Darren Moseley's initial seed of an idea has flourished into a thriving turf business

A telephone call in 1992 brought him to Hong Kong in the first place. "A friend of mine was the golf course superintendent at Shek O Country Club, and as he was leaving Hong Kong he recommended me as his replacement," Mr Moseley said.

"I jumped at the chance, as I'd never been out of Australia. And I wasn't disappointed, the 24-hour buzz of the city here was like nothing I had ever experienced - very exciting."

When the Shek O contract expired, Mr Moseley, by then equipped with plenty of knowledge on tending turf in a sub-tropical climate, was snapped up by the Hong Kong Jockey Club as a consultant for the initial landscaping of Kau Sai Chau golf course in Sai Kung.

"The site was in unbelievable condition," he recalled. "It had previously been used as an army bombing range and training ground and yet it had to be completed within 18 months." Mr Moseley's company rose to the challenge and today it remains one of Hong Kong's most esteemed courses.

Such a reputation then helped Mr Moseley win contracts for two golf courses in the Chinese mainland and one in South Africa, after which he returned in 2001 for an eight-month job reconstructing elements of the Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling.

Mr Moseley then moved from a home-based operation to an office set up with a secretary and three full-time staff. "I use part-timers when we're laying turf on a large scale, from a pool of about 10 reliable people - they really are very skilled at what they do."

He invested around HK$300,000 (US$38,600) in turf hardware, including a tractor, coring, drilling and seeding machines. "This means I can offer sports grounds complete, walk-in turf maintenance." Current and recent contracts with several sporting institutions have meant involvement with cricket pitches, lawn bowling lawns and rugby union pitches - which Asian Sportsturf completes with line marking.

In his niche market in Hong Kong, Mr Moseley says that recommendation keeps him busy enough not to need to advertise his services. "I do call up grounds that I think may have potential for us sometimes," he said. "I intend to do more of this kind of marketing when I hire a manager later this year, who will free up more of my time.

"I see a lot of possibilities for us to improve government leisure facilities in Hong Kong, which suffer from severe weather conditions and over-use. I plan to advise on the best type of turf and fertiliser to use and set up maintenance programmes."