The Meadowbrook golf course has repeatedly gone underwater, been buried in silt and, after one flood, even had a cow pay a visit.<\/p>\n
The man responsible for repeatedly dragging it back into shape has now been recognised as one of the best in the country.<\/p>\n
Meadowbrook Golf Club course superintendent Luke Helm has won the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association Excellence in Golf Course Management Award.<\/p>\n
Mr Helm arrived in 2018 when the course was \u201cextremely run down\u201d and hosting about 48,000 rounds a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really was like starting again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Eight years later, the course hosts more than 130,000 rounds annually despite Mr Helm counting 52 minor, moderate and major flood events during his tenure.<\/p>\n
The worst came in 2022, when every green but one went underwater.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you stood on the back of the clubhouse, it literally just looked like you were down at the beach or at a lake, and it just had trees popping out of the top,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When the water receded, his crew faced silt, mud, logs, dead fish, snakes and, once, a cow.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to disconnect from the emotion,\u201d Mr Helm said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve just got to get on with the job, get it done and get the course back in play as fast as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Helm and his six-person crew, including four apprentices, do most major work themselves.<\/p>\n
Since 2018, that has included rebuilding fairways and tees and resurfacing about 11 greens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to do pretty much everything in-house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very rare we get a contractor in. It\u2019s generally me and my crew that do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The national award follows Mr Helm\u2019s Queensland superintendent title last year and Meadowbrook\u2019s turf crew being named joint ASTMA Sports Turf Management Team of the Year in 2022.<\/p>\n
Mr Helm said joining previous winners he had long admired was an incredible feeling.<\/p>\n
But he said the award also belonged to his crew.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout my staff, none of it happens at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re the number one part of all this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey absolutely work their butts off every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Subscribe<\/a> to stay up-to-date with news from across Logan. You\u2019ll receive a link to our digital newspaper direct to your inbox each week. It\u2019s free.<\/p>\n Follow MyCity Logan on Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n