28th Australian Turfgrass Conference Programme

Every year the Australian Turfgrass Conference prides itself on bringing together the industry for a week of cutting edge education and networking for the betterment of Australian turf practitioners. The 2012 conference to be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 4-8 June will be no exception and if you have had the chance to peruse this year’s programme you will see that once again a wide variety presenters will converge to present on many and varied issues relating for the profession.

To ensure that the conference keeps abreast of the times and taking on board the feedback of delegates from past conference, there have been a few tweaks and additions to this year’s education component which it is hoped will enhance the experience for delegates.

As well as the traditional Plenary sessions to open the conference on Tuesday and the separate Golf and Sportsfield sessions on Wednesday, on Thursday the conference programme has been split into ‘Agronomic’ and ‘Management’ streams which delegates across both golf and sportsfield streams can pick and choose from to attend.

The 'Agronomic' stream will include presentations on the AGCSA’s recent HAL-funded project work, including the recently completed three-year bentgrass variety assessment trials and golf course benchmarking study. Initial findings from the carbon benefit and biodiversity study in conjunction with Melbourne University will also be presented. Other presentations will be made by Mark Coffelt (new fungicide mode of action), Jyri Kaapro (controlling parasitic nematodes), Don Loch (screening warm-season grasses for tolerance to Group A herbicides), Phil Ford (organic matter) and conference keynote Dr Frank Rossi (resource efficient sportsturf management).  The ‘Management’ stream will include workshops on social media (conducted by Nadeem Zreikat and Robin Doodson) and behavioural profiling (hosted by leadership and people skills development expert Sharon Kaibel).

As mentioned in past editions of The Cut, the Friday (8 June) offers delegates the option of attending a two-hour Communications Skills workshop or the traditional Turf Tour which this year heads to the Melbourne Olympic Parks Trust complex, home to AAMI Park.

Click here view the full 28th Australian Turfgrass Conference programme or click below to expand and view the conference delegate brochure e-book.

The Science Behind the Bounce - Part II

The AGCSA is delighted to announce that WACA curator Cameron Sutherland will make a follow-up presentation from last year’s talk in Adelaide on the rebuilding of the wicket table at Perth’s iconic cricketing ground.  His 2011 Sportsfield Stream presentation covered the search for the right wicket soil, from the use of old documentation and soil tests, through to working in the field finding and analysing potential clay sources.  Part two of ‘The Science Behind the Bounce’ will look at the work that went into choosing the right grass species, its establishment across the block and managing the new wickets while the arena was in play.

To whet your appetite for Cameron’s follow-up presentation, you can click here to view the webcast of his Adelaide presentation which formed part of the cricket wicket soils session that also included talks from Gary Beehag and Ernie Gmehling (Cameron's presentation begins at the 1 hr 36 min mark). Please note if you don’t have Microsoft Silverlight player you will be required to install this free programme which will only take a matter of seconds.

General Managers - Thursday session confirmed

The AGCSA, in conjunction with Golf Management Victoria, is pleased to confirm there will be a dedicated one-day General Managers seminar which will run on Thursday 7 June during the 28th Australian Turfgrass Conference. This full day programme includes presentations on behavioural profiling (hosted by leadership and people skills development expert Sharon Kaibel), social media (conducted by Nadeem Zreikat and Robin Doodson) and resource efficient sportsturf management (presented by conference keynote Dr Frank Rossi). The seminar also includes entry to the trade exhibition. The AGCSA encourages all members to get their general managers involved. Click here to view the GM seminar programme and registration form. 

Three-day conference tune-up for turf techs

Turf technicians are a vital part of any turf management facility and this year’s conference will again include a dedicated three-day Turf Technicians stream (Tuesday 5 June -Thursday 7 June) which is not to be missed. This year’s programme will see workshops conducted by all the big industry players including conference major sponsors Toro, John Deere and Jacobsen. Registration in the Turf Techs stream includes entry to the trade exhibition, a ticket to Monday’s opening Welcome Reception and the John Deere Technician’s dinner to be held on Wednesday evening. Click here to view the Turf Technicians stream programme and registration form. 

Conference welcomes course architects stream

The 28th Australian Turfgrass Conference will also carry a special stream for golf course architects which will incorporate the 2012 Annual General Meeting of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects. The two day programme (Wednesday 6 June and Thursday 7 June) includes entry to the trade exhibition, unlimited access to any of Thursday’s ‘Agronomic’ and ‘Management’ stream sessions, as well as a special workshop on carbon sequestration. Click here to view the Course Architects seminar programme and registration form.