Glenelg Golf Club in Adelaide is set to feature in the latest episode of ABC’s Gardening Australia program which will air 7:30pm Friday 3 October across the country. The segment, which was filmed at the course last September, features host Sophie Thomson talking with Monina Gilbey, the club’s former biodiversity manager, about the extensive environmental initiatives that Glenelg has instituted over the past couple of years.

Gilbey, together with Glenelg superintendent Tim Warren (CSTM), received the ASTMA’s Claude Crockford Sustainability and Environment Award, sponsored by Syngenta, in 2022, while Warren more recently won the ASTMA Excellence in Golf Course Management Award, sponsored by Envu, at this year’s Sydney conference.

“It was super-exciting having Sophie and her camera crew visit Glenelg last year and to be able to show them the excellent work we had achieved across the course,” says Gilbey, who since the filming has branched out and formed a dedicated environmental consultancy (Torgersen-Gilbey) with Kate Torgersen. “I think it will be a real eye-opener for Gardening Australia viewers to learn about the threatened plants that we have planted at Glenelg Golf Club and hear about the birds and insects visiting the course. Many people see golf courses as dead spaces, but this episode will show the variety of wildlife and plants that can be found at a golf course.

“A frequent criticism faced by golf clubs is their private nature which restricts public access. However, it can be argued that this exclusivity contributes to the protection of threatened species. Out-of-play areas on golf courses provide a protected area for threatened wildlife or plants that is much harder to create in a park or reserve with general public access.”

The episode (No. 32) is set to air at 7.30pm AEDT and will be repeated the following Sunday at 1:30pm. The episode will also be available to watch on ABC iview from 7am on the morning of the day it goes to air and can be streamed from the ABC website after the first broadcast.