In the September issue, Michael Rogers, president of Kathleen’s Lawn & Ornamental Pest Control, discussed how he strives to manage growth while maintaining his company’s small-town roots. Here’s a closer look at one additional service Kathleen’s offers during The Masters.
Every April, residents in Augusta, Ga., and its surrounding cities have one thing on their minds: golf. The Masters Tournament, the professional golf event held each year at Augusta National Golf Club, brings people from far and wide expecting lush, perfect greens as far as the eye can see. Michael Rogers, president of Kathleen’s Lawn & Ornamental Pest Control in Evans, Ga., has turned this expectation into a unique business opportunity: turf painting.
“When the Masters is here everyone wants that dark green lawn, but 90 percent of the time it’s still cold here so the bermudagrass is not there,” Rogers says. “So we’ll paint for that reason.”
Rogers says home rentals are big business during the Masters, and the groups and organizations that rent these homes expect the properties to look pristine. For example, StubHub rented a home with a lawn that was not yet green, so they hired Kathleen’s to paint it. Rogers says he uses a water-based turf paint purchased from a golf course supply company. It takes his crews one to two hours to complete a paint job, as they have to take care not to get the paint on the sidewalks or driveway. The paint lasts from six to eight weeks and then mows off as the grass starts to grow. Rogers also has offered the service to customers trying to sell their homes, particularly in the winter.
“It’s a very simple program for people trying to sell a home or get that green color for the Masters,” he says.
