POSTS FILED UNDER: 'Testimonials'
I first used Agriox and Penterra this past spring (2009) at a time when my greens weren’t doing much of anything even though we had done our normal fertilization. The initial hit made a night and day difference. 
In less than a week after we applied, they busted loose. We’ve stayed with our maintenance applications ever since, and have begun using a number of other Geoponics products as well. We’re using Grizzly Terrain, Kodiak, Charge and Carbotein now. They’ve really helped fill in areas where the Champion came out of transition a bit thin because of the overseeding we do.
Rob Vaughan, Superintendent
Brunswick Plantation and Golf Resort
Calabash, NC
December 2nd, 2009
This course was getting ready to close before I took over, so it hadn’t really been maintained for some time. The greens had not been aerated in over three years, and the thatch build up was pretty bad, so my main issue was just getting water to move in. My Geoponics sales person suggested I try Penterra at the regular two quart rate, and within a couple of weeks we stopped having run off when watering. Once the weather turned hot, we switched over to Humawet, which has been working well for us. We used to be out by 12:00 or 1:00 every afternoon to water again, but we aren’t drying out as quick, so now we don’t have to except on the hottest days.
Once we added Agriox into our program, the over all look of the greens soon became much cleaner. It has really gotten them looking much better in the short time I’ve been here. I’ve always purchased according to what the grass is telling me it needs, 
and when it’s growing fine I don’t bother putting anything out. Before we were fertilizing every three weeks. Now we’re out to five weeks, which is a 40% savings, and I feel a lot better about both our growth and color. I’m really impressed with the products.
Jeremy Wilson, Superintendent
Cypress Bay Golf Club
Little River, SC
October 4th, 2009
My Geoponics sales consultant has been really helpful with suggesting products that are right for our situation. We now use the 15-1-2 +4 FE fertilizer Terrain, the Charge minors package and Carbotein on our Champion bermudagrass greens. We’ve been really pleased with the results. I especially like the next day response you see from the foliar feed.
The added soil oxygen from the Agriox gives our fertilizer more kick too. We apply it with either Penterra or Humawet, and the monthly treatments have gotten rid of the bad odors a few greens would get occasionally. For the price, the products are great, and when you are trying to do your part and “go green” these Earth Chemistries help out a whole lot.
Bernie Lowe, Superintendent
Black Bear Golf Club
North Myrtle Beach, SC
berniel@classicgolfgroup.com
843-756-9432
September 10th, 2009
I was sold on Penterra from the first meeting I had with the Geoponics sales representative once he did the jar test. What I liked was that he asked me to get my favorite wetting agent from my chemical room so he could do a comparison. I was impressed by how quickly the Penterra worked and by the low cost per acre. At the time we were in the middle of the worst drought on record, and under severe watering restrictions, so we were looking for any edge to help control the dry areas.
I have a double row irrigation system with only 700 heads for 95 acres, which means I’d have to either over water the fairways or under water the rough. Because the course was built on a very sandy vein of soil, my fairways drain like a push up green; they have no moisture holding capacity. Since we started spraying Penterra every 3 weeks or so on the tee boxes, fairways and more than half the rough, we’ve been able to keep our moisture levels right in the middle of those peaks and valleys we used to have. I don’t have to water for 20 minutes per head anymore because I can hold my color with just 10 minutes. I pay for my water, so that helps us to offset the cost of the product as well as increase our water efficiency. I’ve tried many different products out there, and I believe we’ve found the right one for our situation.
Billy Huskins, CGCS
Highland Woods GCC
Bonita Springs, FL
bhuskins@comcast.net
239-218-7589
March 20th, 2009
When I was first introduced to the Geoponics line of products, I was skeptical. Every salesman comes into your office with the same story about how this is the best product ever, but you have to buy it before you find out it doesn’t work. So the way I look at it now, when you have a program in place, you don’t modify it unless you have an area where you’re looking to improve. Besides, it’s human nature to resist change.
But when it comes to moving water, I’ve always been willing to try something new. Our greens have gotten slow to drain due to clogging caused by some of the materials used when they were constructed. They aren’t very big greens anyway, so once you add 240 rounds a day, compaction becomes a real issue. When I explained the situation to my Geoponics sales representative, he asked me to try Penterra. I’ve been using it ever since, and now the water moves right through.
You can just tell it’s breaking everything up, and that’s especially important when you have the kind of heavy rains we get here. Before the greens would lock up and we’d start moving towards black layer, but not any more. When a storm is headed our way, I can put the Penterra out and not have to worry. On the other hand, when it gets to be dry and windy and we are looking to hold some moisture, we use Humawet instead. I used to have 2 guys out there hand watering all day, and now we just have to do a little touch up in spots.
We use the soil oxygen product Agriox as well. It’s an incredible product. You can see how it helps release tied up nutrients and gives you a nice even green. It’s been a complete night and day response from before I started using it, and now it’s an important part of my program. We used to fertilize every 10 days or so, but the grass doesn’t start looking as hungry as soon any more. Now we can get almost an extra week out of the same amount of material. I’ve run the numbers, and we save over $15,000 a season in labor and material, so the products really do pay for themselves.
I was looking to improve my tee boxes and decided to spray Carbotein. My clipping ratio from before spraying weekly to now is night and day. Visually it’s obvious because our divot recovery is much faster than before, and the turf is much more dense. I’ve actually had members ask what I do to make them “like carpets.” About once a month we use the Penterra on them, as well as on the fairways, just to loosen things up and get a flush. Before we started doing that we’d see signs of compaction when little brown spots would pop up, but they have all gone completely away.
The turf everywhere on the course looks uniform now, which is what you want to accomplish as a superintendent. I am very pleased with all the benefits we’ve seen, and glad that my owners and membership have noticed the improvements as well.
Francisco Navas, Superintendent
Cypress Woods Golf & Country Club
Naples, FL
March 18th, 2009
Geoponics sponsored a hole at a golf event I played with a superintendent friend who was already using some of their products. He was seeing benefits, and the Sales Consultant on site was obviously very knowledgeable,
so I agreed to meet at my course for a follow up.
I was surprised when at that first meeting the rep asked if there were any areas that were proving challenging where we could do a trial. Turns out we had been working to reclaim the perimeter of our greens, which had been lost to encroachment over the years, and though we had them back to their original shapes, the edges just weren’t filling in completely. We decided that was a good place to spray Carbotein to really see what it could do.
It took a few weeks for it to begin showing, but within two months all the greens were looking completely consistent. More importantly, they are playing as consistent as they look. Our ball speed has even gone up due to increased turf turgidity. I’ve been using Carbotein ever since, and we now use the soil oxygen product Agriox and the wetting agent Penterra. My greens are looking good, and we aren’t doing as much watering or fertilizing as we used to, which both helps us to save time and money and to be environmentally responsible. As an Audubon certified course, we really appreciate that. With the improved health of the turf, our fungicide applications have been substantially reduced as well. It’s been a lights out positive response.
Everything with the turf is just consistent: appearance, health, over all quality. That’s what I find most beneficial about using the Geoponics products, that they have allowed us to overcome the inconsistency of the soils. It’s fantastic. Even the low areas and mounds of the greens now look the same as the rest of the surface, and once the products get a hold, all you need to do is supplement.
David Dore-Smith, Superintendent
Copperleaf Golf Course
Bonita Springs, FL
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March 6th, 2009
I’ve been using Agriox with Penterra for a little over a year now; it’s a regular part of my program. We find the products together give us the extra help we need to keep the turf as healthy as possible considering the stress that daily double cutting and rolling to less than an eighth creates. We are expected to stay as fast as possible, but it is still vital to be consistent. That is probably the best measure of the effect using these products has, but you have to stay on the program.
In this industry we often don’t give a product a chance unless we see a dramatic change right away. We tend to be visual people, which is probably the reason, but not everything can work overnight. By releasing oxygen into the soil in the right mixture with the soil moisture, you can keep the balance between your capillary / non-capillary space right where you need it to be. Not only is our soil profile now more uniform, but we can also quickly get rid of hot spots. My clipping yield tells me the combination is effective as well; I’ve seen us go from being where we need to be for 10 days before putting fertilizer out to 15 or more, so it is definitely saving us money.
Scott Corwin, Superintendent
Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club (Marriott)
St. Petersburg, FL
March 3rd, 2009
We started using Agriox this past July (2008) and have made monthly applications since then. We were just hoping that it would help us survive the heat and stress of our busy season, and we really weren’t expecting the type of benefits we’ve seen. We put it out the first time right before our big Invitational event, which is usually when we start to go south some from the increased traffic, and we quickly saw amazing results. The entire playing surface improved in color and appearance, and the walk-on areas we were close to losing before starting treatments ended up making it all the way through the summer. The greens responded much better from our big Fall aeration, and it was very noticeable where we had sprayed twice, to the point where you could have put chalk marks around them. We definitely believe in the product, and honestly the price could go up by 50% and it would still be worth it.
Brad Lacey, 1st Asst. Superintendent
Willow Point Golf Club
Alexander City, AL
October 28th, 2008
My responsibilities at the course cover all of the non-playing natural areas, planters and flower beds. Across such a wide area there are a lot of different growing conditions, many outside of our ability to control, and of course the range of plant life is quite broad. I have applied Carbotein 
on everything from ornamental turfgrass to flowers, on bushes and shrubs, and even to trees, and in each case I have seen a noticeable positive impact. Plugs that were having difficulty getting established and were looking like weeds took off, even in shaded areas or in bad soils. Annuals that typically would have begun fading are still looking great, and freshly transplanted areas are not showing the signs of stress you would ordinarily expect. The foliage has become so dense in certain places, we’ve had to remove entire sections to clear existing pathways, which allows us to develop new cultivated areas elsewhere. The results we’ve seen have been absolutely amazing!
There’s always more work to be done than hours in the day, so finding products that save time is really welcome. By switching from a granular application to a foliar product, we have reduced water use and are able to cover more ground more quickly. 
We need less space for storage, and what used to be backbreaking work is now simple and easy. As a horticulturist I place a high value on responsible management practices, and the fact that using Carbotein reduces the amount of nutrients lost to run off and leeching is very important to me. That it is less expensive is, of course, a huge plus as well. I am really thankful to have discovered this product.
Debbie Fitzgerald, Horticulturist
Raleigh Country Club
Raleigh, NC
October 16th, 2008
When the heat of mid-July started to stress our greens this year, a few of the high-traffic walk on areas 
started to show signs of black layer developing. I’m the type of guy that likes to stay on top of new techniques and experiment around the golf course, so when a sales representative that I trust recommended we apply Agriox to increase the oxygen in our soil and offset the anaerobic conditions, I went ahead and put it out. At first you couldn’t tell if it was having an effect, but after two weeks even the worst areas began to make a recovery. Before long it was clear it was working because the grass was looking healthier all over. Anything that can help put oxygen into your soil is a benefit, and so we plan on sticking with the maintenance program and will be looking at some of the other Geoponics products as well.
Todd Lime, CGCS
Alpharetta Athletic Club East
Alpharetta, GA
October 13th, 2008
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