Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Continuing to be the Gulf’s best source of licensed and certified turfgrasses, Atlas Turf Arabia has hired its newest Farm and Assistant Farm Managers, helping to ensure the clients they work with are provided with all their grassing needs.

New Farm Manager Kevin Coghlan and Assistant Farm Manager Abdulaziz Almansour bring together a combined 23 years’ worth of golf construction, grow-in and daily turfgrass maintenance knowledge to help further grow and expand the projects that Atlas Turf Arabia is working on.

Coghlan joins with a wealth of experience spanning the globe, with positions previously held in China and Canada, overseeing multiple projects, including assistant superintendent for the preparations of two PGA Tour events. He attended Professional Golf Turf Management School at Rutgers University, supplying him with the learning and understanding to take his skills to several world-renowned golf clubs.

Coghlan said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to oversee some substantial projects, not just in golf, but across a number of sports, throughout the Gulf region. Whilst my experience is mainly within golf, I feel that there’s an abundance of transferable elements from what I’ve learnt that will allow me to positively impact the collection of grasses that we offer to our extensive client base.”

The announcement comes at a time when organisations across the world are dealing with significant worldwide issues, from extreme heat, rises in energy costs to pressure on water supplies. Atlas Turf Arabia wanted to ensure that its newest Farm Manager would take into consideration these trends.

Speaking about sustainability, Coghlan said: “I’ve been a part of projects before where we’ve had to take into account the surrounding environment and ensure that the work we do not only respects and adheres to those principles, but sustainably does so for years to come.”

In his post as Assistant Farm Manager, Almansour will support Coghlan in delivering grassing solutions and the highest quality of turfgrasses to projects of every kind in the region. Almansour brings experience from multiple diverse agricultural roles, which will help the monitoring and controlling of sustainable practices across different environments.   

Almansour is the first Saudi national to work on a certified turf farm in the region and his local university degree equips him with a strong knowledge of agronomy and horticulture specific to the Middle East. He is well versed in the unique issues involved in turfgrass maintenance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is currently assisting the farm in the production management of the advanced turfgrasses offered by Atlas Turf Arabia.

Almansour also has an integral role in managing the other turf farm staff and assisting in their professional development as well as his own.

John Holmes, President of Atlas Turf International and Co-founder of Atlas Turf Arabia, who himself has extensive experience within the golf industry, said: “Appointing employees of both Kevin’s and Abdulaziz’s experience was important to us. The direction the world is heading from a sustainability standpoint requires people who have worked in a number of different settings and understand what it is we at Atlas Turf Arabia can provide to our clients from start to finish. Kevin and Abdulaziz have these qualities in abundance.”

It’s been a busy period for Atlas Turf Arabia who recently became the first certified facility of its kind in the Gulf region.

Atlas Turf Arabia was established as a joint venture between Atlas Turf International and Golf Saudi as part of a collective drive towards Vision 2030 and is already a vital link in the supply chain framework within Saudi Arabia.

Golf Saudi (Executive) and Atlas Turf International (Full Business) are members of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.