With the aim of facilitating learning and collaboration among its members, the European Association of Natural Turf Growers (ETP) organizes a guided tour each year to different European production farms and other natural turf facilities, thereby promoting the growth of the industry and sustainable practices among its members.
Novogreen has been a member of the ETP since its inception just a decade ago, and we hosted the 2018 edition in Comporta, Portugal. This year, the destination was Rome, Italy, and our colleagues Malaquías Rodríguez, Rafa Castro Jr., Ramón Casanova, and Raquel Luque were able to meet and share experiences with other European and US growers, as 50 TPI members joined the event.
The event began on October 16th at the Hotel dei Congressi in Rome, where the general assembly and interesting presentations from some of the association's business partners took place, such as Van Vuuren.
The following day, the production farms were visited Beccia Prati y Bindi Pratopronto where visitors could learn about different varieties of zoysia, bermudagrass and paspalum among other species, and enjoy Italian cuisine.
Unfortunately, the rain prevented a visit to the Piazza di Siena racecourse, although the program was able to proceed without further changes throughout the last day, with visits to the Olympic Stadium in Rome and the Marco Simone golf course.
It was especially gratifying for the Novogreen team to learn that the Olympic Stadium in Rome features the bermudagrass variety Latitude36 reseeded and stroll around Marco Simone, venue of the 2023 Ryder Cup, whose fairways and roughs are made of Paspalum and Agrostis on their greens. It's impossible not to recall the excellent work of Lara Arias, former superintendent of the course and his great work during the Ryder Cup.
At Novogreen we are very happy to have participated and we thank the entire organization, especially Michele Bindi, president of the association and host of this edition in Rome. Next year's edition will feature a major machinery exhibition, so we're sure to see our friends from the ETP again on July 3rd and 4th, 2025, in Luxembourg.
