Meet the Oregon Seed Council: Tee-2-Green Representative, Terry Plagmann
ABOUT TERRY PLAGMANN
Terry Plagmann serves on the Oregon Seed Council Board of Directors as the representative for Tee-2-Green Corp. Terry serves as President of Tee-2-Green, a grower-owned seed company, created in 1973 for the purpose of raising and marketing several varieties of creeping bentgrass with distribution worldwide to the golf industry. Tee-2-Green is located in Canby, OR.
ABOUT TEE-2-GREEN
Tee-2-Green is a grower-owned company and the exclusive marketer of industry-leading bentgrasses for golf course greens, tees and fairways, including the revolutionary Penn’s and Pure’s high-performance varieties. Their other bentgrass varieties include Penncross (the world’s best-selling bentgrass), Penn A-1 & A-4, Crystal BlueLinks, Pure Distinction, Pure Select and more. These products each uniquely help create championship conditions and legendary courses around the world.
Penn State University developed and released the first seeded Penn bentgrass, Penncross, in the 1950s. Since then, it has become the world’s leading bentgrass variety. With the guidance of Dr. Joseph Duich, Penn State continued to produce many other successful and revolutionary bentgrass varieties. These varieties continue to be the standard in the golf course industry.
In the 1960s, Penn State University declared Penncross a proprietary or “private” variety to discourage “unauthorized” sale of the product. Through a formal agreement, Penn State authorized the Penncross Bentgrass Growers Association of Oregon to produce and market the bentgrass. The association created the brand name Tee-2-Green and ensured that all Penn bents sold under that name would be certified.
Tee-2-Green has taken great steps to ensure that all of the Penn Bents developed by Dr. Joe Duich at Penn State University and the Pure Bents developed by Pure Seed are covered under the Plant Variety Protection Act. In addition, Tee-2-Green guarantees that bentgrass cultivars may only be sold as certified seed. By taking these steps, Tee-2-Green made sure to preserve the legacy of Dr. Duich and uphold the celebrated reputation of our bentgrass varieties with turf professionals around the world.
Penncross has now been replaced with the PC 2.0 variety after 60 years of Penncross being the top variety.
WHAT INTERESTS TERRY IN THE SEED INDUSTRY
When asked what interests Terry in the seed industry, he said “all phases of growing and marketing grass seed interest me.”
WHAT TERRY LOVES ABOUT THE OREGON SEED COUNCIL
Terry said he most enjoys “the opportunity to keep current with all things pertaining to seed production” through the Oregon Seed Council.
WHAT TERRY SEES FOR THE FUTURE OF THE OREGON SEED COUNCIL
On the Board, Terry is a strong advocate for integration of new, and efficient technology. In the future, Terry says he sees “more advancements in technology for better productivity,” utilized by the Board, and the industry overall.
WHAT TERRY WISHES PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT THE SEED INDUSTRY AND THE OREGON SEED COUNCIL
Terry wishes people knew “just how diverse the industry is.”
HOW TERRY GOT INVOLVED IN THE SEED INDUSTRY
Deeply rooted in the seed industry, Terry is a fourth generation farmer in the Albany area. He and his family have grown most varieties of grass seed, along with other commodities.
WHAT TERRY DOES OUTSIDE OF THE SEED INDUSTRY
When not working or helping with the Oregon Seed Council, Terry enjoys rebuilding classic cars.
Contributed by: Megan Chuinard | Oregon Seed Council Executive Director
