The Pinehurst/BASF experience presented by BASF

(L to R) Bob Farren, CGCS, Brian Thompson, Gary Myers, CGCS and Kevin Robinson, CGCS, outside the maintenance building on Tuesday morning of the U.S. Open. Photo by: Seth Jones

In December of 2012, a new partnership was born: The Pinehurst/BASF experience. Going in, both parties were unsure what to expect.

“I had no idea — I don’t know if any of us had an idea as successful or as big as it was going to become when we first started talking about it,” says Pinehurst Resort’s Bob Farren, CGCS, director of golf course and grounds. “Having a relationship with these guys, having known them over the years and BASF as a company, was marvelous to engage them in a partnership, for their educational components here.”

At the center of the partnership are two former superintendents, now BASF employees: Brian Thompson, strategic account manager and Gary Myers, CGCS, Pinehurst project leader.

“I’m on-site here, we host about 33 groups a year, about 350 superintendents come to Pinehurst through the Pinehurst/BASF experience,” says Myers, now six months into the job. “The typical program is two, two-and-a-half days. (Superintendents) get education, and the best part is they get to play No. 2 on the typical program. And we get to tell our story with our products.”

BASF’s Thompson rakes a bunker on No. 18 on Monday of the U.S. Open. “I feel like a kid in a candy shop,” he says. Photo by: Seth Jones

It’s safe to say that both Thompson and Myers know their way around the Village of Pinehurst, Pinehurst No. 2 and especially the stable of BASF products.

“That’s really what we want to impress upon our customers: We’ve done our research, we’ve used our university cooperators, to ensure that these new technologies are going to help superintendents do their jobs more effectively, more efficiently,” Thompson says.

For Thompson, his favorite part of the job is meeting with people who he calls “the salt of the earth”: golf course superintendents.

“It’s just great to inform them about another tool they can use. And to be at Pinehurst doing it? I feel like a kid in a candy shop,” he says. BASF launched two new products, Lexicon and Xemplar, and that has been a focus of much of their talks. Pinehurst was using BASF’s Honor, now the BASF team has switched them over to Lexicon.

“From a fungicide standpoint they’re as close to all-encompassing as you can find — with the Lexicon product in particular — as you’re going to find in a fungicide,” Thompson says. “But also, with years of research that BASF has done with the plant health benefits, the side benefits that help that plant to grow more efficiently and respond to stress more resiliently.”

If there’s someone who knows how to respond to stress with resiliency, it’s Pinehurst’s Farren. Even with the U.S. Open in full swing, Farren is already thinking forward on the future of the Pinehurst/BASF experience.

“Our goal next year and going forward will be to find other ways to refresh what we offer from Pinehurst’s perspective. BASF is always refreshing what they offer to their clients and the turf industry,” he says. “I think if we can stay on our toes, we can continue a great relationship.”