Rob Davey Evergreen Turf Pakenham, Victoria, Australia

Rob reports, “We started our business in 1982 and became members of ASPA that same year. In 1986, ASPA’s First International Study Tour visited New Zealand and Australia. We met Ike Tomas, Al Gardner and Darwin McKay, among others, and developed good relationships with them. About that time, Jeff Nettleton was working for Darwin and Darwin asked us to sponsor Jeff for six months during the winter. Jeff came and worked in our turf production business during those six months and we became very good friends. After that, Jeff lived in Australia and managed one of our businesses, a retail lawn supplier, for about three years. When he returned to the U.S. to form a partnership with Jimmy Fox, Jeff asked if I would have any problems with them naming their company Evergreen Turf. I said I’d be honored.

My wife, Wendy, and I first traveled to the US for a Conference in 1991. I was asked to join the TPI Board of Trustees in 2002 as the international representative. Another Australian had been serving in that post, and when he became ill and was no longer able to serve, Stan Gardner, TPI president, asked me to fill that role. I was a bit apprehensive, but several other TPI friends and Doug Fender, then the executive director, encouraged me to do so. Tat was the best advice I received.

I served to 2008. During that time, Wendy and I attended both the summer and winter conferences, and I’d come to the US for board meetings up to four more times a year. When you get involved in the association you meet great people and get great ideas—and you have the opportunity to continue the relationships with those people.

Wendy and I see some of our best friends at the TPI events. And we have spent a lot of time outside of TPI with them, hunting, fishing, skiing, site seeing, and even forming a Harley motorcycle and car convoy to travel from Phoenix, AZ, to the 2008 TPI Conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We’ve been invited to stay at places in areas all over the world: the US, Canada, South Africa, Norway. Of course, we love to reciprocate, hosting TPI friends in Australia.

When I was on the board, one of my goals was to bring TPI back to Australia. In February of 2007, we hosted the first TPI Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, in Queensland, the warmer part of Australia, working in conjunction with Turf Producers Australia (TPA). I was also the President of TPA at that time. Warren Bell, TPI 2005-2006 President, was instrumental in helping us get that going, and we had great support from the TPI and TPA Boards. We collectively put together a very good show, drawing about 350 attendees. I’m very proud of that.

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Our business has changed a lot since 1982. Te serious drought in 2000 was so severe that watering of turfgrass was banned in Victoria, making it hard to sell our product. We greatly reduced our turfgrass production for two reasons. Many others were selling turfgrass domestically––so our cut back made the pie bigger for them. And the recognition we’d gained by doing maintenance work gave us an opening to expand that segment of the business—and to move into the high-end specialized area of construction for sports fields, golf courses and horse racing tracks. Because consultants typically specify the type of grass to be used, we’d be buying a lot of sod from other growers.

We now specialize in construction of drainable, USGA- spec, fiber-reinforced, turf profiles which provide greater stability for sports fields and turf horse tracks. We use the same technology to create replacement turfgrass systems with a two-inch thick profile that are ready for use right away on sports fields and horse tracks. We take our technology and specialty equipment international, aligning ourselves with turfgrass producers in places like Asia and South Africa where we fill the project management role and bring their products into their areas. Te TPI relationships are the key to that process.

Te shared information and technology are invaluable. Tere’s no limit to the advantages that gives us. One of those connections led to our becoming an overseas dealer for Brouwer/Kesmac. We’ve been selling their equipment for about 15 years which not only helps us get the technology out to others, but also opens doors for us.

Being a part of TPI is probably the best tool you can use for your business. Te information and technology we have brought back has changed the way we do business, the way Australian producers do business. I know that happens in other countries as well. You can only get that industry-wide influence through TPI.”

Rob and Wendy Davey, third and fourth from the left, joined Team TMI for the trike races during the TPI 2014 Summer Field Day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

All photos from TPI Archives. TPI Turf News January/February 2017