Quality Grassing grabs Large Builder Award

ATLANTA - Quality Grassing & Services Inc. took home its second Golf Course News Best Builder of the Year, but first in the Large Builder category, at the Golf Course Builders Association of America’s annual dinner on Feb. 14.

Since 1989, Golf Course News has presented Best Builder of the Year Awards. In 1996, the award was split into small (three or fewer projects) and large (four or more projects). Past Large Builder of the Year winners include Landscapes Unlimited, MacCurrach Golf and Wadsworth Construction.

Quality Grassing, which won the Best Small Builder Award in 1997, scored 108.1 out of a possible 110 points on the seven projects it completed in 2002. Also entered in this year’s competition were Landscapes Unlimited, Ryangolf, Niebur Golf, Course Crafters and Weitz Golf.

Among the projects Quality Grassing completed were Coosa Bend Golf Club in Gadsden, Ala., Harmony Golf Club in St. Cloud, Fla., and Adios Golf Club in Coconut Creek, Fla.

Company president Howard Barnes accepted the award on behalf of his staff. Looking forward, Barnes said 2003 should be just as busy for Quality Grassing as 2002 was.

“A lot of the work we did last year is really bringing us benefits this year,” he said. “We get a lot of word-of-mouth.”

Barnes said his company isn’t willing to rest on its accomplishments. Winning the Large Builder of the Year Award won’t diminish Quality Grassing’s drive to repeat in 2003.

“It would be good to win it two years in a row, wouldn’t it?” he said.

One of the projects Quality Grassing has lined up for 2003 is a $1.6 million renovation at Point Mallard Golf Course in Decatur, Ala. The company broke ground on the project in February.