Golf Course Superintendent, Muirfield Golf Club Ltd - NORTH ROCKS NSW
CATEGORY: SUSTAINABILITY
Peter Watts is the Course Superintendent at Muirfield Golf Club in Sydney, NSW. Peter’s commitment to excellence in environmental best practice as an integral part of the course maintenance and development strategy has earned him a nomination in the Sustainability category.
Peter has implemented an ongoing Environmental Maintenance Strategy at the Golf Club which permeates the day-to-day work practices relating to the care and presentation of the course. He also recently completed a Biodiversity Project on the course which has improved the environmental wellbeing of the course.
Peter, on commencing stewardship of the golf course initiated a general assessment of the course. He found the key areas of concern were the prevalence of introduced plant species and also the presence of invasive species in bushland areas; the loss of aquatic connectivity in the creek due to manmade diversions and interruptions to the natural creek line; the presence of rubble and other tipped material at various points on the course and the cumulative effects of some traditional course maintenance practices.
In addressing the issues through carefully thought out management and environmental best practices, Peter was able to improve the course immensely, both environmentally and aesthetically. Some benefits included existing trees that were under stress are now exhibiting a healthier canopy; micro-organisms were instantly mobilised, facilitating eco cycle; reduced terrain fatigue on course equipment; improved operator health and safety, alleviating the necessity to operate machinery through hostile terrain under trees; and improved visual aesthetics with darker mulch contrasting with the green fairways and tree foliage.