Turf Pirate's Journal

By Anthony L. Williams, MG, CGCS, CGM Turf Pirate's Journal

( Heroes and Legends ) James Thomason AKA The Mountain Man

Welcome to the literary emerald

coast Turf Pirates as we enjoy the Summer heat and soak

up the sun let’s take a look at another legendary Turf Pirate. I first crossed paths with James Thomason in 1995. He was my right hand and first mate (AGCS) at Renaissance PineIsle Resort

and Golf Club on Lake Lanier

in Northern Georgia. James is a veteran (US Army) and back then he ran a very tight ship and colorful characters and language were quite abundant as we carved a crew out of seasoned

drift wood. Now James and I had a lot of lakeside adventures

that involved turf, trees, flowers, drunken shenanigans, plain old shenanigans and we raising the standards of work and play on a daily basis. James went on to serve many years as the Superintendent and Head Greenkeeper at Bent Tree Country Club in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. James is a jack of all trades and most of all an entrepreneur. He sees opportunities where most folks see dead ends. In

that light James is perhaps best known as the Mountain Man (and sometimes Mountain Ninja) founder of Mountain Man Beard Products in Talking Rock, Georgia. You see when James stepped out of the Superintendent world and into more landscape and construction he started growing a major beard and could not find beard products to his liking so he created his own. Then he and his amazing sister Dina (also a Turf Pirate) hit the road going to shows and events across the country selling Mountain Man Beard Products (Beard oils and such) and the line of products and services are ever expanding (CBD oils, trucking, Sasquatch Hunts etc.). The famous beards from ZZ Top are some of his clients. If you YouTube search the Mountain Man and his companies, you will find some amazing videos. These videos gave way to the Mountain Man becoming a reality TV star (Season Two of Fox’s Home Free) hanging out with Tim Tebow and Mike Holmes, the Mountain Man was the runner up but I was not surprised he did so well. These are all pretty well known facts. A couple of very Turf Pirate actions that are

not as well know is that James is also a pastor, an A+ Santa Claus, helps folks that need it very quietly and when I was selling fertilizer during my second retirement James just called me to confirm what I

was doing and said, “Just send me a pallet of whatever you think I could use, I just want to support you”. James and Dina also showed up in Dallas (roughly 1,000 miles away from Talking Rock) on the beard oil tour during my first week at TPC Four Seasons Dallas and we had

a great night telling tales, eating Texas BBQ and planning the future. You see Turf Pirates understand

that we are actually growing people and relationships through turf and that when times get tough or changes are eminent, turf people support each other and when the dust settles true

Turf Pirates find a way to take care of business, even if it means starting a new venture. James is an original Harley riding, grass growing, beard oil selling, never met a stranger doer of deeds and I am honored to have

served with him and call him my friend. Raise your glasses Turf Pirates to the square pegs that write their own stories with no regrets, here’s to our next adventure Mountain Man!

Anthony Williams and The Mountain Man