The State of Australian Turf 2026

We asked more than 400 turf managers across golf courses, councils, sports fields, racecourses, bowling clubs and turf farms nationally what’s really happening on the ground. Here’s what they told us.

Every year, turf managers are asked to do more with the same surfaces, the same weather, and increasingly, the same short-staffed crew. Greenway Turf Solutions wanted to know, in their own words, what’s actually driving the pressure on Australian turf, from championship golf courses to the local council oval. The results paint a clear picture: this isn’t a story about budgets. It’s a story about people.

Section 1

Who we surveyed

Respondents came from every corner of the turf industry. Golf courses made up the largest single group (40% combined, public and private), followed by sports fields and stadiums, council parks and reserves, and education facilities. Racecourses, bowling clubs, turf farms and residential/commercial operators rounded out the sample.

Chart 1 — Respondents by facility type

n = 404. Free-text entries (e.g. “residential lawns”, “TAFE facility”) were grouped into consistent categories.

Table 1 — Facility type breakdown

Section 2

The biggest challenge: staffing, by a wide margin

Asked to name their single biggest turf management challenge right now, more respondents pointed to recruiting and retaining qualified staff than any other issue, and it wasn’t close. At 34%, staffing outranked rising input costs, budget cuts, and disease and pest pressure combined against any one of them.

Chart 2 — What’s your biggest turf management challenge right now?

n = 404, closed-response options only.

Recruitment difficulty, sector by sector

Staffing pressure isn’t confined to one part of the industry. It’s the top-ranked challenge for golf courses, council parks and sports fields alike, three very different operating environments reporting the same problem.

Chart 3 — How difficult is it to recruit qualified turf maintenance staff right now?

n = 404, all sectors combined.

Table 2 — “Biggest challenge” by sector, top three sectors

Section 3

Budgets are stable — staffing isn’t a money problem

Here’s what makes the staffing result stand out: it isn’t being driven by shrinking budgets. Close to four in five respondents said their turf maintenance budget stayed the same or increased over the past 12 months, and only 9% reported a cut. The exception is local government, where budget cuts are running at more than double the industry rate.

Chart 4 — Compared to 12 months ago, how has your turf maintenance budget changed?

n = 404, all sectors combined.

Chart 5 — How does your facility currently approach turf health management?

n = 404. “Preventive” combines planned programs and soil testing; “reactive” means treating problems as they arise.

70% of facilities now lean preventive, up against 30% still leaning reactive, a sign the industry is professionalising its approach to turf health even as it struggles to staff that approach.

Section 4

In their own words: it’s about pay, not passion

We closed the survey with an open question: “Anything else you’d like the industry to know?” Of the 90 respondents who answered, 86 gave substantive comments. When we grouped those comments by theme, one issue came up more than any other: low wages and pay, mentioned in a third of all substantive responses. That’s more than staff retention, training gaps, or industry recognition individually.

Chart 6 — Themes in open-ended responses

86 substantive comments; a single comment can touch more than one theme.

Section 5

What would actually move the needle

We asked respondents to pick the single change that would most improve turf management standards in Australia. Greater industry recognition and professional status for turf managers topped the list, narrowly ahead of more funding and better training and career pathways. Notably, improved water access and better agronomic data both ranked lower, a reminder that on the ground, the industry’s most urgent need right now is workforce, not water or data.

Chart 7 — Which of these would most improve turf management standards in Australia?

n = 404.

Table 3 — Survey results at a glance

Methodology: The State of Australian Turf 2026 survey collected 404 responses from turf managers nationally via an open online questionnaire. Facility type free-text entries were consolidated into consistent categories for analysis. Percentages are rounded and calculated against the full respondent base unless otherwise noted.

© Greenway Turf Solutions. Survey data available to media and industry bodies on request — sales@greenwayturfsolutions.com