Topic – Sand supply & Amendments TURFGRASS AGRONOMIST (B. Agricultural Science – Hons) John Neylan has worked extensively in the turf industry as a Turfgrass Agronomist for nearly 40 years. He has extensive experience in undertaking research and consultancy with a wide range of clients including golf, major sports stadia, local government and racetracks and has expertise in soils, sports turf profile design, drainage, water management and turfgrass evaluation. John has lectured in soils, drainage, irrigation management, environmental management and construction at several campuses. In addition, he has presented papers at numerous turf conferences and seminars and has written extensively with over 350 published papers and articles. John has undertaken research into: • The performance of playing surfaces as it relates to profile construction and management. • Sand testing as it relates to sports turf profile construction and performance. • Water and irrigation management. • The effects of effluent water on turf and soils. • Turfgrass selection and assessment for sports surfaces.
Ernie Gmehling has a Diploma in Civil Engineering and has 40 years of experience is soil science. He is the Managing Director of Ground Science who have been servicing the turf industry for over 20 years The presentation will cover the fundamentals of achieving the best compaction by understanding the changes in soil performance through the changes in moisture content during the preparation. The use of a Nuclear Density / Moisture meter allows the curator to
Ben Gibson is an experienced golf and sports turf industry leadership coach, systems specialist and presenter. He has worked with hundreds of turf managers and thousands of their staff across Australia, New Zealand and the United States and used that knowledge and experience to build his business The Toolbox Team, health and safety compliance software The Toolbox and and the Australia/NZ Sports Turf Leadership Forum Series. His vision is to create physically and psychologically safer work environments for teams across the industry and provide a meaningful and sustainable solution. Ben appears regularly on industry podcasts, in state and national turf association magazines and has spoken at turf industry events in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the United States. He has spent his career building and leading teams and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Leadership.