The latest edition of Australian Turfgrass Management Journal – Volume 27.4 – is out now and will be distributed to ASTMA members and subscribers shortly. 

As an ASTMA member or ATM subscriber, you can access this edition online immediately through the link below or through the ATM Archive section on the ASTMA website.

This edition features Glenelg Golf Club in Adelaide on the front cover, home to ASTMA Excellence in Golf Course Management Award-winning superintendent Tim Warren, who is pictured inset with fellow SA winners Peter Foreman and Oliver Davis. 

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It was a popular and thoroughly deserved win. Tim Warren, course superintendent at Glenelg Golf Club in Adelaide, beat home a strong field to collect this year’s ASTMA Excellence in Golf Course Management Award, sponsored by Gold Partner Envu, at the National Turf Industry Awards in Sydney. In doing so, he joined a rare club, becoming just the fourth superintendent in the association’s history to have been bestowed both the Excellence and Claude Crockford awards, the ASTMA’s two highest honours.

Over his 30-year career, Warren has quietly and unassumingly built a reputation as being one of the hardest working and most passionate turf managers going around. After being superintendent at a number of regional courses for most of his career, in 2018 Warren landed his first role at a Group 1 club. Glenelg would put their faith in Warren to guide them through the next phase of their development, and seven years into that tenure Warren has certainly delivered his end of that bargain. In this edition’s lead article we reflect on Warren’s achievements at Glenelg, central of which has been a major four-year Course Enhancement Plan which is nearing completion this summer. continued… 

The story on Warren kicks off a series of articles which highlight the latest batch of award recipients who were honoured on the opening night of the 2025 Australian Sports Turf Management Conference in June. Also featured are dual Claude Crockford Sustainability and Environmental Award winners Robert Biddle (Avondale GC, NSW) and Mick McCombe (Maleny GC, Qld) - pictured above. It was Avondale’s second Crockford Award, while McCombe’s win meant he also joined Warren in claiming the Excellence-Crockford double (he won the Excellence Award in 2016).

ATM reporter Nick Creely has compiled two excellent profiles on Graduate of the Year winners Oliver Davis (golf) and Jonathan Marrett (sportsfields and ground), as well as Excellence in Sportsfields and Grounds Management Award recipient Peter Foreman from Adelaide Oval. He also delves into the unique set up at The National Golf Club, speaking with course manager Leigh Yanner about what winning the ASTMA Sports Turf Management Team of the Year Award means for the 56-strong crew. continued… 

Elsewhere in this edition… 
•    In June, five Australians joined a huge volunteer corps for the 125th US Open at Oakmont Country Club. Joining the more than 250-strong tournament crew were Craig Anthony (Spring Valley GC), Shane Baker (Mosman Park GC), Marlon Johnston (The Australian GC), Solly Marshall (Kingston Heath GC) and Craig Walker (Devonport CC). ATM looks back on their time at one of the most revered – and feared – ‘major’ venues.
•    Ben Gibson catches up with Tim Walsh who since April 2023 has been the grounds and landscapes manager at Yarra Valley Grammar in Melbourne where he leads a team of nine. This edition’s profile is one of the most detailed and in-depth we have carried.
•    John Neylan reviews some of the highlights from the 15th International Turfgrass Research Conference held in Japan in July.
•    ATM columnist John Forrest pays tribute to Chris Marsh, one of the true stalwarts of the Western Australia sports turf industry, who recently retired from the University of Western Australia after 48 years.
•    In the first of what will be a continuing series of articles, Kate Torgersen and Monina Gilbey visit Headland Golf Club on the Sunshine Coast to look at the environmental initiatives being put in place by superintendent Ben Tilley and his team 

ATM is always on the lookout for story ideas and industry news. Please do not hesitate to email me or new ASTMA reporter Nick Creely with a suggestion, article or photos for inclusion, or call the ASTMA office on (03) 9548 8600.

ATM thanks all contributors to this edition and the continued support of its valued advertisers. For those wishing to advertise the 2025 Media Kit is available for download which contains pricing and edition/production deadlines. Enjoy the read...

Brett Robinson,
Editor, Australian Turfgrass Management Journal/ASTMA