My name is Daryl Davidson

I have been a Greenkeeper for over 20 years on golf and Sports Fields.

I started my Apprenticeship in 1999 at Ashlar Golf Club in Blacktown NSW and Now Ian is currently the Head Groundsman at Sydney Uni Sport and Fitness.

Over those years I had seen a lot of great Greenkeepers leave the industry mainly because of the lack of Opportunities and Low wages.

I noticed it was getting harder to keep staff and find new people to take on apprenticeships as a large number of kids completing year 12 were being pushed into universities. When I started at the age of 16 it was normal to leave school at the end of year 10 now kids are being pushed to finish year 12 so the apprenticeship wages are not very attractive to a 18 year old who can earn more at Coles stacking shelves while getting into debt going to University.

Just over 4 years ago I started a work exchange/ experience program where we would let people from the industry volunteer at the University and we would send our Staff around to different employers around the Country and Overseas to show these passionate people that this industry can take you anywhere you want it too.

This was such a big success I decided 9 months ago to share it with everyone in the Turf industry by creating a Private Facebook Group where currently over 1700 Greenkeepers, Turf Managers, Golf Courses and Businesses network with each other to create opportunities that have never existed before.

Our goal is to create new opportunities and build scholarships and overseas experiences for our members.
In just over 9 months we have helped 100s of Greenkeepers find new jobs locally and internationally and also put together a charity day for Movember at Kingswood Sports Club attracting over 80 Adults and Kids and helping raise $800 for charity.
And recently just secured our first commitment from a company called a Turf Assistant to help build us a scholarship by putting aside 10% of every sale we find them.

The Group is 100% free to join and is free for all our members to post jobs, share ideas and show off their great work. And we have just opened up another group on LinkedIn to reach more people in our industry.

We also have a Public Page on Facebook, and Instagram to help advertise our industry to the Public where we hope it will attract some new blood into the industry, as you join this industry for the passion, not the money so I’ve been told many times over the years.

This Group wouldn’t be possible without our small team of 10 passionate Greenkeepers that help run all the Social media pages and find great content as well as come up with great new ideas for us to keep moving forward.

Education is our next Step and with Marc Webb’s Grow2 software, we will be able to help countries around the world that do not have a strong education system for our industry as well as help our own country, especially in regional areas where there is no option for education unless they travel.
And Bradley Tennant’s Podcasts will be released each month on apple podcasts and YouTube etc.

The International Greenkeepers For Hire Team is in no particular order with over 200 years of experience in the industry worldwide.
Daryl Davidson
Bradley Tennant
Brad Horn
John Flynn
Jerry Spencer
Anthony Asquith
Ryan Mounter
Jay Stephenson
Marc Webb
Luke Helm

Check Out International Greenkeepers for Hire/Sports Turf Association at stand #S3 in the outdoor exhibitors’ area at the 2024 National Diesel Dirt & Turf Expo.