High on the range in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Maleny Golf Club has become one of Australia’s most talked-about community-built courses – an 18-hole, par 69 layout known for its superb greens, revetted bunkers and sweeping hinterland views. In this chapter of the Tru-Turf Super Series, host Nick Thornton joins Mick McCombe, Manager of Course & Infrastructure at Maleny, for a walking roundtable on how a volunteer-driven, minimalist design has grown into an award-winning destination.

Mick traces his journey from early days in turf – and an almost obsessive relationship with rollers – to becoming the club’s first employee and leading a team that has transformed an old dairy farm into a Scottish-inspired, links-style experience. Along the way, he shares how Maleny’s philosophy of “working with what’s already here” shaped everything from the routing and wetlands to recycled course furniture and pathways made from old local tennis courts.

Rolling sits at the centre of that approach. Mick explains how Maleny rolls three to four times a week, often swapping a mow for a roll to protect plant health, smooth the surfaces and keep the course true for members and visitors. He also talks through their renovation cycle, light-touch topdressing and how regular data from a visiting consultant helps fine-tune green speeds ahead of monthly medal days. It’s an insight into why Maleny was recognised with the 2025 ASTMA Claude Crockford Sustainability & Environmental Award – and how an RE50 lithium roller and a band of volunteers fit into a bigger story about long-term, community-led sustainability.

Whether you’re a turf manager, committee member or golfer who loves the idea of “golf as it began”, this episode is a tour of what’s possible when rolling, design and community all pull in the same direction.

With the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship kicking off tomorrow, organised by the Asia‑Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) in partnership with both the Masters Tournament (at Augusta National Golf Club) and The Open Championship (via The R&A) and the Dubai Desert Classic just around the corner, Emirates Golf Club is in full tournament rhythm. In this new chapter, Superintendent Matthew Perry shares how his team prepares for back-to-back international events while maintaining consistency, sustainability, and the unmistakable feel of Emirates’ greens.

A Bristol native who found his calling in turf by chance, Matthew reflects on two decades in the Middle East and how the region has shaped his approach to course care. Central to that philosophy is rolling — not just as a performance enhancer, but as a core part of the club’s preventative disease program. Regular Rolling as he explains, helps manage stress, smooth the surfaces, and maintain plant health before and after intense play, allowing the turf to recover naturally while keeping it true.

From alternating maintenance schedules to preparing for major tournaments under Dubai’s demanding conditions, Matthew’s conversation with Nick Thornton reveals the precision and patience behind world-class greens.

All the best to Matthew and his team as they host the Asia-Pacific Amateur this week — and gear up for the Desert Classic soon after.

Houghton Golf Club · Johannesburg, South Africa

How do you keep a century-old, Nicklaus-shaped landscape both wild and true in the middle of a 10-million-person city? Director of Agronomy Stuart Ross answers by swapping textbooks for observation, data for feel, and routine for relentless curiosity.

In this long-form conversation Ross unpacks:

• Rolling as feedback loop – why a single dawn pass with a Tru-Turf roller (often coupled with the Spiker or Slicer attachment) tells him more about moisture, firmness, and player mood than any spreadsheet ever could.
• People over prescriptions – a 24-strong crew, 64 expressive bunkers, and a culture where every rake-mark or mower line is an experiment rather than a chore.
• Living laboratory – using Houghton’s Highveld micro-climate and indigenous surrounds as test beds for sand profiles, growth-regulators, and sustainable water use, then sharing what works — warts and all — with the global turf community.

What emerges is a radical, quietly human story: a superintendent who treats every morning walk as research, every player smile as data, and every attachment on his roller as an invitation to rethink what a golf course can feel like.

🎧 Listen to Chapter 15 now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you roll.