Magazine - 2009 Sports Turf Association Ryde Conference Wrap Up

By Simon Kars & Rob Jenkins in Shows and seminars on 22nd Apr 2009 6:55

The 2009 Sports Turf Association Ryde Conference Wrap Up

The Sports Turf Association (STA) is dedicated to the development and professionalism of turf management. Managed by a voluntary team of Committee Members, its committed to providing knowledge, resources, ongoing education and networking opportunities for its members.

The STA NSW Incorporated was formerly known as TGAA NSW, and whilst the name has changed they are still are proud to be part of the Turfgrass Association of Australia.

Pitchcare made its way up to Sydney not knowing what to expect- this was our first, of what will no doubt be many, STA days we have attended. We all read the regular news and updates that STA send our way, so we knew it would be a professionally run event. The day was such a success, we have already locked in their regional show at Kurri Kurri TAFE on the 19th of August as a must attend.

After setting up our stand, we had a chance to browse the show and take some photos of the day. The show was set both indoors and outdoors with the majority of the trade booths under cover, this was very handy due to the fickle Sydney weather! The day was mapped out for the 200 or so delegates with plenty of talks, time to browse the show and of course the most important part, eat the lovely food.

The talks for the day started off with the delegates altogether. After a welcome from the STA, Major Grant Gleeson gave a talk on team leadership followed by some other great talks from Paul Jackson on Preparing Winter Turf,  Managing Stress in Turf by Living Turfs Rob Cooper, the Key to Good Turf Renovation by the tireless Geoff Hatton of Sustainable Turf Renovations, as well as a look into Programmed Maintenance at Campbelltown stadium
by Geoff Green from The Green Horticultural Group.

With talks being such a big part of these great days it's always nice to see people volunteer their time, and what is no doubt a lot of effort to speak about important subjects in the turf industry. I have always thought you gain from attending the talks- you can learn more from listening to someone speak for half an hour than you can working all day in the field. 

After a morning tea and some time browsing the trade show, the delegates split into their different streams. Three streams were on offer- Cricket Wickets, Golf and Bowling Greens and also Management.

The Cricket Stream had talks on Wicket Construction by Bob Paddison and Understanding Wicket Soil Behaviour by Murray Fraser.

The Golf and Bowling Greens Stream had a great talk on Nematode Control and Life after Nemacur by David Westall, and the Construction of Lynwood Country Club in Sydney by Martin O'Malley.

The Management Stream was lucky enough to have Graeme Logan as well as Daryl Kerry talk from ANZ Stadium on Challenges in Sports Facility Management, Ben Hargy and Bruce Smith from Pittwater RSL Club spoke on the same topic. Avondale Golf Club's Symon Scott talked on Communication and Management.

Talking in all the streams where John McCafferty from Country Club and Henk Smith from Syngenta on Keeping Turf Healthy. Todd Greenberg the CEO of the Bulldogs Rugby Club wrapped up the excellent talks later in the afternoon before the delegates had lunch and more time to browse the trade show. The STA should be congratulated on the organisation and standard of the speakers, from all reports everyone thoroughly enjoyed all streams.

The trade show was well supported by a variety of companies. During our browse about the show we got to talk to most of the companies present during the day.

Country club caught our eye with one of their new turf sprayers by Enviromist. They had the Spraydome GT 2300 on the stand, which I must admit looks like a great little sprayer. From my observations it was just a push type sprayer, but the clever thing was its shrouded boom and hand lance running off the same tank. The sprayer would be perfect for small tennis courts or any oval. The boom was large enough so you could cover a large area if needed, and the hand lance added another dimension such as being able to spray around tricky poles or hard to reach areas a boom couldn't get to. The boom also folded up for easy storage, it also had wide tyres ideal for golf or bowling greens where compaction is always a issue.

Fountain Line were present at the show showcasing their range of marking equipment. There were a large amount of the delegates from oval backgrounds, and with marking comprising a large part of their job, Fountain Line are clearly very popular within the industry. I did feel a little sorry for them at one stage, when the rain was coming down and they where huddled under their tent outside! Fountain Line seem to have a marker for all situations and any job size, they have been as their company slogan states "performing for crowds for 70 years"

Our friendly neighbours next to our stand where Endeavour Turf Products (ETP). ETP are becoming a major player in the turf market due to the always knowledgeable duo of Grant Greenway and Jerry Spencer. They are based in Melbourne and Sydney. ETP offer consultancy as well as soil testing and a great range of seeds and fertilizers. Always friendly and approachable, the guys had a great show! Keep a look out for Jerry Spencer's new book, soon to be available in the Pitchcare Shop.

Another top stand was Turfcraft Machinery. John Purtell is present at all the country's great shows- his easy to talk to, hard working Aussie attitude has made his company a force in supplying his range of machinery all over Australia. Turfcraft sell a number of well known brands in the Australian market place such as Soil Reliever, Sisis and Smithco. They also have some great lesser known products that will no doubt make a splash in the down under market place once discovered such as, Turfworks an inventive greens mower cassette system, and the Bunker Blaster which is a water pump that can be attached to most bunker rakes. With Sydney's weather, we almost needed him to break out the bunker blaster then and there!

The Green Horticultural Group also had a nice set up. Having a chat to Manager Peter Quessy they have been very busy as usual. For anyone who hasn't heard of them they offer sportsfield construction and irrigation and horticultural amenity management solutions. So they basically offer the works from building then maintaining anything green! The smart company shirts were well represented, with faces such as Joel Toogood an always active Pitchcare member who managers Campbelltown Stadium.

Geoff Hatton from Sustainable Turf also attended. As well as being one of Australia's top speakers from within the turf industry, Geoff had a nice stand indoors as well as his Koro Recycling Dresser outside. This little known machine has the ability to take off Down Under- it's a huge time and money saver. The Dresser can aerate up to depths of 6" and requires no core harvesting. It also mixes the underlying soils vertically and horizontally and topdressers in the same pass- I know, it sounds to good to be true! If you ever get the chance to see them in action get along, as they are remarkable.

Turf Drain Australia caught our eye with their display of sport field drainage and construction. From slit drainage and sand grooving, to sports field construction and laser-controlled leveling, Turf Drain Australia provides a complete service. The company has been installing sports field drainage, constructing sports fields, in addition to building turf wickets and bowling greens across Australia for many years. Over the years the company has been steadily improving and fine tuning equipment and techniques. The staff possess many years of combined sports field drainage, sports field construction and horticultural experience. Turf Drain Australia are specialists with 100% of their projects either being the drainage or construction of sports surfaces. The company are proud of their position in the sports turf industry and look forward to the challenges in the years ahead.

To the right hand side of the Pitchcare Oceania stall stood Jason Stig the director of PJC Sportsturf, suppliers of quality sportsturf products. PJC provide solutions to all your sportsturf needs including; Precision Cylinder Grinding (In house, pick up and Delivery Service), Bernhard Grinding Equipment (Express Dual & Anglemaster Range), Tournament Support (PGA, Austrlalian Opens and Others), Powerturf (Jacobsen, Turfco, Ransomes, Ryan, Cushman, Turfco, Vicon, Daedong Tracotrs), Simplot Pro-Line Distributor Advice, Support and Other Fertilizers and Chemical Suppliers (Campbells, Nufarm and much more). PJC and Bernhards worked at Royal Sydney, providing Tournament Support in the lead up and during the Australian Open. Due to the company’s success, PJC was invited to branch its service into Asia. The company worked at Amata Springs in Thailand to help them with the preparation of the course for a Tournament the course held in January.

One particular stall that got a lot of attention was the Sportsturf Medics, hosted by three lovely ladies including Tracey French and Andrea Behunova. Sportsturf Medics is a division of worksafe medics caring for horticulturalists and greenkeepers, which includes health monitoring for pesticide exposure, skin cancer examinations, audiograms, first aid training and manual handling. Established in 2002, the company is a results driven organization that has developed a range of medical testing, injury management, screening services, medical transport and training relating to greenkeeping, golfing, bowling and other similar business sectors. Sportsturf Medics provide occupational health monitoring and skin cancer screening services of the highest quality while promoting awareness among employees as to the relationship between safe work practices and long-term health.

Outside machinery were on display with particular interest in the stall Turf Tec Australia hosted by director Glenn Shaw. Turf Tec Australia is a quality manufacturer of turf machinery and equipment. The company supplies machinery to turf farms, golf, bowls and sporting facilities, mowing & landscaping contractors, shires & schools. Turf Tec Australia has made it name supplying strong, simple, reliable Australian turf equipment.

Water in this country of ours is a most precious commodity and John Robertson’s company Sanoway has taken advantage this situation with a head turning product, Sanoplant which interested many of the delegates at the show. Sanoplant was originally developed to prevent leaching of chemical fertilizers into the water table on golf course greens. Making use of its unique properties it has since been further developed for broader "growing" application, particularly for use in arid regions such as the UAE. The product significantly improves the storage of water and nutrients in soils which have high air pore-volume and poor water holding capacity. It can store approximately 16 times its own weight of water and importantly, this water is plant available as it is held under moderate tension. It can be used in almost all soil types, but is most effective in sandy soils. The Sanoway slogan is “better gardens with less water”, this is most appropriate as the company find ways for people to cope with water restrictions and the impact of the drought.

The outdoor machinery was of great interest to the delegates with plenty of machines on display, is was a informative display which received much attention.

The show was a great success for all who attended, which Pitchcare Oceania highly recommends to anyone in the turf industry. Our own success was reflected in the numerous delegates who signed up with us throughout the day. We are very much looking forward to next year's show.

Read more articles in Shows and seminars, by Simon Kars & Rob Jenkins or from April 2009.