Horticulture professionals come to FarmLinks
Greetings from Alabama! Last week, Agrium sponsored the annual “Horticollege Week” here at FarmLinks. This was a great opportunity for me, being a former golf course superintendent, to learn more about the ornamental industry. I was impressed with the educational content of the program and the professionalism of the attendees. Dr. Charles Gilliam of Auburn University was a guest speaker and spoke about pre-emergent weed programs. Dr. Gilliam spoke at length about BASF’s new products Tower® herbicide and FreeHand™ 1.75G herbicide and how these chemistries should be used in any successful weed management program for ornamental production sites or in the landscape.

FarmLinks turns High-Tech
The “Experience at FarmLinks” has officially moved into our new “digs” at the Education Pavilion. I’ve attached some photos of the exterior of the complex and interior Education Pavilion.

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USGA talks about need for tournament sponsors at California State GCSA Conference
I listened to a talk from the president of the United States Golf Association about organizing U.S. Opens and other USGA golf tournaments. A big concern for the USGA right now is sponsorships for the next U.S. Open at Bethpage. The major sponsors in the past have been the big financial institutions that are now being bailed out by the government.

When asked what they make in a U.S. Open, he said it depends on the agreement with the course. He also said that they earned approximately $50 million in revenues from the Torrey Pines tournament event. The U.S. Open is the USGA’s main money maker of the year.

Torrey Pines talks about preparing for 2008 U.S. Open golf tournament and turf care
John Maddern (formerly of FarmLinks), the Director of Golf for Torrey Pines gave a talk on preparing for the 2008 U.S. Open. It was a three year process converting greens to Poa annua and fairways and roughs to kikuyugrass. Insignia® fungicide is still in the rotation and they are also using Drive™ herbicide. During the Open, they were required to keep the greens with a Stimpmeter reading of 13 throughout the day. Pretty impressive for 100 percent Poa annua greens in So Cal.

Sharing information about BASF’s innovative products, active ingredients and formulations
I’m traveling out west this week for GCSA meetings and the WECO Turf annual sales meeting in Portland. They had about 30 reps present, along with all management for the division. I spoke to the group about BASF’s innovation and products. That included speaking about Freehand® 1.75G herbicide and Pageant™ fungicide for lawn care, golf and ornamentals, as well as Drive® XLR8 herbicide, Segment™ herbicide, Onetime™ herbicide, Trinity® fungicide, and Insignia® fungicide.

Peaks & Prairies GCSA Annual Meeting in Billings, MT
I meet with several distribution partners in the Big Sky Country. UAP, WECO, and Simplot were all there. It was great to go from booth to booth to talk with Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho golf course superintendents. I gave away four FarmLinks trips as the grand raffle prize. All of the winners who were drawn are great superintendents and all are looking forward to the trip in the spring. I would like to continue welcoming more golf course superintendents to the FarmLinks Experience in Alabama.

Have a great weekend, and be safe!

Heated Senatorial election took place on Kentucky turf; Obama win was expected
I started last week right here in the office with some follow up and planning, etc. Election day came and went with no surprise as to our newly elected president, Mr. Barack Obama. One of the most important Senate races in the country took place right here in Kentucky where Mitch McConnell won a close race and will stay on as Senate minority leader in Washington.

Welcomed two more groups of golf industry professionals to experience FarmLinks
I joined BASF Senior Sales Specialist Jerry Husemann at FarmLinks this past Wednesday through Friday where we hosted two groups of golf industry professionals at once. Jerry’s welcomed a great group of guys from the Pittsburgh and the northern West Virginia area. The “off site” group came in from Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio along with their respective distributors.

New Pavilion opens at FarmLinks
This week was the first week where the new educational pavilion was used at FarmLinks. It is really great! There is an observation room that is perfect for group type meetings and observation. The multi-media capabilities of this room are tremendous.

BASF’s FarmLinks education session valuable for superintendents and distributors
Regarding the groups, they were the best I’ve been a part of in our BASF session. BASF FarmLinks Project Leader Brian Thompson really does a great job of helping to educate guests throughout the whole Experience. I heard feedback many times during the trip that our session was clearly the best and most informative.

The following is a statement from an e-mail follow up from a distributor who attended from my territory: “The BASF information was the most useful for my customers and myself.”

It’s always good to hear compliments like that.

“Keeping together is progress…working together is success”The golf industry has always had a strong community feel—but today more than ever, unity has become necessary for success.

Golf course superintendents are more involved in the management and business of a course than in the past when they typically stuck to the turf. With their technical expertise and communication abilities, superintendents are increasingly being recognized as valued employees who have a greater role in attracting and retaining new members and tournaments.
Watch and listen to what others in the industry are saying about growing golf as a team.

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