As another summer closes we see some expected and unexpected challenges for turf professionals. Those pesky weeds, diseases and insects arrived again like clockwork, although pressures were light in some areas this year.

Unexpectedly, some golf courses dramatically loosened their membership requirements and lowered fees to retain and gain members in a tough economy. But that meant little relief for the superintendent as all old and new members want a beautiful and healthy course in trade for their hard earned money.

We learned some lawn care operators (LCO) began targeting only homeowners that have invested in irrigation systems. The logic being those customers are investing in lawn care for the long term and so want an LCO to help them maintain a healthy spotless lawn.

And these days with the snap in the air and turn of the leaves we know sports turf professionals are stretching every dollar to create optimum field turf conditions for playoff baseball and college and professional football.

The common thread among all turf pros remains top quality turf that is free of weeds, disease and insects. Golfers, homeowners, players and fans all demand that the turf look, play and feel perfect.

Our goal at BASF Turf & Ornamentals is to enable you to deliver on that demand. And for golf course superintendents, we think we have two new products to do just that.

Honor™ fungicide and Tower® herbicide are launching now. Honor is a combination of boscalid and pyraclostrobin and handles diseases such as dollar spot and key patch diseases for up to 28 days of control on greens and fairways.

Tower is a liquid, preemergence herbicide that provides broad-spectrum control of small-seeded broadleaves, tough grasses, including the hard to control goosegrass, and sedges including yellow nutsedge. It contains a new active ingredient for turf called dimethenamid-p.

So whether an obstacle is agronomic, economic, or meteorological, BASF is helping you to overcome it and deliver better turf.

Thank you,

Dr. Toni Bucci
Business Manager
BASF Turf & Ornamentals