a further 36 essays on a wide variety of golf courses along with five picture essays. Like the previous five editions, Daley and his cohort of contributing essayists take readers around the globe and as well as the traditional stop off points of Australia, the US, Scotland and Ireland, they also take us to Bahrain, Germany, India, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Vietnam and Korea. Indeed, Black Stone Golf & Resort at Jeju, Korea takes pride of place on the front cover and is this edition’s featured course.

As with all previous volumes, the book beautifully marries prose with stunning photography. While the photos are absorbing and you could lose hours, if not days, analysing them in detail, it’s the essays which are the real heart of the book, each delving deep to unearth the intricacies and nuances of each course and its design.

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A perfect example of this is Doug Sobieski’s essay on Old Macdonald, the fourth course which forms part of the golfing mecca that is Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in the US west coast. Sobieski recounts how the course came to life and the fascinating manner in which owner Mike Keiser and designers Tom Doak and Jim Urbina have paid tribute to one of the founding fathers of golf course design – Charles Blair Macdonald.

Old Macdonald features the classic principles and strategies that Macdonald incorporated into his own courses, principally the National Golf Links of America, and as the photos accompanying the essay vividly depict, the grand scale in which they have achieved this is simply breathtaking. If you ever needed any more convincing to put Bandon Dunes on the golf bucket list, then this will do it!

From an Australian perspective, the sixth volume features three course essays – Lake Karrinyup Country Club (penned by Alex Cleave), Hamilton Island Golf Club (written by Ross Perrett) and The Lakes Golf Club (compiled by Michael Clayton) – as well as a picture essay on Royal Melbourne.

The Lake Karrinyup essay contains wonderful archival documents showing a map of course designer Alex Russell’s proposed layout, drawings of individual greens complexes as well as a handwritten letter to the club’s secretary on 13 March 1928. Written on ‘Mackenzie and Russell’ letterhead, over five pages Russell outlines his design intent for Lake Karrinyup and also provides the club with specific agronomic instructions which make for fascinating reading for course superintendents.

The Royal Melbourne picture essay is also another highlight, with some stunning photos contributed by long-time member and club historian John Green. The spritely Green took the opportunity while the Presidents Cup was on in 2011 to clamber up the many television towers dotted around the course and captured some beautiful images of Australia’s most famous turf.

Aside from those mentioned earlier, a number of other Australian course architects also put pen to paper in this edition. Pacific Coast Design’s Phil Ryan writes about India’s Oxford Golf & Country Club, Harley Kruse looks at the making of the Dunes Course at Danang, Vietnam, while Michael Wolveridge pens an opinion piece titled ‘Hard Times’ in response to the recent GFC. Elsewhere in the volume, there is an essay on the wonderfully named Dismal River Club, the beauty of which certainly belies its name, while Australian superintendents who have been fortunate to visit FarmLinks in the US will appreciate the contribution by renowned course architect Dr Michael Hurdzan.

Despite the arrival of volume six being delayed by a number of months, the wait has been well worth it. Daley has again delivered and the seventh volume cannot come quick enough.

Brett Robinson

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