The ASTMA is incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Peter E. McMaugh AM, B.Sc. Agr, FAIAST over the weekend, aged 90. Peter, recipient of the ASTMA’s highest honour – the Distinguished Service Award at the 2000 Millennium Conference in Melbourne – had an unequalled and dedicated career in the Australian amenity horticulture and turfgrass industry. A true champion of the industry, Peter’s career as a turfgrass consultant, educator, researcher and turfgrass breeder spanned a remarkable six decades.
Unquestionably recognised as Australia’s foremost authority on turfgrass, Peter’s life-long devotion of turfgrasses and their management has benefited so many people and organisations in the wider Australian turfgrass industry, not just golf course superintendents, cricket wicket curators and racecourse managers. For decades he was a pre-eminent keynote speaker at numerous regional, state, national and international seminars and conferences and was a prolific writer for a range of industry publications. His insight and knowledge of all aspects of turfgrass science and history was simply unrivalled in this country.
One of Peter’s single, greatest legacies as a turfgrass educator was the exposure of the Australian turfgrass industry to notable, overseas turfgrass researchers and scientists by interacting and inviting them to speak at the national conferences in Australia. The results were two-way. Australian turfgrass managers benefited from a wider knowledge base and overseas persons engaged in the turfgrass industry recognised the worth of the Australian industry. Among them was late Dr Jim Beard, with other luminaries including Drs Richard Smiley, Jim Watson, Jeff Krans, Joe Vargas, Henry Indyk, Arden Baltensperger and John Escritt. Dr Beard, at the 1986 Gold Coast turf conference noted that “in Peter McMaugh you have here in Australia the only man I know who knows the turf literature as well as I do”.
One of Peter’s greatest passions was developing improved turfgrass varieties and recognising the potential benefits of Australian ecotypes of buffalograss and couchgrass. Among the notable examples of Peter’s involvement were the selection and subsequent commercialisation of turfgrasses such as Greenlees Park (early 1970’s), Wintergreen (1981), Windsor Green (1993) and Sir Walter soft-leaf buffalo (1996). Collectively, these four varieties represent the most widely grown and successful turfgrasses on turf farms throughout Australia. Windsor Green couchgrass was the first couchgrass cultivar in Australia to be developed and commercialised through Plant Breeders Rights.
In 2009, Peter became the first person from the turf industry to receive Australian horticulture’s highest honour – the Graham Gregory Award – while on Australia Day 2019 he received one of the country’s highest honours – a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) – after being nominated by Gary Beehag and John Odell. Peter was a long-standing member of the International Turfgrass Society (ITS), becoming its president in 1993 ahead of the 1997 ITS conference in Sydney. He was a life member of the NSW Golf Course Superintendents Association and Turf NSW (formerly Turf Growers Association of NSW) and in 2017 was inducted into the Turf Australia Hall of Fame.
The ASTMA extends its heartfelt condolences to Peter’s wife Rae and family at this incredibly difficult time. More details will follow as they come to hand. The ASTMA will carry a full tribute to Peter and his remarkable career in the January-February 2026 edition (Volume 28.1) of Australian Turfgrass Management to which he had been a regular contributor since 2018. Vale Peter, and thank you.
