When the game of golf returns to the Summer Olympics in Brazil in 2016, David Doguet will be the one rolling out the green carpet. The owner of Bladerunner Farms in Poteet won the contract to use Texas grass to cover the golf course for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Fox 29 News in San Antonio ran a “Street’s Corner” segment on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, where J.T. Street explained how this small farmer won Olympic Green. To watch the video clip, click here.

 

Below is a transcription of the clip —

In 2016, the world’s best golfers will blast off to Brazil for golf’s return to the Summer Olympics, and so will David Doguet. “I wasn’t good enough I guess to make the Olympics in sports, but I’ve made it with grass,” said Doguet.

David is the owner of Bladerunner Grass Farms in Poteet. When he heard golf was returning to the Olympics, he made what just might be the boldest cold call in agricultural sales history.

“I contacted the PGA tour and let them know we had these grasses here in Poteet and that they ought to look at them for the golf course,” said Doguet. As luck would have it, David had just exported a grass called Zeon Zoysia to a grower in Brazil when golf’s return to the Olympics was announced.

“What we’re working on here is high quality with low maintenance,” said Doguet. “And that’s a buzz word in the golf industry and the landscape industry.”

Once the Olympics committee got its hands on it, Bladerunner Farms became the official grass of Olympic golf. For David, it was like winning a gold metal.

“There’s nothing bigger than this one,” Doguet said. “This is the first golf course ever built for the Olympics. It will be the only first one ever built, so we think this is history making.”

And when golf history is made in 2016, it will be made on Poteet grass.

“We developed these grasses ourselves. They were developed by our company here in Poteet,” said Doguet. Which means that even though they’ll be playing in Brazil, the U.S. Olympic golf team could have home field advantage.

“A home field advantage?” said Doguet. “Well, I don’t know, but I hope so. That would be good, I think.”

David says the course should be ready for planting in the spring of 2014. Testing will follow in the summer of 2015 to make sure everything is perfect for the 2016 Summer Games.