From the President’s Pen

A Busy Season Ahead

Hello ATA!

I want to thank all of you that attended one of our “ATA Road Shows.” As always, we had a great lineup of speakers with some useful information. I hope each of you came away with something new and interesting. The Road Shows are also a great time to network with other turf professionals as well as get to know the vendors and sponsors that make all our events possible.

Earlier this winter we held our annual Board Retreat to discuss the upcoming year’s calendar of events, as well as get to know our new board members. For 2025 we welcomed five new members to the board, Nate Lewis (Beck’s Turf Farm), Jarrod Ligon (City of Daphne), John David Andrus (Spring-Green Lawn Care), Chad Warren (Warren Lawn Care) and welcomed back Ben Anderson (State of Alabama). I would like to thank them all for their time and service to our association. Feel free to reach out to myself, or any of the board members if we can be of assistance.

This year we are excited to announce the return of the “Poa Classic” to Farmlinks at Pursell Farms on March 25. Hopefully, many of you can get away for a fun day of golf and networking. As always, I’m sure Robert Mitchell and his staff will have the course in great condition and ready for us to enjoy. Remember that funds raised at the “Poa annua Classic” help support the Alabama Turfgrass Research Foundation. Not only are you guaranteed a fun filled day, but you are also helping fund research that benefits each all of us. A couple of other events later in the year will be our “Lawn and Landscape Workshop,” as well as the “Auburn University Turfgrass Research Facility Field Day” on June 12th. Dates and location have yet to be determined for the “Lawn and Landscape Workshop,” so be on the lookout for more information.

As we look forward to the warm weather that the spring should bring, I want to again say thank you to the ATA membership, and our sponsors for everything you do to make our association a success. I hope to see you all in the coming months.

Patrick Pierce

2025 ATA President