New Brighton Golf Club course superintendent Norm Foord has been bestowed the prestigious NSWGCSA Excellence in Turf Management Award. Foord, pictured collecting his award from NSWGCSA president Craig Molloy, received the award at last week’s NSWGCSA Annual General Meeting which was held at Roseville Golf Club (host superintendent Mark O’Sullivan).

Foord was one of a number of NSW superintendents recognised on the day, with the association also handing out service awards to the following members:

• Darren Jones (St Michaels Golf Club) – 10 years service

• David Thomson (Bermagui Country Club) – 10 years service

• Mark Clissold (Mangrove Mountain Memorial Club) – 20 years service

• Tony Webster (Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemen’s Club) – 30 years.

At the AGM, Young Golf Club superintendent Dennis Young was also elevated to the Board. Although a non-election year, Young has joined the committee until next year’s elections following a vacancy left by Craig Wright who stood off the committee earlier this year.

 

VINCE CHURCH GRADUATE OF THE YEAR AWARD

The Vince Church Graduate of the year award was held April 11^th at Northbridge Golf Club. There were 5 finalists from the state contesting this year’s award.

David Snell (Armidale Golf Club)

Roger Chaffey (Manly Golf Club)

Liam Harper (Cammeray Golf Club)

Lincoln Stace (Lithgow Golf Club)

Matthew Kellond (Moss Vale Golf Club)

The day commenced with a tour of Manly Golf Club to inspect the new holes constructed. Michael Bradbury was a great host, showing the boys around what is soon to be one of Sydney’s finest golf courses when work is complete. It is simply stunning.

Interviews were conducted with the boys to select the winner. The interview process is a series of questions aimed to find the person we believe will be the best ambassador for our profession. During the lunch we were honoured to have Mr Greg Mills CEO of Golf NSW attend and present a $150 prize check to each of the 5 finalists. The NSWGCSA appreciates the ongoing support of this award by Golf NSW and thanks Greg for taking time from his busy schedule to attend the day.

Along with the Golf NSW prize all finalists received a $150 AGCSA bookshop voucher, 1 year’s membership to the NSWGCSA and a crystal trophy.

It is a very difficult task especially when the standard of the finalists was so high. Everyone gave a really good account of themselves and choosing the eventual winner required lengthy deliberation. On the judging / interviewing panel were Stuart Hall – Asquith GC, Ryan Fury – Killara GC, Alison Jones - NSWGCSA & Mal Harris – Northbridge Golf Club. The winner of the 2010 Vince Church Graduate of the year award was awarded to Roger Chaffey from Manly Golf Club. Roger wins a trip to the Adelaide conference in June and the opportunity to contest the national Graduate of the year award.

The NSWGCSA would like to thank all 5 finalists for their participation in the day and wish them every success for their careers in the future.

Winners for the Rube Wakerden Day were:  

Rube Walkerden Trophy (net): Ryan Fury

Presidents Trophy (scratch): Andy Hugill

Peter Ingram Trophy (trade net): John McCafferty

Paton Trophy (2B): Matt Goodbun & Dave Buchanan

Assistant’s Trophy (net): Jason Martin

          

NSWGCSA VINCE CHURCH GRADUATE OF THE YEAR AWARD  

This award was held on the 22nd of March at Northbridge Golf Club. The finalists were selected on the basis of receiving the highest mark over the 3 years of their greenkeeping trade course at the various TAFE colleges in NSW. This year also marked the first year the award was named in honour of the great ambassador of our profession, Mr Vince Church. This year saw 5 finalists contest the award:  

• Glenn Bishop Penrith Golf Club Richmond TAFE
• Matthew Mcay Royal Sydney Golf Club Ryde TAFE
• David Johnson Merewether Golf Club Kurri Kurri TAFE
• Adam Shields Casino Golf Club Wollongbar TAFE
• Michael Nichols Kiama Golf Club Yallah TAFE  

The 5 finalists, after arriving at Northbridge Golf Club, were taken on a tour of nearby Roseville Golf Club to inspect the recent construction project of a stormwater retention dam and new holes. Following this they went to visit the impressive new maintenance facility at Killara Golf Club before returning to Northbridge GC. Thanks to Roseville GC superintendent Mark O’Sullivan and Killara GC superintendent Ryan Fury for conducting the tour at their clubs. They were then individually formally interviewed by a panel consisting of 2 NSWGCSA directors (Stuart Hall and Mal Harris) and the NSWGCSA administration officer Alison Jones. The revised questions were designed to scrutinise the graduates on areas such as greenkeeping knowledge, attitude, leadership, initiative and ambition. The end result was to select a person we believe will be a good ambassador for our profession in the future. The standard of the graduates was extremely high and all 5 presented themselves passionate, articulate and professional. The interview process was punctuated with lunch and we were honoured to have Mr Greg Mills Chief Executive Officer of the NSW Golf Association in attendance. Greg made a presentation of $150 to each graduate on behalf of the NSWGA and spoke of the high regard in which the NSW Golf Association holds the role of the Golf Course Superintendent. At the conclusion of the interviews a difficult decision was reached on the eventual winner. All of the graduates gave a good account of themselves with Adam Shields from Casino GC being judged the winner narrowly over Michael Nichols from Kiama GC. All 5 graduates received trophies, $150 AGCSA bookshop prize and 1 year membership to the NSWGCSA.  Adam Shields receives a trip to the ACGSA conference on the Gold Coast and the opportunity to contest the national graduate of the year against all the other state winners. We wish him every success in contesting this award. In conclusion it was a great day with a group of young men who will no doubt be future assets to the golf course maintenance profession.

 Neylan, Hugill honoured at Aust Golf Digest Awards

AGCSA general manager John Neylan has been honoured for his services to the golf industry at the Australian Golf Digest Player of the Year Awards held on Monday in Sydney. Neylan, who joined the AGCSA in 2000 to head up the association’s newly created technical division and is now general manager of the peak body, was bestowed the Australian Golf Digest’s Services to Golf Award. The award has been presented since 1993 and in receiving it in 2009 Neylan joins an esteemed list of previous winners which includes Jack Newton (2008), Norman von Nida (2007), John Klatt (2006), Tony Rafty (2005), Tom Moore (2004) and Charlie Earp (2003).

“John has received our Services to Golf Award, which unlike the nine other awards handed out on the night, reflects ongoing excellence and contributions to Australian golf, rather than efforts made just during the past year,” says Australian Golf Digest editor Steve Keipert. “John’s work in what is an increasingly important corner of the golf industry deserved recognition, particularly as golf courses look towards sustainable futures and as everyday golfers better appreciate the role of the golf course superintendent.”

In what proved to a be great night for the golf course management profession, Mona Vale Golf Club superintendent Andy Hugill received the Australian Golf Digest Superintendent of the Year Award. Hugill, who received the AGCSA Excellence in Course Management Award at the 25th Australian Turfgrass Conference in Hobart, was again honoured for his efforts in transforming the northern Sydney suburbs course over the past five years into one of the region’s best.

Both Neylan and Hugill were among nine winners honoured on the night with Australian professional Geoff Ogilvy taking out the coveted Player of the Year Award. Other winners included Karrie Webb, former top amateur Scott Arnold, rookie Matthew Griffin, trainee Brent McCullough, senior Mike Harwood, junior Justine Lee and coach David Milne. Photo below courtesy of Australian Golf Digest.  

NSW Golf Club Superintendents Win Major Golf Industry Awards

Three awards were handed out to NSW recipients in Hobart at the Australian Golf Course Superintendent's Awards night, with Mona Vale Golf Club superintendent Andy Hugill collecting the prized Excellence in Golf Course Management Award, sponsored by John Deere. Hugill became the third NSW recipient in the past six years and beat home Western Australian-based finalist Craig New from Lakelands Country Club. Andrew Smith kept the NSW flag flying when he was named winner of the Syngenta-sponsored 2009 AGCSA Claude Crockford Environmental Award for his efforts at Yamba Golf Club, while Wade Williams from Federal Golf Club collected the 2009 AGCSA Graduate of the Year Award. Williams became the third winner of the Toro-sponsored award to hail from Federal and will now head to the Winter School for Turf Managers at the University of Massachusetts early next year. Full profiles on all 2009 AGCSA Award winners will be included in the next edition of Australian Turfgrass Management.

Service Register for Current Superintendents of the NSWGCSA

 Over 30 years

Given Name	Surname	Organisation	Number of Years At Club	Number of Years in current position
John	Simpson	Camden Valley Golf Resort	47	37
Robert	Boyd	Blackheath Golf Club	29	33
John	Marsden	Woolooware Golf Club	33	33
John	Odell	Royal Sydney Golf Club	22	31

 

 

Over 20 years

Given Name	Surname	Organisation	Number of Years At Club	Number of Years in current position
Gavin	Stewart	Beresford Golf Club	27	27
Tony	Fogarty	Catalina Country Club	32	26
Mark	O'Sullivan	Roseville Golf Club	30	26
Ron	Duffy	North Ryde Golf Club	29.5	25
Malcolm	Harris	North Bridge Golf Club	27	24
Gary	Dempsey	New South Wales Golf Club	21	23
Allan	Horrocks	Dubbo Golf Club	22	22
Bryce	Strachan	Pambula-Merimbula Golf Club	10	22
Michael	Bradbery	Manly Golf Club	12	21
Jim	Hopkins	Castlecove Country Club	24	21
David	Scaife	Bonnie Doon Golf Club	8	21
Andrew	Smith	Yamba Golf & Country Club	22	21
Martyn	Black	Castle Hill Country Club	21	20
John	Duncan	Jamberoo Golf Club	20	20

 

Over 10 years

Given Name	Surname	Organisation	Number of Years At Club	Number of Years in current position
Norm	Foord	New Brighton Golf Club	32	18
Peter	Lawson	Wagga Wagga Country Club	18	18
Stephen	Lording	Federal Golf Club	22	18
Steve	Bain	Vikings Capital Golf Club	20	16
Mal	Durkin	Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust	20	16
Richard	Kirkby	Pennant Hills Golf Club	16	16
David	Warwick	Avondale Golf Club	14	16
Craig	Wright	Cabramatta Golf Club	3	16
Mark	Crittenden	Cumberland Country Club	17.5	15
Rodney	Waite	Easts Leisure and Golf Club	19	14
Michael	Waring	Royal Canberra Golf Club	15	14
Craig	Molloy	Shortland Waters Golf Club	4	12
Trevor	Ridge	Sawtell Golf Club	12	12
Richard	Hooton	Kangaroo Valley Golf & Country Resort	11.5	11.5
Robert	Barnes	Kogarah Golf Club	15	11
Peter	Lonergan	Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Golf Club	11	11
Paul	Watts	Terrey Hills Par 3 Golf Course	11	11
Andrew	Heskett	Royal Canberra Golf Club	16	10
Andrew	Hugill	Mona Vale Golf Club	7	10
Simon	Lawrance	Mount Broughton Golf & Country Club	10	10