By Luke Voogt
St Albans Park’s Joel Manson bested Australia’s top young greenskeepers over the weekend, taking out a nationwide award.
“It’s a surreal feeling really,” the 23-year-old told the Indy Tuesday, from the 33rd Australian Turfgrass Conference and Trade Exhibition on the Sunshine Coast.
“I had a big night last night so I’ve pulled up a bit rusty.”
Joel beat five other state finalists to win the Australian Golf Course Superintendents’ Association’s Graduate of the Year.
“Any one of them could have won it, they’re all great blokes,” the third year apprentice said.
“I didn’t think I had a chance – I just got up on the dais and mumbled for 10 minutes.”
Joel made the trip to Queensland with his boss, Anglesea Golf Club’s Brett Balloch.
“My folks were in Bali so I had to give them a call – they were all sitting around having a Bintang,” he said.
“My mum might have been crying a little bit. The old man got on the phone and said he was proud of me.”
Joel, who completes his apprenticeship in December, won the chance to attend the Winter School for Turf Managers at the University of Massachusetts.
He looked forward to immersing himself in cutting edge turf research in January 2018.
“The Yanks take their golf really seriously.”
Joel said there was nothing more professionally satisfying than building a new green or bunker.
“You look back at it after two months of work you think ‘gee I just built it from nothing’.”
Joel drives for an hour each morning to work in Anglesea.
“It doesn’t bother me too much because I love what I do,” he said.
“When you’ve got a job you’re passionate about … it gets you out of bed every morning.”
The course’s resident kangaroos made work even more entertaining, Joel said.
“They just sit around and eat all our rough – you get to know a couple of them.”
The roos attracted plenty of tourists to play a few holes in Anglesea, he said.
“You try tee off and there’ll be two big males boxing each other.”
“You think dogs have good personalities – (the kangaroos) get into all sorts of trouble.”
Joel thanked his Geelong TAFE instructors Greg Ollis, Chris Deppeler and Paul Deller.
“It’s my teachers that have got me here, and my boss,” he said.
Joel described the Queensland conference as a great chance to learn from the industry’s best.
“I’ll have a couple more beers and meet some more people,” he said.
