Day One 2nd July - Main venue - Whangamata Ocean and Sports Club .
9:00 am Housekeeping Colin Hunter. Our fantastic MC
9:05 am Her Worship Sandra Goudie Mayor for Thames Coromandel District Council Opened the Conference .
Welcomed all Greenkeepers , Tradies to the Conference and spoke about the Coromandel Peninsula as a great place to visit.
President Thames Valley Bowling Centre Mr Murray Galloway welcomed all visitors to our Centre and congratulated Thames Valley Greenkeepers for holding the Conference.
Our President Peter Burgess welcome all delegates, trade people and visitors to Whangamata he encouraged all delegates to have fun ,ask the questions you need and we will all learn so much.
9:30 am Address by Dr. Brian Coffey. Environmental Consultant spoke about the enviroment and other issues.
10:30 am Morning Tea
Maurice Symes said the scones are the best he has ever had .
10:50 am David Ormsby NZSTI Nematodes results of new research.
I have the paper on Nematodes that David presented if you want it contact me.
David Ormsby .Those nasty weeds, how to control and eliminate.
11:30 am David answered most questions , I was amazed at his knowledge.
It was at this time Frank stated that I came from a small Hikutaia club, our Greenkeeper has left and we have no one left who is qualified to purchase or administer sprays etc. so I have put in a total Brown Top grass green, this created a lot of banter between Maurice and myself for the rest of the conference.
12:00pm Lunch
1:00 pm Kelly Rose & Tara McLeod - Training, Compliance Costs this was a fascinating presentation , to get a level 3 qualification certificte will now cost $1,200, Level 2 will cost $600 , I found it a bit scarey really with all the new regulations we have to follow.
1:30 pm Mark Cameron Bowls NZ CEO, spoke on the Future for Green Keeping and Bowls in NZ
Mark Cameron answered many questions about Bowls NZ. He then went on and spoke about the relationship between NZSTI and Bowls NZ which went back many years, in 2010 NZSTI was bought out from Bowls NZ and field days with NZSTI was about 60 visits to Centres a year, in 2016 NZSTI was bought out again and field day visits to Centres reduced to 27.
Bowls NZ have this year done a deal with Prebble Seeds. All purchases by clubs from Prebble seeds will have donation to Bowls NZ of 10% of the purchase price. Bowls NZ will pass this money onto Bowls NZ Greenkeepers Assn which could amount to $100,000,this is a big deal for us Greenkeepers as our parent body will have funds available to invest in more NZSTI visits, training new Greenkeepers and other learning avenues.
2:00 pmTrade people present spoke for 10 minutes each on what they had available.
3:00 pm Afternoon Tea
3:30 pm Karen Crake gave a presentation on Agri Sea from Paeroa all products produced from sea weed, one of natures wonder plants and make a hugh difference when used on the bowling green.
4; pm Open Forum led by David Ormsby ,Peter Burgess ,Kelly Rose
4.30 to 5.30pm Social Hour.
6:30 pm Conference Dinner, Presentations were made by the New Zealand Greenkeepers Association President Rob Gibson to Kerry Clark former CEO of Bowls NZ for all he had done for Greenkeepers , and his strong commitment to NZSTI keeping them linked together with Bowls NZ.
A Presentation by NZ Greenkeepers Secretary/Treasurer Maurice Symes to Neville Restbridge from Tokoroa for his 20 years sevice as a Green keeper.
Thames Valley Green keepers President Peter Burgess then presented Martin Christensen with a Life Membership from Thames Valley Greenkeepers for all he has done for Thames Valley Greenkeepers over his time as Regional Representative for us with an enscribed Koru
After Dinner Speaker was
Eric Murray- MNZM, 2 Olympic Gold Medallist and 5 World Champinships along with Hamish Bond won 71 races on end , he said he started rowing when he was 16 years and since then his job meant he sat on his arse and moved backwards and spent six months of the year in Europe on the taxpayer.
Its been a great day learnt some much and the food has been fantastic.
Day Two 3rd July
9:00 am Housekeeping Colin Hunter has made the conference fun,quizes, jokes, and repore with delegates.
9:05 am Tara McLeod gave a paper on New Legilsation for Hazardous Chemicals, their use, storage,records there was so much to take in and remember.Tara was awesome with the details etc.
9:45 am Brent Baber all you need to know about Mowers,well as it turns out Brent knows every thing. This was a very practical , what you do on your right you do the same on the right when adjusting the blades.never use a crescent alway a set spanner,never wash with a pressure hose system always a hose and soft brush, and heaps more of what to do and what not to do.
10:15 am Morning Tea
10:30 am Robert Gibson President NZ Green keepers Assn.
Robert spoke about how got into greenkeeping at Taieri Bowling Club he is the Green keepers, Club manager and other jobs as well,speaking of pay he is well rewarded .He then went onto explain about his role as President of the NZGKS and what he sees for the future for Greenkeepers in NZ especally with the finnancial returns that will be availabe from the Prebble Seed arrangement.
11:00 am Maurice Syms Secretary/Treasurer NZ Green keepers Assn.
Maurice presented a paper on Hydro Seeding Bowling Greens using Maniototo bulbils it sounds it might be a better way to renovate your green , would save a lot of man power as it rains on the bulbils in a mixture with wood chips and a with sticking agent.
He then went on to discuss NZGKS ie Affiliation fees to be raised from $10 a year to $20 a year but keep the cost of the diaries at $20. Maurice then went on to say he would like to develop a qualificaion program for green keepers to qualify for handling and puchasing chemicials , also introduce a training program for all new greenkeepers.
12;00 pm Lunch. Wow the food at this conference has been outstanding .
1;00 pm David Ormsby spoke about watering your greens ,this presentation was amazing, he spoke about the moisture level in your green using a plug or battery probe, finding how much water you are putting on.
if you want a copy of this let me know and i can email it to you ,i have it on my computer.
1;45 Open Forum Many subjcts were raised
2;30 pm Several people spoke on what a great success this conference has been
Then Thames Valley Greenkeepers President Peter Burgess addressed the meeting with his final thoughts and closed the Conference.
Hope you have all had a great time! Now time to explore Coromandel
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