BASF’s Pinehurst Experience
Last week I had the pleasure of making a quick trip down to Pinehurst Resort, as a guest of the fine folks at BASF. They regularly have groups down to sit in on a few classes and take a look at some test plots they have on an out-of-play area near Course 6. And of course, the event is capped off with a round on the world famous Pinehurst No. 2, site of back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2014.
BASF’s Gary Myers, foreground, talks about the research plots at Pinehurst while Brad MacDonald, Granite Links GC at Quarry Hills, and Josh Kopera, Harrell’s, listen in.
I got there in time to see half of Bob Farren’s presentation on the renovation of Course 2, and the recent conversion of the course’s greens to Champion bermudagrass. There was also an interesting talk from Geoff Simril of Harrell’s, some of which I’ll follow up on for future content in the magazine and online.
Of course golf was excellent, but once again I struggled on the course. That’s the rare course I seem to play worse and worse with experience (this was my fourth round there). Frustrating personally, but at the same time a treat to play with John Jeffries, the superintendent of Course 2, and Gary Myers, BASF project leader at Pinehurst.
We had a sighting of Turf’s Most Interesting Man! Chuck Bramhall, Harrell’s, Bob “T.M.I.M” Farren, CGCS, Pinehurst Resort, and Brad MacDonald, Granite Links, take time for a photo on the front porch of the world famous Carolina Hotel at Pinehurst Resort.
I’m hopeful to get back soon to try and redeem myself. If nothing else, next time I vow not to hit into the right bunker on No. 15 — I’m so sick of seeing that &*$#@ bunker!
I’ll have more on the trip — some things learned, some people met — in the next issue of Golfdom.
Photos: BASF
About the Author: Seth Jones
Seth Jones, a 25-year veteran of the golf industry media, is Editor-in-Chief of
Golfdom magazine and
Athletic Turf. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Jones began working for
Golf Course Management in 1999 as an intern. In his professional career he has won numerous awards, including a Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) first place general feature writing award for his profile of World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman and a TOCA first place photography award for his work covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In his career, Jones has accumulated an impressive list of interviews, including such names as George H.W. Bush, Samuel L. Jackson, Lance Armstrong and Charles Barkley. Jones has also done in-depth interviews with such golfing luminaries as Norman, Gary Player, Nick Price and Lorena Ochoa, to name only a few. Jones is a member of both the Golf Writers Association of America and the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association. Jones can be reached at
sjones@northcoastmedia.net.