Start of the Envu era

Prepare to see fresh hues and hear a new name during industry events and conversations. The Envu era in the golf industry has officially started.

So, what’s Envu? It’s the company formerly known as Bayer Environmental Science.

A brief history on the events leading to the Envu era:

Feb. 24, 2021: Bayer announces its intention to sell its Environmental Science business division, which serves the golf, lawn and landscape, pest control, production ornamental and vegetation management markets. Bayer veteran Gilles Galliou is selected to lead the divestment and become CEO of the new company.

March 10, 2022: Bayer announces London-based private equity firm Cinven agreed to purchase the environmental science business division for $2.6 billion.

Aug. 16: Envu is revealed as the new name of the standalone company.

Oct. 4: Bayer and Cinven announce the completion of the sale. Envu releases a multi-colored logo featuring red, blue and purple hues.

Galliou confirmed in an interview with Golf Course Industry that Envu has publicly launched in the United States markets. The new name and colors are on the company’s website (www.us.envu.com/) and golf Twitter feed (@EnvuGolfUS). Employees are calling the company Envu in conversations.

“Bayer Environmental Science has been a great ride with a great history,” he says. “Envu is now the reference. This is who we are. From now on, we will be called Envu.”

The company contrasts a startup despite a new owner, name, colors and logo. The people, products, distributor network and product pipelines that helped build Environmental Science into an industry stalwart remain intact. Envu will eventually replace Bayer on product labels, but customers will notice few differences besides people they know now wearing different colors.

“We will be branding our products with Envu, but something like a Specticle or Signature will remain a Specticle or Signature,” Galliou says. “That’s the base of who we are.”

Envu’s physical base is Cary, North Carolina. The company will support between 900 and 1,000 employees, and it currently generates $700 million to $800 million in annual revenue, according to Galliou. Envu features enough people, products and solutions to impact the markets it serves, yet it’s significantly smaller than companies tied to behemoth industries such as agriculture and pharmaceuticals. The narrow focus could position the company to increase its support of the golf market beyond a diverse product portfolio and a respected team of technical and sales specialists. 

“Golf is a very, very small part for a lot of companies,” Galliou says. “It’s a very, very big part of our business. It’s essential to our business. As a company that will be totally focused on those markets, we have to become better partners. We have to spend more time with our customers, listen to them, and find the biggest pain points and find solutions for those.”

Galliou has listened carefully to internal and external voices throughout the past 20 months. Ten-figure transactions are complex, and present myriad human, logistical and legal obstacles. They are even more complex when the result is the formation of a new company.

A process as innocuous as selecting a name can be exhausting. Pronounced “ehn-VIEW,” the name derives from environmental and vision, a pair of the company’s core principles.

“What I’m amazed about is the number of names that are registered across the world,” Galliou says. “From the top of your mind, you want to have names that really can be used. You go on your whiteboard, list them and put 100 of them on there that seem totally new to you, and then you Google them or look at legal ownership of names, and you’ll kill almost 80 percent of them already. It’s incredible to find the right name and right concept, and then make sure it’s not being used or registered.”

Envu’s modern colors offer a different vibe for the golf industry — and the scheme was selected by calculated design. With dozens of companies selling products in the same categories, Galliou and team wanted an eye-catching presence.

“If you look at the color scheme of the competition that we have today, they are all very similar,” he says. “We’re a standalone company. We need to stand out. We couldn’t choose a color scheme that was already half consumed by everybody else. Knowing that, we decided to take those warm, trendy colors. We totally own that willingness to be different.”

How soon will the logo and colors be spotted? Galliou pointed to his Microsoft Teams backdrop when answering the question.

“It’s important for us to be proud of the company we create and to make people understand it exists,” he says. “We have to stand behind the logo. As you can see in the background, the first thing that we did was change my background and put an Envu logo here. It’s important for us to show Envu to the world.”

Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s editor-in-chief.

Tartan Talks 76

Richard Mandell returned to the Tartan Talks podcast to describe the methodology and execution behind his new book, “Principles of Golf Architecture.” The idea for the book had been racing through the Pinehurst, North Carolina-based architect’s head for decades — but finding time to write it while handling a packed schedule of projects proved tricky.

Many of Mandell’s New Year’s resolutions involved dedicating Tuesday and Friday afternoons solely to writing. “By Martin Luther King Day, I realized that wasn’t going to happen,” he admits.

The book generated momentum over the past two years, with Mandell writing in airports, clubhouses and his office. The result is one of the most consequential and practical modern golf architecture books. After eight chapters dedicated to elements of design, Mandell reveals what he believes are 27 principles of golf architecture.

“I’m curious about design,” he says. “I have been designing for decades, but I’m curious about what those things really mean and do I really think about the principles and elements of design in my design process. And I subconsciously do, but I needed to explore that. I thought, Let’s explore what those things are and how they apply to golf course architecture. The whole book was really stream of consciousness.”

The book is available on Mandell’s website (www.golf-architecture.com) and the podcast can be found on the Superintendent Radio Network page of all popular distribution platforms.

Course news

Landscapes Unlimited recently collaborated with architect Kevin Atkinson, ASGCA, to complete a major renovation project at the private Red Rocks Country Club in Morrison, Colorado, 25 minutes southwest of Denver. The club rebuilt greens, tee boxes and bunkers, performed grassing, irrigation and cart path work, and added a 45,000-square-foot putting green near the clubhouse as part of a multi-component master plan. … Construction is progressing on schedule at the new 18-hole Astor Creek Country Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Architect Chris Wilczynski, ASGCA, has been making weekly site visits to oversee the work with golf construction company Ryangolf, landscape designer RVI, irrigation consultant Tony Altum and irrigation contractor Nutt Irrigation. Set to debut in spring 2023, Astor Creek is the first golf course community that Kolter Homes has developed from the ground up. … The West Course at Belfair, a private community in Bluffton, South Carolina, recently reopened following a $5.8 million, five-month golf course renovation guided by Fazio Design. The project included adding a new irrigation system, re-grassing greens and improving bunkers. Leibold Irrigation led the construction work. … TPC Summerlin reopened for the PGA Tour’s Shriners Childen’s Open following the conversion of its fairways from the originally planted 419 hybrid Bermudagrass to Bandera, a new Bermudagrass variety known for aggressive growth and early spring green up and fall color retention. Greens were re-grassed with Dominator bentgrass. … KemperSports has been selected to manage four Columbus, Ohio-area public golf courses: The Golf Club of Dublin, New Albany Links, Bent Tree Golf Club and Royal American Links. The deals represent the company’s first foray into Ohio. … The Los Angeles Country Club will host the 2032 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2039 U.S. Open on its North Course. The George Thomas-designed course is hosting its first U.S. Open in 2023.

Industry Buzz

Brit Stenson, ASGCA, was elected president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects at the organization’s most recent annual meeting. An Illinois native and Ohio resident, Stenson was director of design for IMG for 25 years. His design portfolio includes the O’Meara Course at Grandview in Huntsville, Ontario; The Rock in Minett, Ontario; Tuhaye Ranch in Park City, Utah; Montgomerie Links in Danag, Vietnam; and Aux Cerfs in Mauritius. … SePRO’s Legacy Turf Plant Growth Regulator received registration in New York, the 49th state to do so. … SePRO also recently promoted Joe Lynch and Jeff Eldridge to regional manager for turf and landscape, Lynch in the East and Eldridge in the West. … KemperSports promoted Jeremy Goldblatt to COO and hired Steve Goris as SVP of Kemper Sports Venues. … Planet Turf promoted Jared Whitaker to president. … DLS Pickseed unified its brand and business under the name DLF. … The FairWays Foundation completed its third grant cycle, awarding $169,000 to a dozen projects this year. … The USGA marked First Tee’s 25th anniversary by awarding 25 grants worth about $325,000 to chapters across the country. … Reinders recently completed its acquisition of Spartan Distributors, a wholesale Toro distributor in Michigan. Reinders will retain all staff and the Spartan name.