The Australian Sports Turf Managers Association has partnered with Golf Australia to develop a Turf Management Assistance Program for Golf Clubs, designed to assist small, remote and regional Clubs with the support they require to improve playing surfaces and turf management practices.  

Right across sport and recreation, it goes without saying that better conditioned playing surfaces encourage greater participation.   This certainly applies to golf where much of the game in played on fine turf, and the conditioning of the course is equally important to the enjoyment of the participant.   Turf Management Assistance Program Overview The Turf Management Assistance Program will provide assistance to Golf Clubs that are operating without experienced or qualified turf management staff and / or are largely volunteer based staff, by aligning them with an experienced and qualified turf professional from the industry.

The partnering turf manager will visit the Club to meet with staff to understand and review current turf practices, undertake soil, water and plant testing, and will provide advice and recommendations to support the facility to deliver improved playing surfaces across greens, tees and fairways, in addition to providing advice on course management practices in an environmentally and financially sustainable way.

With a long-term view, the Turf Management Assistance Program will promote an improved knowledge of small, remote and regional Golf Clubs teams and volunteers, resulting in sustainable improvements to playing surfaces, better conditioned turf areas and more efficient use of resources.

Compensation and Funding for Sports Turf Managers Sports Turf Managers engaged under the Program to support a Golf Club or facility, will be paid for their involvement.   A Turf Manager engaged to assist a Golf Club will be remunerated between $500 - $1000 per visit/report that a club requires, along with all travel expenses and any soil, water or disease testing requirements will be covered by the program.    Assistance to Golf Clubs Under the Turf Management Assistance Program, eligible Golf Clubs will be aligned with a local, experienced and Qualified Sports Turf Manager, who will undertake a visit (or multiple) to provide advice, guidance and information to the Club to improve playing surfaces and develop effective maintenance programs within the constraints of their current environment.    To support the Clubs, all costs associated with the partnering turf managers visit, associated soil, water and plant testing requirements and recommendations will be covered by the Golf Australia Clubs and Facilities Support team.  Upon identification of qualified Clubs in need of support, Golf Australia will liaise with the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association, who will source, assign and co-ordinate a geographically located qualified and experienced Sports Turf Manager to attend the club.  The Turf Manager will collaborate with the club personnel responsible for turf management and provide both verbal and written advice to the club related to recommendations to improve to turf management practices.

All turf managers that are part of the Program are Qualified Sports Turf Managers with extensive experience the turf management industry, operating at some of the highest profile Golf Clubs and facilities in each State and indeed Australia. 

To ensure the highest calibre of support is provided to the clubs through the Turf Management Assistance Program, Golf Australia will prioritise alignment of supporting Turf Managers to Certified Sports Turf Managers (CSTM) who have attained industry recognition as leading professionals and are acknowledged as leaders in the industry.  

Qualifying Golf Clubs

Through regular visits by Golf Australia staff, or by clubs contacting Golf Australia for assistance, clubs will be identified as eligible in receiving support for turf management through the Turf Management Assistance Program. The club will qualify if one or more of the following applies:

• The workforce is 100% volunteer based
• Existing course staff lack a turf management trade qualification or are not experienced turf managers.
• There is a staff member who is trade qualified or experienced, but they are located remotely, isolating them from being able to effectively network with other turf managers, 

or

• If there is an extenuating circumstance where assistance is required and where Golf Australia & the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association agree that the turf management assistance program is justified.

Program Process

Once qualified, the Golf Club will be provided with a pre-visit checklist and information requirements to complete, which will be provided to the partnering turf manager for review and background prior to visiting the Club.  Included in the pre-visit activities, will be a small number of testing requirements to be completed by the Club, including collection of soil, water and turf (or disease) samples for testing.  All soil, plant or water testing requirements will be directed through AGCSATech analytical and diagnostic service department, and will be included in the pre-visit checklist. The aligned turf manager will receive soil, plant or water testing results and contact the Golf Club to co-ordinate and schedule an appropriate time to visit and meet with Club staff and volunteers.   The initial visit will encompass a combination of discussions with staff, review of testing results and tour of the course.   Any additional soil, plant or turf disease testing requirements identified through the tour will be provided to AGCSATech for testing, with the results provided to the turf manager for inclusion in advice provided to the club for recommended improvement opportunities to turf management practices.  A final report will be provided to the Golf Club related to recommended improvement opportunities to turf management practices to deliver improved playing surfaces across greens, tees and fairways, in addition to providing advice on course management practices for the Club to undertake improvements in an environmentally and financially sustainable manner.

For Golf Clubs

Golf Clubs supported through the Turf Management Assistance Program will be responsible for:

• Completion of Turf Management Assistance Program documentation from Golf Australia
• Completing the requirements of the pre-visit checklist supplied by the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association
• Collection of samples for testing as outlined in the pre-visit checklist
• Allocating time for key personnel to work with the aligned Sports Turf Manager on their visit.

.

For Sports Turf Managers

• Register to be part of the Turf Management Assistance Program 
• Complete Turf Management Assistance Program documentation upon engagement with a Club requiring assistance
• Review and utilise diagnostics testing information provided by AGCSATech 
• Co-ordinate and undertake visit(s) to any aligned Golf Club as required
• Complete a final report for the Golf Club recommending improvement opportunities to turf management practices 
• Be available to provide additional advice from the Club (as required from time to time)

For Golf Australia

Golf Australia will be responsible for:

• Management of the Turf Management Assistance Program
• Identifying Golf Clubs requiring assistance
• Promotion of the service through Regional Development Officers
• Funding the program through Clubs & Facilities Support Team, and 
• Creating, distributing, and recording the outcomes from Golf Clubs. 

Golf Australia will measure the impact of the program on three fronts:
1.    Feedback from the club about the assistance provided by the Turf Manager.
2.    Before and after surveys of club members about their satisfaction with the playing surfaces 
3.    Follow up testing, analysis, and review by the visiting Turf Manager. 

For the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association

The Australian Sports Turf Managers Association will be responsible for:

• Sourcing and co-ordinating the Sports Turf Manager to attend the Club 
• Providing the pre-visit checklist & requirements to Clubs
• Undertaking and completing analytical and diagnostic testing 
• Provision of test results and findings to the aligned Sports Turf Manager
• Maintaining a register of interested and eligible Sports Turf Managers

Support for engaged Sports Turf Managers

Sports Turf Managers who would like to be part of the Turf Management Assistance Program, will be required to register their interest to support Golf Clubs under the Program. 

• Requirements for interested turf managers to be involved with the Turf Management Assistance Program:
• Register to be part of the Turf Management Assistance Program 
• Have a trade level Qualification (or expertise) in Sports Turf Management recognised by the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association 
• Be currently employed at a Golf Club or facility and have the written permission of the club at which they are employed (included in Registration process) - Download a Sample Letter of Support from your Club

Compensation and Funding for Sports Turf Managers

Sports Turf Managers engaged under the Program to support an aligned Golf Club will be paid for their involvement 

• A Turf Manager engaged to assist a Golf Club will be remunerated between $500 - $1000 per visit/report that a club requires (to be finalised for each individual alignment and situation).
• All (reasonable) travel expenses will be paid for under the Program, to be discussed based on individual engagements, however the aim of the Program is to minimise travel requirements through using geographically local Sports Turf Managers
• Any initial (pre-visit) testing and additional testing requirements requested by the Turf Manager will be funded by the program 
• Whilst there is no guarantee that all turf managers registering will be allocated opportunities to support Golf Club(s) through the Program, it is anticipated that the number of small or regional Clubs interested in receiving support through the Turf Management Assistance Program will be high, and therefore the opportunities for engagement by turf manager will be comparatively high. 

Download a Sample Letter of Support from your Club

Apply to be part of the Turf Management Assistance Program