Changing the Golf Game  11:17, 26/06/2020

We got the chance to catch up with Brad Burgess, the Founder and CEO of Sports Turf Solutions. Brad has worked in Asia for 25 years building and maintaining golf courses as the Client’s Representative and now being a business owner himself, knows what it means to have a sustainable profitable business.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: Tell us about the Turf Grasses you have brought to Vietnam.

Brad Burgess: After working in Asia for so long and working with a broad range of turf varieties, one variety stood out. It is called Zoysia Matrella and it is a Native Grass to the Asia Pacific. More than 30 years ago Zoysia grasses were collected from all over Asia and put into breeding programs in the USA. Thousands of Zoysia grasses were then put into testing programs and the best were selected, Patented and released to the market. The main varieties are Zeon Zoysia, Trinity Zoysia and Primo Zoysia.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: What makes you think Zoysia the right choice?

Brad Burgess:  I’ve seen golf courses planted with other varieties like Paspalum and Bermuda become so contaminated within 5 to 10 years and have seen how golf course owners have become frustrated with the conditions and expensive costs to maintain the conditions. Some have had to close down and change the grass in less than 10 years. The courses with Zoysia have always stood the test of time and they get better as they get older, unlike the others. I’ve always asked myself, if I was going to build my own golf course, spend my own money, what type of grass would I use? The answer has always been Zoysia.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: What made you decide to grow your own Zoysia Turf Farm?

Brad Burgess: I sat in a Turf conference about 10 years ago and listened to a Turf Breeder talk about the newest varieties on the market, so my wife Ning and I set off to the USA to see these new Zoysia grasses in various locations and talk to the growers and golf courses managing them. We decided to conduct a series of trials with a wide range of Zoysia grass and Zeon Zoysia was the most proven in many aspects. It really is the best low input grass with the best playability.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: What do you mean Low Input?

Brad Burgess: It requires less of everything. It is extremely disease, weed and insect resistant so it requires far less Chemicals which are expensive, harmful to the environment and dangerous for employees to use. Golfers don’t like the smell or use of chemicals either, so if you can avoid using them or reduce their use by more than 90% it’s a benefit. It uses less fertilizer, again another saving. You don’t need to mow it as often so you need less operators and fuel, plus the machinery lasts twice as long. Less wear and tear. The best feature is less water. As we all know, the world’s water supply is getting less and less each year and the quality of water is deteriorating so Zeon Zoysia is a huge benefit as it requires less water and tolerates poor water quality.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: The Best Playability, what do you mean?

Brad Burgess: This is the best feature according to the Club Management, Members and Guests. The ball lie on Zeon Zoysia is incredible to hit from and it can be maintained from 6mm to 100mm. Most players consider it as cheating because the ball sits up so well. The golf course architects also like the way it plays, they can adjust the mowing heights to suit the type of design.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: What about on the greens?

Brad Burgess: We have two varieties for greens, Primo Zoysia and Trinity Zoysia. These grasses can also be used from Tee to Green and share the same benefits as Zeon Zoysia. The green speeds for Primo Zoysia is far superior than other varieties including Tif Eagle Bermuda and there is no grain so the maintenance of them is much less so less disruptions to the golfers.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: You mentioned it can handle poor water quality?

Brad Burgess: Yes, it’s widely known that Paspalum is usually the choice when a client has salty water but Paspalum can only handle a salty environment up to a certain limit. Zoysia grasses not only tolerate the salts, but they store salt in the leaves and when the leaves are removed by mowing, the salts are removed. In fact the studies have shown that Zoysia grass will extract the salt from the soil which is more beneficial than Paspalum.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: Where can we see these grasses in Vietnam?

Brad Burgess: We have grassed Hoian Shores Golf Club, KN Golf Links, West Lakes Golf & Villas, Els Performance Academy and Trang An Golf and Country Club. These are all open for play. We also have 8 new projects under construction with Zeon Zoysia and Primo Zoysia in Vietnam alone and 8 more courses in other regions of Asia, these courses are designed by famous designers such as Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Golfplan and Graham Marsh to name a few.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: You mentioned your grasses are Certified! What does that mean?

Brad Burgess: Our grasses are supplied directly from the Foundation Plant material from the Breeder. Other local nurseries could be using grasses from local sources or second hand from existing projects. We also grow and maintain our grasses following a strict protocol set out by ITGAP (International Turf Grass Assurance Program) which requires annual inspections and reporting. This ensures the buyer they are getting the best quality turf grass with no potential legal issues or purity issues.

Vietnam Golf Magazine: It sounds like you have built a fine product for the Vietnam Golf Market. Thank you for your time.

Brad Burgess: Thank you for allowing us to tell part of our story to your readers.

Sports Turf Solutions is a leading supplier of Floratine Nutrient Products, Certified Turf Products, Shibaura, Bernhard, Tru Turf & Wiedenmann Machinery and EZGO Golf Cars.

Email: [email protected]