By Nick Creely

Melville Glades Golf Club superintendent Dane McBride says his crew of nine stepped up to the plate and delivered a pristine course (pictured) for the Australian Interstate Teams Matches held this week. 

The Perth-based club hosted the elite junior tournament from May 5-7 - the first time in nearly a decade - and McBride said he really enjoyed preparing the course with his enthusiastic team.

“It all went really well. We had a little bit of rain on Saturday but the course was able to firm up which was great,” he said.

“The team loved it, it’s so exciting for them to prepare for a tournament. They’ve loved the lead-in and the week of the tournament.

“They all did really well and enjoyed the experience.”

McBride said from a weather perspective it was virtually perfect with a slight hiccup a few weeks out the only challenge to navigate from a turf management perspective.

“Two weeks out from the tournament we had a hydraulic leak on a greens mower but that’s as much drama as we’ve had really,” he said.

“We were really lucky with the weather, basically perfect, which is good.”

More importantly, McBride said it filled him with pride to showcase to golfers across the country what Melville Glades had to offer.

“We had this tournament in 2017 as well, which was my second year as super so since then, this one would definitely be our biggest event,” he said.

“The golfers have all said it’s in amazing condition this week, which is nice. We were told our fairways were some of the best he’s ever seen which is good to hear.”

New South Wales was crowned overall winners, defeating their northern neighbours Queensland to clinch their second Australian Interstate Teams Matches title in three years. NSW also won the men's championship with 4.5 points, while Queensland women ran out winners in their individual cup with 5 points.

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

Image: Travis Hayto/Golf Australia