BASF Turf Talk » tun1

Orlando Launch Meeting

tun1 — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:38:55 +0000

Two weeks ago, I traveled to sunny and hot Orlando, FL, to attend the Intrinsic launch meeting. I’ve been with the Turf & Ornamentals group for 2 years and plant health was one of the first projects assigned to me back in summer of 2008. Needless to say, this is a project that is near and dear to my heart. It’s very exciting to work on a project from its early development and see it through to market launch. Unfortunately I am limited to experiencing the full launch of Intrinsic across the U.S .because I am expecting my first child. I am now 34 weeks pregnant and it’s difficult to travel at this stage of my pregnancy. But I wanted to attend at least one major launch meeting so off to Orlando I went.

The launch meeting was held at the Caribe Royal on Tuesday, September 14th from 1-5 p.m. BASF sales reps Chris Key and Jonathan Smith hosted approx. 45 distributors from 5 different companies in their sales territory. The timing of the meeting was ideal since the Florida Turfgrass Tradeshow was later that week. Kathie Kalmowitz, Ph.D., BASF Market Development Specialist, presented the Intrinsic message. If you’re wondering what the Intrinsic message is… I’ll make it simple. No two strobies are alike and given the choice of excellent disease control from strobies such as Heritage or Insignia SC or Honor… why wouldn’t you choose a fungicide containing pyraclostrobin that delivers both superior disease control with the added bonus of stress management through root growth retention? That’s what Insignia® SC Intrinsic brand fungicide and Honor® Intrinsic brand fungicide bring to the table!

In addition to Kathie, we also had two guest speakers on the agenda: Dr. Cisar from the University of Florida, and Carlos Arraya from Hawk’s Nest Golf Course in Vero Beach, Florida. Photos: Dr. Cisar from University of Florida (top); Carlos Arraya (bottom) from Hawk’s Nest Golf Course. I thought the agenda was well-rounded in terms of giving the BASF view, external research view and real world view from a golf course superintendent.

Although I was not a speaker at this meeting, I was exhausted by 5 p.m. I’m carrying about 20 pounds of extra weight in my belly and feel like I’ve frequented too many Oktoberfests in Munich (no offense to my precious little baby girl that is currently kicking me as I type this).

After about an hour or so break, it was time to unwind. BASF hosted Casino Night and invited DSRs to enjoy a night of food, music and gambling. Guests could gamble and earn play money and convert the play money into raffle tickets for a chance to win a 42″ flat screen TV. Top Photo: Winner of 42″ TV – Carlos Arraya.

I spent most of my time taking photos and filming the event. This way, I was sure not to have any embarrassing video of me doing the chicken dance, Congo line or electric slide. Middle-top Photo: Let the good times roll!

In-between taking pics and filming, I spent the rest of the time playing craps. I never played craps before and had a lot of fun. Middle-bottom Photo: Hanging out at the craps table.

A pregnant woman can’t stand too long so the staff at the convention center stacked about 4 chairs on top of each other so I could sit and reach down to roll the dice! Pregnancy does have its privileges!

Bottom Photo: DJ kept the party going.

The festivities came to an end around 11 p.m. and we headed to our respective hotel rooms across the street from the convention center. With my luck, I arrived on the 5th floor of the hotel to find out that my room keys were deactivated by my BlackBerry (I really hate it when this happens). My feet were killing me. All I could think about was the bed but had to haul myself up the hill to the main lobby of the complex!

Anyway, hats off to Chris and Jonathan for organizing a good meeting and to all the speakers who did a great job presenting their information. Until my next update…

Marketing Manager & Mommy-to-be
Thavy Staal

Thanks for Taking Part in #GIS10_BASF

tun1 — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:20:16 +0000

Golf Industry Show in San Diego
This year’s new two-day Golf Industry Show schedule was an enjoyable whirlwind of great San Diego weather, exceptional turf education and meaningful relationship building with golf course superintendents, distributors and industry partners.

The BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals team greatly appreciated seeing so many new and old faces at this year’s activities. A big “thank you” to our BASF booth visitors for taking time to learn about our products and people, as well as taking part in booth events.

GIS BASF Booth Highlights:

100 attendees started their morning off with BASF and a Starbucks coffee card.
John Swoyer, golf course superintendent of New York state’s Shorewood Country Club, won iPod Touch from BASF GIS Survey Kiosk.
60 golf course superintendents met Thomas Nikolai, Ph.D., and received a signed copy of his “The Superintendent’s Guide to Green Speed Management” book.
18 golf course superintendents won more than $10,000 in combined cash prizes playing BASF Superintendent Thousandaire rounds.
More than 350 attendees visited the BASF booth for photos, autographs and an audience Q&A with special guest Coach Mike Ditka.
More than $5,200 in total funds were raised by BASF Media Thousandaire for Charity contestants Larry Aylward, Golfdom; Seth Jones, Golf Course Management; and Pat Jones, Golf Course Industry.

Leave a blog comment below, tweet @BASFTurf_us or send us an e-mail and tell us what you thought of the show and our BASF booth events.

If you’d like to learn more about BASF products, contact your BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals sales specialist here.

Learn About Turf at BASF Booth 3039

tun1 — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:33:18 +0000

Talk turf solutions with our team and enter to win a Spectrum® WatchDog™ Plant Disease Weather Station

Stay ahead of turf diseases using advice and products from BASF Turf & Ornamentals, and disease alerts generated by the multichannel Spectrum® WatchDog® Plant Disease Weather Station.

The Weather Station monitors environmental conditions that contribute to disease pressure and delivers timely alerts. Enter to win the Weather Station in our GIS booth 3039 during show hours Feb. 10-11.

Get your prescription for healthy turf at BASF’s GIS booth

Visit the BASF Turf & Ornamentals team at our Golf Industry Show booth to learn about improving your turfgrass quality with our innovative products, including, Honor™ fungicide and Tower® herbicide.

Full BASF GIS booth 3039 schedule here.

Meet Your BASF Sales Rep at #GIS10

tun1 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:59:53 +0000

Meet up with your BASF Sales Rep at GIS 2010—Your turf will thank you!
The Golf Industry Show is just three weeks away and now is the time to let your BASF sales rep know you’ll be there. Learn about our team and contact your rep to get together at our booth. Full booth schedule here.

Fred Eckert, BASF T&O Senior Sales Specialist, welcomes superintendents to San Diego
Our team’s Southwest authority, Fred Eckert, is excited his territory is hosting this year’s show. Based in Southern California, Eckert has worked in the turf industry for more than 30 years. Talk with Eckert, who is a licensed California Pest Control Advisor and a Certified Crop Advisor, to develop an efficient, cost-effective weed and pest plan for turf challenges in Arizona, Southern California, and the southern regions of Nevada and Utah.

Our Turf Sales Team welcomes you to BASF’s GIS Booth 3039
Fred Eckert for Southwest turf issues. Michael Kropp helps superintendents in Idaho, Montana, Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and the northern regions of Nevada and Utah control pests including, tough diseases like anthracnose and pythium. Kropp has 15 years of experience controlling pest challenges in the West and is a licensed California Pest Control Advisor.

South, Southeast: Wayne Ducote, Travis Klosterboer, Brian McCaffrey and Willie Pennington
Seasoned chemical sales professional Wayne Ducote serves superintendents in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Florida’s Panhandle region. Travis Klosterboer, a former assistant super with 15 years of experience representing chemical manufacturers in the South, provides innovative pest management solutions for superintendents in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Known for setting the industry standard in customer service, Willie Pennington serves customers in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Midwest: Randy Lusher and Dave Maubach
Nationally recognized by the National Roadside Vegetation Management Association for his award-winning plant growth regulator program and customer service, Randy Lusher now works with superintendents in Wisconsin and Illinois. David Maubach draws on his more than 20 years of experience in plant protection to serve superintendents in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

North, Northeast: John Bresnahan, Ted Huhn, Jerry Husemann, McGee Poole and David Schell
Die-hard Boston sports fan and expert agronomic advisor, John Bresnahan, helps New England superintendents control pests, including tough diseases. An avid outdoorsman, Ted Huhn helps superintendents in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the southern region of New Jersey so they have time to pursue their passions. Jerry Husemann enthusiastically serves Michigan and Northern Ohio superintendents, who have learned that when they have pest pressure, Jerry has a pest control plan. McGee Poole works closely with superintendents in Indiana, Kentucky, Southern Ohio and West Virginia and David Schell serves superintendents in Pennsylvania and the northern region of New Jersey.

Meet your BASF rep at GIS or comment below to let us know why you can’t make it this year!

Superintendent’s Best Friend Calendar

tun1 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:31:15 +0000

So by now all of you have started to think about 2010 and if you are a golf course superintendent you’ve likely got your 2010 Superintendent’s Best Friend Calendar up on the wall.

BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals has sponsored the calendar with TurfNet for the past three years.

The toughest part of putting this calendar together for the team at TurfNet is choosing among the many entries and determining just what dogs make the calendar.

Only 14 are chosen each year December 2009 through December 2010, plus the calendar cover. It’s been such a challenge that the last couple of years they have asked for help from BASF in narrowing down the ever growing field of entries.

But all is not lost for those dogs that did not make the calendar; they are featured here on TurfNet for 2010. It’s like a very own Facebook page for the rest!

Give them a look and have a great New Year!

Save On BASF EOP Through Dec. 11

tun1 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:02:06 +0000

Learn how you could get up to 8 percent in budget-stretching savings on the following products:

Curalan® EG fungicide
Emerald® fungicide
Honor™ fungicide
Insignia® fungicide
Trinity® fungicide
FreeHand® 1.75G herbicide
Pendulum® AquaCap™ herbicide
Tower® & Pendulum AquaCap herbicide combo

Click here for program details and an order form. The earlier you order the more you save.

Contact your BASF Turf & Ornamentals sales representative here for more information.

Caddyshack-inspired Honorable Judge Fales

tun1 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:32:43 +0000

VIDEO: Short video highlights importance of Honor at the course
Ever had a ‘Who’s-on-First?’ moment when talking to golf customers? Check out this 80-second video of Caddyshack-inspired Judge Fales trying to follow a superintendent as he shares how new Honor™ fungicide can improve turfgrass quality on greens and fairways on which the Honor-able Judge plays.” Feel free to share.

BASF formulated Honor™ fungicide for broad-spectrum disease control
Video character Judge Fales may not understand the importance of controlling the industry’s top diseases with one pre-mix formulation but superintendents do. That’s why BASF scientists formulated broad-spectrum Honor fungicide. It combines boscalid, the active in Emerald® fungicide, and pyraclostrobin, the active in Insignia® fungicide, for two modes of action that control top diseases, including dollar spot, anthracnose, patch diseases (brown, take-all and summer), leaf spots and many others.

Since Insignia fungicide’s introduction, superintendents consistently report that it’s become their go-to strobi for broad-spectrum control. For dollar spot disease, superintendents treat Emerald fungicide as their foundational control product.

With Honor, BASF has made it convenient to get all the benefits from both leading actives in one convenient, powerful pre-mix formulation.

Honor fungicide is available Oct. 1 and will be included in the BASF Turf & Ornamentals Early Order Program.

Click here to download the Honor fungicide brochure.