By Nick Creely

Turf Management SA (TMSA) has announced its Graduate Award recipients in golf and sports turf, with two emerging professionals awarded after making promising starts in their early careers.

Oliver Davis (pictured right) of Royal Adelaide Golf Club took out the golf award while Thomas Jolly of D&D Curators was the recipient of the sports turf award. 

The pair will now go on to represent TMSA in the finals of the respective national Graduate of the Year Awards, the winners of which will be announced during the 2025 Australian Sports Turf Management Conference in Sydney this June.

Davis was one of the first graduates of the Certificate III in Sports Turf Management course through the ASTMA RTO, completing his training last November.

ASTMA national training manager Albert Sherry said it was pleasing to see graduates kick on with their careers after completing the program.

"The training team at the ASTMA was delighted to hear that Oliver had successfully fought off a strong field for the TMSA Golf Graduate of the Year Award and progress to the national final,” he said.

“The award is one of the highlights of the conference program and puts a spotlight on the outstanding work our apprentices, managers, trainers and assessors have devoted over the past three, plus years to gain the experiences to place them at the top in their states.

“We are very fortunate that our qualifications are extremely well regarded worldwide with some truly amazing opportunities available for our future sports turf managers.

“We wish Oliver and all state graduates all the very best for the award and for what will be a fantastic week ahead".

A strong field of graduates is set to gather for the national awards, sponsored by ASTMA Platinum Partner Toro, with all state associations  having now locked in their finalists. Here is the full list of both the Golf and Sports Field and Ground Graduate finalists.

Golf                                   

Zac Wels (Tura Beach Country Club) - ACT

Dylan Buttigieg (Windaroo Lakes Golf Club) - Qld

Zachary Amer (Port Fairy Golf Links ) - Vic

James Courtney-Bennett (Lake Karrinyup Country Club) - WA

Brad Guthmann (Monash Country Club) - NSW

Oliver Davis (Royal Adeliade Golf Club) - SA

Dylan Kingston (Launceston Golf Club) - Tas

Sports Turf                                  

Dylan Benfield (Garangula Polo Club) - ACT

Sean Howard (Victoria Racing Club) - Vic

Nathan Hitch  (Scotch College) - WA

Jorjia Hogg (Newcastle Council) - NSW

Jon Marett – (Peoples First Stadium ) - Qld

Latisha Smith (Waratah-Wynyard Council) - Tas

Thomas Jolly   (D&D Curators) - SA

• To register for the 2025 Australian Sports Turf Management Conference: www.astma.com.au/_events.registration/step1/eventid/29042